AFC Fylde lose much more than football as club closes doors says chairman David Haythornthwaite

Clubs are grappling with an uncertain future, with the Coasters’ season now over after playing their last game eight weeks ago.

One of the hot topics has been the idea of players taking wage cuts or deferrals but, as Haythornthwaite pointed out, the lack of football has hit home in other areas of the club.

Speaking to the club website, he said: “We are more than just 16 football players. There’s a manager, chief executive, marketing department, the groundsman, all the people employed in the football club and the Community Trust.

“We have a very good Community Trust. We employ 17 people and they’re all currently furloughed.

“They do an amazing amount of business in the community. One of the things we’re still doing at the moment – just to give you an idea of what the Community Trust does these days – is we’re actually teaching English to Syrian refugees.

“We have quite a successful academy and have about 90 students from all over Lancashire currently enrolled doing a BTEC.

“That’s completely closed at the moment, then we’ve got the soccer schools we put on, all the academies.

“If the whole thing was to collapse, which it will do at many clubs, then the implications are far greater than just football players.

“That’s certainly a consideration for everybody involved to think about when we’re making the tough decisions and we come back full circle into the wages thing.”

While Haythornthwaite has warned of the grim future facing clubs as a result of the pandemic, he again reiterated his commitment to the club.

As previously outlined, his financial backing is being reduced in the short-term but he explained that the Coasters have less turbulent waters to navigate than many other clubs.

He said: “It’s important to note we’re a very lucky club in many ways. We’ve built a brand new stadium, a complex – which was around £18m when it was finished – and we’re fortunate we’re totally debt-free in that business.

“We haven’t got the bank hounding us, builders hounding us or shareholders. It’s 100 per cent owned by my family, so from that point of view we haven’t got added pressure.

“What we’ve got to deal with is the actual cash-flow of running the business – the day-to-day payments.

“The majority of that comes down to wages. We’re taking steps on that.

“That is the biggest cost we’re going to have going forward and those are matters we’re currently addressing.”