Paying The Dues

Three clubs have failed to pay their players and staff in the past week leading to further doubt about their futures.

At Northern Premier League side Ilkeston FC, 14 points inside the relegation zone, club captain Matt Baker took to a fans forum to state that many of the players refused to play in yesterday's game at Workington after being unpaid for several months, causing the match to be postponed.

The club were only formed in 2010 after the demise of Ilkeston Town, then of National North, who went bust in September 2010 due to a £47,000 tax bill. They restarted at Step 4, winning promotion in front of over 1,600 supporters in the first season but gates have tumbled over the last 12 months as the club intensified its focus on an Academy structure, with much of their first team teenagers on full time deals.

An average of 300 through the doors this season is just two thirds of last season's number, which had remained largely static since their promotion. The league will now seek assurances that the club will fulfill the remaining fixtures with a long hoped-for takeover still seemingly no closer.

Meanwhile Morecambe's players and staff have found their wages delayed for a third time this season. The club's owner, or at least the one currently having the strongest claim to ownership, says an 'international money transfer' was delayed leading to the failure to pay. The club's players responded on Saturday with a 3-1 loss at Cheltenham as they sunk to within 10 points of the relegation zone, albeit with only six games remaining.

Elsewhere, Leyton Orient's failure to pay saw another manager out of the door. Danny Webb, who started as the youth team manager but found himself in charge of the first team after a succession of walk outs, has made way for his assistant, Omer Riza.

Since beating fellow relegation favourite Newport 4-0, the club have lost five successive games with just one goal scored and now face the prospect of relegation by Easter Monday.