Friday Freebie: Tough times bring tough decisions

Clubs in trouble doing all they can to stay afloat

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So, to tonight’s topic and this week we’ve seen clubs in financial trouble once again, different circumstances to those we’ve encountered of Southend Utd and Scunthorpe Utd.

Our focus is on two clubs from the North East in Marske Utd and North Shields who are both in danger of disappearing from the fabric of football at the top of the country after some tough times.

It’s no surprise to any of us that clubs are in peril at all levels, be that from unscrupulous owners, not budgeting well, gambling the family silver on promotion, but also some are not subject to any of those reasons.

We’ll begin with Marske Utd, a side in Step 3 of the non-league pyramid in the Northern Premier League. News emerged two weeks ago of the club being suspended from playing league matches as they sought to change ownership of the club.

Nothing usually wrong with that but this wasn’t a simple change of one out and one in, they were trying to change the club into a limited company which amounts to the sale of shares, only to find out a process of 6-8 weeks makes it unfeasible within an ongoing season.

The club were therefore suspended from playing until the league were satisfied ownership was in the correct manner. That meant abandoning plans for the change and reverting back to the previous entity.

Now the reason why the club needed the change is because a financial struggle means they need £120K to ensure they complete the season without suffering further complications along the way.

Hence the reason for the share issue, raising that kind of capital is not a small matter, it’s a huge sum for a club at that level just to see out the 2023-24 season.

Two weeks is the target, the ramifications are as yet unknown should they fall short, desperate times for a club who have been in existence since 1956. When clubs do disappear it’s not just the fans who suffer, it’s the whole community around them, businesses who supply the club are left with unpaid outstanding bills which in turn puts them in financial strife.

There is a crowdfunding campaign underway, the link to which is below, please give if you can or pass on the link, every little helps:

 Crowdfunding to help Marske United FC to continue as a football club.

The second club in immediate danger are North Shields, announcing on Friday that due to lack of income versus higher outgoings the club are to cut their playing budget which in turn saw the management and players walk away from the club.

That in turn led to the weekend game being postponed and a club very much in turmoil less than two years after being promoted from Step 5. However, relegation back to the same level followed last year after failing to pass the ground grading to remain at that level.

A club steeped in history having been founded in 1896, that could all be wiped out in the blink of an eye after a spate of postponed games has left the club on the brink of extinction.

No doubt these aren’t the only two clubs struggling to make it through the next four or five months, many will point at paying wages not relevant to the level and why it might be the case in point for some it’s how far do you push it in order to try and win promotion, especially if those around you are doing the same.

It's a difficult balancing act, many feeling they’re still not at the right level for themselves after the stop start years and some are impatient to get to where they want to be.

I very much doubt these will be the last two clubs to find money troubles before this season ends, the question really is how do we stop or prevent it becoming an all too common occurrence?

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