There are three issues for me: a) the question of whether the current level of payer payments in "amateur" football is sustainable financially;
a) No
That's increasingly becoming apparent at National League level, and will probably trickle down to NRFL/Central/SI level soon.
I'm distressed to see some people suggesting that the solution is to abolish the National League rather than cut out shamateurism.
The clubs and league are amateur, there is no such thing as semi-professional. It has been misused as a description. There is two types of professional leagues, there is fully professional where every player is paid and the amount is enough for them to live on and just play and train and then there is professional which is more what the National League is doing without admitting the payments. This is where players are paid but not every player maybe paid and/or there is no set minimum etc, it is also unlikely to be enough for the player to just play football and will likely have a second income/job.
Can't find league definitions but for a player https://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/admi...
Page 8, Article 2 Status of players: amateur and professional players
1. Players participating in organised football are either amateurs or professionals.
2. A professional is a player who has a written contract with a club and is paid more for his footballing activity than the expenses he effectively incurs. All other players are considered to be amateurs.