WEYMOUTH chairman Paul Maitland believes non-League football clubs should be more supportive of one another in times of financial need.

The Terras diced with their own existence in August 2022 amid financial problems but have worked their way back to a healthy position some 18 months down the line.

In recognition of their past, the Terras then pledged almost £3,000 to Torquay United when the Gulls were put up for sale with administration looming.

It follows other big-name non-League clubs such as Rochdale, Scunthorpe and Nuneaton all hitting the headlines this season for monetary reasons.

READ MORE: Can football's top table do more to help non-League clubs?

But Maitland believes the football community can do more to help in emergencies without conceding an advantage to other clubs or disadvantaging themselves.

He told Echosport: “You’d like to think that clubs will support each other. The problem is, clubs will always look at it from a sporting view.

“Football is always about if you can get a leg up on someone else, you’re going to take it. There’s no doubt about it. You’ll get that from the very top down to the very bottom.

“That’s the nature of sport and goes across all sports, but clubs need to help each other where they can.

“It can’t be at the detriment of their own clubs or playing squads, but we did it with Hamworthy at the start of the season.

“To stay at Step 4 they needed a home. They couldn’t get a home anywhere else, for whatever reason. We were able to provide that for them short-term.

“Unfortunately, they couldn’t continue to financially support that because they weren’t getting the numbers to watch them. How do you attract sponsorship when you’re not even playing at your own ground and you’re only getting 50 people attend instead of 150?

“So, I think clubs need to support each other where they can, whilst keeping that sporting integrity there.

“It’s very difficult because I’m not sure you’re going to get Yeovil support Weymouth and Weymouth support Yeovil.”

Maitland also took the time to thank those that had helped in Weymouth’s hour of need, while highlighting the need for “balance” in managing fans’ expectations.

He said: “I look back at our problems, although they didn’t get the publicity they deserved at the time, there were Premier League and Football League clubs that we had financial responsibilities to that could’ve really put the pressure on us and damaged us at a time when we were really struggling.

“They chose not to do that. They chose to help us by allowing us to work a way out of our financial plight and they enabled us to put payment plans in place.

“In Bournemouth’s case, they were very good to us with the terms that they gave us a couple of players with.

“A lot of clubs that were supportive of us, were clubs that have had problems in their history. They understood it.

“There is a lot of help that goes on with non-League clubs that you don’t always hear about and see.

“Ultimately, the clubs have to make sure they run in a viable model. We all want promotion, the next level, the best players we can afford.

“But we don’t want to pay any more money than we have to. Our supporters don’t want to pay £30 to watch National League South football, but they also want the top goalscorer from the National League.

“Fans always want more, which is totally understandable. Managers always want more.

“It’s finding that balance between what we can do sustainably and what you can’t.”