This from Gateshead FC.
Gateshead Football Club can confirm our vote to null and void the 2020/21 Vanarama National League North season.
This decision has been taken with great care and is one that has been made to protect the vast array of clubs who face the real threat of going out of business should they be asked to continue the season.
We are not willing to place ourselves into further financial uncertainty and erase all of the hard work that has gone into re-building our club over the past few years.
The National League’s decision to suspend all fixtures for two weeks was one that we agreed with, however the progression on the funding for the remainder of the season that we believed to be forthcoming has not materialised in the form we were led to believe.
We must stress that we are extremely grateful for our grant of which all 66 clubs received in varying degrees from the National Lottery. However, we simply would not have started the season if we knew that we would be cast adrift come January onwards.
Our position as a full-time professional club affords us greater safety than that of semi-professional clubs, whose staff have travelled thousands of miles to fulfil fixtures without regular COVID testing taking place, while also undertaking alternative employment.
We therefore welcome The National League’s plans to introduce weekly lateral flow testing at no cost to all 66 clubs across the three divisions but believe that this is an initiative which should have been instructed in parallel with the other Elite leagues.
Continuing to fulfil our league fixtures from February 13 will undoubtedly be to the detriment of the club’s current financial state and the board will not be pressured by bank-rolled clubs into doing anything that undermines the long-term future of our community asset.
We thank all supporters, sponsors
and partners for your loyalty and unquestionable backing over the course
of the last 12 months, and look forward to welcoming you back in less
uncertain times.