English football club not paying players due to Brexit

English football club Macclesfield Town is not paying its players and is claiming Brexit is hindering payments.

In October, club lawyer Niall McCulloch told BBC they were awaiting "international payments", with Brexit having "some impact".

We are not sure how the prospect of Brexit is supposed to prevent Macclesfield Town from paying its players. But the club is in financial trouble off the pitch as it owed £180,000 to HM Revenue & Customs and managed to get a winding up petition against it adjourned until early December.

The first team players of the club are currently on strike and said they will not train or play in matches if they are not paid.

This led to Macclesfield actually playing an FA Cup match against non-league side Kingstonian without the first team. It fielded youth players and players loaned from other clubs. The first team players watched from the stands as the Macclesfield second-stringers got thrashed 4-0 by the lower club.

The first team players have spoken to the media about cancelling their contracts and finding other clubs.

Another football club, Bury, presents a worst-case scenario for Macclesfield Town if they cannot extricate themselves from their financial problems – Bury was expelled from the English Football League in August after its financial collapse and a failed takeover. It is the first club in 27 years to be expelled from the football league since Maidstone in 1992 for bankruptcy.

The shadow of Brexit has led to uncertainty among businesses and this can cause bigger businesses to pay their smaller suppliers late. We believe that even though Brexit has yet to occur, the sentiment and emotions it causes can possibly lead to late payments. Or as a potential excuse for a UK-based company to not pay its suppliers.