A Thread About Notts County

[Martin Shaw]

Chester director fears this spells the end of the Conference season

Plus the views of Leigh Curtis and Charlie Slater

[The One]

Thats Knowles back then.

[chip63]

Unbelievable, if this is the case then I hope they can sue for the monies spent so far.
All these players and staff could of been furloughed, the costs to play each game at a loss needs to be addressed.
Gutted for every team and fans if it is true.

[Mansf1eld]

Oh to be non league again

[I am Spartacus]

This is yet another example of how football is administered by the 'Old Boys Network, how self serving clubs are and just how incompetent the planning of competitions is. All three poorly run leagues, the NFL, the EFL and The Premier League of Sh1thousery all knew that his pandemic would not be over inside the first season and would have massive implications on the next i.e. this. How much forward planning have they done for the worst case scenarios i.e. unable to fulfil the fixtures or financial armageddon - a little less than none probably. How much time and energy has been spent on ensuring that the clubs are financially sustainable - a little less than none probably.

And who is the Chairman of the NFL, hired to reform and lead the league through rocky times though has probably just acquiesced to the more powerful clubs? Brian Barwick, a former big cheese with that bastion of great governance the FA. As figure heads go i think I would, if i were an NFL club, rather have the one described in the Sex Pistols record, 'flipping in the Rigging'.

The revolution needs to be televised.

[Jimstag]

There could be big implications to this, hope that clubs survive it. I think they genuinely thought a large number of fans would be allowed to return in October as was outlined at the start of the season.

[arsene wengers coat]

No relegation / promotion then, or are Torquay promoted in January!

[ParisStag]

No relegation / promotion then, or are Torquay promoted in January!

Surely they still have to promote Torquay.

[Spiritater]

On 17 games, less than half a season I think it'd be farcical to promote anyone. Just null and void it all.

[Martin Shaw]

No relegation / promotion then, or are Torquay promoted in January!

Surely they still have to promote Torquay.

If the season was ended now, I don't think there would be any promotion or relegation. The figure of 75% of season completed was talked about as a cut-off figure higher up the football pyramid last year, though there is no hard and fast rule in place I don't think. Dover have only played 12 games and more than half of the clubs in the league played fewer than 14 games, that's only a third of the season.

[chip63]

If the vaccine works I can't see why they can't let fans back in, they could have a break and finish the season from June.
Hopefully we will be allowed to watch the Stags at Wembley too.

[Rob]

If clubs were assured this money would be in the form of a grant then that is what it should be, therefore if the season is not complete it is clear who is at fault. Perhaps players should wear tights and cod pieces, they'd get the grant then. In the wider scheme of things, 11m is a drop in the ocean.

[Sedgwick]

No relegation / promotion then, or are Torquay promoted in January!

Surely they still have to promote Torquay.

why they're 8 points clear with half a season to play

[gazza1988]

I the conference is null and void then that would mean no relegation. If it does happen then there's the safety net. We can play youngsters and see what they are about. Clough's remit was avoid relegation this season. If the conference is cancelled with no promotions then he's secured his remit. He can see if players are ready to step up or how far away players are from being in a position to step up.

[James]

I the conference is null and void then that would mean no relegation. If it does happen then there's the safety net. We can play youngsters and see what they are about. Clough's remit was avoid relegation this season. If the conference is cancelled with no promotions then he's secured his remit. He can see if players are ready to step up or how far away players are from being in a position to step up.

We can still get promotion. I'd say its more of a reason to go for it a bit this season.

[chip63]

I the conference is null and void then that would mean no relegation. If it does happen then there's the safety net. We can play youngsters and see what they are about. Clough's remit was avoid relegation this season. If the conference is cancelled with no promotions then he's secured his remit. He can see if players are ready to step up or how far away players are from being in a position to step up.

I wouldn't trust that scenario, let's get safe to be certain.
Imagine us bottom and county top and no relegation or promotion.

Just imagined it and I'm

[ST4GS]

I the conference is null and void then that would mean no relegation. If it does happen then there's the safety net. We can play youngsters and see what they are about. Clough's remit was avoid relegation this season. If the conference is cancelled with no promotions then he's secured his remit. He can see if players are ready to step up or how far away players are from being in a position to step up.

I wouldn't trust that scenario, let's get safe to be certain.
Imagine us bottom and county top and no relegation or promotion.

Just imagined it and I'm

Just imagined it and I have developed the opposite view after sharing your initial giggles.
That would mean we became raspberry, Clough had failed and County had bridged the gap. Wouldn't bode well for the next season.

[bellwhiff]

If clubs were assured this money would be in the form of a grant then that is what it should be, therefore if the season is not complete it is clear who is at fault. Perhaps players should wear tights and cod pieces, they'd get the grant then. In the wider scheme of things, 11m is a drop in the ocean.

Depends if there’s any written proof of the grants.

I’m more concerned as to the mentioning of misuse of the grants. What’s that all about ?

[gazza1988]

I the conference is null and void then that would mean no relegation. If it does happen then there's the safety net. We can play youngsters and see what they are about. Clough's remit was avoid relegation this season. If the conference is cancelled with no promotions then he's secured his remit. He can see if players are ready to step up or how far away players are from being in a position to step up.

We can still get promotion. I'd say its more of a reason to go for it a bit this season.

Yeah, certainly. But, if that scenario did happen then teams scrapping for points for survival don't need to anymore and can play with freedom. Could allow other teams who are trying to play safe and "nick a win" can go for the win.

The scenario means that 0 points guarantees survival. It'd be an interesting dynamic, that's for sure.

We are 10/1 on skybet to get promotion, 12th in the list, 4/1 for play offs. I'm not saying it's impossible but it is improbable. I'm not saying the full youth team just fringe players like Sinclair and Law. Maybe bring Knowles back and give him a run in the side. 10 minute cameos are all well and good but let's try them against fresh players, from the start. If it goes tits up we have 5 subs to make changes. Clough doesn't really use all 5.

[adamstag]

Surely it's too early to cancel it currently?

Yes, the numbers don't look good - but why does their season have to end in say April like it normally would? why couldn't it roll on until June/July and start the next season in September like they did this year - hardly going to be dozens of NL players in the Euros

Surely (hopefully!) we're well on the way to defeating bloody covid by the anyway

[ST4GS]

Surely it's too early to cancel it currently?

Yes, the numbers don't look good - but why does their season have to end in say April like it normally would? why couldn't it roll on until June/July and start the next season in September like they did this year - hardly going to be dozens of NL players in the Euros

Surely (hopefully!) we're well on the way to defeating bloody covid by the anyway

I think you have forgotten already that the mighty Scotland have finally qualified. I bet they pool players from this level as well as from the equivalent SPL?

[stag324]

The reality is, there is more than enough money up the ladder to help these clubs survive.

It should be done via grants and as somebody pointed out £11m is nothing to a premier league club.

This is a genuine worry, as a football fan i don't want to see any club going bust and then reading Manchester City sign someone in the Jan window for £90m

[Rob]

If clubs were assured this money would be in the form of a grant then that is what it should be, therefore if the season is not complete it is clear who is at fault. Perhaps players should wear tights and cod pieces, they'd get the grant then. In the wider scheme of things, 11m is a drop in the ocean.

Depends if there’s any written proof of the grants.

I’m more conferenced as to the mentioning of misuse of the grants. What’s that all about ?

That, I think, was lottery funding which has already been used to keep clubs going as they believed more money was on its way.
I think the point is that if the £11m grant isn't forthcoming then the £10m lottery funding is wasted as the season won't finish anyway, I think that is what is meant by misused, not just that clubs actually misused money. However, if clubs have misused lottery funding then clearly they should be punished.

[Dave Wayne]

If clubs were assured this money would be in the form of a grant then that is what it should be, therefore if the season is not complete it is clear who is at fault. Perhaps players should wear tights and cod pieces, they'd get the grant then. In the wider scheme of things, 11m is a drop in the ocean.

Depends if there’s any written proof of the grants.

I’m more conferenced as to the mentioning of misuse of the grants. What’s that all about ?

That, I think, was lottery funding which has already been used to keep clubs going as they believed more money was on its way.
I think the point is that if the £11m grant isn't forthcoming then the £10m lottery funding is wasted as the season won't finish anyway, I think that is what is meant by misused, not just that clubs actually misused money. However, if clubs have misused lottery funding then clearly they should be punished.

The misuse wasn't by the clubs but by the National League itself. It was given in order to compensate clubs for loss of income due to lack of gate receipts and was supposed to be distributed to the clubs on that basis, but instead the NL shared it out equally between the clubs. This meant that those with larger average gates have been short changed (County rumoured to be £287k down on what they were expecting), while those with smaller average gates are quids in (Boreham Wood 'overcompensated' by about £170k).
Apparently, the decision on how to distribute the money was taken by the NL Board, and of it's 9 members, 5 are from clubs who received more than they would have under the original agreed method of distribution.
This has lead to complaints as some of those clubs that received 'bonus money', such as Boreham Wood, are now splashing out on players that would normally be targets for the 'bigger' clubs in the league.

[Amber Andy]

Not only Boreham Wood. Those over the other side of the M1 have signed nine players since the new manager has come in. The same club that has borrowed £1m from the council.