Why Hartlepool United's National League season needs to start on October 3 without supporters

After spending six months in footballing limbo, there looked to be light at the end of the tunnel for National League clubs on October 3.

That was the date the 2020-21 season would finally get under way with reduced crowds set to attend.

But developments over the past week in reaction to the rapidly rising rate of coronavirus cases across the county have thrown the new season into disarray before a ball has even been kicked.

Plans for the return of spectators have been put on hold by the Government in another frustrating but understandable u-turn that could have serious repercussions for clubs across the country.

The National League have maintained that the season would not start without supporters and board members are set to meet on Thursday to discuss plans for the new season with the October 3 start date cast into serious doubt.

The division is already one club short after Macclesfield Town were wound up in court last week for debts totalling over £500,000.

And without any source of matchday income, more could soon follow.

Most clubs have gone almost seven months without any consistent revenue and further delays to the start of the season at this late stage with players signed up and contracts agreed could see several clubs go to the wall without any form of external assistance.

The Football Association confirmed in a statement that they welcome the continuation of ‘the elite game behind closed doors’ and stated that the Government have committed to provide financial support to clubs.

The vast majority of National League clubs fail to generate a profit. During the 2018-19 season, the most recent season in which full financial records are available, only three clubs (Harrogate Town, Boreham Wood and Wrexham) were able to generate a profit, but only with significant income from ticket sales.

Pools lost £860,000 over the course of that season and despite costs being cut significantly since, the club simply won’t be able to survive without any financial support or matchday income.

An average matchday at Victoria Park would see Hartlepool turnover around £20,000 in ticket sales, hospitality packages, merchandise, programme and food sales.

Pools have already sold 1,500 season tickets ahead of the new season which fans have been able to collect from the ground this week.

Should these season tickets be unable to use as advertised, the club has said: “We will establish the most appropriate way of ensuring that we comply with Government regulations and manage supporters’ expectations in good time and with full transparency.”

With crowds unable to attend matches for the start of the new season, the National League has a decision to make.

Will they go ahead with matches behind closed doors or will they push things back once again with no clear restart date for fans in sight?

Pools boss Dave Challinor told BBC Tees: “Our thought process was we played behind-closed-doors at the weekend and thought that might be a way for us to go but we were told in a manager’s zoom meeting yesterday that wouldn’t be the case.

“That if this decision was made, that we wouldn’t start."

But several fifth tier clubs have since put pressure on the National League to go ahead as planned.

In reality, any delay to the proposed start to the new season and we're plunged straight back to where we were months ago – sheer chaos.

There will be significant hurdles to overcome but starting the season now would at least provide some initial structure and allow clubs to generate revenue through live streaming and sponsorship. It’s not quite enough, but it's something.

Safety is paramount but any delay to the new season will be an indefinite one as there’s no guaranteed date for when fans will be allowed to return.

Clubs simply cannot afford to go any longer without playing a match.

After the chaos the coronavirus pandemic caused the National League last season, it would be spectacularly naive of the board to have decided on the October 3 start date back in July and not have any form of contingency plan in place should the virus threaten to derail things as it so evidently has.

Surely, with the entirely unpredictable nature of the pandemic, the National League couldn’t have spent the past two months sat back twiddling their thumbs and looking forward to the new season starting – right?

Yet with just over a week before the proposed start of the season, things remain up in the air.

Support will be required, whether that’s in the form of Government funding or BT Sport providing clubs with the means to stream their own matches live on a pay-per-view basis.

Local clubs such as Blyth Spartans and Gateshead have been able to generate tidy sums during pre-season through live streaming. A club the size of Pools could really benefit if they were able to put something similar in place.

But even if the season were to go ahead behind closed doors, the lingering threat of coronavirus would remain.

Pools have already seen with their late postponement of the Blyth friendly, how a single case can cause a significant disruption.

And given the busy start to the new season, just a few positive cases at various clubs would risk throwing the season into disarry straight away as teams will be forced to self-isolate and matches postponed.

You can only pray that won’t be the case because at this stage, starting on October 3 is our best hope.

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