Today it was announced that Darlington Football Club have terminated the contracts of all playing and coaching staff due to them not being able to pay their wages. I feel that this could have been prevented if the FA offered a little bit more support to clubs that are relegated out of the football league.
When relegated they are still paying players full time contracts which they cannot afford, so they immediately have to sell or release their best players so they can get money into the club to pay wages, as well as everyday things such as electricity bills and so on.
There should be a clear set of guidelines aiding clubs in this situation but time after time the FA, Football League and Premier bosses sit in there mansions, turning a blind eye to it while football fans suffer as their clubs face extinction. This is not right, as a Leeds fan i know what they have been through as my own club was days from liquidation had it not been for Ken Bates.
But it took two relegation's before we were back on a stable financial footing, it should of been sorted a lot sooner. Then there is the case of Portsmouth who last year were just hours from going out of business before they were taken over and saved. The FA should not let this happen, they should look more into who is running each club and making sure they have the relevant funding available to back a club properly and give the fans what they deserve. A football club to be proud of.
It's a disgrace that these people get paid all this money to sit on their backsides when they're supposed to be the ones running the game and they haven't got a clue. Something needs to be done about this. It's easy for people just to blame the owners for spending when they don't have the money but sometimes it goes deeper than that. Just look at Peter Risdale who is somehow still in football after having three of the clubs he has been chairman go into administration yet he has not been investigated, how is that right?
In Darlington's case this is the third time in nine years they have been in administration surely in that time someone must have realized something wasn't right? I think one of their main downfalls is having to keep paying for that 20 plus thousand seater stadium that 90% of is never used. They should of sold it as soon as they could to generate income then build a smaller ground that was easier to sustain and cheaper to run.
Hopefully someone will come in at the last minute and save one of England's oldest football clubs but that doesn't look like it's going to happen. So let this be a reminder to the FA and the other bigwigs at the top of football, this shouldn't happen so help stop it in the future. Don't let fans suffer by losing their football club.
RIP Darlington FC.
@tomsjohnson -twitter
In an era where we all accept football is now a business, I found it astounding that clubs continually lack the business acumen to the finances of what is essentially a business!
ReplyDeletePerhaps more can be done from the governing bodies but surely it just boils down to clubs not getting carried away when the promotion cheque comes in?
Very valid point. However i feel that the power lies with the governing bodies to put stricter guidelines on things like this to ensure the survival of clubs
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