Head coach Darren Currie among those affected but notice on his contract means he will remain in charge if season continues
Tuesday 17 March 2020 21:39, UK
Barnet have put all of their non-playing staff on immediate notice of redundancy with 60 people set to lose their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Barnet chairman Tony Kleanthous met with all of the affected staff members on Tuesday, having been forced into the decision with no cashflow coming into the National League club.
A Barnet statement revealed the club is suffering operational losses of around £100,000 per month and that the coronavirus outbreak had provided further significant challenges.
The National League did play on for one more weekend than the Premier League and EFL, but Barnet's clash with Yeovil on Saturday was one of those which did not go ahead as four members of staff had been isolated because they were showing symptoms of coronavirus.
Barnet's parachute funding, in place since their most recent relegation from League Two, also comes to an end following the 2019/20 season.
Kleanthous said: "Our greatest concern is that within the UK and across the entire world, people are losing loved ones. Our sympathies and thoughts go out to everyone affected but right now, I have to focus my attention closer to home and look at the impact it's having on our club.
"It is my responsibility to ensure Barnet FC continues to survive and remains financially stable and therefore, I have had to make difficult decisions.
"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.
"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."
