The NLP says… You can play your part at your club

By Alex Narey
Our front page story last week tells a sorry tale of how vulnerable life can be for football clubs at this level. That no matter how tough things are and no matter how stretched the finances may be, when it comes to ‘rule-breaking’, there can be little or no emotion shown from those who act as the game’s enforcers. I have no problem with this…
That said, it breaks your heart to see clubs fall foul of point deductions, because the offence in question will often be little more than an oversight.
The recent spate of deductions across Step 3 and 4 is proof that many clubs are living beyond their

means when it comes to coping with the huge levels of administration.
Northern Premier League chairman Mark Harris hits the nail on the head, citing the burden placed on club secretaries to ensure the mountain of work is carried out – to the letter of the law – in order to keep the authorities off your back.
I met with Harris before Christmas, who offered many erudite points on how best to govern Non-League football across Steps 3 and 4.
We covered many points, but pretty much every point we covered came back to a lack of club volunteers. Quite simply, there are nowhere near enough of them.
Time is precious for everyone, but I do believe clubs would benefit from a ‘volunteer programme’ within their community.
Harris made an interesting and bold statement during our conversation, claiming that if he was to offer each of his 68 club chairmen either £10,000 or 20 club volunteers, the volunteers would be taken over the cash almost exclusively, because the volunteers will bring stability, and the volunteers will help safeguard and build the club’s future.
A cash injection is all well and good and will always be welcomed, but people and volunteers lie at the heart of clubs at this level.
Football can feel very parochial at times, and outsiders who may want to get involved often feel like they can’t.
But if you have a local club and you want to offer your services, stick your hand up and be counted. Football has changed and the landscape around it has too. You don’t need to be an anorak either; from doing a few hours behind the bar to relieving the club secretary of having to file match details to the local press, there can never be enough spare pairs of hands.
Stick your head round the door and let them know you are there…
 
*This article originally featured in The @NonLeaguePaper which is available every Sunday and Monday