Barnet take ‘heart-breaking’ decision to make 60 non-playing staff redundant

Non-league Barnet have put all non-playing staff on notice of redundancy as a result of the coronavirus.

Having controversially allowed matches to be played over the weekend, the National League announced on Monday that all three of its divisions would be suspended until early April due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Barnet’s trip to Yeovil was among the games that did not go ahead due to the ongoing issues and the side 11th in the National League standings have moved to cut costs.

Approximately 60 non-playing staff are being made redundant in “difficult decisions” that Bees chairman Tony Kleanthous believes were important to make sure the club “continues to survive and remains financially stable”.

“I have to be open and honest with the staff and it’s been a difficult past few days having to deliver the bad news but it’s something that had to be done,” Kleanthous said.

“I have not had time to think about plans for next season yet, but we will have to find a way to move forward based upon our current crowd attendance because existing National League rules limit any signings we can make or players’ salaries we can commit to going forward.

“The knock-on effects are of course heart-breaking for me personally as I am fully aware of how this will impact my phenomenal team of hard-working support staff across the group.”

Barnet were relegated from League Two in 2018, meaning parachute funding from the professional game for the academy will soon cease.

A club statement read: “Over the past few days, we have taken emergency measures to preserve the club and ensure it remains sustainable.

“Since relegation, we have seen a general drop in crowd attendances of 50 per cent, whilst general costs have increased resulting in operational losses of approximately £100,000 per month.

“The club budgeted for this cost in the hope of promotion but of course, at the end of April, all of our parachute funding will cease and we need to therefore make savings accordingly.

“In addition to these challenges, we have to consider the greater challenge of the impact that Covid-19 will have in the immediate and long-term future.

“In order to meet the challenges ahead of us, we will have to dismantle our existing cost structure and look to rebuild for next season with a much leaner cost base.

“We have therefore taken the difficult decision to put all Barnet FC staff on notice. This is to include all first-team coaching and backroom staff, the Barnet FC Academy and many of the operational staff across all areas of the club.

“Having previously announced that all academy funding the club receives from the EFL comes to an end at the end of this season, academy staff had already been made aware of the situation.

“Supporters will understandably want to know how this situation affects our head coach, Darren Currie.

“Darren has a long notice period within his contract and as such, should the season resume, he will remain in charge until at least the end of the season and possibly beyond.”