Friday Freebie: Something has to change

Room for manoeuvre at the top, opportunity to be taken

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You might have seen in the last few days the story of Colne FC, the team from the North West who have an obscene amount of games to play before the end of the season. You might also note they aren’t the only ones up and down the country and in some cases clubs have been overridden this week in order to get fixtures completed.

Why have I chosen Colne FC this evening? Well keep reading and you’ll find out why. Two days ago the club’s social media manager Ben Metcalfe posted on the Colne website an article entitled ‘Something has to change’.

I found it via Twitter and read it through. It struck a chord, a big chord for me and I’ll explain why. Go and read it for yourself first here then come back and get stuck into this piece of writing.

Colne are at Step 5 where there should be 20 clubs across the pyramid. The FA in their beautiful wisdom sanctioned a league of 24 clubs, 46 league games in a season for clubs where everyone goes out for a day’s graft and then heads to play football on midweek evenings.

We are all aware we’ve suffered a horrendous three months minimum with rain, not just a bit but absolute soakings usually on a Tuesday or a Saturday and rendering pitches completely waterlogged and unplayable, 23 weather postponements for Colne is just incredible.

They face the task of playing 10 matches in just 15 days thanks to the FA ordering a blanket finish for all and no extension except for those games which don’t affect promotion or relegation, a generous week or two allowed for dead rubbers.

Ben quite rightly in my opinion has called out the FA. He made an appearance on The Non League Show podcast on Friday and again this is well worth a listen for 30 mins of your time, you can find the link for that here.

The insistence of the blazers ‘running’ the game that there is no allowance for what has dropped out of the sky to be allowed any compensation is ridiculous.

There is simply no acknowledgement of the non-league game when making these decisions. Remember they shafted all in 2019 and again in 2020, integrity was in short supply then let alone once again now.

Not a single consideration for player welfare either, do they actually understand that these are part timers, they work a job and then play football? Elite athletes wouldn’t be subjected to what some are being asked to do so why is it happening?

Not a single consideration for supporters, even if it’s only a fiver or a few quid more to get in, can you realistically say you can budget for getting to every game? It’s a pick and choose situation for some and a dent in the already bare coffers for the club, that applies not just here but for all those who aren’t cramming games in anywhere and everywhere.

Not a single consideration for the volunteers. Let’s get to the crux of the matter here which is these wonderful men and women who work their socks off for no pay in order to get a game on for you and I to watch some 30 times plus a season.

Have the FA given any thought to the extra time these people will dedicate away from their own life and times? Of course not, they simply don’t understand the bigger picture because they’re only concerned with one picture and we know where that focus is.

Some will come back and say, ‘well surely they should have sought alternate venues etc’. Before we got to Xmas they had completed half of their fixtures, that in a nutshell is how bad the last three months have been for specifically for Colne.

I’m not speaking for Ben here, nor anyone else at Colne FC or clubs up and down the country, but couldn’t one or two leagues earlier than the last few weeks requesting an extension gone to one side with those in precarious positions and used some nous to be in front of the game and suggest a solution or part of one before it became a problem?

Now before anyone comes back and says ‘they’re volunteers too running these leagues’, yes I fully am aware of that but they’re also people in position of power to make decisions, take leadership and own problems.

Ben is right, something has to change. A lot has to change in my opinion, starting with a 24 team division at Step 5 never happening again. Christ, these poor guys are playing the same amount of league games as my full time Barnet team in the National League, four steps higher.

Sometimes the blinkers need to come off and people at the FA need to get back into the game, they’re too detached from what is actually going on and when we get to a situation like this they haven’t a clue how to react.

Now I’m going to bat this back to you reading, what would you like to see change and what absolutely needs to change without question? Let’s get this debate going, no answer or suggestion is right or wrong, something has to change…..

Make your feelings known in the comments below, who could have done more to help?

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