Re: New non-league structure

By richhend11/5/2018 18:07Fri May 11 18:07:01 2018In response to New non-league structure

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I was depressed enough after the Dulwich result but the nonsensical announcement on the league allocation really takes the biscuit. I can only apply Jacob Rees Mogg’s recently used descriptor of cretinous to the decision on our allocation.

At the stroke of a pen all the hard work people have put into progressing the club has been put in jeopardy. In practical terms the financial consequences of putting a London club into what is effectively a West and South West league can only lead to a slow death for our club as we haemorrhage money left, right and centre.

Why so? Well the additional costs involved will surely be crippling:–

- a players’ coach for most away matches and/or increased travel expenses for those who drive to the games;
- higher wages to compensate the players for the inconvenience involved with the excessive travelling and/or compensation for lost wages from their day jobs when they have to take time off, especially for mid-week jobs.

You wonder at the thought processes of those who took this decision. Do they not realise that they are dealing with part-time players with other jobs? Career-wise these other jobs would logically have to be given precedence over football.

Allocating clubs to leagues where the bulk of their opponents are geographically distant results in detriment. Look at the farce of Bishops Stortford and Lowestoft being placed in the National League North. Lowestoft on the verge of bankruptcy and Stortford buried in the lower reaches of the Southern League

As for our supporters will there be many going to a lot of the away games?

Let's be honest, for a significant number of the other clubs in the new league they are places you might expect to travel to once or twice a year for and FA cuo game or Trophy tie.

Apart from the sheer cost of travel and the time involved there are the long standing issues of the unreliability of the train companies serving some of these Westward and South West destinations. Anyone fancy being stranded overnight in Dorchester, Poole or Taunton for example? Going to these games would probably necessitate needing to budget for an unexpected hotel stay if the trains failed.

I don’t know if there is any appeal facility against the allocation but if so I hope that the Club will use it. If not I wonder if the club is contemplating legal action. Perhaps the recently announced 12th man fund could be swiftly converted into a judicial review fund!

Failing the above options perhaps the Club will attract the attentions of that well know West Country cider millionaire Old Farmer Tamplin and he’ll invest millions in Hendon FC to cover everyone’s costs!

Team-wise if this craziness goes ahead, I wonder how many, if any, of the present squad we will retain? I see Gary appears to have given the move the thumbs down on Twitter, so I wonder how long he will be around?

Sorry FA but it’s a nul points from me.