‘TOUCH AND GO’ FOR CLUBS TO SURVIVE

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THETFORD TOWN may be her hometown team, but the new Prime Minister is no regular on the terraces at Mundford Road.

And the club’s chairman has a stark warning for Liz Truss as she begins the job of rebuilding a country ravaged by inflation and soaring energy costs.

The Eastern Counties Premier Division side are one of the lucky ones, with their energy tariff fixed until March 2023. Others, though, are not so lucky.

And despite the measures introduced by the Government to tackle the problem, Nigel Armes still sees difficult times ahead for the lower league and non-league game.

“Not all clubs are going to weather this storm,” he said.

“If clubs are committed with contract players, or they can pay expenses to players – if they’ve got high costs and low support then it will be touch and go whether they will survive.

“It’s very tough out there and it’s going to get more difficult as inflation bites.

“Energy costs are something which clubs can’t really do anything about.

“At Thetford Town we’re nicely situated.

“But when that current energy contract ends, how much more are we going to be paying – three times more?

Four times more? The people that come to watch us, and pay to watch will make their own choices – can they afford to go to football?

“Volunteers that work for nothing and put their own petrol in the car and go backward and forwards to the club, little materials they’ll bring up, will they be able to afford to do that?

“They might also have to work harder, put in more hours in overtime to pay for their bills as well.”