TIME FOR BIG GUNS TO SHOW WILLING
For most clubs, whilst it is only April, thoughts will have already turned to next season and the hope/anticipation of the return of fans to grounds up and down the country.
Clubs will now have at least three months to get everything in place and ready for when the turnstiles can turn again in pre-season, assuming that the Government roadmap is followed.
Armies of volunteers are already busy at work in our Non-League grounds making the repairs, renovations and redevelopments for fans when they return in a few months’ time.
Traditionally, pre-season can make or break a Non-League club’s season financially. A game against a bigger, local rival or a professional club can generate significant revenue – enough, in some cases, to keep them going for months during the regular season. However, in recent seasons these games have become rarer, not only due to Covid-19 but because of the change in focus of the professional clubs.
These days, most Premier League and some Championship clubs would head overseas for their pre-season preparation. Perhaps now though, post Covid, this could be the time where those professional clubs can return to looking locally, while also delivering community goodwill and helping out their local Non-League clubs.
Most Non-League clubs will emerge from a ninehibernation in the summer having had no opportunities to earn any revenue since competitive football stopped prior to Christmas so the 2021/22 season is, in many ways, the most important that the game has faced.
Coming off the back of two interrupted seasons, all of the signs point to a return to some normality and the hope that the new campaign will be seen through to a full conclusion. But there is always a danger that there will be an interruption, one that will result in further losses of revenue or increases in operating costs.
Most clubs will start their pre-seasons with limited revenues – many will have had to roll over season ticket revenue from the last campaign, while those with social facilities such as clubhouses will have been able to start to open them up in June (assuming the roadmap out of lockdown continues). Being able to generate significant revenues in pre-season from friendlies could be key.
This works two ways. While in an ideal world, the professional club would play all of their local clubs, it is impossible for them to do so. But it is possible for some of the bigger Non-League clubs to play lower level teams in their area. For instance, a Premier League club could easily play two or three Step 3/4 teams and in turn they could play Step 5/6 teams.
While professional clubs are also in need of balancing their books, TV deals and ongoing commercial revenues have provided a comfort blanket for most. For one season, a return to traditional pre-season plans may have a wider, community benefit that outweighs any financial benefit they will receive from travelling abroad.
Whilst international travel is likely to slowly return for us mere mortals, ‘elite’ clubs will be able to travel abroad. But in doing so they will incur additional costs, both in terms of security, insurance and travel logistics as well as ignoring the plight of the Non-League teams on their doorstep who are in desperate need.
More and more fans of top clubs now also have a NonLeague club of choice. In the last year where they have been locked out of stadiums, some were able to get to see their local sides play, albeit for a few games before the season came to a shuddering halt.
It wouldn’t take much for the situation to change this summer. Many professional clubs will need to reassess their plans based on the restrictions, not just here in the UK but also further afield. Non-League clubs would welcome their higher-profile neighbours with open arms once the pre-season can start and fans can return to stadiums. All it takes is the will to be more community minded and the way to make it happen.