WHITE: WE MUST PULL TOGETHER!
DORKING Wanderers chairman Marc White believes the National League and its clubs must lobby Government to make a U-turn on their funding decision – or face the league season being cancelled altogether.
The Wands were without a National League South fixture yesterday after Step 2 was suspended for two weeks following views put forward by clubs.
White has been a leading voice on off-field issues NonLeague has faced during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The latest saga over funding and testing has divided clubs among Steps 1 and 2, but White is calling for a united front on lobbying the Government to provide grant money rather than loans in order for the season to continue instead of the campaign being suspended or even cancelled and clubs using the furlough scheme which would be of greater expense to the government.
“I think the [suspension] was inevitable,” he told The NLP. “But it was at very short notice and I think they could have waited until after the weekend.
“I just hope now that everybody can get on the same side and lobby this common sense argument that surely an £11m grant is better for the Government rather than around £14m of furlough money, and surely the National Lottery won’t expect their £10m for the initial three months to go down the drain.
“I would be hopeful lobbying would be successful, it has been previously. I’m not sure anyone spelt out the simplicity of the £11m versus the £14m, and the wasted Lottery money. You’d imagine if that got in front of the right person, you’d think someone might say, ‘hold on, that’s silly’ and issue the grant.”
The National League’s situation has been complicated by the differing size of its clubs across the two levels.
“Right from March, that has been their biggest issue,” said White. “It is a hybrid league, by definition it plays at two different levels, and they should be treated differently, one is predominately part-time and one is predominately full-time.
“They clearly felt the feedback received from the National League clubs was less of a problem than that of the North and South. However, those clubs in that top division I’m sure will feel the same about taking a loan.”
loan option has now been taken off the table by the National League and White says it was never the right answer.
“I don’t see any rational reason why anybody would take a loan to complete the season if they cannot win something – and they shouldn’t be asked to,” he said. “It’s a level of football that should finish. The same problem is going to exist for the National League, this isn’t only the North and South.
The fact of the matter is there is no fundamental reason why anyone at Step 1 in mid-table or below would want to continue if there’s no relegation. “Mark Ives (National League interim general manager) is the man for the job but he’s not going to be able to keep everyone happy.”
Clubs have also had concerns over safety with the virus at its worst this month and having seen the EFL introduce twice-weekly mandatory testing, paid for by the Profession The al Footballers’ Association, at the turn of the year.
The National League did require clubs to test their players and staff each week during the 2019-20 play-offs, but it is costly and has not been enforced this season.
“I think the National League buried their heads in the sand over testing,” added White. “The reason was is they knew they would get a lot of kickback from member clubs about the cost.
“My thing is that if grants are awarded moving forward, they should come with a condition of weekly testing to tick that box and provide some comfort.”