Burgess Hill Town wary of loan help

Sport England are due to hand out a total of £14m to football clubs at steps three to six of the non-league set-up to help during the pandemic. But it is still not clear whether the money will a grant or a loan.

If a grant is available, clubs are sure to welcome it – but a loan is a different kettle of fish.

Rattle said: “Nobody really knows if it’s in the form of a loan or a grant. If it’s a loan I would be very wary of it and it would be 50/50 if we would go for it.

“At the moment because we know everything’s closed, we have shut everything down and we can negate all outgoings.

“When we start again, as long as we are at zero and not minus, we must be in that position.

“If the Sport England proposal is a loan you are behind the eight-ball again.”

In the National League, steps one and two, teams are still playing and already getting financial help from the governement.

Rattle said: “I am a little bit disappointed that the teams two leagues away are receiving a government grant and continue to play because they are elite sport.

“They are getting a considerable amount of money to continue to play. It’s then mooted we may get something - but then get told it’s a loan.

“If it’s in the form of a grant we would be silly not to take the money but at the moment we are just making sure we are in a position to play football again, whenever that may be.”

Sport England told the Mid Sussex Times the £14m was part of a Winter Sport Survival Package for which formal applications had been invited from those in need. It said an independent board had started to consider applications and news of the first phases of confirmed funding was planned for next week. It is not yet known what the breakdown between loans and grants will be.

This comes after the Isthmian League board said last Friday they believed the league season should be terminated. Clubs will be consulted on the issue.

At Burgess Hill, Rattle fully understands why leagues are not playing and although positive, he is realistic about a restart. There are discussions in place about different ways of resolving this season, with some saying it could be paused now and restarted when safe, even if the season takes two years – but that is unlikely to happen. Last week Hillians chairman Kevin

Newell said he wanted the season made null and void.

Rattle said: “You have to be positive but you have to be realistic.I want some football to be played but I understand if we get so far down the line we would have to start to think about restarting next season.

“Every season you should start from the start. You’d have to start from the start in cup competitions so it would be weird to do that and start in the middle of the league season. It’s very easy for clubs to think about their own positions and every club will do that but you have to have some common sense. If we did this what are the consequences?

“I think the big thing at our level is we have to be confident people are comfortable coming to our grounds. We have to be able to return commercial contracts with our sponsors. And because players would not be vaccinated if we started again this season, we would have to continue with Covid measures.”