National League players have sacrificed more than people realise to keep their clubs competitive during the Covid crisis
We have all talked regularly about the effects that lockdown and the Covid-19 pandemic has, and still is, having on football clubs and its fans, but what about the coaches, and what about the players?
Here at Bristol Rovers, I have seen first-hand just how hard it has been, both in the first team and the Academy.
The younger players at the club, the Under 9-15s, have not been able to train or play through two separate lockdowns which has been incredibly difficult to manage, both logistically with finding secure facilities and putting the correct protocols in place, and also emotionally and mentally for the boys, trying to keep them motivated to continue with a routine of fitness.
In truth, the Zoom Strength & Conditioning and ball work sessions we have put on at Bristol Rovers for the pros and younger players has at least given them a routine and maintained a level of fitness. But it is not easy for a number of different reasons. For example, more often than not, there isn't much room at home, no space to work, and there also isn't that personal touch you get with coaching.
Under 16 players in academies across the country have been able to train but not play in a games programme, which is clearly tough when they are fighting to gain scholarships. Only the Under 18's have been able to continue to train and play as they are on the elite sport pathway.
Lap of luxury
With first-team players, I have seen a lot struggle, both physically and mentally. We witnessed it with our son Cameron over the first lockdown. He was running almost every day and working out every day for the entire time. Why? Because he like many footballers out there are super competitive and don't want to lose any fitness in case they suddenly have to come in and play.
It seems like a lifetime ago now but, in effect, the season never really ended from a player's viewpoint. The wait for the points-per-game decision was an absolute eternity. One season seemed to just roll into another with most players only managing to grab a quick week break before their pre-season started again.
The majority of players I know carried on all the way through, running and training almost every day, trying to find a local park or facility they could use. We saw Premier League players – some with their own goals in the back garden – carrying out drills but, in the main at every other level, it was a case of jumping on a public field somewhere and doing what you could.
As a footballer, you need the basics; a training routine, adrenaline and endorphins flowing through your body, and competition, in game form. Take the routine away, take the competitive element away and that is a big issue.
When it was agreed the play-offs would take place, clubs went to extreme measures to make ends meet and to keep players training.
I was working for BT Sport when we covered Yeovil versus Barnet and Yeovil's manager Darren Sarll had said the whole squad had been holed in the stadium, in the club's corporate boxes, for a month. A month! Let me tell you, this definitely was not a lap of luxury. It was like Big Brother without the teeth and hairspray.
They would literally live in the stands, train on the pitch, and do this every day in their own bubble to give themselves a chance.
Thankfully, football returned in most of the leagues but the stop-start nature of National League, North and South, and tiers below, proved an absolute nightmare for a player.
I have a massive amount of sympathy for any player whose contract is coming to an end at any level and at any age, as there simply hasn't been enough games to play in to impress and earn a new deal. Whether you are just starting out or coming to the end, this rollercoaster of emotions and routine is difficult to say the least.
It irritates me beyond belief when I hear people say ‘its only Non-League' or ‘the standard or professionalism is poor'. So many players in the National League, North and South have played hundreds of games higher and still play because they love the game.
The reason I played in the National League with Oxford United and Torquay United was simple. I wanted to keep playing, but most importantly I wanted to achieve something and to have something proud to look back on.
Clubs and players in the National League train hard every day, working with Strength & Conditioning coaches and using GPS data and nutritional programmes.
Analysis of the opposition is detailed. Players are desperate to do well for a multitude of reasons, either to pay the mortgage, to keep playing, to carve a career out, to keep loving what they do. It is taken incredibly seriously.
If they fail to take it seriously or maintain standards then they will not get in a team, will not earn contracts and they will not play. Instead, they will end up walking around a garden centre on a Saturday afternoon instead and surely no-one wants that! (no offence to anyone who does frequent garden centres).
Players who would normally have been on loan at Non-League clubs cannot currently do that. Game time is limited severely, even for training within football clubs, the ‘bubbles' have curtailed any mingling between different age-groups.
In short, it is extremely difficult for players of a certain age to get any consistency whatsoever.
The importance of a loan move for a younger player cannot be underestimated, just ask Harry Kane. This is where you learn your game craft and you feel part of something, a win-at-all-costs mentality that at some point has to develop in. A players' psyche.
It's encouraging to see that clubs are offering the right type of support for their players, whether it be for anxiety, or simply a bit of contact needed.
In truth, it's a bit of understanding that whatever the age or pay packet of any particular player is they may need a bit of help.
The one glimmer is that we will get out of this. Eventually, fans will come back through the turnstiles and players will be able to continue to do what they love and what they are good at.
I suppose the moral of this whole article is that we need to give players a bit of a break sometimes, admire their abilities, their dedication and commitment, and understand what it actually takes to be doing that week in week out, both mentally and physically.
It is one heck of a privileged job to be doing for sure, undoubtedly, but is takes a strong and resilient person to do it. Keep it going, boys!
