Four exercises Non-League and Sunday League players must do to be ready for post-lockdown football!
This article has a variety of four different exercises you must involve in your lockdown training plan. Improve your balance, strength, co-ordination, endurance and explosiveness by simply practising these four components.
We interviewed personal trainer and fitness enthusiast Adam Morris and asked him for a simple training plan to aid any level of football player. Go check out his Instagram https://www.instagram.com/adammorrisfitness/ for further workout plans.
First of all, lets workout why you need to improve the five previously stated aspects.
Balance– Balance is one of the most important physical aspects any player can have. To beat a man, or to defend a skilful winger, balance is essential. You barely spend any time in the whole match standing on two feet. Training your balance will improve your mobility and agility drastically.
Strength- There is a reason Cristiano Ronaldo’s legs look like something from comic books, because he spends endless hours training his strength. And whilst simply training during quarantine will not give you legs which match the Portuguese superstar, improving strength in your legs will aid you with power, speed and lessen your muscle fatigue.
Co-Ordination- This might seem like an obvious one, obviously you need strong co-ordination to improve on the football pitch. However, being able to improve your ‘Foot-eye co-ordination’ without even using a football is something less people consider. By simply adding four simple movements to your workout routine you will need to be focusing on what your feet are doing, therefor improving your co-ordination.
Endurance- Endurance is often considered by just running miles upon miles to improve your cardiovascular abilities. Peter Crouch said in his famous podcast that Tony Pullis use to make him and the rest of the stoke team run up so many hills that they nearly threw up every preseason. However, with the modernisation of fitness and especially endurance-based training, it has been discovered that doing shorter bursts consistently aids football players much more than hours upon hours of running.
Explosiveness- Lets go back to Cristiano Ronaldo’s legs. Ronaldo is ones of, if not the fastest players out of the blocks of all time and could jump so high, he could beat a giraffe to a header. And the fact his calves look like they belong on the incredible hulk is part of the reason for this. Having explosiveness in your game can change you from a mediocre player to un-droppable.#
Watch the video below and try it for yourself!
4×12 Knee Jumps (With optional 10 meter sprints after each repetition)
Premier League, the pinnacle of English football, where everybody wants to be no matter how much you love the spectacular Non League tradition and football in the country. In today’s article we look at the 5 players who made it to the Premier League from the Non-League.
1. Jamie Vardy – Stocksbridge Park Steels to Leicester City.
The first player on this list is Jamie Vardy, Jamie Vardy was playing for Stockbridge Park Steels from 2007 to 2010 before moving to FC Halifax Town for a season and then Fleetwood for 1 season too. Vardy then joined Leicester City in 2012, when they were in the Championship and had the iconic play off match against Watford which they had lost in added time at the hands of Troy Deeney. Leicester City bounced back and got promoted in the 13/14 season and made it to the Premier League in the 14/15 season, before managing one of the most surprising League title victories in the 15/16 season.
You could not find a normal person who did not like Jamie Vardy during the 2015/16 when Leicester City triumphed the Premier League. Jamie Vardy was a pivotal part of this campaign as he broke the consecutive goals scored record which was held by Ruud Van-Nistelrooy (10 games) which was held from 2002 until 2015.
Jamie Vardy was provided with assists by players like Danny Drinkwater, Ngolo Kante & Riyad Mahrez scored 19 goals in 26 matches in the campaign where Leicester won the league and this earnt him his first national call up for England at the age of 29 vs Germany in a friendly with an intricate flick.
After the successful season at Leicester, Vardy went on to represent England at Euro 2016 where England crashed out against Iceland. Jamie Vardy has not stopped his scoring form and has been consistent. As it stands, Jamie Vardy is the top scorer in the Premier League, but he would still be likely to get the golden boot if coronavirus puts a stop to the season.
2. Chris Smalling – Maidstone United to Manchester United (Loan at Roma)
Chris Smalling is currently at Roma, on-loan from Manchester United regaining his form. Before Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United signed him from Fulham in 2010, Smalling was playing Non League Football for Maidstone United. All it took for Smalling was one season of Non-League before he got a move to the Premier League and made 13 appearances for Fulham between 2008-2010.
One thing that many people do not know is that Smalling originally signed for Middlesbrough in 2008 before joining Fulham after there were concerns that he was critically homesick.
In his second top flight season in English football, Chris Smalling won the Premier League and made it to the UEFA Champions League final where they finished runners up to Guardiola’s mesmerising Barcelona who won everything they could that season.
In 2011, Smalling made his England debut against Bulgaria in a 3-0 win, this was just the start of his England career as he made it into the World Cup 2014 squad as well as the Euro 2016 squad.
After losing out to the Premier League title to local rivals Manchester City on goal difference, Smalling won the Premier League with Manchester United in 2013, what would turn out to be Sir Alex Ferguson’s last season for the club.
Chris Smalling also won the Europa League but has fallen out of form since then and got loaned out to Roma for the 19/20 season.
3.Joe Hart – Shrewsbury to Burnley
Joe Hart is the final player on the list and he is also a Premier League winner with 2 titles to his name, he was part of the Manchester City squad that ended the 44 year league title drought in 2012, winning on goal difference with the late goal from Sergio Aguero on the final day against Queens Park Rangers.
Joe Hart started his career at Shrewsbury Town in 2003 and he spent 3 years there before moving to Manchester City in 2006 for £600,000. Manchester City loaned him out to Tranmere Rovers and Blackpool in the same year (2007). before signing for Birmingham in 2009.
Joe Hart spent 1 season at Manchester City after returning in 2008, making his England debut, before signing for Birmingham in 2009 in another loan deal away from Manchester City.
Joe Hart was awarded PFA Young Player of the Year and won the Premier League Goalkeeper of the year for his performances at Birmingham City
Joe Hart’s performances at Birmingham earnt him a place in the Manchester City squad for the following season where they qualified for UEFA Champions League for the first time. In the 2010/11 season Joe Hart also won the ‘Golden Glove’ an accolade he has the record for (4), which he also won in 2012, 2013 and 2015.
Joe Hart won the Premier League with Manchester City in 2012 and 2014 and established himself as a fan favourite amongst the fans. However, unluckily for him, in 2016 Pep Guardiola arrived and decided Joe Hart does not suit his philosophy of ball playing Goalkeepers and opted to replace him with former Barcelona goalkeeper who is still at Manchester City, Claudio Bravo.
This resulted in Joe Hart going on loan to Torino and then West Ham, before permanently signing for Burnley.
Honourable mentions:
Michail Antonio – Tooting & Mitcham to West Ham.
James Tarkowski – Oldham to Burnley.
Yannick Bolasie – Hillingdon Borough
Take part in our poll and tell us the best player!
Sutton United manager, Matt Gray, spoke to SNL after his sides 1-1 draw with Hartlepool United. With the Coronavirus picking off leagues all over the world left, right and centre, the Vanarama National League went ahead as Sutton welcomed a Hartlepool United side looking to get back to winning ways after a surprising 1-0 defeat to relegation contenders Ebbsfleet United in their last outing.
Sutton got off to the dream start in front of a 2000 plus crowd at Gander Green Lane, after on loan Millwall stiker Isaac Olaofe, scored his first goal for the U’s in somewhat fortuitous fashion.
In the second minute, Hartlepool goalkeeper Ben Killip had a moment he would hope to forget, when a routine clearance cannoned off pressing stiker Olaofe leg to roll into the back of the net to give Sutton the lead.
Sutton were on top for the majority of the first half, they could have doubled their lead when exciting winger David Ajiboye weaved his way through the Pools defence to curl a shot looking destined for the top right corner, but Killip redeemed himself, with a fine save to spare his blushes from his earlier mishap.
Hartlepool, who were looking to gain promotion back to the football league at the second time of asking this season, after ending their 96 year stay in the professional game two years ago. Although David Challinors’ side sit only 3 points off the playoff spots, the National League’s battle for a potential playoff position is so hotly contested this season, with around 8 sides in contention for a playoff place, every point counts.
The Pools came out fired up for the second half. On the 58th minute Hartlepool winger Luke Molyneux played a delightful sequence of passes with center midfielder Gavin Holohan, and fresh from signing a new two year deal in midweek Holohan signed it off with a exquisitely placed shot passed Sutton goalkeeper Nick Tanzev, making it 1-1 and setting the game up nicely heading into the last half an hour.
Sutton found a second wind with ten minutes left of the game, Harry Beautyman grew into the fixture after being nullified for the majority of the match. His creativity unlocked Hartlepool’s defence on a number of occasions with the clock running down.
Sutton winger Ajiboye, looked to have taken all three points for the U’s, his shot looked destined for the top corner, with keeper Killip frozen to the spot, defender Gary Liddle flung himself at the ball to direct it over the bar and somehow keep the game at 1-1 and saving a point for Hartlepool to take back north.
You can watch the extended match highlights from the game
Matt Gray’s comments after the game
When asked on whether he thought his side could have gone on and won the game Gray said, “Without a doubt, I was not too happy with the goal, I wasn’t too happy with the first ten-fifteen minutes of the second half but we got stronger and stronger as the half went on. We certainly had chances at the end to go and win it. How he (Liddle) has headed it off the line there, and minutes before Beautyman hit the inside of the post. If anyone deserved to win, I thought it should have been us.”
Leading up to the game it was a surprise that the National League went ahead, after the Premier League fell victim to the Coronavirus less than 24 hours before, SNL asked Matt Gray just how unprecedented the 24 hours prior were. “Yesterday we planned as normal, we didn’t know anything, and we did not know any news about the FA, or the Premier League until we came in at lunchtime. Once they made their stand on things, I thought the National League would follow. But that wasn’t too be and the game was on. The players want to play, it’s their job, it’s my job and we were looking forward to getting out for another 90 minutes.
Sutton now sit comfortably mid table, with the point earned bringing them to 50 points so far for the season, all but confirming their place in the National League for next season. Matt Gray had this to say on reaching the half century for the season, and whether his side are potential dark horses for a playoff spot. “The first target has always been 51, with 8 games to go we need one more, so I will be pretty confident we can get that done. If we can sting a good couple of results together, we can certainly have a little late push.”
It’s safe to say the impact of this global pandemic is unlike anything that anyone has ever experienced before. Daily lives have been hit in different extremes. With the peak of the virus hopefully gone I caught up with Virginia Water chairman David McBride to get a quick statement on the cancellation of all non league football.
“Its as if the club has been put into deep freeze! At first i was concerned about the impact it might have, but everyone seems focused on the bigger picture. The FA have been brilliant and have kept us informed at every step and I am impressed and grateful at how quickly they came to their decision. Not sure how long it will take to start again but my gut says June/July but safety must be put first during all this and again I’d like to thank the FA for making sure that no risks were taken during the pandemic. Professional leagues should look at how lower leagues have operated during this pandemic and I feel the Premier League should follow suit especially as these footballers have families they could be putting at risk.”
Cup Winners McBride (right) Photo @vwfcofficial
As well as speaking to club chairman I also managed to get some words off first team manager Ceri Jones. Jones answered questions on his squad, the impact Coronavirus has had and the void of the season. Jones hopes his squad will report for pre-season in good shape and more importantly safe and well.
“I would not expect any adverse impact on the squad in terms of physicality and fitness perspective. That said, I would hope it makes them all more aware and respectful of their personal health moving forward, both on and off the field”
“As a Club, we are completely restricted to enforce/maintain fitness levels of all players. I would endorse/expect all players to use the allowable daily exercise levels to keep as fit as possible, before we hopefully get the green light to start pre-season training at the end of June, which will no doubt be far more intensive. The ‘void’ season is totally unfair! The logical way was/is a simplified average of points per game, with promotion/relegation adopted. The FA laws quote that if a season is at least 70% completed, then it does constitute a full season! “
McBride (right) Jones (left) Photo @vwfcofficial Twitter
On the 26th March 2020, Non League football from steps 3-6 was cut short 2 months early as the FA deemed the impact of Coronavirus too much for the league to handle. Now over 2 weeks on I caught up with Virgina Water first teamer’s Matt Jones and Josh Hill to see how COVID-19 is affecting their day to day lives and what their opinions are surrounding the cancellation of their season and how they’re dealing with the pandemic.
Heres Hoping Hill and the Waters can get back to creating moments of brilliance like this soon!
How do you think the virus will affect the squad/club going into the future?
Josh Hill “As we are at a low level of non-league football, I don’t feel it will have a massive effect on either. As a club we do not generate a massive profit/loss and we don’t have many outgoings to pay. The Timber pitch was in need of a rest! As a squad we only trained once a week and played once a week so not much changes. We’re all still in touch via WhatsApp. Might be slightly less fit going into the next pre-season.”
Matt Jones “I would imagine that the club won’t be affected too badly by COVID-19. There are obvious financial implications which will be the same for all teams at our level, however on the playing front, things will likely be very similar heading into the new season (whenever that may be).”
Do you think a season void was a fair outcome?
Josh Hill “Definitely not, how can a team that have not lost a game be kept in the same division. They should have completed it on a Points Per Game system.”
Matt Jones “I do understand the reasoning behind the void decision however with the vast majority of league games already played, I would have preferred a Points Per Game conclusion. To tell clubs who are in strong positions or already promoted that they can’t go up isn’t right in my opinion.”
Josh Hill “My workload has been greatly reduced. I cannot visit my girlfriend or my grandparents. I am lucky I have a reasonable size house/garden to keep myself busy.”
Matt Jones “From a social and sporting viewpoint it’s not been easy. From being active most of the week to stuck inside all day isn’t ideal, but there’s always stuff to keep you busy!”
How do you plan on overcoming any setbacks covid-19 may have caused?
Josh Hill “I will try my hardest to get back to a normal routine as quick as possible once this has passed. I will work tirelessly on my business to try and pick up as much work as I possibly can to get us back on the right track.”
Matt Jones “Trying to stay physically fit and train where possible should minimise the setbacks. It will obviously take time to adjust but doing as much as possible now should help in the long run.”
Want to find out about the 100 year rollercoaster that is Virgina Water FC?
Three months into the new decade and the UK has been thrust into the greatest socio-economic challenge the country has faced since WWII. The violent nature of the virus outbreak has placed the world on pause and indeed too, the ‘beautiful game’. How are our favourite athletes and our favourite teams dealing with quarantine? How will the clubs cope? When will we next see a live match? Questions we want answers to, but some questions I feel haven’t been asked are ones including the governing bodies, the leagues themselves, the organisations that run the football we watch day in and day out. Luckily enough for me, I was able to ask some of those questions; a fortnight into the lockdown I was in contact with Michelle Dorling, Honorary League Secretary of the Essex Senior Football League (ESL), and in week five of the lockdown I spoke to her non-league neighbour Nick Robinson, Chairman of the BetVictor Isthmian League.
Michelle Dorling, Honorary League Secretary of the Essex Senior League
What makes the world go round? Money. The first and foremost concern right now is the health and wellbeing of our kin, that goes without saying, but something of this magnitude is going to make a mammoth mark monetarily.
If anything, the adjective ‘mammoth’ understates the ESL’s predicament, as Dorling explained potently the sheer suddenness of this pandemic: her proactive action of undertaking “additional delivery of this season’s footballs, excess to our contracted order”, on the 26th February, costing the league “just over £8,000”, has abruptly come back to bite: “clubs were starting to run short of balls and with six to seven weeks still to play of the season we anticipated that a great deal of those balls would have been sold”. “We are now stuck with personalised old stock that we cannot recoup full costs on for next season as we are contractually bound to purchase a new design for our third year of our three-year agreement with the manufacturer. We are therefore also liable for the purchase of a further five-hundred balls and must pay a 50% deposit very soon”.
She explained that the league has “lost revenue from cup finals” and that “having already ordered” they are “therefore” “liable for the cost of trophies and medals for those cup finals”. “The estimated losses are £29k taking all of the above into account to the league alone, without revenue that grounds would have lost for not hosting the cup finals; food/beverage stock that will now go out of date as now left unsold”. Especially worrying with each passing day, that figure will only increase, bearing in mind our conversation took place on the 8th April.
To conclude, as bleak and blatantly as Robinson, the leagues “have no income, same as the clubs. We have no income coming into the league”, particularly since, as he points out, a major source of income is player registrations: in which “up to the last Thursday in March there will be registrations, every club registering a player has to pay”, has ceased.
An adjacent dynamic of the inevitable loss of income as a result of the virus outbreak is a concept vast swathes of the country have had to become accustomed to: ‘furlough’. And when commenting on whether the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme had had to be exercised, whilst the ESL “operate on a volunteer basis so do not have any paid staff”, Robinson and the Isthmian league, from a team of four, unfortunately “have furloughed two of our staff”. “If this goes on we may have to put a third one on furlough”, but to their credit, have paid “100% of the salary” for the first two periods of furlough, and are “staying” at that figure.
Strikingly, the financial severity of the pandemic and how the leagues have been affected fiscally is where the similarities between the ESL and Isthmian League, end. The sheer unrest and uncertainty that grips the nation is what ironically, unifies us all, we can take comfort that, as cliché as it is, ‘we’re all in this together’, or so we’d like to think.
Though claiming to “understand very closely” the impact of closing the league on the local community, how “our clubs are the hub” and “would not survive without the support of their community, it’s not just going through the turnstiles on a Saturday or a Tuesday… the bars are open”, “grounds aren’t just used for football matches, there’s wedding receptions, funeral wakes… all sorts of things that happen during the average week of a football club”.
A veneer of pragmatism ultimately eclipsed Robinson’s warming sentiments of football’s societal stitching; what underlay all of this was that it’s “not our job” to help the clubs, “we don’t have funds to help them financially”, “we wouldn’t do that anyway, if we do it for one we have to do it for everybody”. “Our function is to run the league”, it’s “not our job to sustain a club that is not sustainable”.
The alarming possibility of non-league clubs going bust as a result of Coronavirus is something both Dorling and Robinson recognise. Robinson believes that “yes there probably will be casualties” as “the longer it goes on, the more difficult clubs will find to fund what they have. With no revenues streams, and overhead still there, clubs will find it very difficult. If it’s three months then directors may find the ability to fund it, if it’s six months, that’s more difficult”. Dorling explained that “some clubs/leagues will not survive if they lose too great a number of their volunteer network as there are very few volunteers from the younger generation” (the lack of replacement younger volunteers being something she claims as “another problem” “grassroots football face[s]”). She added that, “financially many of our clubs have lost their only source of revenue, particularly in a league with sixteen ground-shares amongst nineteen Premier Division clubs who charge admission for games. Some clubs may not survive if they don’t receive grant funding or other sources of revenue. It is estimated that many ground-share clubs have lost in excess of £18k in revenue from gate receipts, bar or food booth takings and/or raffles”.
Herein lies the stark contrast of stances; the two respective leagues are juxtaposed; whilst Robinson categorically states “we are a conglomerate of eighty-two clubs, we can’t select one club over another, whatever we do has to be for the benefit of our eighty-two clubs”, “we shouldn’t get involved in the actual running of member clubs, we could be accused of inter-meddling” and that “that would be silly”, Dorling explains that ESL are “trying to maintain the status quo by supporting our members/committee/referees in as many ways as possible” “to ensure their survival” as the “thought that” “some clubs may not survive” and “that the National League System may be irreparably altered as a result of loss of leagues/clubs” is “heart breaking”. The thought of that impending doom has spurred the ESL into “working behind the scenes to support our members/committee by providing them with a number of avenues to raise funds”, as Dorling claims “it may be necessary to employ or at least pay expenses for volunteers to fill any gaps in their volunteer network”. And so, the ESL have been “liaising with grant making organisations; providing advice and guidance; and on occasions assistance with grant applications” as well as waiving “outstanding league debt owed by clubs and not” invoicing “clubs for player registrations from 31st December 2019 to the end of the season”.
She ends her battle rhythm with a rally cry: whilst “there are no guidelines on mandatory support, we are supporting our clubs/committee/referees willingly, as we are fully aware that their survival, and indeed our own, depends on how well we are able to support our members”. Interesting how one pandemic has the ability to distinctively distinguish the difference in attitudes between two organisations, effectively, doing the same job.
The brutal but nonetheless fair centrality of Robinson and indeed the Isthmian league’s outlook, is personified through his explanation to dismiss the season. Robinson revealed how “a number of clubs” had written to both the league and FA “because they did not agree with the decision that we took to terminate the season and expunge the records”.
Before our conversation, it was my understanding that the decision to dismiss the 2019/20 season was an FA one, upon querying him, Robinson enlightened me “the way it works is that the FA sanction our leagues, and the leagues each have a representative on the committee”. After informing me of his position: “I am a FA Council member, and I sit on the Alliance Committee”, Robinson went onto explain that “the Alliance Committee made the decision, after consultation with each of the Boards. I went back and discussed it with my Board, we all went back we made a decision, for a sub-committee, the sub-committee then went to the main-committee and the main-committee decision then went to the council for main approval, or for confirmation. So, yes the FA made the decision, they decide when football can start and finish, but it was done after consultation with us”.
“The clubs concerned” (those who had written) “are those who are not getting promoted who thought they should do”, and they thought that “we should have gone out with a greater consultation, but we didn’t. I have eight club representatives on my Board, and we took the view that we would not send out a voting paper to every club”.
Another point of comparison typifying the difference in methodology and viewpoint under quarantine between the two Leagues, as Dorling believes “the decision wasn’t made by the League or the FA, but ultimately the Government when they instigated this partial lockdown. The decision wasn’t really the FA’s to make as it all unfolded quite quickly, the Government putting the country into lockdown effectively ended the season. Whilst the FA has shouldered the responsibility, they didn’t really have any other option”, explaining that “the FA took the decision to conclude the season during a Web Ex meeting on Tuesday 24th March which was later announced by the FA on Thursday 26th March”.
Earlier I emphasised how in spite of how peculiar this state of standstill may be, we can take re-assurance in that we’re all united as a collective, but after speaking to Michelle and Nick, it’s safe to say something else unites us, for the football world at least, we can stand in union together over our longing for the return of the beautiful game.
Virgina Water FC are a Charter run club based in Surrey. Having been founded in 1920 the club recently celebrated 100 years as a club. Their home ground is called the Timbers which is in Virginia Water.
The ground was named after founding member Harry Timbers. In the 19th century during the formative years, the club received financial payments from the Crown. They were paid £2 a year and this was paid under both King Edward VIII and King George V.
In recent years the Timbers have had some very famous footballers visit for various functions.
In 1969 Waters had a new clubhouse built at the Timbers. It was opened by Sir Stanley Rous CBE, who at the time was president of FIFA. Throughout the club’s 100 years of activity they could very much be described as a “yo yo” club with ups and downs throughout the decades.
The 1980s was nothing short of abysmal for Waters as they were relegated twice down to the Surrey South Eastern Combination Intermediate League.
Moving into the 90s, the winning feeling was certainly restored as Virginia Water achieved back to back promotions from the Intermediate League all the way back to the CCL. This was achieved in just 2 seasons.
Due to league ruling VW only stayed in the CCL for 1 season but they certainly didn’t loose the winning spirit as they picked themselves up and won the Surrey County Premier Cups in 1995, 1996 and 1997. The 1997 win is one that holds a special place in the clubs history as it was one piece of a historic treble jigsaw that saw them not only win the County and League Cup but also the League title.
Despite winning the League cup and County Cup, promotion out of the Surrey Elite League was something that they couldn’t quite put their finger on. Following this, a managerial merry go round begun. The Club struggled to find stability with many managers coming and going during these tough times.
Photo @vwfcofficial Twitter
The 2015/16 season came around and so did another managerial change. Ceri Jones was appointed. Jones, who has a rugby background took the Reins and Waters haven’t looked back. With him in charge, he’s overseen argubaly the most successful Waters team in the clubs history.
Step 7 has always been a stumbling block for VW, they’ve never been able to get out of it. Their luck changed, as in the 2016/17 season, Waters won the double. The youthful side won both the League and the Cup and secured promotion into the Hellenic Division 1 East.
With the jump from step seven to step six complete, Waters looked to build on their recent triumph. It came as real surprise to the club, as in the 2017-18 season Virgina Water made club history and achieved promotion at the first time of asking. This was a big deal for the club as it was the highest level the club had ever played at. Promotion meant that Waters would be playing at step 5 of the non league pyramid.
The second promotion came as quite a shock to the club as their historic ground didn’t meet the criteria for a Hellenic Premier division side. Therefore, drastic changes were needed to be made. In the Summer of 2016 plans to build a new home were rejected as local residents were not happy about losing their beloved “green belt land”. The proposals of a stand, club bar, floodlights and, a 170 capacity car park were met with anger and left locals unhappy due to their “strong, emotional bond” towards the land.
Photo @vwfcofficial Twitter
So Virgina Water now ground share with Windsor FC at Stag Meadow. Virginia Water are now in the same league as their tenants which has created some feisty meetings in previous years.
The Surrey based club have been on the hunt for a new home for over 3 years now. They have finally found somewhere suitable, after having their previous plans back in 2018 abolished by local residents.
The image above is the plans for the new ground, reasonings for the move is primarily for the first team due to their success over the past 3 seasons. League regulations mean any ground must have at least one stand and be floodlit to be determined fit for purpose. As well as this the club hopes to build on recent success and by building a state of the art new home they are hoping that this is only going to aid more success in the future.
“The Club’s aim is to provide fun and enjoyable football for all, developing players from a young age and providing a pathway for them into adult football. As part of the recent on-field football success of the Virginia Water first team, and to commemorate our centenary, it is proposed to rebuild the existing clubhouse to provide a modern facility, meeting all the latest Sport England and Football Association standards, along with current building regulations and standards. The clubhouse will primarily be for the football club, but it is proposed to include other sports, including cricket and also provide social and community accommodation for the village of Virginia Water, and the immediate surrounding areas” – David McBride
How is COVID-19 affecting Virgina Water as a club?
At the age of nineteen the closet most football fans get to owning a football club would be through video games, however at Walton and Hersham, Co- owner Thomas Bradbury, (pictured one left of centre), is ‘living the dream’ with his six friends who are thought to be the youngest owners of not only a football club in Britain, but in the world.
The new owners of Walton and Hersham
They officially took over the Surrey based side last summer, after previous owner Alan Smith was looking to sell. They set out a plan, where each of them would be assigned a role to help build and grow the football club, to try and take the club back to where they belonged. The seven friends have feature on the cover of BBC Sport online, and have all conducted interviews with various top media outlets, in a whirlwind first season for the Swans new owners.
You can watch a short documentary above about the owners
Walton and Hersham have an historic history, currently based in Division One of the Combined Counties Football League. The club famously beat Brian Clough’s Brighton side 4-0 in 1973. They have also had Sir Stanley Matthews, who was the first winner of the Ballon d’Or in 1956, was president of the Swans for a short stint in the 80’s.
Thomas Bradbury, who is Co-owner and the Public Liaison Officer at the club tells SNL just how extraordinary his first season in football has been. “It’s been pretty crazy, we have gone from having our first season to having no season at all.” Due to the Coronavirus pandemic that has brought the footballing world to a standstill, the FA, ruled that all football below that National League would unfortunately be rendered null and void, leaving teams very much in the dark about their future. Which you can read more about here.
Bradbury goes on to issue his displeasure with the FA’s ruling, ” I think it kind of shows where the FA’s priorities are; money talks and I feel the FA do have a habit of neglecting Non-League quite a lot, and this reflects that.”
Bradbury’s side joined over 100 other teams from all over the country issuing an open letter to the FA, asking them to potentially reconsider the decision to ‘expunge’ all results from this season, thus effectively cancelling the season.
All the clubs who have signed the open letter so far
The young owners’ first season in football was going to plan; the club sat third in Division one of the Combined Counties with promotion a real target for the Swans. The FA’s decision has left clubs very much in the dark, with sides feeling a great injustice especially since the majority of the season had already played out.
Walton and Hersham occupied the last of the promotion spots
The goal of the owners’ debut season in football was promotion. Bradbury explains that on missing out on going up to the Premier Combined Counties League has tarnished the “Project” the ambitious owners are trying to build. He continues, “We want to put Walton back where it belongs, as one of Surrey’s Premier teams, but you can’t really do that in step 6.”
When asked if Walton and Hersham would seek any legal action against the FA, Bradbury replied,” It’s tough, because a lot of clubs at this level, including ourselves we don’t really have much money going around, so we can’t exactly afford a legal challenge to an organisation as big as the FA.”
The 19 year old, who studies politics at the university of Exeter, sets the hard truth that for teams, who thought their season would end in promotion, will need to come to the realisation that they will have it all to do again once the football does resume. He adds,” They have to ratify the decision that they have made, but I highly doubt they will. Quite frankly any decision they come to will be contentious apart from continuing the season, but that jeopardizes public safety, so I am not sure.”
The Coronavirus has been has devastated much of Non-League football with it still very much unclear on how and when the football will resume; it could leave many sides futures at high risk too, with the financial aspect of Non-League a mere drop in the ocean when compared to the Premier League.
Despite the unprecedented challenge that the young owners have faced in their first full season, Bradbury reflects on the season as a whole, as he looks back at his, “Crazy”, first season at the helm. ” I am a football fan, I understand there will always be ups and downs, and we have certainly experienced that at Walton, I mean it was a bit of a bumpy road at first; the form came and went- there was one really awful month we had in December and we just couldn’t seem to win a game, but the team played well, the management did well and in the end we found ourselves third after five wins in a row.”
Football is a hotbed of tension, a result can have fans turn on you in an instant, or they can be signing your praises from the rooftop. When asked how Bradbury dealt with the pressure, he explains, “I do feel for the fans, because the nature of Walton and Hersham and the history of the club has, they are not used to seeing the club so far down the football pyramid. So I completely understand every thought and opinion they have when it comes to the team not performing, especially when the team is not performing, because this season was all about promotion really.”
Bradbury tell SNL what although Walton and Hersham have unfortunately missed out on promotion this time round, there was still, “big plans”, for taking the club in the right direction. The forward thinking owner affirms, “We are in the process of setting up an academy, with a few schools in the area, so we are trying to get a proper set up going, with a clear path to the first team.”
With their first season in charge drawing to an unwanted conclusion, Bradbury reflects on what has caught him off guard the most, about owning a football club and on his first season in football as a whole. “I was very surprised about the amount of negative attention we got- especially from social media.”
He continues, “Especially when we first took over the club, a lot of the fans of the club (Walton and Hersham) and Non-League in general, they were questioning the whether we had the ability to properly manage the club- we had accusations that it was work experience. It was funny really; it’s unprecedented in the English game.”
He admits that it has not been all plain sailing in his first season, ” We did make some mistakes along the way, like for example when we first came in we did change the club badge, without any public consultation, and while i think the new badge is better than the old one, I do believe we made a mistake in ignoring the fans. So since then we have properly tried to communicate with them, and get them involved in every decision we make.”
Hungry to achieve something in the game, Bradbury asserts that for him and his fellow Co-owners of Walton and Hersham will waste no time in planning for the future. When asked about how personally having the title of ‘youngest owner in football’, and what it means to him, Bradbury brushes the accolade off and claims,” It’s cool to think about, but objectively, I don’t think it really means that much, we still have of things we still need to do and achieve at Walton, to make that actually mean something.” He adds,” Our first season has just been written off, and we haven’t really achieved anything yet, so I would like to answer that question in five years’ time, hopefully if we still own the club, I think maybe then there will be some proper achievements- but right now it’s about laying the foundations.”
Lawyers have been writing to the FA in the support of 151 clubs to go against the decision to end the season with a null & void decision. As reported earlier on our page where we focused on FA’s decision to end the season with a null & void due to corona virus.
100 clubs have all formed allegiance to overturn this decision from the FA and co-signed a different letter, 4 MPs have also raised their problems and disagreement.
But what are these letters? What was said?
The letter provides the examples of the reasons why clubs have an issue with the null & void decision and from the season ending early. Many people might look at it in a way that the clubs who were pushing promotion are feeling hard done by so they want to perhaps ‘sway’ the FA into changing their minds. But it spirals further than that and it is not all about results, here are some of the issues listed.
Loss of perishable items that have been perished and will not be used (e.g. beer in kegs), loss of potential uplift on commercial deals, loss of matchday sponsorship and loss of secondary spend for the last home game where the attendance is usually the best)
Many fans affected by the clubs who faced cancellation of their leagues will hope that the letters have done enough to change the minds of the FA and the people involved in order to prevent all the set backs listed above and help every club move on forward as if everything is normal.
On the 26th March 2020 the Football Association (FA) announced that all football from steps 3-6 in the non-league system would be brought to an abrupt halt, all results expunged and the leagues would be voided because of the Corona Virus.
The BetVictor Isthmian League is a regional men’s football league covering London, East and South East England featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. It consists of 82 teams in four divisions; the Premier Division above (Step 3), the North, South Central and South East divisions (all Step 4). It has various regional feeder leagues and the league as a whole is a feeder league mainly to the National League South.
Of course though, this league fell under the bracket and everything was voided. This was a great disappointment for all involved after all the hard work but for some relegation candidates this would be a sigh of relief and they could start again fresh next season. On the other hand, this was an extremely bitter pill to swallow for promotion candidates such asHanwell Town who play in the South Central Division and many others. There’s also now an issue with financial security as there’s no more income for theses clubs for the foreseeable future but there are different initiatives and ways they can obtain money to help them stay afloat in these unprecedented times.
A picture of Hanwell Town coming together after they beat Waltham Abbey 6-1 at home.
The BetVictor Isthmian League has recently started a series called, “That Was The Season That…Wasn’t” on its website and it goes in depth into all different types of statistics which I will vaguely cover. I will highlight the the top three of each category so far but if you want to delve deeper into more of the data I’ll link a Tweet to every category.
The first statistic for the unfinished 2019/20 season is ‘Attendances.’
Graphic showing the Largest average attendance and biggest attendance (%) increase over the whole league.
The top three clubs for brining in the largest average crowds over the season were Worthing FC (who play in The BetVictor Isthmian Premier Division), Guernsey FC and Hastings United FC (who both play in The BetVictor Isthmian South East Division.)
The top three clubs with the biggest attendance increase from last year over the season were Horsham FC (who play in The BetVictor Isthmian Premier Division), Chertsey Town FC (who play in The BetVictor Isthmian South Central Division) and Chichester City FC (who play in The BetVictor Isthmian South East Division.)
There are plenty more statistics on attendances from the best attended matches to the breakdown of the individual leagues which can be found by clicking on this Tweet:
The next statistic for the unfinished 2019/20 season is ‘Goals.’
Graphic showing the moat goals scored and conceded in the whole league.
The top three clubs who’ve been firing on all cylinders over the season are Ware FC, Chertsey Town FC (who both play in The BetVictor Isthmian South Central Division) and Ashford United FC (who play in The BetVictor Isthmian South East Division).
On the other hand, the clubs who have shipped the most goals over the season are FC Romania, Staines Town FC, Northwood FC and Hertford Town FC (who all funnily enough play in The BetVictor Isthmian South Central Division and are probably glad to see the season come to an end).
There are plenty more statistics on goals from the top goal scorers and highest scoring matches to the breakdown of the individual leagues which can be found by clicking on this Tweet:
— The Isthmian League (@IsthmianLeague) April 1, 2020
Click this to be directed to more of the data.
The third statistic for the unfinished 2019/20 season is ‘Home and Away.’
Graphic showing the most home points and away points obtained in the whole league.
The top three clubs who’ve picked up the most points at home over the season and have fortresses are Hastings United FC, Hornchurch FC and Carshalton FC (who all play in The BetVictor Isthmian Premier Division).
The top three clubs who love life on the road and have picked up the most points away from home over the season are Maldon & Tiptree FC (who play in The BetVictor Isthmian North Division), Worthing FC (who play in The BetVictor Isthmian Premier Division)and Ashford United FC (who play in The BetVictor Isthmian South East Division).
There are plenty more statistics on home and away data from the fewest home and away points to the most goals sored away from home which can be found by clicking on this Tweet:
We’re continuing our round up of the unfinished 2019-20 season in numbers, by looking at our best home and away performers. We might look at the other end of that spectrum, too!#BetVictorIsthmianpic.twitter.com/Ci5fu2ROJY
— The Isthmian League (@IsthmianLeague) April 2, 2020
Click this to be directed to more of the data.
Lastly, the league created a table which shows how the teams within the league performed in cup competitions (FA Cup and FA Trophy). Teams get three points for each victory and one for a draw. Everybody has two defeats as it only takes one to knock you out of a competition, and they’ve all been knocked out of both of them!
This isn’t a statistic but it was done for a bit of fun by the league which shows who was the most successful team within the league in cup competitions this season. Here’s the table below:
Table showing the top 20 teams in cup competitions within the league this season.
If you want to go more into depth with extra information and analysis about this, click on the Tweet below:
— The Isthmian League (@IsthmianLeague) April 3, 2020
Click this Tweet to be directed to more information and analysis.
I hope you enjoyed this little piece on statistics and I’m sure the league will keep the series going throughout these times, so keep an eye out for that either on their website or on their Twitter. Lastly, head over to our home page where you can find all up to date relevant Non-League content about the Corona Virus and much more.
On the 26th March 2020 the Football Association (FA) announced that all football from steps 3-6 in the non-league system would be brought to an abrupt halt, all results expunged and the leagues would be voided because of the Corona Virus.
Unfortunately for the FA a growing number of non-league clubs opposethis decision and are prepared to protest as they believe the decision wasn’t thought through properly and was rushed. Clubs have issued the point of “how can you say a league hasn’t happened?” and believe there should be an alternative solution, with some clubs pondering whether or not to take legal action.
There’s now even a petition to get the games completed which Hanwell Town Manager Wayne Carter and many others have shared via Twitter.
There’s obviously lots of issues that arise from this situation but the biggest one for these non-league clubs is obviously the financial security now that they have no income for the foreseeable future. You can read an interview with Hanwell’s Commercial Director Nigel Hunt who gives an insight into the finances of Hanwell and how they’re managing at this current time by clicking here.
Even top level elite clubs have had to put measures in place in theses unprecedented times by furloughing non-playing staff as well as players having to take pay cuts to salaries as big as 70% in Atletico Madrid’s case. The Premier League players have been told that clubs will lose £1.137 billion over the Corona Virus suspension but some are still struggling to come to terms with taking a pay cut and have received a lot of criticism.
Atletico Madrid players have agreed to take a 70 per cent pay cut to help the club's 430 non-playing staff during Spain's state of emergency
Sky Sports Football’s tweet about the Atletico Madrid pay cut.
England Manager Gareth Southgate has agreed to take a 30% pay-cut but some players still haven’t agreed to yet and some Premier League clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur have handled the situation awfully by just furloughing non-playing staff whilst continuing to pay the players their huge, lucrative salaries (I’m sure Harry Kane and Co would be able to cope with 30-50% less than £200,000 a week).
Following on from this the Government have been told to tax Premier league clubs who refuse to cut players wages but put non-playing staff on furlough during the Corona Virus crisis. This is definitely the correct decision but even if some clubs are fine other clubs in the EFL system like Gillingham (who are in League One) have asked elite level clubs to step in and financially help them, so imagine how clubs even lower down are coping.
Gillingham in action against Portsmouth back in January.
Not just the big clubs but the FA may also have to go into their own pocket to support clubs in these devastating times and in one part of the interview with Nigel he said the following:
“We would like to see the FA help Non-League clubs as we have exactly the same problems as teams higher up the football pyramid it’s just different sets of numbers.”
Following on, Premier League shareholders met on Friday and confirmed an immediate advance of £125million to the EFL and the National League to support clubs which is extremely positive news as well as Sport England who announced on March 31st that they’re making up to £195m of funding available to help the community sport and physical activity sector.
📢 ANNOUNCEMENT: Financial support for #Covid19 crisis. Today we're announcing up to £195m of funding to help the community sport and physical activity sector. THREAD
Sport England then released another announcement a day later and said they’re making a £20 million Community Emergency Fund available immediately for local clubs and community organisations. Clubs can apply for grants between £300 and £10,000 to aid them during these times.
ICYMI 📢 NEW FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENT We’re making a £20 million Community Emergency Fund available immediately for local club and community organisations. Apply now to bid for grants between £300 and £10,000 👇https://t.co/KiovcajnSkpic.twitter.com/9el15bR6Z0
These initiatives are essential for lower league clubs and I’m sure much more will develop over the coming weeks or months during the Corona Virus crisis. Some clubs will rely on these to stay afloat and will be forever grateful for the help reached out from various organisations.
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