THEY THINK IT’S ALL DOVER
The National League side started 2021- 22 with - 12 points after taking a stand – alone, as it turned out. Things have only worsened in this Brexit- battered town
Memories of 2020, of the National League campaign being curtailed and COVID- 19 sweeping through the lower reaches of football, are
still all too fresh. No one likes to see a season completely scrubbed – yet this is the third in succession that Dover Athletic would gladly see the back of tomorrow.
The Whites came 11th in 2019- 20, but then the wheels wildly flew off. In 2020- 21, Dover failed to fulfil their matches from February onwards due to financial difficulties, with chairman Jim Parmenter declaring that the club “can’t afford to carry on and doesn’t want to”. The Crabble outfit were one of seven to unsuccessfully call for the season’s end in February; their results were eventually expunged before the league imposed a 12- point penalty for the new season and £ 40,000 fine.
Unsurprisingly, things have hardly improved from rock bottom. Season Three of Dover’s disaster has kept the club rooted to the foot of the table – by mid- December, they were without a win and facing the real prospect of finishing 2021- 22 on minus points.
“The points deduction was probably inevitable,” sighs Matthew Gerrard, a BBC Radio Kent commentator and Kent Non- League Podcast regular.
“But the club have accepted it, then used it as a reason to spur them on and say, ‘ Let’s try to kick back against the league’. I think they’re more put out about the £ 40,000 fine.”
Ultimately, Dover were on their own when it came to following through with their threats to abandon games last season. Like all fifth- tier teams in 2020- 21, they pocketed a share of £ 10 million in lottery grants, which were replaced by loans from January. But come February, miffed chairman Parmenter had sensationally quit the National League board, describing it as “a complete shambles” after the decision to carry on. “The league have stuck their head in the sand about it,” huffed Parmenter. “This shows they have little regard for clubs that aren’t big ex- English Football League clubs that have potential for promotion.”
And so, at the beginning of 2022, Dover are in similar disarray to their post- Brexit town dealing with tragic migrant deaths and snaking lorry queues. December’s 2- 1 defeat at King’s Lynn extended their wretched run since the start of the campaign – or in fact since February 2020, thanks to the COVID catastrophe. A string of non- league sides were also rapped by the league last March, including fellow strugglers King’s Lynn. While the book was lobbed hard at Dover, though, the Linnets got a 12- month suspended fine of only £ 2,000 having ‘ unintentionally’ broken coronavirus protocols. Do Dover supporters feel aggrieved about their current plight?
“I don’t think so,” muses Gerrard, after a pause. “You can’t just give up over this, but we’d all like to see a bit of fight on the pitch – they’ve been quite unlucky with a few things here and there, but confidence is at rock bottom. Win a game or two, and you might see the team galvanise a little.”
For a club tucked in the far corner of the country, the only way is up – and suffering fans are instead looking to a brighter future than this current season can offer. Andy Hessenthaler’s side is a young one after all, and they can’t keep losing forever, right?
“They’ll win a game at some point,” says Gerrard. “And when they do get into positive points, supporters will celebrate like they’ve won the league title. You’ve just got to write off this campaign and start planning for next season, really.”
In the meantime, Dover Athletic will continue their search for the positives. Quite literally.