Emergency summit as clubs fight for survival
Hibs chief warns of ‘ devastation’
Scottish football’s top clubs will hold an emergency summit next week as they try to come up with survival plans after t he phased return of fans to stadia was pa used indefinitely.
Responding to the tightening of restrictions as the government attempts to deal with the second wave of coronavirus infections, Hibernian issued a rallying call to clubs to pull together or face devastating consequences.
In Scotland, where gate receipts account for over 40 percent of club earnings, there is an increasing fear that some may not survive the financial drought and those who do could take up to a decade to recover.
“Clubs need to use our collective voice to get the message out to fans, letting them know just how devastating this is going to be,” said Hibs chief executive Leeann Dempster, above, who instigated the upcoming crisis meeting.
“We have been through a 5- 6 month period of great difficulty and great uncertainty and to all intents and purposes we have all resized and refocused and we were hoping that we were starting to come through the other side of it with some hope but Tuesday night showed us that there is no real hope, certainly short to medium term, that we are going to get our main income stream back and we are now past it just being incredibly serious, it is now devastating. Even if clubs survive, it could take a decade for even our biggest clubs to recover from this.
“Everyone strongly feels that we need to help each other as much as we can to get through this. That might be emotional, it might be planning support, it might be shared resources, who knows, but we have to work together. We need help.”
With t wo successful t est events safely behind them, there had been growing anticipation that reduced and safely distanced crowds could be on their way, as clubs tip- toed t owards t he promise of limited hospitality and bolstered earning potential. But that now l o oks unlikely until into the new year, with a creeping sense of doom as clubs contemplate the unpalatable possibilit y that they may have to negotiate the entire 2020/ 21 season without supporters making it into stadia in Scotland.
With Hibs reporting a projected £ 4 million- plus income shortfall, it is feared that the tally could be closer to £ 140m across t he entire S cotti s h game by the end of the season.
The pandemic is also draining them of funds, with top tier clubs already around £ 100,000 out of pocket due to coronavirus testing, sanitisation and the PPE equipment needed to
McCrorie and Dundee United striker Lawrence Shankland, though none of them saw any action in the recent Nations League double- header against Israel and Czech Republic.
Scotland are attempting to make it to the play- off final and the opportunity to qualify for their first major tournament since France 98.
If Clarke’s men defeat Israel they will travel to either Norway or Serbia on 12 November. Again, a Friday fixture card has been planned in anticipation, but si milar disruption will occur if Celtic and Rangers make it to the group stage of the Europa League.