DARE TO DREAM , BUT KEEP IT REAL

CLUBS NEED TO SPEND CASH WISELY

SPORT is all about setting your sights high, dreaming big and shooting for the stars. ‘Faster, higher, stronger’ in the Olympics, ‘Impossible is nothing’ for Adidas.

A core beauty of English football is the opportunity to go from the bottom to the top. In theory, a team can start on a park and, over time, reach the Premier League by winning games of football.

Of course, it’s not that straightforward and any club trekking up the mountain will be greeted by the carcasses of plenty of former clubs along the way.

Clubs going bust is one of football’s – particularly in NonLeague – most oft told tales. Rather than shock at a name slipping off the map, it’s more likely these days to be met with a shrug and a muttering of, ‘Another one gone then’.

Chairmen often speak of how football plays an epic game of tug-of-war with the emotions. Sensible and successful business owners can get in a boardroom and start making rash decisions they wouldn’t dream of in their day-to-day operations. It’s very hard to run a club without letting that inner dreamer take over the thought process. It can be even trickier when restless fans want more too.

Realism

But there absolutely needs to be a sense of realism among some clubs in Non-League football. There are many who have big crowds and are able to pull in decent sponsorship funds because of that. As long as they keep within their means, then they can quite rightly push the boat out on a new striker and give the manager the budget he needs to bring success. It’s the same with a sugar daddy. If that money is going in with no strings attached, the wages, utility and tax bills get paid each month then, while we may not like it, it can’t be argued against. Money men in football is a fact of life at all levels, whether we choose to accept it or not.

But it’s the clubs whose heels are falling off the back of the treadmill who shouldn’t be afraid to slow their legs down to a more manageable pace.

Sometimes running a NonLeague football club looks a doddle. Shell out a load of pound notes you don’t have, knock local businesses for the money they are owed and then dig out the collection buckets when it all goes sour to be bailed out. For good measure, throw in a whinge about the fact Alexis Sanchez gets paid too much money at Manchester United, as if it’s his problem the VAT bill wasn’t settled.

Clubs have got to stop pleading poverty when they can still find the money to pay over the odds. Speculating to accumulate trophies is a risky game. Factoring in a potential run to the FA Cup first round is all well and good if you’re happy to forget that football matches, shock horror, don’t always go your way.

Shock

Players are going to take what they can, of course. There will always be people who chase a few bob in all walks of life. If they get it, who can really blame them? They are often the ones at the end of their careers who look back with regret. Retirement isn’t spent thinking about the extra £20 you earned a week, but the trophies won and memories created.

Inevitably, the knock-on impact is always felt by the clubs who run themselves sensibly, who aren’t afraid to say, ‘This is our level’. For them, a competitive season with a decent cup run thrown in is just enough. Some may perceive that as lacking ambition. In some cases it may be, but for others it’s the very reason to exist.

Clubs can overstretch but what is it really for? When the dream has turned into a nightmare, what have you really achieved?