THE decision to start the JD Cymru Premier season behind closed doors will devastate club finances.

Newtown Football Club chairman Howard Ellis warned for every home fixture without supporters his club would lose a minimum of £4,000.

Today (Friday) the Football Association of Wales (FAW) confirmed supporters would not be permitted to attend matches when the season starts on September 11 while the rest of the leagues across Wales remain in limbo over the start of next season.

Ellis said: "The club is very disappointed by the Football Association of Wales' decision.

"We would have preferred the season start only when we can permit fans to the ground otherwise it will cost the club financially.

"If we have home games we will not make any money through sponsorship, on the gate, in the clubhouse, in the tea hut or selling club merchandise.

"Yet we will still have costs to pay and we fear this decision could cost us around £4,000 per home match."

Ellis pointed to the situation in England where clubs in the Northern Premier League and Southern Premier League have been granted permission to welcome supporters from the start of next season.

"Clubs in the English non league at that level are averaging more supporters than most Welsh Premier clubs yet they are allowed to have fans and clubs in Wales cannot. It just makes no sense."

The club chairman also insisted the new rules made no sense with indoor casinos opening up for the public but outdoor sports facilities still barred from admitting supporters.

"Look at Latham Park, we could quite easily police social distancing and ensure hygiene regulations are followed."

Meanwhile the start of the season is now just three weeks away and Ellis insisted his club and majority of the league clubs would be at a disadvantage compared to the quartet of clubs representing Wales in Europe this summer.

"TNS, Connah's Quay, Barry Town United and Bala Town have all been in training for a month and had friendlies against each other.

"The other eight clubs in the league will now have a three week pre-season in comparison."

Ellis hoped the fixture list would be friendly to his club with the chairman praying his side were not given too many home matches before fans were permitted into games.

"We are genuinely concerned we may end up having massive costs to pay if we have two or three home games without any income," he said.