Nantwich Town lay off all their staff

Nantwich Town lay off all their staff, full-time and part-time, as a consequence of the current COVID-19 pandemic and football suspension.

The Dabbers are challenging for promotion from the Premier Division and are currently in 6th place, five points behind FC United of Manchester in 2nd.

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We know these are heartbreaking times for every club up and down the country – but whenever it is we return, we will do so stronger. A huge thank you to your amazing support at this time. In the meantime, we'll try and put smiles on faces as often as we can ?

A post shared by Nantwich Town FC (@officialnantwichtownfc) on Mar 20, 2020 at 1:12am PDT

“The current crisis brought on by the continuing escalation of COVID-19 is having a devastating impact on all walks of life, education and businesses, no matter how large or small.

“In essence, Nantwich Town Football Club is a not-for-profit business serving the community and no different to any other non-league club and small business in the country and without outside support and help from the Government and Football authorities, it will be difficult to survive.

“However, from the encouraging and positive announcements from the Government over the past few days, I am hopeful that there will be a solution forthcoming, though what form that this might take and if it will benefit our football club is still unclear at this stage.

“In line with the instruction and advice from both the Government and Football Authorities, we have sadly had to close all aspects of our operation, including football activities at every level and all functions and events and also lay off all of our staff, both full and part time, which has been done with great sadness and reluctance, but out of necessity and for the safety and welfare of everyone concerned.

“These actions still leave us with the immense overheads of maintaining and running a major stadium and business with no income whatsoever for the foreseeable future. Whilst not wishing to sound alarmist – which may lead to further panic and concern amongst the club’s volunteering and playing community – it is sadly a stark reality facing many clubs and businesses during these unprecedented times and not exclusive to ourselves.

“It’s important that during this period, we are as transparent as we can possibly be, with the knowledge that we have, and to this end your continued faith, support and understanding is sincerely valued and needed.

“It is impossible to predict how long this unprecedented situation will go on for and what the landscape for communities, families and businesses will be like in the aftermath, but the certainty is, that it will be totally different, with great difficulty and challenges for every single person and business.

“I am, however, personally enthused by the incredible spirit and resilience that I am seeing already from everyone connected with the club and the local community in general, who are already pulling together and offering their support.

“These wonderful spirits give me great confidence that we will all come through this, and one thing that you can be assured of is that we will be doing everything that we possibly can to ensure that our beloved Football Club remains in the heart of the community it has served for over one-hundred and thirty-five years.

“I thank you for your understanding and in advance of the help and support that we will need to take us through this extremely challenging time.” – Jon Gold, chairman of Nantwich Town

Fans gave their reaction as Nantwich Town lay off all their staff…

In recent times you have shown just how a club can unite a town! Despite the results, visits from @FCHTOnline and @AFCFylde attracted thousands too the Weaver stadium and brought a real buzz and pride to the community. We hope to see the floodlights back on soon and stands full!

— Nantwich Police (@PoliceNantwich) March 20, 2020

Good luck from a Northwich Victoria fan

— jonny cook (@jonnycook08) March 20, 2020

Best wishes going forward, hopefully you come back stronger than ever. We love coming to visit you when AFC Wulfrunians haven’t got a game and will continue to do so

— WulfsAyeWe (@FansWulfs) March 20, 2020

Hopefully all of us non-league adherents will be back enjoying our football soon. Good luck, when we resume ?

— Toby Aughnotobi (@tapeyes63) March 20, 2020

✊✊✊from Chester FC.

— James Casey (@Nantwich12) March 20, 2020

All the best guys

— Dave 'Northern Monkey' Proudlove Esq. (@fslconsult) March 19, 2020