Chesterfield set to find out vital funding decision next week

An initial 19 National League clubs are set to be offered loan packages of up to £5.4m, the government announced on Saturday.

The clubs are in Step one (National League) and step two (National League North and National League South).

Clubs will be notified of their individual decisions early next week.

Clubs in step one will also receive free Covid-19 testing kits from the government.

Submissions for funding have been made to an independent decision-making board, supported by Sport England.

This week it was announced that step one of the National League will continue following a vote by clubs but step two will be made null and void.

However, some clubs in step two have still applied for funding to see them through to the start of next season.

The vote was held after it emerged funding for the rest of the season would come in loans and not grants.

Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, said: “We are committed to helping our treasured sports through these challenging times. And today’s announcement is more evidence of our support for them.”

On testing, he added: “We promised to support our national sporting life when we had to postpone the return of fans. Once again, we are doing just that. These free testing kits will help ensure the health and safety of elite athletes in competition remains paramount and mean resources can be focused on protecting the future of sports as we recover from the pandemic.”