The Next Step

Clubs from the Highland League to the Western League have had to quickly find new ways of raising money and many have been successful in their aims, getting together the cash needed to get themselves through to what would normally be the end of the season and in some sort of shape for the summer, usually a lean time anyway in terms of money coming in.

Just this week I have seen tweets from Melksham Town and Tooting & Mitcham United thanking supporters for meeting their fundraising target, a succesful afternoon for Workington AFC's 'live' screening of a 1958 FA Cup tie and many more good news stories.

The great unknown, of course, is when the 2020/21 season lower down the leagues will actually begin, what format it will take if it does and whether supporters will be allowed in to watch games if they do take place.

At the moment in England, with the Premier League due to re-start on 17 June, the Championship and potentially League One to follow, the focus is all on the top level of the game and there is precious little information about what will happen lower down.

In Scotland, although the move to end the SPFL season was done in a shambolic way it has allowed thoughts to turn to when the new season will begin and allow some hope in the lower leagues that there will be a 2020/21 campaign after all.

Northern Premier League chairman Mark Harris wrote an excellent article in last weekend's Non-League Paper about what the future holds and making it clear that the solutions will have to come from within as he warned: 'only the most naïve would truly believe that the professional game would act in tandem with Non-League.'

Whatever the next step entails I'm sure that clubs will approach it with the same sense of determination and innovation that they have shown so far.

Game of the Week: Workington versus Manchester United

There have been some fantastic fund-raising initiatives across football over the past couple of months, generating much-needed income for clubs and also for good causes within local communities.

Many different approaches have been tried, from direct appeals for donations to virtual matchdays and all points in between and with potentially many more months of inactivity to come then goodwill and creativity will be needed in abundance if the worst-case scenario of clubs folding is to be avoided.

And that sums up nicely an idea from Workington AFC to show, on YouTube Live at 3pm on Saturday 30 May, the biggest ever game in the club’s history when the Busby Babes of Manchester United came to Borough Park for an FA Cup 3rd Round tie in January 1958 and a crowd of 21,500 watched a win for the Reds just over a month before the Munich Air Disaster.

That attendance figure is what Workington are looking to beat in terms of ticket sales for the broadcast and a minimum donation of just £2 will secure your virtual spot on the terraces with 25% of the net profits raised also going to NHS charities.

The club's twitter page has all the build-up to the game.

Football for a Fiver and an Unlikely JPT Sell-Out

Coventry City's run to the area final of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy in the 2012/13 season came at a very strange time in the history of the Sky Blues.

It was their first season since relegation from the Championship and a first back in the third tier of English football since the days of Jimmy Hill.

Andy Thorn had stayed on as manager despite the drop but would only last two games of the new League One season while popular former player Richard Shaw had unfortunately overseen a fairly disastrous period in caretaker charge before Mark Robins was appointed as the new boss.

Off the field things were little better with owners SISU increasingly unpopular.

In the JPT, having beaten Burton Albion in an epic penalty shoot-out and then eased to victory at Bootham Crescent, Coventry took on Sheffield United in the area quarter-final in early December.

Mark Robins' changes were slowly taking effect and the Sky Blues were becoming a more potent force in attack thanks to the goals of loanee David McGoldrick.

Tickets for all areas of the Ricoh Arena were priced at £5 and more than 10,000 took advantage to watch a close tie settled by another shoot-out in Coventry's favour and set up a new year home area semi-final with Preston North End.

Once again it was football for a fiver and this time over 12,000 were in attendance and hopefully the majority of them stayed until the end to watch a dramatic conclusion with two goals for the hosts in injury time turning around a 2-1 deficit.

All of this was in the context of league attendances that averaged just under 11,000 across the season and ever-more ominous rumours that a rent row between SISU and the owners of the Ricoh Arena would see the club leave Coventry at the end of the campaign.

The area final of the JPT paired City with Crewe Alexandra over two legs and the club, to their credit, again offered all tickets at £5.

A first Wembley appearance since 1987's Charity Shield galvanised the city and ticket sales grew on a daily basis to the point that 31,054, just shy of the record attendance for a Coventry game at the stadium, filled the Ricoh Arena in expectation.

What happened next? 

A deflating 3-0 defeat for the hosts told less than half of the story. 

Robins left for Huddersfield before a second-leg that saw City nearly, but not quite, pull back the deficit, a 10-point deduction for entering administration was imposed by the Football League and it was announced that Coventry would be playing their 'home' matches in Northampton the following season.

From hope to despair in the space of a few weeks.

Update - Matlock Town & Rhyl FC

Two clubs who have featured on these pages in the past month or so have had some positive news since then.

Matlock Town's fundraising appeal was going along nicely enough but received a huge boost when Hollywood film producer Robert Molloy, grandson of the former owner of the New York Yankees, made a £3,500 donation and was offered a vice-president's role at the club.

Sunday's The Non-League Paper also reported on further donations from Molloy to Wirksworth Ivanhoe, Denton Town and Northern League club Willington.

Progress is also being made on a phoenix club to take on the mantle of Rhyl FC after their recent demise...

New club update:
✅New Welsh supporter & community vision
✅ 5 year strategic aims and plan ✅ New draft club constitution & bank account
✅ Liaising with @FansRhyl to agree new club name
✅ Forming new club committee
✅ Conversations continue on new home ground for next season pic.twitter.com/Cjh250qdkK

— Rhyl Football Club 2020 (@rhylfc) May 9, 2020

Barcelona to Buckie Thistle

This would usually be a busy time on the blog and, especially, on twitter with lots of clubs signing off the season with free admission or ‘pay what you want’, finalising pre-season plans for the summer and also selling season tickets for 2020/21.

Almost all of that is on hold, of course, so it has been a time to catch up on some reading, The Non-League Paper providing an invaluable weekly source of information and When Saturday Comes continuing to delve into areas of the game that others miss.

I’ve also recently finished ‘Barcelona to Buckie Thistle - Exploring Football's Roads Less Travelled,’ the third book from author Mat Guy and one which takes the Highland League as its core theme while also shedding light on the football culture that exists in some of Europe’s smallest nations, from the Faeroe Islands to Andorra.

Mat has been kind enough to answer a few questions from Affordable Football. He can be found on twitter and his new book, published by Luath Press is available from Waterstones.

Mat, can you tell us a little about your new book, ‘Barcelona to Buckie Thistle’ and your inspiration for writing it?

Barcelona to Buckie Thistle: Exploring Football’s Roads Less Travelled tries to prove the premise that every football institution, be it large or small, is a precious thing. The sense of belonging, identity, and meaning found by the supporters of clubs in the Highland league in Scotland or The Primera Divisio in Andorra is just as powerful as it is with the supporters of the world’s biggest teams.

It aims to be a celebration of all that is great about football away from the television cameras. That football in the Faroes, San Marino, or up in Wick and Fort William is a vibrant and exciting experience. I hope that the book shines a light on these places and proves that they deserve to be on everyone’s bucket lists along with Camp Nou or the San Siro.

The inspiration for the book came when someone at a book signing told me that writing about the Highland League would be ‘a waste of time’. That the league was ‘not worth the bother’. It was a red rag to someone like me, who prefers the lower leagues and lesser lights of the beautiful game. Personally, I have found such a rich vein of amazing stories, people, clubs and nations that I no longer have the time to watch the Premier League!

Was your close family connection to the Highlands one of the reasons why you wanted to explore the area’s football scene a little more closely?

I knew I had a family connection – my grandmother was born in Aberdeen and had lived a nomadic childhood between Inverness and the granite city – but she never spoke of her life up there. It was extremely moving to learn about her life as I travelled around the Highland League. A journey of discovery on two fronts that took me to some unexpected places and some mind-blowing revelations!

The Highland League has been quietly doing what it does for many years now and you clearly found with many of the clubs you visited that they were a really important part of the towns and communities they served?

These teams are the lifeblood of the communities they serve. One is ingrained in the other and has been that way, in some instances, for more than 125 years. Winning is important but being a focal point for friends to gather on a Saturday afternoon is more so. That said, it is also a league of great skill and endeavour, proudly representing some of the most remote places on mainland Britain. I’ve yet to see a poor game in the Highland League.

Do you see the Highland League managing to cope with the gradual loss of teams such as Cove Rangers to the SPFL and being able to bring in new teams from the other leagues in the area.

In the past the league has lost Peterhead, Elgin City, Ross County, as well as Inverness Thistle and Inverness Caledonian when they merged to form Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Every time, new clubs have stepped up to keep the league vibrant and competitive. With the loss of Cove, it opened the door for Brora Rangers, Inverurie Loco Works, Buckie Thistle, Fraserburgh and the like to take centre stage. Football is such a passion up there, and there are some very good teams still in Junior football like Banks O’Dee. There is more than enough to keep the league at the top of its game.

Which club in the area left the biggest impression on you?

Fort William and Wick Academy stood out. They are the two most remote teams in the league and have to overcome even more than their counterparts. Both are amazing communities who love their team and are so friendly and welcoming. I can’t wait to get back up to both, as well as some of the teams I’ve yet to visit, as soon as I can

Looking at the international part of the book, you found a passion for the game amongst the players in Liechtenstein, San Marino and Andorra but was it the Faeroe Islands where you really found a football culture?

I think the football culture in the Faroes is more akin to what we understand that to be. Face-painted ultras, choreographed songs and dances, drums and the like. But I think the football cultures of Liechtenstein, Andorra, and San Marino are just as fascinating and captivating because they are different to the norm.

In Liechtenstein they are quite reserved and quiet – but don’t let that fool you into thinking they don’t care. Their football culture is born out of facing down Alpine snowstorms and bone chilling temperatures to support their nation. A goal for Liechtenstein is an event to cherish and savour. It just doesn’t come with all the flares and whatever. But I found it to be every bit as humbling to experience the Liechtenstein national anthem, to see a team fight for their flag just as you would find at Wembley or Hampden.

It’s really refreshing to see the way other nations consume their football – and how that is interpreted on the terraces and stands. Variety is the spice of life, and I’m so glad that they do things their way.

You are very enthusiastic about the Nations League and the benefits of regular competitive football for the smaller nations. Do you worry that the big clubs and leagues will use the current crisis to try and squeeze the international calendar?

I think the Nations league is here to stay. It serves a purpose for those at the top and bottom. For me it is the best football tournament in the world! Where else could you watch European minnows playing one another? I was so excited for this second edition of the Nations league. I had a notion to return to Liechtenstein and Andorra. Sadly, I think we will lose this 2020 edition, but I have no doubt, when equilibrium returns to the football calendar that it will too. It is such a fascinating concept, and its great to see other confederations going down the same route.

On your web page it says you write for the Gibraltar national team’s matchday programme. How did that come about?

My reputation for loving the more obscure corners of the beautiful game flagged my name to the producers of the Gibraltar programme. I loved getting random emails asking for 500 words on the Estonian or Armenian national team and their history! I just loved doing the research, and then seeing my work in an international programme. I’m never asked to write about Italy or Spain, just Liechtenstein and Georgia – and I am perfectly fine with that!

When you are not travelling to football around the globe where can you normally be found on a Saturday afternoon?

I love a trip up to Accrington Stanley. But closer to home its Salisbury and Blackfield and Langley in the Southern League

And where’s next on your list? Is there a particular ground or country that you really would like to see?

In a perfect world where money is no object I would love to watch the Oceania World Cup qualifying groups with the likes of Tonga, Fiji and American Samoa. I’d also love to go back to Bhutan in the Himalayas, and I’d like to visit Palestine to watch an international game.

More realistically, I’d love to write something on the Highland Amateur Cup, which is a competition run through the summer, where teams from Shetland, the Orkneys, the Outer Hebrides, as well as other remote points in the far north. I hear some teams travel by trawler to away fixtures. Now that sounds like my cup of tea!

Women’s Game Faces Crisis of Visibility and Funding

Jonathan Liew in the New Statesman recently wrote about the impending problems facing all women’s sport, not just football, as the focus since the worldwide lockdown has been almost exclusively on men’s elite sport and when that will resume.

He commented: 'already there are signs that in what may prove a  necessary economic battle between preserving the most lucrative men’s sport and investing time and patience in women’s sport, there would be one clear winner.'

A report, from Fifpro, the global footballer's union, meanwhile, highlighted the 'existential threat' facing women's football.

The cancellation of The Hundred, the new cricket competition scheduled for launch this summer, was not universally lamented amongst cricket supporters but some interesting social media posts from some of the women set to take part made it clear that, for them, the new tournament was the difference being able to work as professional cricketers and potentially having to give up the sport altogether.

Closer to the theme of this blog, the FA’s decision to void the season below National League level in the men’s game was replicated below the top two tiers of the women’s game.

That meant the campaign in the FA Women’s National League (WNL) was ended along with any hopes of promotion for those teams at the top end of the Northern and Southern divisions.

As with so many decisions taken in the women’s game over the last few years it seems that the main focus is creating and preserving a professional league that is almost entirely separate from the leagues below it.

The FA WNL is a vibrant competition which is home to many different types of club, those associated with men’s teams and those which have been in existence for many years in their own right.

In terms of finances, many of these clubs will not have some of the fixed costs (wages, ground maintenance etc) that have seen many men’s teams launch fundraising appeals but that in no way lessens the potential impact of the current crisis and potentially makes it easier for them to be jettisoned.

AFC Fylde have already announced a withdrawal of funding for their women’s team (reportedly with the coaching staff at the club being given just 15 minutes notice).

But the FA Women’s Super League and Championship will not be without their own issues with many clubs being part of a wider football division where the priority, at present, seems to be the playing out of the men’s season at almost any cost.

Although promises have been made about funding being maintained, by both the FA and FIFA, the priorities are clear. For example it was almost automatically assumed that the Euro 2021 tournament scheduled for England next summer would be moved as soon as Euro 2020 was put back a year.

England Women’s matches, the Women’s FA Cup Final and top FA WSL games provide an affordable, family-friendly experience and a way into the game for many people.

Without those the women’s game further down the levels faces a struggle for visibility as well as finance over the next few years.