SPORT Secretary Nigel Huddleston has said National League clubs’ belief that continued Government support would arrive as grants can be put down to a “regrettable misunderstanding”.

In a letter to a constituent, Huddleston said the National League failed to confirm the nature of continued Government support before communicating with its member clubs.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport never told the league that funds would come as grants and not loans, Huddleston said.

To get the competition off the ground in October, the 66 clubs at Steps 1 and 2 received a £10million grant from the National Lottery. Further funding has been confirmed as part of the Sports Winter Survival Package, which covers 12 sports and will be composed largely of loans.

A number of National League clubs have said they would not have started the season had they known that was to be the case.

“At no stage was the National League told by DCMS that its support would only be in the form of grants,” the letter reads.

“I understand that some National League clubs say they only agreed to start the season on the basis that the National League chose to communicate this to clubs without first clarifying the nature of the support with DCMS. This appears to be a regrettable misunderstanding but DCMS cannot be held responsible for internal communications between a governing body and its clubs.

“An offer of grants, where loans could be afforded, would be inconsistent with support offered to other sports. All applicants across all sports will need to demonstrate there is the financial need to ensure their survival and they are approaching the Government as a last resort. Where organisations are able to repay that support then that is the expectation.”