NLP says ...

It’s all in the detail, and the details were known

If it isn’t your turnstiles, it’s those 500 seats you need to install under that old stand. Maybe it’s the disabled access, the dugouts or the floodlights. Believe me, for any football club with aspirations to grow and climb the pyramid, the duty of keeping your ground up to scratch seems to be never-ending. But making sure your changing rooms are 18 metres square is a new one on me…

It’s the story that has caught my attention this week (I know, I need to get out more) with the FA confirming they have sent letters out to clubs at Step 3 and 4 levels reminding them of their duty to expand their ‘players lounge’. The requirements are not just for players, with officials’ rooms also needing to measure at least six square metres.

The full facts are listed and detailed on page 6, but the argument from many clubs this week – those affected by the rule – has been that surely the FA have bigger and better things to do than slap this on clubs who barely have the means to get by as it is.

I see that, I really do, but I also see it from the FA’s point of view. This rule hasn’t suddenly been sprung on clubs, it was first released four years ago. It is merely a reminder to a small number of clubs who haven’t yet submitted their extension details that a deadline is looming.

Many clubs have already spent the money and done the work to make them compliant, so it isn’t fair that others should slide by, even if I think the rule itself is slightly pedantic for many clubs at that level.Alex