SPFL lower leagues set to kick off despite cash concerns

The 30 lower league clubs of the SPFL have told the national football governing bodies that they can start the season as planned.

But they have expressed serious concerns over their ability to complete the 2020/21 campaign unless fans can return to grounds, or additional external funding is secured.

Separate calls were held between the clubs of the Championship, League 1 and League 2 respectively on Friday afternoon.

In those crisis talks nearly every club told chiefs from the Scottish FA and the SPFL that they were ready to begin the Betfred Cup in early October and the league campaigns from the 17^th of the month onward.

But the financial picture going forward was less positive and the governing bodies were told that clubs would need a cash injection – such as a government bail-out – to see out the season if there is to be no return of supporters during the next seven months.

STV has learned that Scottish clubs are to provide evidence of how much cash they stand to lose if fans cannot attend matches, which will then form part of a dossier sent to the Scottish Government to make the case for a financial rescue package.

The administration at Holyrood has written to the UK government seeking talks over a fund to help keep sports clubs afloat.

The clubs were also asked how they would cope if they were ordered to carry out regular Coronavirus testing on players and staff in order to play.

The consensus reached was that testing would also require external funding to be paid for in most cases.