Much has been made of the financial problems facing many lower League professional clubs.

It’s been said that many Non-League clubs may not survive the current pandemic, but what of football at grassroots level where many clubs literally run funding themselves week to week?

Many grassroot clubs are returning to training following guidance issued by the Football Association, but many face an uncertain future. KSN has been looking into the problems that our grassroot game could have to endure in the coming months with the help of the Chairman of Anchorians FC – Leigh Willis…

Leigh told us, “Different clubs have been affected differently on the financial side of things with relying on annual tournaments to fund their seasons ahead, but of course they haven’t been able to do that this year.”

“Others rely on sponsors to keep their club running, but again with most businesses being closed down which makes it very difficult then to get sponsors in for the following season. Others unfortunately have paid up front for all their pitch hires, facilities hires and training hires and in some cases, can’t get that money back!”

He continued, “There are those, like ourselves, who are fortunate where we don’t as we have a balance that ensures that we have a “rainy day fund” if you like, for the next season if anything does happen.”

“So we were quite fortunate with that as we haven’t paid up front for any hires which means that our outgoings at the moment are next to nothing, but we know that not everyone is in the same boat, and I think that that is probably mindful as well about when the new season could restart.”

“If there is a second wave, the last thing that any of us want is to start a new season and then have to stop it again. I think financially that could cripple some of the Leagues maybe and certainly some of the clubs – it is tough out there at the moment for some clubs, it really is!”

“We are fortunate at Anchorians and very lucky that we’ve got the pitches, we’ve got the club house and a new 3G on the way – we are very lucky, whilst a lot of clubs are still run on a shoestring budget and hand to mouth all the way through.”

“If they do monthly fee payments and collect money in from parents and they’ve had to stop all that. The last thing anyone wants to see is clubs and teams folding on a bigger scale than before as it will obviously leave the Leagues struggling for numbers and there won’t be as many in those Leagues as before if indeed they continue as it will have a knock on effect all round.”

“Not only that, kids and people aren’t being active as it’s been taken away from them and I’m afraid that I think we will see that this new season without a doubt – there will be a lot of drop off in certain areas of the game that have been growing in the past few seasons – such as the girls and ladies and disability – will probably see that growth slow if not come to an end this year.”

“But hopefully it will come back with a vengeance next year as we do have the Euros to look forward to next summer, and we all know how the interest in the game can grow if the national team do well…”

“You have to feel sorry for some clubs, but whilst you do, you have to remember that there is funding out there available. Sport England and other governing bodies have offered help to try and support these clubs – they’re coming out all the time and there’s a new one from the Football Foundation which is a fund that’s meant to help clubs get back to training, which is another great one to get them going.”

“The authorities have been running a pitch maintenance grant scheme for about a month or so now with a good amount of money available there which will help as a lot of clubs that haven’t had the time or the money to maintain their grounds.”

“As a major supermarket chain once said, “Every little helps!” The only frustration with that is potentially you could see greed coming into play where people don’t actually need the money but still apply for it – people have asked us if we’re going to apply for this and that, but we don’t need to; we’re financially fine and if we do, we would just take money away from people who do need it and that is something that I’m very mindful of that we didn’t do as we didn’t need it and that’s just not fair!”