King’s Lynn owner reveals how much money they need to finish the season

King’s Lynn owner Stephen Cleeve reveals how much money they need to finish the 2020/21 season, and it doesn’t look good for them.

The decisions of the National League has caused plenty of frustration at the Norfolk based club where they left their ground unsure if their encounter against Weymouth marked the end of their first campaign at this level.

Linnets chairman and owner Stephen Cleeve held an summit on the pitch after the final whistle with manager Ian Culverhouse and director of football Rob Back.

Culverhouse was visibly left unhappy at how to they got in such the current state, with his eyes fixed on the pitch as he left made his way back down the tunnel.

The others followed him through and with dressing room talks turning onto the club’s crisis.

Cleeve came away from it all to then speak on the dilemma, finding a quiet area before going off to deliver co-commentary for his club’s streaming service.

King’s Lynn will need another £300,000 to finish the season but they are now out of money, and it is unlikely that donations will be able to save them unless they get a miracle amount raised. An appeal for funds instigated by Norwich City fans quickly raised about £10,000.

‘It’s already cost us a lot of money to get into this league,’ said Cleeve, having had a shortfall of £140,000 last season. ‘If we stop playing and don’t take the loan, which I’d like to do, the league will charge us. Then the independent panel might want to relegate us or deduct points or fine us and I’m balancing that with the cost of playing on and putting the club into debt for 20 years.

‘Imagine if I’d gone to the League at the start of the season and asked them to get rid of the clause that stops me borrowing money because I’d like to borrow £500,000, put it into the playing budget and have a real go at promotion. There’s no way they’d allow it and now that’s what they’re asking me to do. Only without having a go at promotion. Just to complete the season and so other clubs can be promoted.

‘We’re stuck in this horrible situation, whichever way you look it gives you a headache because every solution has repercussions.’ An appeal for funds instigated by Norwich fans quickly raised about £10,000. ‘They have been very kind,’ said Cleeve, but the amount needed remains a challenge to raise and the search for a solution goes on. Despite this, King’s Lynn do look set to fulfil the fixture at Notts County, could that be their last game of the campaign?

The only help available to them is in the form of a loan from Sport England. It was back in October that the National League was dealing with a £10million National Lottery grant and what clubs thought was a promise of another grant in January if lockdown prevented them opening the gates to fans.

Yet that grant turned out to be a loan and this in turn has left smaller clubs angered, afraid that they can’t deal with the repayment of a six-figure sum especially when the pandemic has left many clubs on the brink of extinction.

Bottom club Dover have already refused to play on and Cleeve is another heading in that direction.

Clubs voted 13-7 to continue the season, and with games not being played, it’s led to Dover being charged by the league with failing to fulfil their fixtures. An independent panel will decide their fate, with possible punishments including any sanction ranging from a fine to expulsion.

Meanwhile, Wealdstone are having some trouble with ground-grading which also could see them drop down a league, see more HERE.

The weekend’s results mean that Weymouth stay in the bottom three with King’s Lynn just above.

Clubs have been told that there wouldn’t be any relegation if they complete the fixtures but verbal assurances are treated with suspicion. National Leagues North and South voted to stop last month, sparking a legal challenge from Dorking Wanderers, who were on course to go up and had been keen to play on.

They have since put a proposal forward, sending the letter with their plans and pleas, and it’s up for consideration. Any legal threat has been withdrawn.

Questions remain on the National League as it’s already one team down due to Macclesfield’s demise and then much of the steps below are to undergo a re-structure.

‘The board are united in trying to find a solution to these issues,’ said the National League’s interim general manager Mark Ives on the #LetUsPlay proposal. ‘It is frustrating but these difficult times boil down to the problems of Covid.’

Fans reacted as King’s Lynn owner reveals how much money they need to finish the season…

@TerraStatman: If the £300k covers March-May that is an eye-watering amount for a team just promoted from Conf North. At £100k a month that is higher than the £80k a month that Dover, an established NL club, publicly declared a few months back.

@finchie38: Clearly out of your depth in the National League then

@marccefn58: The owner should pay this its part of being a owner when something goes wrong with a car the owner pays to get it fixed. If the owner cant afford to run a club then they shouldnt of bought it.

@ForeverAYellow: Worrying times ahead, can see many more teams suffering because of inaccuracies and rows