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The National League have issued the following statement:

Following the review of the feedback from Clubs in connection to the recent Clubs meeting, a Board meeting this morning decided to halt the participation in the North/South Divisions for a two-week period, effective immediately.

As a result, tomorrow's games are formally postponed.

The Member of Parliament for Warwick and Leamington, Matt Western has sent the following letter to DCMS Secretary of State regarding financial positions of National League Clubs. 

Re: National League Football

Dear Oliver (Dowden),

I am extremely concerned to hear of the desperate situation facing National League football clubs including Leamington FC in my constituency. The club chairman tells me that many clubs are on the brink and that Leamington will also be facing severe difficulties within months.

In his letter to me the Chairman thanked the government for the support it has already provided to enable the league season to go ahead as normal. But, as we enter the nation's third lockdown, without clubs' primary revenue generated from fans' attendance, they are once again in desperate need of support.

Leamington, like many other clubs, is now operating on full pre-pandemic costs with players and staff wages to be paid with only negligible incoming commercial revenue. The DCMS has offered a further £11 million on top of the £10 million it has already provided in grant funding, only this time in the form of loans. Importantly, club say they would not have entered the funding agreement with the government at the beginning of the season had they known that support grants, intended to keep the season going in the absence of fans, would be replaced by loans.

Already cash-strapped clubs are now facing the threat of financial insecurity and debt. Clubs have not only lost the revenue they would generate from ticket sales, but they also use vital hospitality and sponsorship revenue. As I say, many are on the brink.

It is becoming increasingly likely that clubs will tell the national league board to cancel the season tomorrow, so furlough payments can ease their financial strain. This will mean the initial £10 million grant funding would be totally in vain - with the league season unceremoniously cut short and rendered null and void. The National League claim is the cost of the government in furlough payments would exceed the cost of the loans offered, or the grant funding clubs desire, to see them to the end of the season.

Even if there was never any agreement to continue supporting clubs from January till the end of the season, to ignore the obvious plight of National League clubs - some now faced with permanent closure - would be unconscionable. Thousands of fans and football lovers across the country would quite rightly see the decision as a desertion of some of the U.K.'s most treasured and historic clubs - clubs that are the foundations to the upper leagues and of course, the Premier League.

Leamington FC has more than 30 teams and is at the heart of the community. It is involved in education, charity work and community outreach. And at the same time, it is developing the next crop of football stars hoping to get to the top and represent our nation. The clubs many teams also offer much appreciated respite for young people across my constituency - some with learning difficulties or troubles off the pitch. To plunge the club into financial hardship would reflect very badly on you and the government.

The clubs are clearly grateful for all the support they have received thus far. But to settle them with debt and withdraw grants will stadiums remain empty, will signal to many a very uncertain and unstable future. I hope a financial settlement can be reached so clubs are not left in the lurch, and it is clear clubs require urgent grant funding to keep the season running and bring security.

Like businesses and individuals, no football club deserves to go under as a result of a pandemic beyond its control. I hope you will take urgent action to prevent this.

I look forward to your response.

Matt Western MP

The National League held a series of meetings yesterday with all clubs during which it was confirmed to clubs that the £11m package of financial support through Sport England for the period January to March will be in the form of loans not grants.

Whilst discussions continue between the National League and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), the National League asked clubs for their views on three options currently under consideration.

1. Individual clubs to apply for loans from Sport England with applications from clubs being assessed against strict criteria with loans repayable at 2% interest over 10 years with no interest or repayments for the first two years.
2. The National League to take a loan from Sport England which would then be distributed to clubs as grants. The loan repayments would be paid by the National League each year utilising central funds that would normally be distributed to clubs. The impact would be reduced central funding to each club for the duration of the loan. The process for distribution would be open and transparent with the detail yet to be decided.
3. Suspend the season. An immediate break in the season to allow clubs to access the furlough scheme with a decision on how to resume taken at a later date. Clubs experiencing financial hardship can submit independent applications to Sport England for support.

Chairman Jim Scott today held a meeting with local MP Matt Western to advise him of our concerns and the situation we find ourselves in and to seek his support in lobbying the DCMS on our behalf, for funding to be in the form of grants and not through loans. This he agreed to do and is a process that has or is being replicated at National League clubs across the country.

Last September the club agreed to the return to playing football on the basis that grants were available until such time as supporters were allowed to return to games. We were given assurances from the National League and FA that such funding would be provided although the detail for the period January to March 2021 was unknown at that stage.

Following a meeting of all directors last night the club submitted its’ response to the National League stating that we did not see individual loans to clubs as a viable option and would require clarification on the second option re the distribution model and future impact on central funding, before deciding whether we see it as a viable option.

Whilst this has been a successful season for the team thus far and there is a desire for a continuation, it does not make financial sense to continue playing behind closed doors with the dramatically reduced income streams and no grant funding. Nothing would give us greater pleasure than continuing to entertain you, albeit via live streaming, but we will not put the club into debt and risk our long-term security. We are a massive community asset that provides much to the health, well being and education of local residents and this must not be compromised.

We thank all our supporters and commercial partners for their continued support and will keep you updated on matters as they develop.

Jim Scott
Chairman
On Behalf of the Board of Directors