'We could lose £100,000 from four key games with no fans' - Ballymena chairman John Taggart

Ballymena United chairman John Taggart has warned that his club would miss out on £100,000 from just four key games if supporters are not able to attend.

Taggart told Sportsound that would be the loss in revenue from home Irish Premiership fixtures against teams such as Linfield, Coleraine and Larne.

The league season is due to start on 17 October and it is unclear how many fans will be allowed to be in the stadiums.

"Club chairmen are always sitting down with the calculator," Taggart said.

"Our first home game of the season is against Linfield and we will probably be down £20,000 or £25,000 in that one. The Boxing Day derby is the big day for everyone and that will be a similar loss.

"There would be a second Linfield or Coleraine game at home during the season, similar loss again. Add those up, with a Larne game as well, then all of a sudden you could come to a figure of £100,000 in four games."

Taggart was joined on Sportsound by his Cliftonville counterpart Gerard Lawlor, who his week warned that some Irish Premiership clubs risk going out of business due to the financial pressures placed on them by the Covid-19 restrictions.

Lawlor said a major challenge for clubs was that different local councils were giving different guidance to clubs in terms of what percentage of their stadium capacity they will be allowed to have at matches.

It is a point Taggart agreed with, adding that he fears that the current percentages will have fallen by the time the Premiership campaign kicks off in a fortnight.

"The safety certificate figure for Ballymena Showgrounds is 3,700 allowed in the ground during normal times," Taggart explained.

"The last figure we received from Mid and East Antrim Council was 981 [fans who would be allowed to attend]. I suspect that that will move back as the week progresses.

"I think that that was calculated on social distancing of one metre, if that moves out to two meters then we would fall back to 600 supporters or thereabouts."

That would mean Ballymena would have to use both sides of the stadium for their own supporters, therefore there would not be room for an away following.

"Football is such that, for the atmosphere, you want the away fans in. It is disappointing that we can't, but the simple fact is it is about survival," he added.

"That survival is now governed by how many of your own fans you can get into the ground safely."

In contrast to Mid and East Antrim Council, Lawlor said that Belfast City Council is allowing 12% of ground capacity to attend.

He said that would mean that Cliftonville would be allowed 360 fans into their Solitude stadium in north Belfast for matches, something which Lawlor described as "unsustainable".

On a more positive note, Lawlor added that the Northern Ireland Football League is engaging with the Government and that he is hopeful that clubs could soon receive some financial assistance.

"Up to now, the signs are good. We have had fair hearings and there has been a lot of support mentioned," he said.

"There is a business case to go to the Executive. I hope I am not made to regret this comment, but I am hopeful that financial help will be made available to our clubs. I am confident of that."