Non league Brighouse Town hoping for help from higher up the football pyramid

Unfortunately, that represents the sad reality for Brighouse Town, who are coming to terms with the financial cost of the decision to end the campaign for scores of non-league clubs in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

With no home fixtures scheduled for March, Brighouse were already conscious of a gap in matchday income even before the current crisis, with their problems having now taken a wholly different and more serious complexion.

Three Northern Premier League North West Division fixtures which had been pencilled in for April have now bitten the dust, forcing the club to largely rely on the goodwill of club officials and sponsors to make ends meet.

Secretary David Parker said: “It is hand to mouth, that is the best way of describing it.

“With three home games, we have easily lost around £12,000 in income. We have no way of taking that money when we are not playing at all. You are relying on your chairman and vice-chairman and a few others.

“It is tight , but we have a good chairman in James Howard of Yorkshire Payments and a good vice-chairman in Charlie Tolley.

“I am trying to rally other members to chip a bit in here and there.

“It is not easy when your club house and ground is shut and you are not getting your footfall.”

Parker is keeping his fingers crossed that some assistance from the league and other governing bodies will help ease the burden at grass-roots level for the likes of Brighouse and countless others in what constitutes a wholly fraught time for non-league clubs.

He said: “The league are quite confident that the FA or maybe some grouping with the EFL and Premier League will be able to help us.”