The CEO of Spennymoor Town FC, Brad Groves, has been updating their supporters with the situation the club currently finds itself in.
Spennymoor, like Hereford FC, are members of the National North League. Neither club are in the play-offs.
Having spent 20 years in non-league and 11 years running Spennymoor Town, the past few months have shown me beyond all doubt that football in this country is beset by an all-consuming greed for money.
Non-league is the foundation on which English football is built and it has been allowed to crumble.
Premier League footballers can get Coronavirus tests, yet some of our friends and family members who are key workers have struggled. We have lost more than 42,000 people in this country and the only thing that seems to have gone swimmingly is Premier League Covid testing.
Meanwhile, the teams who made it into the step two play-offs are being left to foot the bill to test their players in order to take part, which has been estimated at more than £50,000.
We have not received a penny of support during the crisis from the higher levels of football. The only assistance Spennymoor Town has received from within the sport is an advance on next season’s National League North annual payment, which helps our cash flow but leaves a gap in next season’s budget.
Our creditors and partners have recognised the perilous situation non-league clubs have found themselves in and allowed us to manage payments appropriately in a collaborative manner. Seemingly, the authorities within football have not realised this. We are still expected to pay every penny of fines and other obligations in-full and on-time to maintain our position in the football pyramid. We are still expected to invest huge sums so our grounds meet guidelines to continue to progress, achieve promotion or even take part in play-offs.
Non-league clubs have been abandoned to make ends meet in a state of limbo, not knowing what league they will be in, who will be alongside them, when this season is over or next season begins.
It also speaks volumes that no governing body dared to show their hand until the Premier League had made a decision. It has been followed by a stream of uneven and confusing conclusions.
Some leagues have been decided on PPG, some have been expunged altogether. Some promotions are being honoured, some are being cancelled. Clubs like South Shields in step three feel understandably aggrieved to have finished top of the league and not been rewarded.
Meanwhile, clubs in step two who have made it into the playoffs are wondering where they will find the huge sums required just to take part. Maybe they’ll be lucky enough to receive some of the spare tests from the Championship or Premier League clubs, but that would reflect a level of concern and collaboration which has not existed so far.
From inside football, the only focus that has been visible to any of us at this level has been on getting the remaining Premier League games played in order to keep the gravy train moving. So much so that matches have been shoe-horned into a sterile, practically unwatchable format. Ironically, this week’s Premier League fixtures have been lacking the most important component in making football the nation’s favourite sport: fans.
There has been a complete absence of leadership. The FA should be making decisions on what happens in English football, not the Premier League and certainly not TV channels.
It might be more palatable if the elite money ran through the sport to promote more opportunities for all, or to make it more accessible to supporters. But the chasm just continues to widen and will keep doing so until it becomes unsurmountable. The problem has only been exacerbated by the international health crisis.
Thankfully, we have been able to access some support as a club. Thank you to Durham County Council, who have backed us with a number of grants and applications. We have also taken advantage of the government’s furlough job retention scheme, which has been a great help.
But football in England has lost its soul and I’m concerned for the future of many of its clubs. The sport needs to remember that not everybody can pay £32 for a match ticket.
Read more at: https://spennymoortownfc.co.uk/2020/06/19/ceo-update-moors-wont-forget-what-football-is-about/