WHITE: WE MUST PULL TOGETHER!

DORKING Wanderers chairman Marc White believes the National League and its clubs must lobby Government to make a U-turn on their funding decision – or face the league season being cancelled altogether.

- David Richardson

The Wands were without a National League South fixture yesterday after Step 2 was suspended for two weeks following views put forward by clubs.

White has been a leading voice on off-field issues NonLeague has faced during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The latest saga over funding and testing has divided clubs among Steps 1 and 2, but White is calling for a united front on lobbying the Government to provide grant money rather than loans in order for the season to continue instead of the campaign being suspended or even cancelled and clubs using the furlough scheme which would be of greater expense to the government.

“I think the [suspension] was inevitable,” he told The NLP. “But it was at very short notice and I think they could have waited until after the weekend.

“I just hope now that everybody can get on the same side and lobby this common-sense argument that surely an £11m grant is better for the Government rather than around £14m of furlough money, and surely the National Lottery won’t expect their £10m for the initial three months to go down the drain.