Don't Rid The Game Of Purity

The word I keep hearing is reset. This crisis, many say, is giving the planet, the whole social and political system, and even us as individuals a chance to reset. That is to say, a chance to heal, slow down and reassess our priorities.

- Ian Ridley

Maybe so. Maybe we will come out of it a nation of choristers, poets, and banana bread makers, kinder and more mindful. One thing’s for sure, though, personally. I’m going to come out of it an even bigger Non-League fan, desperate for Saturday at 3pm when I can get my fix, even if in socially-distanced solitude. Though come to think of it, not much change there.

I don’t want, or expect, to come back to Non-League the way it finished, however. As experienced minds such as Paul Doswell and Geoff Chapple have been noting in these pages in recent weeks, if this is not the time for the game to rethink and reinvent itself, put its foot on the ball and survey the state of play – yes, to reset – then when is?

In my opinion, in the last 20 years or so, Non-League has lost sight of what it is, what it should be, and what it is for.

Certainly, at its National League upper echelons, it has become simply a wannabe Football League, full of clubs still angry that they were relegated and overspending in their desperation to return, frequently not matching it with expertise in hiring those who know how to spend it well.

The knock-on effect is a series of smaller clubs going full-time, even in North and South, to try and keep up.

Yes, I know the National League has financial regulations in place, that owners have to give financial guarantees at the start of a season, but it’s not stopping huge losses and boom and bust, is it?