One particular club chief calls for EFL sides to ground-share with struggling non league teams ahead of the 2020/21 season.
The National League is currently scheduled to resume action on the 3rd of October, with the current plan allowing clubs to do so with reduced capacities for spectators.
However for some clubs, they will be unable to have as much supporters allowed through the turnstiles compared to others club with bigger stadiums.
For National League North outfit Darlington, that could mean re-opening their Blackwell Meadows stadium at just 17 per cent capacity – around 550 – when the club has in excess of 650 season ticket holders alone.
Now Darlo’s chief executive David Johnston has urged their professional neighbours to help nearby non league sides maximise gate receipts in the coronavirus era.
The Quakers have already asked the league organisation for permission to return temporarily to their former home at the 25,500-seater Northern Echo Arena to allow their fans and travelling supporters to attend in greater numbers.
He told the PA news agency: “I’d rather have everybody that can get in getting in in a very safe, controlled manner than 17 per cent and arguments, headaches, refunds and damaging financial stability.
“I really wonder whether every club at the lower level should look to ground-share with an EFL club – to say, ‘Can we ground-share until the rules on crowd control are back to where they need to be?’ – because any club will suffer at 17 to 33 per cent.
“Why don’t we have clubs pairing up with local Football League sides and saying, ‘Can we ground-share with you?’ And pay the licence fee for the period of ground restriction, and then everybody can get to watch the football, everybody can go to see their team in a safe, controlled manner.
“It’s not about finance – obviously the finances around sustainability have to be questioned – but I’m talking about how do you get the right number of fans who want to congregate into a facility safely and there’s no risk of infection or a spike?
“There are solutions, but the league is going to (have to) be a little bit agile, think innovatively and look a what is best for the future of our game.”
League rivals Gateshead, are fortunate enough to have an 11,500-seater venue at their disposal, meaning they will not be impacted unduly by social distancing restrictions, having recorded an average attendance of just under 1,000 last season.
Indeed, they are hoping to attract bigger crowds as they attempt to offset the loss of revenue from a cancelled pre-season programme, which included visits from Premier League outfit Newcastle United and Championship duo Middlesbrough and Blackburn Rovers.
Chairman Neil Pinkerton told the PA news agency: “We lost a really lucrative pre-season – we had Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Blackburn at home and, with fans, that’s pretty good going. That was a big hit, so we’re looking at a substantial projected loss there.
“We’re hoping to stream pre-season friendlies, which in comparison to having fans in the stands is nothing financially, so next season we’re cutting our cloth accordingly across the board while trying to maximise income through various streams.”
After the club chief calls for EFL sides to ground-share with struggling non league teams, fans quickly took to give their thoughts on what he had to say…
Jay Roberts: Was the perfect option for everyone involved “if they don’t charge us a fortune”. We can have our normal 1400 ish average at every game with social distancing. It’s the only viable option which makes everyone happy
Craig Whitehead: Quick thinking by david ?
Mikey Black: Cracking idea but with it being a non league club thought off it probably get rejected but time will tell
Rodney Dale: Shrewd! I think this is a fantastic and as he says innovative proposal. With 650 season ticket holders and under current guidelines a capacity of 550 at Blackwell Meadows. It’s crucial that owners (fans) sponsors, players family, ticket holders and everyone who wants to witness this fabulous Team Armstrong has put together is allowed to do so.
Craig Morley: Will the rugby club just accept that as they will loose there income , depends on the lease I guess
Ian James Barron: I would even go to the Riverside if possible it’s easy to get to ? #dtid
Frank Smith: If it works, get the fuck out of BM for good and make some money again
Andrew Serginson: Did we ever make money at the Arena?
Paul Hodgson: Hopefully, the NL will allow it, but as Craig Morley said the lease at BM wont be easy to get out of, if we are only allowed 550 in BM, how will the club decide which season tickets holders get in? And do we have to allow for so many away fans? The Arena is the obvious answer, but we have 2 major hurdles to get over, the NL and the lease.
John Benjafield: I live 300 miles away from the Arena and only managed to get there twice but what a stadium it was Ok so it was financed by a crook but I was amazed by its size even though only one side was open to spectators at that time I loved it but financially it is probably not viable for a fan owned club in the long term we could probably only use about 8 per cent of its capacity I don’t really care about all of these matters I just want promotion this season We have a good squad now apart from a top class goalkeeper Onwards and upwards DTID
Paul Ramshaw: Makes sense obviously Mr Johnson has approached Mowden Rugby Club but i believe theyre playing at a higher level national league 1 so if both teams were due to be at home on the same weekend the rugby would come first meaning the football playing friday or sunday. Having said all that this could help both parties the only loosers being Blackwell who quiet honestly never made us welcome oh and good luck to the groundsman at Mowden .
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