BigFish 2,283 Posted September 23, 2020 Tier 5 in the pyramid, cost £1 million a year to run, looks like they are two weeks from bankruptcy unless the NFL starts with fans. The first of many? 'We have got a week to two weeks left': Dover face fan-less threat to future Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nuff Said 5,966 Posted September 23, 2020 That's really sad to read, but as you say, I don't see how it won't be repeated all over the country soon. Could the government help? Hard to see how they would do it, as the situation at each club will be different, and it would look terrible if they spend 10 times on one badly run club what they give to another which is doing things more sensibly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 4,620 Posted September 23, 2020 3 minutes ago, Nuff Said said: Could the government help? Hard to see how they would do it, as the situation at each club will be different, and it would look terrible if they spend 10 times on one badly run club what they give to another which is doing things more sensibly. Exactly this. It's a little bit like when teams like Bury and Bolton were in trouble and fans were asking why the EFL didn't bail them out. How is it fair that some clubs get gifted a few hundred grand but not others? It almost encourages clubs to overspend and take risks if they know the authorities will just come in to save them when they're about to go bust. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cornish sam 1,040 Posted September 23, 2020 It is sad to hear, but, I think Dover are atypical for a National League side. Despite coming in from the bottom they are fully professional and pay as well (if not better) than most league 2 sides based on that article... Don't get me wrong, it is a perilous situation for many clubs at the moment, but Dover are a relative sugar daddy club for that level. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Aggy 944 Posted September 23, 2020 Sad to hear but no different to lots of other businesses which are equally at risk. When you look at how many small businesses are at risk of closing/have already closed due to financial issues from the last five months, it would be unrealistic not to expect a lot of football clubs to go the same way as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Broads15t 4 Posted September 23, 2020 I grew up watching Dover in the mid 90s (I lived in Folkestone before moving up to Norwich for uni in 96) - really sad to see them where they are now. It looked as though they were going to fold over the summer and they put up their entire squad for free transfer - unfortunately the players that were left refused to take a pay cut in line with the non-playing staff which caused a lot of bad feeling. They do have a reputation for being a bit of a sugar-daddy club (broke the non-league transfer record to sign David Leworthy around 94), but the chairman Jim Parmentier is a genuine fan who just happens to have a few bob... Not that dissimilar to our own owners. The difference being that regardless of the wealth of the owners, at non-league level ticket sales are absolutely essential income, even when gates are only around 1000 or so. I took my boy to Crabble just before lockdown and he loved it... Would be a real shame if he never gets to visit again. Cramming in along with 4000 others to watch an FA cup qualifying round replay against the old enemy Sittingbourne is one of my formative football-supporting memories. Sadly, the first of many to go to the wall unless the PL/EFL have an unlikely philanthropic streak. Also see that the FA is de-funding grass-roots football to the tune of £22m per season... It's all going a bit wrong, isn't it? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
