PROMOTION FOR CHRISTMAS?
LIKE everyone, I’m stuck in the house at the moment. As a stand-up comic I’m used to lying around all day watching re-runs of the Big Match from the 70s. But I am finding it hard to sleep. I think it’s down to the lack of live sport.
Consequently, I have been lying in bed and trying to come up with a solution to The FA’s problem with what to do about the 2019/20 season.
A decision, of course, has already been made to null-and-void leagues from Steps 3-7. A petition signed by 160-odd clubs then fell on deaf ears but with the likes of South Shields threatening legal action, the saga might not be over just yet.
Much of the criticism of the decision centres around its timing, and I can’t help but think that a complete culling of the season could have been avoided.
The other morning, I woke up to find a piece of paper on the bedside table. On it were some scribbling, that I had obviously written during the night. Here were some of the jottings from my sub-conscious...
• Have a pre-season in September for three weeks. During this period, play the semi-finals of the FA Trophy and FA Vase as one-off games at neutral grounds with Non-League Finals Day taking place at Wembley on Sunday September 27.
• Then, from October 4 until December 20, finish the current 2019-20 season. Promotions could be celebrated over Christmas with player contracts running to December 31.
• Start the new 2020-21 season as a ‘half campaign’ on January 1 with each team only playing each other once. There would have to be some computer algorithm to sort out the fixtures so that each team would play half their games at home and half their games away. All gate receipts would be shared.
• The FA Trophy and FA Vase would start in October and be played in midweek. Non-League Day would be on May 1.
• The games up to Christmas 2021 would be like a long preseason for clubs not involved in promotion or relegation.
This way, clubs would at least have trophies to put in their cabinets. It would also mean that records would remain unchanged. It really worries me that much-travelled goal machine
Jamie Cureton, for example, would lose appearances and goals from his impressive tally. He is on his way to scoring 400 career goals, but I fear he wont make it if he is reset to 361. He’s an old man for goodness sake!
On another note, I was sad to read in The NLP last week that Marlow United have asked to drop down to Step 7 next season. In their club statement, they put their troubles down to the wet weather, moving games from Saturdays to midweek, therefore affecting attendance figures.
Funnily enough, my club Farnborough had a midweek game there in the 2016-17 season. I was impressed by the well stocked bar under the stand, and the wonderful home cooked treats of Carols Snack Hut. It was a lovely little ground. I hope to get down there when this is all over.
It’s not as if clubs can expect to see sponsors putting money into the pot when normal life returns either. These firms will be looking after their own post-virus economy, and the first thing to go, sadly, will be football sponsorship.
A lot of clubs will be looking at this and worrying but at least one good could come out of it. Ultimately, players’ wages will have to come down as the money simply will not be there. Players’ wages have been over-inflated for years, filtering down from the Premier League. Hopefully it will sort itself out.