At Urgent Questions on sport during COVID-19, Bob raised the plight of Wealdstone football club to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The club was promoted to the national league in March and funded £100,000 for ground improvements on providing ground capacity for up to 4,000. Their only income is gate receipts and bar income. Playing their first game commits them to paying players for the whole season. They are totally dependent on gate receipts and money taken at the bar and other refreshment facilities. On Saturday, they play their first game and, as a result, that initiates the contracts to pay the players for the entire the season. Given that they have no income and they have spent all that money, I asked the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to ensure that any money that is given to the national league recognises the clubs that have paid out for ground improvements and have a surety that they can pay their players during the entire the season.
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