Inevitable ending to memorable Mariners season
IN January, Crosby was cast under the spotlight: Premier League Tottenham Hotspur were in town and Marine AFC became somewhat of a household name.
Two months on from their outstanding run in the FA Cup, Marine’s Northern Premier League season was confirmed as coming to a premature end for the second year in succession.
The results of a survey showed that over 76% of all clubs across Steps 3-6 indicated a preference to curtail the 2020-21 league season if it could not be restarted with limited spectator numbers and hospitality before 1 April 2021.
For Mariners boss Neil Young, the decision was a disappointing inevitability.
The club had found themselves in sixth place, one point outside the play-offs – but it had been evident for some time that finishing the campaign would be nigh on impossible.
Neil Young
“I think it’s something we’d have rather avoided, you know. But, overall, it is what it is,” he said.
“Looking at the bigger picture, we’ve only played seven or eight games of football, so I think null and void is the only way forward.
“Financially, it’s been a challenge for everybody across the country in any walk of life, but football and in particularly, non-league football and ourselves – we know we’re slightly different because we had the fantastic cup run – but in general, from a non-league perspective, if costs can be reduced in any way, shape or form then that can only be good.
“You’ve just got to try and deal with what it is. I can’t do anything about it.
“We were in the play-offs last year, challenging to go up and it was the same this year. I think we would have been there or thereabouts.”
On the financial boost provided by the FA Cup run, he added: “It’s massive. In any other year, it probably would have been a lot more. The FA Cup money was reduced and the television money was reduced because of the pandemic.
“But, for a club like ours, to play seven games in the FA Cup and at the end of it, to draw Tottenham, to win at Colchester, to win at Chester, financially, it put us in a good place.
“The Tottenham game ultimately has given us an opportunity to improve the whole infrastructure of the football club.
“The main thing is that we try and improve everything.
“We put ourselves on a firmer footing for the next five or ten seasons.”
In the short term, stability and continuity remains the focus for Marine.
“The momentum [from the cup] has seen us improve tactically and has made us improve technically.
“The lads have got a confidence about them that they can, not beat everyone, but compete with anybody,” Young explained.
“Going to Chester and Colchester, two big away games for us, and to win there and not be hanging on; to win those games in particular and obviously, to beat Havant at home on TV - it’s momentum, it’s belief, it’s confidence.
“We’re a young group, so if they can get all of those things, they’ll only improve and hopefully, I do think that the cup run will give them more belief to want to go on themselves and get a career for themselves, and hopefully it will be at Marine.”
The main thing is we try and improve everything