EFL in warning for women's football over lack of government support

The chairman of the English Football League has warned the government its continued lack of support for the sport - either through allowing fans back into grounds or providing suitable financial help in their absence - will lead to league clubs closing their women's teams permanently.

Rick Parry made public a letter he sent to Culture, Media and Sport Secretary of State Oliver Dowden seeking answers as to why the government expects football to fund any rescue package itself whilst other sectors such as arts including opera and the ballet have received a £1.5 billion bailout despite being allowed to sell tickets for live events.

He also warned clubs would close their women's sides if funding is not forthcoming: "It would not be good enough to blithely state that help will be available at the point where a club is about to go out of business as by that stage it will inevitably have been hollowed out to a point where it is barely functioning at all, with its academy, community programme and, in some cases, women's teams closed for good.

"These structures have taken decades to establish and will take decades to replace. While football grounds in Rochdale, Grimsby, Mansfield and Carlisle might seem an awful long way from Glyndebourne or the Royal Ballet, they are nonetheless equally import parts of our nation's heritage.

"It must have dawned on you that it is deeply unfair that cultural institutions like these are receiving government hand-outs while also being able to generate revenues by admitting the paying public. Yet at the same time, football is told to support itself and its clubs have to play behind closed doors.