Drogheda United have confirmed they have suspended payments to their players and coaching staff.

The SSE Airtricity First Division club says they have had to take the decision in order to be best prepared when football activity in Ireland resumes.

The Premier and First Division have both been suspended, along with all football activity in Ireland until March 29th at the earliest, as the country tries to contain the spread of Coronavirus.

In a statement on Twitter, chairman Conor Hoey said: "We need to act now so that the club is financially ready to continue once the League recommences.

"We do not have any budgetary issues within the club, but this is about being prudent and planning ahead. We thank all staff and players for their understanding. We are all in this together."

Drogheda United have suspended payments to all First Team and Coaching staff given the suspension of the SSE Airtricity League.



Chairman Conor Hoey said: "We need to act now so that the club is financially ready to continue once the League recommences." pic.twitter.com/Ae7YNdJBWd — Drogheda United F.C. (@DroghedaUnited) March 16, 2020

It comes after Sligo Rovers treasurer David Rowe told Off The Ball on Saturday that some clubs could run the risk of going out of business if they do not receive financial assistance during the suspension of games.

"We all know League of Ireland clubs are delicately balanced. We have every single penny budgeted forward in terms of cash flow and, as I said, Sligo is a massive community club; we raised half a million last year in voluntary fundraising and what an incredible total for the town and county and diaspora base," he said

"We know those people are going to be affected and they can't support us to the same level. For us there are two solutions: one, there is some kind of support which seems to be what is being explored at the moment.

"That would have to come very quickly like, within the next two, three or four weeks and the other solution is some kind of temporary pause in terms of the shutdown of costs.

"Certainly, for the five or six Premier Division clubs that are in the same boat as ourselves and then first division clubs. Nobody goes on when their income is 10% [of what it was] with full costs and we can't either."

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