Can the ESL.....

[Basil-Don]

you do realise that floodlights are compulsory for step 6 as its still senior football meaning that Olympian League teams cant parcipate.

[Beeswax]

Leaving aside the cost of the bar, kit and players/manager's wages , what does it cost to put an ESL side on the home pitch each matchday, on average?

 

What needs to be covered apart from officials, physio, groundsman, programme printing? I'm assuming that the gateman, announcer and steward(s) are volunteers.

[Basil-Don]

Leaving aside the cost of the bar, kit and players/manager's wages , what does it cost to put an ESL side on the home pitch each matchday, on average?

 

What needs to be covered apart from officials, physio, groundsman, programme printing? I'm assuming that the gateman, announcer and steward(s) are volunteers.

 

Rent,Rates,Water,Heating,Electric,Ground Rent,Public Liability,White Lines,Pitch Maintenance,First Team Insurance,League Fees,Essex FA affilation fees,National FA affilation fees,Accountancy Fees,Food and Drinks for players,officials and visiting committee members,Kit plus kit wash,player fines,club fines et cetera,et cetera.

[Beeswax]

So Basildon United has a senior ground status, and imagine that Basildon Town wins the Olympian League and wants to groundshare with Basildon United.

 

Town is not interested in bar profits but wants to hire the ground. It wants to turn up on matchdays and bring its own volunteers in to man the gates etc., I hope that the hire would include the use of changing rooms and pitch and would pay a pro rata charge for water, heating, electricity, rates etc, public liability insurance, etc and the use of senior status facilities. Anyone got a ball park figure for that on a match by match basis?

 

So then Town have to find the costs of match officials, player insurance, affiliation fees, refreshments for players, officials etc., laundry costs, physio and programme printing costs. Accountancy fees including the provision of annual report and accounts and auditors need to be included as well.

 

What have I missed?

[Basil-Don]

that would be a stadium groundshare for the season,at step 5 standard the going rate is 5/6 grand a season.

[spotteddog]

This has been a very interesting and well argued debate.

 

The truth is that it is expensive to run a club (particularly if they have 'senior' status) and Basil-don's break down is pertinent.

 

Add to that the payment of wages to players and expenses etc and you are left with a recipe for bankruptcy.

 

Sure, some clubs do manage to attract a benefactor but experience has shown that many of these sugar daddies lose interest, money or their motives and origin of such benevolence become, shall we say, questionable.

 

So much cr*p is spoken about 'step this and step that'. The important thing is for clubs to continue to survive and enjoy their football. On crowds of 20, the sums don't add up.

 

Apart from the apparent kudos argument (and most clubs at this level lose money in entering the FA Cup and Vase) what is to stop a group of clubs breaking away from the damned pyramid and forming their own league with the emphasis on the football and not the ground gradings (for 'crowds' of 20)?