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Post by gazza2402 on Sept 24, 2020 17:42:46 GMT
This all sounds very wishy washy to me
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Post by saint68 on Sept 24, 2020 18:26:10 GMT
I guess it means the League intends to start the season even without fans. I honestly don’t know if that’s the right move or not.
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Post by lagerman on Sept 24, 2020 19:04:03 GMT
Well each member club will no doubt be looking for clarification on what's to happen and will be in dialogue with the National League. Live streaming of matches might be how it goes. It'll be interesting to see what happens if a National League Club gets paired at home with a step 3-6 Club in the next round of the FA Cup. Bearing in mind that so far, step 3-6 clubs can accommodate fans at the moment still, does that mean any NL Club drawn at home to a step 3-6 Club could ask for their game to be switched away to that step 3-6 Club if gate revenue is split 50-50 between the Clubs ?
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Post by sideshowbob on Sept 24, 2020 20:55:01 GMT
if the season starts without spectators thats not financially viable for non league clubs. we might as well forget it and cancel the season its totally ridiculous situation. you can go into a pub but you can't stand outside at a football match? logic please?
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Post by casper on Sept 24, 2020 21:11:44 GMT
if the season starts without spectators thats not financially viable for non league clubs. we might as well forget it and cancel the season its totally ridiculous situation. you can go into a pub but you can't stand outside at a football match? logic please? From what I've seen the problem is not in the ground, it's outside the ground. Concerns seem to be around queuing to get into / leaving the ground, fans meeting at pubs before hand and transport hubs. Plus away fans traveling causing spread of covid. Bigger concern with National League clubs with several thousand fans than at our level I think. National North has teams like York City, Chester, Boston Utd and Hereford though.
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euclid
Saints Reserve Team Player
Posts: 459
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Post by euclid on Sept 24, 2020 21:33:10 GMT
No statement from the Club so far today and just a retweet of the National League statement on Twitter. Would be nice if the Club would let us all know what their position is on this.
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Post by lagerman on Sept 24, 2020 22:12:16 GMT
Perhaps the NL do want to start on Oct 1st as it's all planned, but playing behind closed doors, but want to see what sort of financial package they can get from the Government first, after being in consultation with the FA and the Government, before committing themselves into saying "yes, the season will start from Oct 1st, but behind closed doors". But Quite how this'll work is anyone's guess, l just can't see it happening, it'll take an enormous amount of money to tide over all of its member clubs and even then, just how many NL clubs are going to get through this ? You can see some falling by the wayside sadly I guess we and the rest of the National Leagues clubs will be getting onto the NL to see what's happening, then l guess we'll all know in the fullness of time
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Post by casper on Sept 26, 2020 8:33:44 GMT
www.stalbanscityfc.com/club-statement-9/Following the government’s announcement on Tuesday that the planned return of spectators to sports venues is to be paused, a Board meeting of the Vanarama National League on Thursday decided that the full programme of competitive fixtures will still take place, as published. This means that the Saints’ season will kick-off with our home FA Cup fixture against Hitchin Town on 3rd October, as scheduled. However, all matches will be behind closed doors and spectators will not be permitted, until further notice. The Club is now reviewing the implications of this and how it impacts on our supporters and our plans for the season. There are many aspects to consider and we will provide updates here and on our social media channels as and when those decisions are taken.
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Post by ahad43 on Sept 26, 2020 9:07:58 GMT
Is there a reason why the FA Cup game can't be moved to Hitchin? Is it an FA thing or a Government thing or a SACFC thing?
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Post by headcontainer on Sept 26, 2020 9:38:00 GMT
Fa
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Post by saint68 on Sept 26, 2020 9:40:05 GMT
I believe it’s an F.A rule. They introduced it to stop lower division and non-league clubs switching ties against Premier League clubs to their opponents grounds, even though it would increase revenue for everyone.
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Post by ahad43 on Sept 26, 2020 11:41:57 GMT
Cheers saint68, shame they can't temporarily suspend the rule
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Post by saint68 on Sept 26, 2020 11:45:51 GMT
... but that would be the sensible thing to do! ☹️
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Post by EFMTFTV on Sept 27, 2020 8:04:37 GMT
I know Hitchin and St Albans are exploring this possibility but it's unlikely
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euclid
Saints Reserve Team Player
Posts: 459
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Post by euclid on Sept 27, 2020 9:32:32 GMT
The problem the club and all the National League clubs have is that player contracts will all be activated for the whole season, once the FA Cup game is played next week.
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Post by lagerman on Sept 27, 2020 10:34:41 GMT
I know Hitchin and St Albans are exploring this possibility but it's unlikely If they were to get it agreed to switch the match to Hitchin, just how many (e)tickets would we get ? I'd imagine they'd be a limit of something like 400 (e)tickets all told, given the smallish size of Hitchin's ground and I'd imagine they'd want as many of their own supporters in as possible.
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euclid
Saints Reserve Team Player
Posts: 459
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Post by euclid on Sept 27, 2020 10:50:44 GMT
The match can't be switched as it's currently against FA rules. My view (probably unpopular?) is that the all NL South/North clubs should make a stand and withdraw from the FA Cup, if they can't play in front of a crowd of some sort.
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Post by EFMTFTV on Sept 27, 2020 16:31:18 GMT
Be a good idea especially as it'll mean the contracts will start
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Post by ahad43 on Sept 27, 2020 17:35:00 GMT
The club are obviously flush with cash considering all the rebranding around the ground and the social media stuff and the new patio and marquee tent for the pitchside bar so I for one am not worried
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Post by casper on Sept 28, 2020 16:12:43 GMT
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Post by lagerman on Sept 28, 2020 18:32:47 GMT
Well, would it be the right action to take, for all NL, NLS and NLN clubs to club together and simply say "no we are not going to begin the league on Sat Oct 1st unless there are the funds in place from the Government to sustain us over the next 6 months" ? I don't know. The PL can't really help too much as they've got problems of their own, the Government have made the decision that elite clubs can't have fans back in, so they should be bailing us all out
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Post by casper on Sept 28, 2020 18:51:32 GMT
If the club are estimating loss of gate receipts, will that be based on paying fans or will it include the freebie tickets given away to schools, clubs and hangers on as well?
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boojiboy
Saints Reserve Team Player
Posts: 329
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Post by boojiboy on Sept 28, 2020 19:00:59 GMT
Special thanks to those who pushed for our league to be considered an 'elite' league which has resulted in us having to play behind closed doors despite representing no additional risk to clubs like Chesham Utd and Hitchin Tn.
This will be completely unsustainable and many clubs will go out of business as a result.
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Post by headcontainer on Sept 28, 2020 19:43:30 GMT
Well, would it be the right action to take, for all NL, NLS and NLN clubs to club together and simply say "no we are not going to begin the league on Sat Oct 1st unless there are the funds in place from the Government to sustain us over the next 6 months" ? I don't know. The PL can't really help too much as they've got problems of their own, the Government have made the decision that elite clubs can't have fans back in, so they should be bailing us all out
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Post by lagerman on Sept 28, 2020 20:17:32 GMT
Special thanks to those who pushed for our league to be considered an 'elite' league which has resulted in us having to play behind closed doors despite representing no additional risk to clubs like Chesham Utd and Hitchin Tn. This will be completely unsustainable and many clubs will go out of business as a result. I could see the NL itself being an elite league in so much as the average gates that NL clubs get and their facilities, but not NLS and NLN
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Post by ahad43 on Sept 28, 2020 20:30:37 GMT
Wonder if he'll be taking questions
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Post by bob666 on Sept 28, 2020 20:33:03 GMT
The problem I have with a government bail out is this. As a general rule I think the government should support business who were clearly viable before the pandemic and will be viable when things return to normal. But it very difficult to make the case that most non-league clubs where viable prior to covid as they almost all lost money and even in the absence of covid most clubs would have made large losses this year. So I don't see a overwhelming economic case for support, its not although a failure to support will lead to massive job losses and cripple the local economy. That said I am a football fan and think they do add something to the social infrastructure of the country so I could live with support provided very strict conditions are imposed. For me these should be.
1) Assess the costs of playing vis a vie mothballing and do whatever is cheapest. If you choose the more expensive option no public money
2) Major governance reforms to insure clubs playing budget is capped at a percentage of operating budget. So we don't just end up in a situation when clubs continue to exist in a precarious state post-bailout
3) Set up a tripartite group with fans, owners and outside experts to set a maximum ticket price for each league
To be honest I have seen enough from games abroad with fans and lower leagues to have my doubts about how effective social distancing in grounds is likely to be so I can certainly understand the decision not to allow crowds back. While I love nothing more than having a go at the government I think they may have got this one right.
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Post by lagerman on Sept 28, 2020 21:25:50 GMT
Well, without any financial support, Clubs are going to start their season playing behind closed doors, not knowing how long they can keep playing for before they have to cease playing, and this will surely be in the back of players minds, that their efforts for x amount of games is all just going to count for nothing as and when they have to call time on their season. I'm principally on about NL teams, but the EFL and even the Prem, will have their own issues.
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Post by lagerman on Sept 28, 2020 21:28:21 GMT
Wonder if he'll be taking questions Well, it's a tad early for me, being one of the retired from work generation, so I'll look forward to peoples comments and observations on his interview
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Post by bob666 on Sept 28, 2020 21:30:36 GMT
But if your asking for public money I think you got to choose the cheapest option (which I suspect is mothballing). If clubs collectively choose the more expensive they just have to find the money themselves.
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