FYLDE CHIEF’S CONCERN AFTER CAP SNUB

AFC Fylde chairman David Haythornthwaite fears there could be ‘casualties’ after calls for a National League salary cap came to nothing.

A group of National League clubs at Steps 1 and 2, led by the Coasters, had formed an unofficial working group to come up with a proposal which would have followed in the footsteps of League One and Two, who introduced wage controls last week.

But the idea fell by the wayside at Tuesday’s summer meeting of clubs, much to Haythornthwaite’s dismay.

“I wasn’t at the summer meeting, but that should have been the number one thing on the agenda,” said the AFC Fylde chief. “Instead, it was moved on.

“It’s the most pressing thing, the survival of the game and clubs, but unfortunately the administrators have no understanding of that. They don’t own a club or pay the wages.

“We have clubs in the National League paying higher wages than in League Two and putting themselves in a precarious position. I think it’s a very bad situation and, take it from me, there’s a lot of upset about it.

“It’s just been shoved under the carpet and hopefully goes away. It’s very sad it’s not been dealt with and I fear we will see some casualties.”

But Haythornthwaite believes it’s a subject worth pursuing.

“It isn’t going to go away,” he insisted. “We have this awful situation at Dover and they could easily go out of business. There could be other clubs in similar positions as well.

“October and November is when clubs have to pay wages – and wages with no income means disaster. A salary cap won’t completely solve the problem, but it would mean it’s heading in the right direction.

“Anything can happen in five minutes if there’s a will. Likewise, it can take ten years if there isn’t.

“Things could be applied now so that by next year a salary cap could be introduced. There has be to leadership and there’s none at the moment.”