'Pointless' - National League funding review comes under fire from independent panel

Former FA chairman David Bernstein has been leading an independent review into how the National League distributed government funds to its clubs.

In October the National League was given £10m, via the National Lottery, so that the 2020/2021 season could start behind closed doors due to no fans being allowed inside stadiums because of the pandemic.

But, much to the anger of many clubs, including Chesterfield, this money was not distributed based on gate receipt losses and a different funding formula was used which resulted in payments of between £30,000 and £95,000 being received. This meant some of the best supported clubs, such as the Spireites, did not receive as much money as they should have done.

This led to calls for the National League’s chairman, Brian Barwick, to resign. Chief executive, Mike Tattersall, has since announced he will be stepping down from the role at the end of the year.

Under pressure from clubs, the National League set up an independent review into the funding row, led by former FA chairman Bernstein, which was completed last week.

In an open letter, Bernstein said the panel is ‘profoundly disappointed’ that the National League has not yet shared their report with its clubs, expressed ‘concern’ that December’s payments will be made using the same funding method as the two previous months and said that they have ‘noted a lack of courtesy in acknowledging our efforts’.

“The funding for the period January to March 2021 will come from a different source and the terms are still to be agreed,” Bernstein added. “The panel is therefore unable to consider this period. Therefore, if as you claim, our mandate was limited only to examining this three-month period then setting up this panel was pointless.”

In response, the National League said in a statement: “The board is still seeking clarification from the panel on the content of its report, and once the board has received such further information, it will take whatever steps are necessary. Once this process is complete the full report and background information will be shared with all interested parties.”