THE TIME’S COME FOR A CHANGE AT THE TOP

HARD lessons must be learned from this whole situation. We’re in a sad state of affairs, really. Given the problems we are all collectively facing, I think this was the time the National League did need to be united.

As a result of the resolution we’ve had, we’ve effectively been split almost 50/50 straight down the middle with the North wanting cessation and the South trying to cling on. But there are big differences between both North and South clubs independently of each other.

We were all led to believe we were in a strong and stable position having been told, initially, we would start in October when crowds come back.

That obviously got pulled but the grants would fill the gap and we were encouraged to start. That we did.

We now find ourselves in the ridiculous situation where we have the perfect storm – all the costs of having the season underway but no income.

Not just missing out on gate receipts but gate receipts lead to sales and marketing income, bar income – no one is going to buy a perimeter board if there’s no one to see it.

You look at the situation after the grants were issued and people weren’t happy they didn’t get as much as they thought they should. I found it really strange the legal actions that were taken against the directors of the league by various member clubs. You think to yourself, ‘The league IS its clubs – what are we doing suing our own league?’.

When you join the competition, and we certainly signed up to it back in 2005, you agree to abide by decisions of the league. So that action, I think, is unfortunate.

But, equally, the league has to look inward and never forget IT is its member clubs. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the Waltham &

District League Division Nine or the National League, for any league the ultimate failure surely has to be that its member clubs simply vote to stop playing.

I understand there are extraordinary circumstances beyond our control, but that is damning on the league. We’re not a Sunday competition. We are supposed to be professional. We’re supposed to be ‘elite’.

So I’m looking at the league and the clubs and saying, as a collective, I think we’re in real trouble. Those that are guiding and steering the league, I think it is inevitable they have to consider their positions.

Because what has gone on over the course of the season – not just the problems we’ve had with the pandemic – but some of the decisions that have been made are, at best, ill-informed. There has to be change. We have to learn from the situation.

Had the season continued, it was our intention the higher earners would leave and we would have a combination of younger players and maybe one or two more local players effectively getting their out of pocket expenses.

That’s how we would have had to continue. The problem with that, which I would be concerned about, is the integrity of the competition. We would have been a Braintree Select XI but we wouldn’t have got fined for non-fulfilment of fixtures.

I think this attitude of the league that, although we are made up of member clubs, let’s get the rulebook out and start charging everybody, I’m not sure that will engineer much sympathy. When the dust settles people will remember hard.

The thing that comes out of all this is that the league has to learn and look after the interests of its members much better.