Coronavirus: Barnet put non-playing staff on notice of redundancy
- Published
Barnet share their ground, The Hive, with London Bees and Tottenham Hotspur Women
National League club Barnet have placed all non-playing staff on notice in "emergency measures to preserve the club" amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The move includes head coach Darren Currie, but Barnet say he has a "long notice period" and will remain in charge if the 2019-20 season resumes.
The National League suspended all matches on Monday to at least 3 April.
Barnet are 11th in England's fifth tier, four points off a play-off place with four games in hand on some rivals.
A club statement on Tuesday did not specifically mention whether or not their affiliated Women's Championship club, London Bees, would be impacted.
The statement said: "Since relegation (from the English Football League), we have seen a general drop in crowd attendances of 50%, whilst general costs have increased resulting in operational losses of approximately £100,000 per month.
"The club budgeted for this cost in the hope of promotion but of course, at the end of April, all of our parachute funding will cease and we need to therefore make savings accordingly.
"In addition to these challenges, we have to consider the greater challenge of the impact that Covid-19 will have in the immediate and long-term future.
"In order to meet the challenges ahead of us, we will have to dismantle our existing cost structure and look to rebuild for next season with a much leaner cost base.
"We have therefore taken the difficult decision to put all Barnet FC staff on notice. This is to include all first-team coaching and backroom staff, the Barnet FC Academy and many of the operational staff across all areas of the club.
"Supporters will understandably want to know how this situation affects our head coach, Darren Currie. Darren has a long notice period within his contract and as such, should the season resume, he will remain in charge until at least the end of the season and possibly beyond."
Chairman Tony Kleanthous added: "Our greatest concern is that within the UK and across the entire world, people are losing loved ones.
"Our sympathies and thoughts go out to everyone affected but right now, I have to focus my attention closer to home and look at the impact it's having on our club.
"It is my responsibility to ensure Barnet FC continues to survive and remains financially stable and therefore, I have had to make difficult decisions."
National League contacts clubs over finances
The National League has written to all its clubs asking them to disclose how much money they could lose over the coming months after football was shut down because of coronavirus.
The letter, seen by BBC Sport, seeks clubs to disclose cashflows and lost income until June because "it is already apparent that football at any level is unlikely to resume immediately after 3 April".
It also includes a questionnaire asking if there are any issues regarding the employment and registration of players, rules and regulations and business operational issues.
The league has already contacted the FA regarding the financial impact of suspending football matches and now "urgently needs feedback from clubs in order to estimate this impact".
The letter also says the FA has been in touch with the government about what the league describes as "unprecedented business issues" and urges clubs to contact HMRC regarding the possibility of deferring any tax payments because of hardship.
On Tuesday, National League North club Southport said they had received a donation of £10,000 from supporter Paul Newnham, whose local garden maintenance company have helped sponsor the club recently, to help the club "through the next two months of uncertainty".
Boreham Wood chairman calls for more Government guidance
Earlier on Tuesday, the chairman of fellow National League club Boreham Wood, Danny Hunter, criticised what he perceived as a lack of clarity from the government around the virus.
In a statement, Hunter said: "I've listened intently to every piece of advice given by government, I've followed every piece of advice from every health authority and in truth we are getting no clear instruction or leadership.
"What does the government regard as social massing numbers - is it 50, is it 100, is it 200?
"If I get no guidance in the next day or so, I'll have to make my own mind up based on what I read, what I hear, on common sense.
"If we cannot get any clear leadership from government, then I will have to make incredibly tough decisions that will affect people's jobs and people's lives."