Gillingham Football Club will be eligible for government support over lost income during the Football League lockdown.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed clubs would be entitled to a range of measures which have been implemented by Westminster in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Gills, like the rest of the professional game, are heading into their second weekend without football. The English Football League (EFL) had initially set a date of April 4 for a resumption of play but that looks unlikely.

Gillingham, who employ around 300 staff, have already seen one home game postponed and others are set to follow while moves to stop the spread of covid-19 are stepped up.

The Chancellor was answering a question in parliament put to him by MP for Gillingham and Rainham Rehman Chishti.

Speaking yesterday in the Commons, Mr Chishti said: “I very much welcome the statement by the Chancellor and all that the government is doing to support individuals and businesses in my constituency.

“A specific point for the Chancellor that has been raised with me by the chairman of Gillingham Football Club, a Division 1 [League 1] football club, and also covering Division 2 [League 2] a lot of those matches for those clubs are postponed and they rely on matchday income to support them.

“Can the Chancellor say what can be done to work with those smaller football clubs and organisations to make sure that their HMRC payments are dealt with adequately and that they are given soft loans over a certain period of time to make sure that they can get through these challenging and difficult circumstances.”

In response, Mr Sunak said: “I tell my honourable friend that Gillingham Football Club, like many others, will be eligible for the business rates relief measures and grants that I’ve announced today.

“With regard to HMRC, we activated time to pay last week, there are now 2,000 specific, dedicated HMRC officers ready to take the calls of businesses like Gillingham Football Club to provide exactly what he suggested, a deferral for their tax payments and an agreed schedule to pay them back.”

Mr Chishti was at Priestfield Stadium on Wednesday to meet with Gills chairman Paul Scally for “discussions on further specific support needed”.

The Gills are currently closed for a week, with only senior staff members at the club. The players trained on Monday but were then sent home for the rest of the week.

National League side Barnet announced on Tuesday they were putting all non-playing staff on notice, including all first team coaching and backroom members.

Their chairman Tony Kleanthous said: “It is my responsibility to ensure Barnet FC continues to survive and remains financially stable and therefore, I have had to make difficult decisions.”

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