Clubs in crisis is becoming a very common theme across non-league football. Not a week seems to pass without news of at least one struggling to meet immediate bills let alone historic expenses that have built up over the years.
Rochdale and Torquay United are the latest clubs to find themselves in dire straits but for differing reasons. Like others before them, and most recently Southend United and Scunthorpe United, dropping out of the Football League presents it’s own challenges controlling costs and expenditure.
The Iron are on their way back off the pitch, seemingly on a settled level under chairwomen Michelle Harness but a return to the National League at the first attempt is not guaranteed and may bring more challenging circumstances next season.
The Shrimpers are still waiting for their takeover to be completed despite announcing before Christmas it was 99% over the line, eight weeks later the club are still in some kind of limbo with a consortium paying bills for a club they’re yet to formally own. News arrived on Monday via the council that the wait won’t be over for at least another four weeks.
Rochdale are up against a very short time limit. Owner Simon Gauge announced last week the club are in need of £2 million or face the stark reality of liquidation by the end of March. While these talks have proved fruitful in gaining the investment, the share structure of the club has to change in order for the club to survive.
An EGM (Extraordinary General Meeting) called for early March must pass a resolution to enable the new investors to gain 90% of the club shareholding via nine million new shares.
Whilst the club is described as ‘asset rich but cash poor’ the reality of non-league football versus that of the Football League really hits home. With no share of a decent TV deal or handouts from the Premier League, clubs in the pyramid are pretty much left to fend for themselves and while many clubs will have added relegation clauses into player contracts it still doesn’t protect them enough from tough times.
Parachute payments are given for two years following relegation from the EFL, 24 months in which to get the club in order soon passes by and very few are promoted back within that timeframe.
For some, fan-owned clubs like Dale are the way forward, run sustainably but unable to compete financially against those with deeper pockets. There also comes the problem of being unable to offer cash injections should things become a little sticky.
Torquay were penalty kicks away from an EFL return just two years ago but with current owner Clarke Osborne withdrawing financial backing for the Gulls and expected to put the club into administration, they are facing the prospect of starting next season in regional football, three divisions below the Football League.
Administration carries an automatic ten point deduction which would place the Gulls only just outside of the National League South relegation zone, the spectre of the play-off’s at the other end a distant view disappearing rapidly.
Osborne sites not enough help to find a suitable area for a new ground and a change in personal circumstances which won’t allow him to continue funding the club going forward. After a promising start to the season the Gulls have drifted down the National League South table and find themselves as another club on the edge of disaster.
Compared to Rochdale, administration for Torquay will secure the short term future while a buyer is sought, Dale on the other hand do not have that time to spare.
Seeing so many non-league clubs starting to show signs of financial ruin is worrying for the future. Whilst some have been subject to mismanagement off the pitch, others are also living outside their means and problems are now beginning to emerge far too frequently.
2020 should have been a wake up call to football when fans weren’t allowed inside stadiums, income streams suffered while bills still had to be paid. That showed many were on a level of unsustainability, the many that don’t appear to have learnt lessons from four years ago.
These current two clubs could well be the tip of the iceberg, a raft of postponed matches over the last two months has hit a lot of clubs very hard and it remains to be seen how many can limp through the last months of the season but won’t make it through the summer.
The calls for the independent regulator get louder with each club that falls below the poverty line, somehow football has to change for the better and look after it’s own, no one else will look to do the same, today it might not be your club but there will be plenty looking over their shoulders.
