After pulling off one of the SCEFL signings of the close season by attracting former Gillingham favourite Danny Kedwell to the club, Hollands and Blair boss Simon Halsey has added to the emotive debate currently raging about if and when fans should be allowed back into watching Non-League football.
A passionate Halsey told KSN, “The Football League can survive without supporters for a certain degree but us little clubs simply can’t survive without that little bit of income – it’s just won’t work!”
“We need that income to fund the floodlights going on and going onto fund the officials – we’re paying referees at the moment! We’re getting no revenue through the gate and taking nothing from the tea-bar! I just feel that it will have to change somewhere along the line for the future of Non-League; it’s got to as there will certainly be clubs go to the wall otherwise.
“I am really surprised that some haven’t gone already – there must be a lot that are right on the brink of desperation! The government, Football League and others must get together quickly to get it sorted – it’s bad enough when you see one or two go through the season that shouldn’t happen.
“I feel that if they don’t sort this out now, you’ll see a lot of clubs going out of business which is shocking and should happen in today’s Non-League football with the amount of money that there is today going into the pro game!”
With such uncertainty, the already tough job of being a Non-League boss has surely been made even tougher – a point that Halsey conceded and added “It’s not just a problem for me as a boss, I think it’s a massive problem not just for Hollands and Blair every club through the Non-League pyramid.
“I just can’t see how teams will be able to carry on this season without a fan base coming in however little those fan bases might be, everyone needs their revenue. You look at the World Snooker and they’re letting people into watch the World Final in Sheffield this weekend and that’s in a closed environment!”
“I just can’t understand why and I’m pretty sure that in the coming weeks that will change, and they will have to let a limited number of supporters into each club or it simply won’t work.
“We talked about it after training – we’re all putting our efforts in – players travelling around the county to get to friendlies without any payment. They (the SCEFL board) need to do something as they can’t just pull the plug on the start date (the League confirmed to KSN this week that if no supporters are allowed, then the proposed start date for the League of September 5th will be put back) – I think that things will have to change and we must be allowed to let a certain number of supporters into each grounds.”