Gloucester City will be among the beneficiaries of £10million of funding for National League football clubs.

The National Lottery support will benefit the 66 clubs in the National League - the fifth and sixth tiers of English football.

They are playing without fans after their return was put on hold due to the rise in coronavirus cases and follows assurance from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport of emergency financial support to enable them to start the season earlier this month.

Gloucester City have made an encouraging start to the campaign, sitting top of National League North with three wins out of three following Saturday's 6-1 win over Blyth Spartans.

That comes on the back of returning to their rebuilt home at Meadow Park after playing outside Gloucester since the ground was flooded in 2007.

FA chief executive Mark Bullingham said: "The financial support is crucial as these clubs are the heartbeat of their communities and it would be a travesty if they were not able to survive.

"We have worked hard with the National League, Government and the National Lottery to make this happen and would like to thank everyone involved.

"The return of fans to stadiums remains a priority for us and we will continue to work with the Government and stakeholders across the game to reintroduce spectators in a safe way as soon as possible."

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said the £10million would help survive the period without fans.