A couple of non league snippets

[GlenSTFC]

Someone did mention if furloughed players can be replaced by others which got me thinking as I know in a normal workplace you can’t do this.

[Reading Rebel]

42 minutes ago, GlenSTFC said:

Someone did mention if furloughed players can be replaced by others which got me thinking as I know in a normal workplace you can’t do this.

Does seem strange government allowing players to be furloughed if the season was to continue.

Edited February 13, 2021 by Reading Rebel

[Sir Rebel1965]

You dont have to furlough all your staff, just some of them.

[Reading Rebel]

Clubs are furloughing all players and staff and intend to carry on playing i.e. Maidstone and Tonbridge.

[Reading Rebel]

Dover are the latest club to furlough all players and staff and refusing to play until adequate funding is made available.

[Curtis]

Seems strange that Tonbridge, despite voting to end the season & furloughing all their first team and paid staff, and the vote result being 28th February at latest, have announced they have put together a new unpaid squad & recruited volunteers to fulfil their upcoming fixtures.

Is there a genuine concern about fines, points deductions or expulsion if fixtures aren’t fulfilled?

[Matt]

49 minutes ago, Curtis said:

Seems strange that Tonbridge, despite voting to end the season & furloughing all their first team and paid staff, and the vote result being 28th February at latest, have announced they have put together a new unpaid squad & recruited volunteers to fulfil their upcoming fixtures.

Is there a genuine concern about fines, points deductions or expulsion if fixtures aren’t fulfilled?

Some might say "fair play Tonbridge, Maidstone and Billericay" but to me, it just reduces the integrity of the league even further. If games continue, the only people to benefit are the likes of Dorking Wanderers who can have an easier ride to the title. No wonder they are so keen to carry on.

[Reading Rebel]

1 hour ago, Curtis said:

Seems strange that Tonbridge, despite voting to end the season & furloughing all their first team and paid staff, and the vote result being 28th February at latest, have announced they have put together a new unpaid squad & recruited volunteers to fulfil their upcoming fixtures.

Is there a genuine concern about fines, points deductions or expulsion if fixtures aren’t fulfilled?

It can only be for that reason.

Despite some clubs recruiting unpaid squads etc there are still costs involved in playing and staging games.  

Below is an appropriate statement from Guiseley AFC stating that they've already sought legal advice and the reasons why they're no longer willing to play any games until the results of the voting are announced.

https://guiseleyafc.co.uk/club-statement-kidderminster-harriers-game-off/

Edited February 16, 2021 by Reading Rebel

[Jon Underwood]

4 minutes ago, Matt said:

Some might say "fair play Tonbridge, Maidstone and Billericay" but to me, it just reduces the integrity of the league even further. If games continue, the only people to benefit are the likes of Dorking Wanderers who can have an easier ride to the title. No wonder they are so keen to carry on.

Couldn’t agree more Matt. The same people talking about carrying on to protect the integrity of the league (Marc White being the obvious example) are then in the same breath praising clubs for putting out unpaid U23 teams etc. Is that elite football? Is that integrity? 

[Rebellier]

It seems to me that Marc White is more concerned about preserving the integrity of his sponsorship deals than anything else 

[Reading Rebel]

Yes, Tonbridge have announced that they've recruited a squad of 16 unpaid players and will be playing their game against Hemel on Saturday.

So much for solidarity. 

[Reading Rebel]

3 minutes ago, Rebellier said:

It seems to me that Marc White is more concerned about preserving the integrity of his sponsorship deals than anything else 

He's a businessman with sponsors ploughing in over 1/2 a million and top of the league so his motives are plain to see.

[Reading Rebel]

Wealdstone are the latest club to announce they've voted to null and void the season.

Interesting to note that at the same time Wealdstone have strangely stated the following:

'We are in the process of applying to the DCMS Winter Sports Survival fund to assess our eligibility and the level of loan funding that may be available however we reiterate that saddling the club with debt is something we will seek to avoid'.

 

[Reading Rebel]

In his latest video Marc White is again banging the drum for the season to continue.

Basically he wants the current resolution being voted on to be ripped up and a new resolution put on the table asking all null and void clubs to cut their costs accordingly by bringing in new squads of unpaid players. 

I still can't believe you can furlough all your existing players and still continue with your business by using unpaid staff. 

[Kaiser Gibbs Batman (KGB)]

The discourse on this issue on social media is something to behold. One "continuer" suggested that if a club was properly structured and had decent sponsorship deals it ought to be able to continue indefinitely without paying spectators. One can only speculate about what he thought the sponsors were supposed to be getting out of any such arrangement. 

[Curtis]

I think this vote result is going to be very close and could go either way.
 

I think financially prudent clubs furloughing players and recruiting unpaid players are planning for the worse and hoping for the best.

I get the feeling though that even if the vote result is to continue with the season that we possibly won’t.

[Reading Rebel]

5 minutes ago, Curtis said:

I think this vote result is going to be very close and could go either way.
 

I think financially prudent clubs furloughing players and recruiting unpaid players are planning for the worse and hoping for the best.

I get the feeling though that even if the vote result is to continue with the season that we possibly won’t.

As said previously and only going by Ollie Bayliss on twitter, it looks very much like 21 clubs in the NLS/NLN have voted for null and void.

As far as I can see this only leaves St Albans, Braintree, Billericay and Leamington as not having declared their voting preference.

I'm really not sure which one of these clubs will provide the required number of 22 n/v votes. 

[Curtis]

If Resolution 1 (steps 1 & 2 make their own decision) doesn’t get 75% of the votes, then I think you will find it then reverts to Resolution 4.

And I believe Resolution 4 (on whether the season ends for both steps) has the same voting structure as Resolution 1 (23 votes for National, 4 North & 4 South). Which would probably result in the season continuing.

So everything really seems to hinge on if there are 8 votes against Resolution 1, and South may have already voted against it.

All probably very boring, but the reason why this vote is in the balance, & might not just be about what the majority of North & South want.

[Kaiser Gibbs Batman (KGB)]

Another point advanced has been that if teams are fielding sides composed entirely of unpaid players then those players are clearly not playing in order to "make a living". Thus the working definition of "elite sport" is being breached and the games should not be permitted under existing practice.    

[Shredding Green]

4 hours ago, Kaiser Gibbs Batman (KGB) said:

The discourse on this issue on social media is something to behold. One "continuer" suggested that if a club was properly structured and had decent sponsorship deals it ought to be able to continue indefinitely without paying spectators. One can only speculate about what he thought the sponsors were supposed to be getting out of any such arrangement. 

Probably not a lot but if the sponsorship contract is for one or more full seasons, then the club would be able to fulfil that clause in their side of the contract.

I do not know how much their total sponsorship is for this season nor how much of it was to fund new stands and ground development but one figure mentioned is £500,000 and with approximately 48 league and cup matches, that works out at £10,416-66 per match. Not something that the board would wish to jeopardise!

Edited February 16, 2021 by Shredding Green