January to March Finance

[Nemesis]

Click on image to enlarge

[Mallard]

11m over three months is a massive decrease in hand outs for each Club.   For the Oct-Dec period it was 10m per month.   In Lynn’s case that equated to 84k per month which didn’t even meet the 100k plus running costs, per month.

How are Lynn  expected to survive on circa 35k per month plus whatever they can self fund.   That is around 70k per month shortfall.

Plus if this money comes in the form a loan how can this be repaid ?

Suggestions ?

[KES80]

I think the next 2 months might see a return to the strictest lock down conditions, with things being moth balled for a couple of months......when that happens we may see further emergency funding....it may also be that players will just be  paid a retainer across the leagues, until competitions resume.

[Blue_and_Gold]

Looks and sounds as if the  "football family" are arguing amongst themselves now.

Claims that the first lot of money was not distributed fairly, so if they change the formula this time I presume Lynn could get even less than the 35k per month as mentioned by Mallard.

Loan or grant? I wouldn't be too bothered about that. I presume it will be unsecured borrowing (if not I presume the offer would be declined). If its a loan I can see Club Chairmen pleading poverty and saying they would be made bankrupt if forced to pay it back, hoping the debt could then possibly be wiped out. 

[Blue_and_Gold]

I think the next 2 months might see a return to the strictest lock down conditions, with things being moth balled for a couple of months......when that happens we may see further emergency funding....it may also be that players will just be  paid a retainer across the leagues, until competitions resume.

Kes, thats a far too simple solution!

Majority of other people have seen income reduced, but not the majority of footballers. Seems crazy to me, especially when its a second income for quite a few of them.

[Loughborough Linnet]

Still think the first lot of money should have come with an embargo, it prompted a flurry of signings across the league, which means that now attempts to plead poverty will likely fall on deaf ears.

How to pay off the loans; share issue?

[Mallard]

If there is fire break put into the season let’s hope that a lot of clubs have put that into players contract.   I’m sure with the shrewd business head that SC has then he would be way ahead on this one,

When the 30m bailout came Clubs were warned not to spoil it by splashing cash around on transfers, contract etc.

Woking/Loza  last week springs to mind.   Clubs just can’t help themselves.

[MARCUS ROSE]

If football club  owners  want to  live beyond their means it's their choice. After the fiasco surrounding the first bail out payments, they should fend for themselves this time.  Just like the league's below elite level. No football and all staff including players on furlough.

[Mallard]

In fairness to SC he has always put his money where his mouth is and back the club by making up any shortfall in revenue.   Only have to look at the club accounts to see how much he has funded the club.

The problem over the next few months is where does the money needed to fund the clubs, come from.  There are going to be so many hands held out begging for Gov handouts.  Where does Non League stand in the swing of things ?

[Blue_and_Gold]

Have to agree.

Govt pot is not bottomless. Everything has to be paid for sooner or later. Funding does not come from a magic pot of Gold that they found at the end of a rainbow.

Far more important things that need funding than football.

Food on the table, roof over peoples heads is surely far more important.

Locally, we have organisations such as Kings Lynn Foodbank and Purfleet Trust as examples, who must look on with envy at the money these Clubs have already received.

It's a time for necessities rather than luxuries!


https://www.purfleettrust.org.uk/about-us/

https://kingslynn.foodbank.org.uk/

[TonyM]

Unfortunately, much as many would like to see football clubs operate as 'normal businesses' - how many normal businesses have the terms and conditions of their employees dictated to by a union which operates across the whole industry and has the power to make one of a club's biggest assets completely worthless?  Until the PFA accepts that they are 'part of the problem' it will be very difficult for an individual club to reduce the wages to their playing staff without all of those players being able to walk away from their club with no consequences, admittedly many won't, but the threat of even a relatively few doing so has been enough to see clubs avoiding this at almost any cost.  Maybe the next round of grants / loans will be the final straw for many and a league(s) will take a stand on behalf of their clubs but I am not optimistic.

As for taking a break, this will be the equivalent of voiding the season imo as we can't be sure when it will be safe to return and even then there will still be outbreaks similar to the current position which with the combination of the already packed season and backlog of fixtures will make completing the 20/21 season almost impossible. 

KES, appreciate the sentiment about signing embargos but for every buyer there is also a seller and some clubs may be grateful for the opportunity to turn a player into cash to support the club's survival - making the pool of potential buying clubs (those with cash that don't need grants / loans) that much smaller will enable those clubs to force prices down and distort the market even more than they already do

[Blue_and_Gold]

It's a worldwide Pandemic.

Maybe unprecedented times calls for unprecedented action! 

[TonyM]

It's a worldwide Pandemic.

Maybe unprecedented times calls for unprecedented action! 

Yes, but the PFA are the ones who need to take that action - I don't see how any individual club can make the changes necessary without coming to an arrangement with all of their players (Chester?) or the PFA coming up with a solution - even if it was just for non-league teams that would be a start but I am not holding my breath.  Without one or other of the options above effectively any club that 'cut it's cloth' now would be accepting all players could leave the club for nothing and would also probably incur some form of penalty from their respective league.  Basically whilst the PFA and leagues sit on their hands, it looks like individual clubs are just crossing their fingers and hoping they won't be the first domino to fall.

[Mallard]

Tony,  I don’t quite follow what difference you are suggesting between Non League and League Clubs.

For example many of the Clubs we are coming up against are full time contract players with budgets ( so rumour has it) higher than clubs who have fixed playing budgets in League Two.

It will all boil down to what Clubs can and cannot afford together what is players contracts. 

[TonyM]

Tony,  I don’t quite follow what difference you are suggesting between Non League and League Clubs.

In an ideal world the PFA would accept they are part of the problem across all of football but given that seems unlikely, the difference between League and Non-league is that div 1 and div 2 sides have access, should they want it, to the money made available from the PL.  Whatever the rights and wrongs of this (and there are many) that isn't the case at steps 1 & 2 of non-league and given the hash the National League made of distributing the last lot of money I would imagine clubs are going to reach a pinch point pretty quickly into the new year. 

I appreciate that the NL situation is complicated by having a mix of full and part time players but after money was made available to allow steps 1 & 2 to commence we are now in the position where the situation has worsened but players contracts that activated on the first day of the season are still in place (those on multi-year deals won't have COVID breaks and I really have no idea if those on new deals would have them as standard).