Call for season start date

AFC: Cormack seeking some clarity so Dons can plan ahead

Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack has called on the football authorities to deliver a start date for next season so clubs can begin plotting how to navigate the difficulties caused by the coronavirus.

With Scottish football on lockdown the lack of income is beginning to bite hard among clubs and Cormack believes some clarity is needed.

Uefa are due to meet tomorrow with association secretaries to discuss the way ahead following the pandemic and Cormack is hoping the talks end with some resolutions being put in place.

The Dons chairman said: “It would be good to get some clarity from Uefa and the authorities as to where we go from here.

“Everybody is in a difficult position. In an ideal world, with sporting integrity, we play all the games.

“That’s what everybody wants. But the reality is as the weeks go on that becomes really difficult.

“I think it’s important for us to put a stake in the ground as to when the next season starts.

“Is it the first weekend in August like normal or do we say it’s the first week of September?

“These things need to be answered in the next week, the sooner the better. The authorities are in a difficult position but hopefully they can come forward and give some clarity as to where we are.” The Aberdeen chairman expects all clubs in Scotland to be adversely affected by the shutdown and while no wage cuts have been implemented at Pittodrie, Cormack says he cannot rule out having to take that course of action in the future.

He said: “First of all, everybody at this club is valuable to us and really important. In an ideal world, the last thing we want to do is want to go down this route but we don’t know what it is right now.

“We’re a well-run club, I believe, with a great balance sheet and no debt.

“But with no income for three to six months I think all teams in Scotland are going to struggle.

“There are lots of moving parts, whether it be insurance or VAT payments, potential economic support from the government and we still don’t have answers for everything.

“We’ll pull this together in the next few days and take a view as to what we need to do from a cash-flow perspective for the club, we don’t have that answer right now.

“We just need to take a deep breath.”

Put a stake in the ground as to when next season starts – these things need to be answered Dons chairman Dave Cormack