Weather hampers club finances
The relentless November rain is playing havoc up and down the country, in all honesty there isn't much playing going on full stop! Hard grounds everywhere are not absorbing any of the constant rainfall and consequently waterlogging pitches on a regular basis are creating postponements on a huge scale.
My club Wick FC have so far managed to play one game out of four scheduled for this month and with even more rain forecast this week there's a very good chance that it'll be one game in five as we head into December. What that means for us is midweek football all the way through to Xmas and also means the earliest we can fit Saturday's postponed game in is the first week of 2020! I know we're not the only club in this situation, there are clubs already games behind us from cup runs and these weather related call off's are going to start causing problems as 2020 hits in five weeks time.
While a postponement just means a game to fit in later on in the season, there are a far wider set of implications off the pitch which can set a club back weeks or even months. We are quite lucky in the fact we have a second Saturday team sharing our ground which means we're making some money when the first team play away. But, the weather of course means their games are getting called off as well and it's money that helps keep things ticking over on a weekly and monthly basis.
It might only be a few hundred quid each time, but those outside the inner workings of a grassroots football club wouldn't know how crucial that extra cash can be. For a lot of clubs the past few weeks would have been hell because while the rain falls the bills don't stop coming and if there is no cash reserve things can get a little tight unless there are some deep pockets within the club.
Those without the extra revenue will have more often than not made a loss on a day like this, programmes printed that might be used for the re-arranged game still incurs the cost there and then, stock for the tea bar that although can be frozen and used at a later date has still been paid for, but won't see a profit for until a week or two later. These things might only appear small but get that happen twice in a month, the month before and/or after , and that can set back progress which can be hard to overcome and make it a real struggle for the remainder of the season.
Next month will hopefully be the time for us to get back on track with a full function book all the way up to New Years Eve, nothing is guaranteed however so it's a little bit of fingers crossed in a way and hope for the best. If only we all had a Glenn Tamplin chequebook...……………………..