Exclusive: Government provides bailout to National League clubs to keep them afloat and prevent them withdrawing from FA Cup

The Government will provide a coronavirus bailout to the National League, in a move that will allow it to begin on Saturday and stop North and South division clubs withdrawing from the FA Cup.

The Telegraph has been told that ministers have pledged to provide a rescue package to teams in the three divisions that could stop several of them going bust.

Full details of the package – expected to be in the form of a grant rather than a loan – are unlikely to be finalised before this weekend’s National League kick-off and FA Cup second qualifying round amid hopes it could be worth up to £20 million.

But the Government has now made clear it will underwrite losses made by clubs after forcing them to play behind closed doors by scrapping Thursday’s planned return of fans to elite football.

The uncertainty over whether it would intervene had threatened to throw the world’s oldest cup competition into chaos, with non-league clubs on the brink of withdrawal to avoid triggering player contracts that must be honoured for the rest of the campaign.

The Telegraph was told that teams were planning to begin pulling out as soon as Thursday. They included Telford United, who are scheduled to travel to Northern Premier League Division One South East Chasetown FC on Saturday.

Speaking before the Government pledge was made, club secretary Luke Shelley said: “We’ve had no confirmation from anybody that we’re having any financial support. So, therefore, we won’t be starting the season on Saturday – and that includes the FA Cup.”

Shelley said Telford’s players would need to know by Thursday night whether or not the match was taking place.

Their game is one in which it was announced fans would be able to attend – but not those of the away side.

The ruling corresponds with current Covid-19 guidelines under which spectators are banned from attending matches in the top six divisions of English football, the so-called “elite” game.

But the decision provoked ridicule, led by Corinthian-Casuals, who are scheduled to host National League South Dulwich Hamlet.

The Isthmian League Premier Division club said in a statement: “As the coronavirus is clearly clever enough to differentiate between supporters of Step 2 and 3 clubs, in their wisdom, supporters of National League clubs – which include Dulwich Hamlet – are banned from spectating. “We have held back on the sale of tickets for the time being but will unfortunately have to limit these to Corinthian-Casuals and neutral supporters only. Please do not purchase tickets if you are a supporter of Dulwich Hamlet FC as both clubs have to adhere to these rules (we cannot believe we’ve had to type that).

“We’d like to place on record that as a club, we are not in favour of this utterly baffling ruling, we believe it is wholly unnecessary and we are having to put in place these restrictions under duress.”

Other National League clubs had been desperately trying to amend player contracts on Tuesday to avoid them triggering season-long payments.

Chorley FC chief executive Terry Robinson said: “The last thing we want to do is not enter the FA Cup but we have to be careful about the future of the club.”

Some teams were planning to play come what may, with Fylde saying their player contracts had already been triggered because the club was professional.

Bradford Park Avenue director of football Martin Knight said his side had already made amendments to those contracts.

“My contracts won’t commit me to the full season if we kick the ball once,” he said.

“I think a lot of the other clubs in our league have that problem, because they didn’t make any amends to their player contracts.”