All the talk during the drama of the proposed Super League tended to focus on how clubs at the top of the football pyramid would be affected. However, little was mentioned about the non-league clubs, and their local amateur feeder clubs, all of which stood to be wiped from the map if the trickle of funding they receive from the FA was cut off once and for all.
Here we take a look at the clubs that are in the most economical peril at this moment in time, as they cling to the hope that someone has the sense to stop obsessing about printing money at the elite level, at the expense of the grass roots of the game. After all, without those roots a deep rot is sure to set in from which English football might never recover.
The sun could be setting on the future prospects of non-league clubs in England, as the men who run Premier League clubs fail to value the indispensable role they play in the game
Dover Athletic – Teetering on a Cliff Edge
The white cliffs of Dover are the gateway to the UK, but unbeknown to ferry and Channel Tunnel passengers, above the towering white rock faces, there is a battle going on for the survival of the town’s local football team.
Jim Parmenter is the club’s chairman, and he has been in a protracted battle with the FA after they imposed a 12-point penalty on his team ahead of the new season. It has been hard to see how such a move would aid the small club in hauling itself out of financial difficulty, and indeed the club has already had to move its squad from being professional to semi-professional.
With only 15 players officially registered on their books, it seems like it could be an incredibly difficult season ahead for The Whites, who will be desperately hoping that Andy Hessenthaler can work some magic to keep them afloat, until some extra funds are found to keep the club running.
Gateshead FC – Supporter-Led Club Resist Damaging Short-Term Solutions
Much is always made by sports tipsters and columnists about the financial mishaps that go on at Newcastle Utd, but they pale in comparison to the mess that Gateshead FC supporters saw their club fall into a few years back, as a foreign investor ran the club with the abandon of someone playing a computer game.
Resisting such lunacy, Gateshead fans formed a consortium and took back control of their club, but they are now one of the teams struggling to find financial security, especially after having to forfeit a number of games last season.
All bets are now off on whether they will be able to keep afloat, although it does seem that local businessmen and fans are rallying to the cause, meaning that Gateshead are strong betting favourites to make waves in the upper echelons of non-league football in the seasons to come. There is no doubt that plenty of supporters of grass roots football in the Northeast will be lumping a football free bet or two on The Tynesiders this upcoming campaign.
By encouraging less people to play the game and to become mindless consumers of the sport instead, head honchos at Premier League clubs are missing football’s raison d’être
Macclesfield Town – Rising from the Ashes
While there are plenty of non-league teams clinging on for dear life, there are others whose demise acts as a warning, and which show that not every club is lucky enough to have a local investor come along and save it at the final hour.
Such was the case with Macclesfield Town, who had the gates on their Moss Rose stadium locked for good, back in 2020.
However, there are now positive signs that a revival could be in the offing. This is being led by former top-level pro and football pundit Robbie Savage. Hopefully, this will mean that the people of Macclesfield will once again have decent non-league action to watch as well as an academy that can inspire the players of tomorrow to stick with the beautiful game.
Bury FC – Buried for Good or Due for a Rebirth?
Of course, the other high-profile team that went bust in recent times was Bury, whose loss to the footballing landscape was particularly heartfelt considering that Gigg Lane is one of the most iconic and historical stadiums in all the land.
At the moment the club is up for sale, and it appears unlikely that a new owner will be in place in time for a team to be assembled for the new season, but there are hopes that a local supporter’s group – similar to the one formed in Gateshead – could take the reins.
That would mean the team starting from scratch, way down the football league ladder, in the depths of the non-league system, but better that than having no team to support and cheer. Everyone’s fingers and toes are crossed that a resolution to Bury’s woes can be found sooner rather than later.
Worry That Millionaires Are Treating Non-League Clubs Like Playthings
While any club in the financial doldrums dreams of finding a wealthy investor to lift them out of the red, there are some worries that rich folks are beginning to view non-league clubs as playthings, rather than the lifeblood of the local community.
Such concerns have been voiced by Halifax Town boss Pete Wild, who has been shocked by the level of investment pumped into clubs in the Vanarama National League this summer, with in many cases the spending outstripping the investment seen in League 1 and League 2.
While on the surface the owners of the likes of Salford, Ebbsfleet and Billericay are doing great things, there is the worry that their money could be withdrawn just as quickly as it was initially pumped in, thus leaving supporters, players, and staff in an even more precarious position. After all, money is not always the solution to taking a team from the depths of the non-league system to the dizzying heights of the Football League.
