MARINE’S DOWNER
Boss Young: I got a sinking feeling after Spurs game which I’d not felt before. Non-league football is still banned... our ‘fairy tale’ clubs might NEVER come back
And it has been some comedown for Young and his players.
Their FA Cup third-round tie with Tottenham last Sunday attracted 6.8million TV viewers, with plumbers and binmen taking on the might of Jose Mourinho’s side.
The tea-time treat provided further proof that the football nation cannot get enough of the David v Goliath clashes that have always breathed fresh life into the game’s oldest cup competition.
But Young warns that fans should enjoy it while it lasts because the Covid pandemic, which has suspended non-elite football again, threatens to change the whole landscape.
“It was a massive comedown for me on the Monday – a real sinking feeling, which I’d never felt before,” Young revealed.
“We go from playing
Spurs in front of a huge TV audience to not seeing the players again for a while because football at our level has been suspended.
“We’ve got nothing to look forward to because of the pandemic.
“At least we’ve had the FA Cup, but some other clubs haven’t had any football for more than 100 days now.”
All football below the National League and National Leagues North and South has been placed on hold, which includes Marine, who play in the game’s eighth tier.
The FA Cup revenue will safeguard the Merseyside club’s immediate future. Others are not so lucky. Non-league clubs
are awaiting talks between the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the FA to see whether a cash lifeline will be thrown.
Young added: “The last I heard it was more in the form of loans rather than grants.
“Some of these clubs can’t pay the bills next week, so how are they going to pay off the loans?
“I know, from speaking to people in the game, that a lot of clubs are teetering on the edge financially, particularly from non-league steps three and below [all leagues beneath the National League and National Leagues North and
South]. It’s ridiculous because these football clubs are a massive part of communities.
“We’re in danger of the whole fabric of non-league football, an integral part of the football pyramid, being destroyed.
“Marine was in the spotlight, it was all about the fairy tale –not about Tottenham.
“Without the likes of us and other non-league clubs these fairy tales can’t happen.
“Look at all the goodwill from around the world for our FA Cup run. Look what it did for football. We don’t want this to disappear.”
Mourinho (below) would agree with those sentiments, Young believes following a lengthy chat he had with the Special One before Sunday’s game.
“He respected our day in the sun. He appreciated what we had achieved,” added Young.
“He said the game against us reminded him of how he started off in football. He came across as being really down to earth, and someone who really respected the FA Cup and what it meant to a club like ours.
“Within a few minutes of the Tottenham coach arriving, my assistant told me that Jose was looking for me. I thought he was winding me up. But there he was and he gave me a Tottenham shirt with my name on the back and signed it. He said we’d speak later.
“During the warm-up, he made his way over and we had half an hour. I’ll never forget it. It was really cold as well, but he still gave me his time. I think he realises that a lot of hard work goes into nonleague football. It’s not put together at a quarter to three on the back of a fag packet.
“All these clubs are run by volunteers working tirelessly behind the scenes for no financial reward.”
For Young and Marine, the rush of adrenaline has gone and it is back to the harsh reality of their football life.
“We’re not allowed to train, we can’t do a lot. It’s on the players’ own shoulders to keep themselves fit,” he explained.
“A decision on what is happening at our level has to be made quickly.”