December 2020 - From the Boardroom with Simon Cook

Ed: How are things at the football club right now health wise? Are all the players, management, staff and volunteers all keeping well and staying safe?
SC: All well down here at Nyewood Lane- thank goodness!

Ed: On Friday the 4th December we finally had the official statement regarding the re-start of football at steps 3& 4 and unfortunately it’s not the answer everyone wanted. However, can you give us a little insight into why the decision was made not to re-start and what happens now?

SC: I think the fact that so many clubs are affected by the Tier 3 restrictions meant that clubs at our level could not depend on playing on a level playing field (no pun intended!) or of course in many cases, not playing at all. Clubs simply can not play with no income as players will still be expecting to be paid. The closure of bars and tea huts further compounds the financial situation for so many clubs. At this stage it makes sense to see what the government decide at their next review on December 16th. I just hope that we will be able to restart around the beginning of January if not before. If the current restrictions continue much further into the new year, not only will the season potentially be extended until June, but perhaps some sort of revised, emergency competition might be considered. At the moment it is too unclear to be able to decide.

Ed: As the majority of Sussex is in tier 2, you can understand the frustrations of fans with this decision can’t you?

SC: Absolutely. We are all extremely frustrated and concerned but hopefully we will be returning to normal by next season - if not before.

Ed: On a personal level I feel it was the right call by the League Committee to postpone all matches until a review of the tiering system due of many factors that I won’t list here, however there was some clubs especially in the Isthmian Leagues that voted to play on and were quite happy to start again on the 19th of December. I know this is difficult to answer, but is there now a very really danger this could send some of those clubs to the wall?

SC: I don't know what the financial situation is at other clubs so cannot really answer this question. One thing that we should be grateful for is the generosity that we have all benefitted from so far in the form of grants which have been invaluable in helping clubs survive. We all received £10,000 from the Premier League for example and the Business Interruption Scheme and other government and local authority grants have really helped us keep going.

Ed: The majority of Isthmian Premier League clubs are actually in tier 2, but this still creates a massive logistical and financial challenge to get games played doesn’t it especially with the clubhouse being all but out of bounds. Can you highlight why secondary income is so crucial to non league clubs at our level?

SC: Every pound of lost revenue is hurting small businesses such as our clubs. Some clubs in the Isthmian League take four times as much in their clubhouses as they do at the gate so that is a no-brainer. We calculate that we will have lost not far off £200,000 in revenue from Seasons by the time we get back to normal. It's not just match days which are affected, as we would host many functions such as weddings, Christmas parties etc. which have all stopped.

Ed: What does this decision mean for Bognor? Can players and paid staff go back to being furloughed?

SC: Our only paid staff are our players and they have been on Furlough over the two lockdowns. However there are still various employment costs that the club has to bear.

Ed: I know this tiering system is being reviewed every two weeks by the government, but as I know from living in a tier 3 county, albeit an town with low cases compared to the rest of that county, cases are rising every week in many places so it seems highly unlikely tier 3 will be removed from many areas anytime soon. This does create a serious problem for all leagues and their actual chance of completion doesn’t it?

SC: Yes - as mentioned above, we will have to see if there is any change in the coming month or two to the Tier system. It is difficult to see how the season can be completed if some clubs just cannot play.

Ed: The club remain in the FA Trophy and on the 8th December make the very long trip to Thame United. The club are stuck between a rock and hard place in regards to playing in an FA Competitions aren’t they?

SC: Not really! Thank goodness we have the FA Trophy as it does provide competitive football for us as well as the chance of winning valuable prize money. The prizes for the winners in the next two rounds are £3,000 and £3,750. Of course if we were to be knocked out on Tuesday, we will have to review our plans for the next few weeks accordingly.

Ed: Also in the FA Trophy I see that Margate have pulled out of their home tie which does highlight the issues facIng current tier 3 clubs forced to play BCD doesn’t it?
SC: Yes - I can see why they would do this. No gate or bar revenue, but having to find the costs of players, hosting the match and sharing all operating expenses with Burgess Hill who were their planned visitors.

Finally,
Ed: I appreciate that this is difficult to answer at this stage, but I have to ask it. If we get to mid January and the League programme hasn’t started up again. Do you know what the league has planned as a contingency?

SC: As I said above, the situation remains very fluid and unclear. If the situation continues there will need to be some sort of revised competition and the isthmian League board are communicating regularly on what the possibilities might be.