GUISELEY'S joint-manager Marcus Bignot has expressed his dismay that the club felt backed into a corner by the National League last weekend, but is firmly behind the current stance to cease playing and training.

The Lions were prepared to face Boston United in the National League North on Saturday, but the game was called off due to a frozen pitch at Nethermoor.

But their stance had changed by this Tuesday's scheduled clash with Kidderminster Harriers, and they refused to partake in that one, or any subsequent fixtures, until the vote on how to conclude the rest of the season is known.

Bignot explained: "It was a difficult situation preparing for a game that might go ahead, or might not, in the middle of this important resolution.

"We felt backed into a corner and forced to play on Saturday, as there were tensions and the threat of sanctions if we didn't.

"But there's a reason the season was suspended and that's not changed. For the greater good, people are now starting to see why we can't play.

"I don't know why the voting is taking so long, because each day clubs are bleeding money.

"The sooner we come to a conclusion the better, as the way clubs are losing money at the moment is not sustainable, and we'll lose them this way.

"How can you expect teams to play on when there's no funding?

"Every single player and staff member at the club is behind the board's decision to stop training and playing for the time being.

"If we can return, we'd love to, but there's got to be grants, not loans, and safeguarding measures in place."

Bignot added: "Financially, I see it all on a smaller scale, as I'm picking up the tab for my academy.

"We've lost our sponsors and education provider due to the pandemic, as well as the money from the small number of fans we'd get through the gate at games.

"Even down to the laundry and kit costs, we've felt it financially."

Back to Guiseley, and Bignot is gutted that the pandemic has stunted the club's progress over the last few years.

He explained: "You can't really judge the league table as it stands (Guiseley sit third-bottom), as there's teams that have played half a dozen games more than others.

"For us personally though, we had real momentum at the end of last season, but with the pandemic, we lost all that.

"There was also the matter of recruitment. We'd worked really hard in our first two years to build a real nucleus to our squad but lost players we wanted to keep due to the pandemic.

"Not long ago, the club were relegated, and had massive debts. We couldn't sustain how we had been run, so we got through it by having to do things like reducing the budget.

"We had to reset then, and we're almost back to year one in the sense that we're having to reset again now.

"The debt following our relegation is still a raw memory, and we don't want to return to those dark days because of the current situation.

"This is probably hurting us deeper than most."