TAXPAYERS to bail out struggling non-league football teams as government launches £20million Covid rescue package – while mega-rich Premier League clubs refuse to help out
- Clubs in non-league will be handed a £20m bail-out from the Government
- National League clubs feared closure after the government banned fans
- Premier League clubs have already splashed out £1.1BILLION on transfers in this transfer window but have not responded to pleas to help out smaller clubs
- The Premier League's total wage bill is a staggering £3.2billion
- Fans are furious that taxpayer cash - rather than Premier League riches - are being used to help the struggling clubs
- Government also wants to hear from individual clubs in other sports to

The controversial £20m handout will mean the three leagues - the National League, the National League North and the National League South - can start their seasons this weekend.
Many of the 67 clubs faced financial ruin without the match day revenue they rely on after the Government announced fans would not be allowed into stadiums from October 1 as had been planned.
But the clubs have now been told the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is working on a package of support to cover 'essential lost revenue' so the season can start.
The handout was confirmed today in the House of Commons by Nigel Huddleston MP, the Digital, Culture and Sport Minister.
He said clubs were the 'heartbeats of their communities' and said the government has no choice but to shelve the return of fans.
'We've had constructive discussions with the Premier League and EFL about their role. It is fair that those with the broadest shoulders share the burden, and they accept that'.
Football has been one of many sports begging the Government for financial aid in recent months. But many believe wealthier clubs should be stepping in to help smaller, struggling teams, rather than the taxpayer.
The handout for the National League comes after Chancellor Rishi Sunak last week unveiled his latest business bailout which economists estimated could cost £5bn, potentially taking the total of the Government's Covid-19 support to £200bn.
Meanwhile, official statistics published last week showed the UK's public sector debt continues to climb above £2 trillion - a record high.
The Government is therefore likely to face intense scrutiny over its decision to further add to the coronavirus bill by paying out £20m to lower league teams especially after Premier League clubs splashed out £1.1bn on transfers in the current transfer window.
There has been a deafening silence from the top clubs when lower level clubs - both in the EFL and further down the football pyramid - have asked for financial help during the unprecedented crisis.
While some clubs are sceptical about providing EFL clubs with a handout, others — primarily the smaller clubs — are far more sympathetic.
There is a growing acceptance that top-flight clubs will have to inject cash into the EFL to keep several teams afloat, knowing that not doing so will have grave consequences and will damage the Premier League's image.
Some club officials want to avoid a scenario where it appears they are offering financial support under duress; or, even worse, not giving them any money at all.
There is a belief that the Government are reluctant to include the Premier League and EFL in a financial relief fund for UK sport after plans to reintroduce fans were scrapped on Tuesday.

National League clubs are to receive government funding to allow their season to commence. But they will play in empty stadiums rather than in front of fans (above at Halifax)While news of the bail-out was welcomed by employees and supporters of non-league clubs, others felt it was not the duty of the British taxpayer to fit the bill to help these teams.
'Its almost like the govt doesn't expect to get any of this money back or repay their enormous borrowings back,’ one critical fan wrote on Twitter.
'Think they've forgotten whose money they are giving away, it's not govts money, it's our money, the British taxpayers.’
Twitter account, The Away Section, which focuses on supporters at the grass-roots level, was equally scathing, insisting the £20m would be ‘paid back in the long term’.
They wrote: What a waste of money - nothing to celebrate really. On one hand its good clubs will get this crisis softened but there really is no sense in this??. Plus govt's don't give money away for free - don't believe that. We will all pay in the long term.'
Another called on non-league fans to take a stand against the Premier League as it is the government, not the 20 top-flight teams, providing the cash to ease the financial worries of teams at step five and six in English football.
'If the Premier League decide they can’t spare some change for the National League clubs, I hope all Non League fans respond by cancelling their TV subscriptions to the sports channels,’ he wrote.
Yet Brighton chief executive Paul Barber, speaking today on Radio 5 Live, said it was unreasonable to demand Premier League clubs riude to the rescue while they, too, were suffering from the absence of fans.
'We're being asked to support the football pyramid, but what we're asking for is to be able to sustain our own businesses to put us in a better position to be able to do that,' he said.

One fan described how the Dias money could have funded the entire lower league for a year

In a show of defiance, a non-league fan called on supporters to boycott sport TV subscriptions

The reaction to the news was not all positive as one user felt it was not the responsibility of the British taxpayer to step up and bail-out clubs operating in non-league

The Away Section described the Government bail-out as a 'waste of money' long term

Manchester City's £64m signing of Ruben Dias left non-league fans irritated that Premier League clubs have not offered money to help clubs lower down the football pyramid
Earlier this week a letter co-signed by 17 individuals including former Football Association chairmen Greg Dyke and Lord Triesman and BBC and BT Sport pundit Robbie Savage and 10 MPs said help was urgently needed to ward off the threat of financial collapse.
The letter, sent to Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden warned: 'Without any plans being made to rescue clubs, many in the EFL and others in the National League as well, are now actively preparing to make all but essential staff redundant, cease playing, close down their youth academies and community foundations, and put their business into administration,' the letter warns.


BBC and BT Sport pundit Robbie Savage (left) and former FA chief Greg Dyke (right) both signed the letter with clubs in the EFL standing to lose £200m without crowds this season
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