Holker Street Newsletter 1707 - 12th May 2006

It appears Barrow AFC have released Neil Tarrant and it appears more will follow, as Phil Wilson starts planning for next season.

If you are wondering why there was only one Play-Off Semi-Final in the Nationwide South I was, well, Lewes, who finished in a play off spot, were disqualified as their ground does not meet Conference National standards, and St Albans received a bye into the Final, where they beat Histon, and will play in the Conference National Division next season.


SAVE MONEY ON SEASON TICKETS BEFORE JUNE 30
From www.barrowafc.com

Season tickets for Phil Wilson's first full season in charge are now on sale. As usual, supporters can make an extra saving if they purchase them before June 30. With the full price ticket giving approx. one and a half games free compared to paying on the gate for every game, the "early bird" offer gives a further £10-£15 saving. The club are also repeating the excellently priced season tickets for Junior Supporters with Under 11s on sale for just £30 (around £1.50 per game) and 11-16s for £60 (under £3 per game) Because of the already low price there is no further saving on these tickets for purchasing early.

Season Ticket Prices: (Before 30/6 price in brackets)

Adult Grandstand £195 (£180) Concession Grandstand £135 (£125)
Adult Ground £175 (£160) Concession Ground £115 (105)
Under 11s £30
11-16s £60

The club have also revamped their match day price structure for next season in order to encourage more families to Holker Street. From next season, entry for under 14s will cost just £3 for all areas (compared to £5/£6 this season). The increased costs associated with life in Nationwide North, however, mean that the club has had to increase all other prices by £1. This is the first time in four years that concession prices have increased and two years since the last adult rise. These prices still compare favourably with many of the leading Nationwide North clubs' 05/06 entrance prices.

Match Day Prices will be:
Adult Grandstand £10 Concession Grandstand £7
Adult Ground £9 Concession Ground £6
Under 14s £3


PICK'N'STICK
From Gary Lynch

I enjoyed the summary of Barrow’s season by Bill Wood in HSN1704, but the inflammatory article in praise of title-winning FC United of Manchester and their supporters irked me somewhat. As a youngster I enjoyed watching my local team Barrow and was also captivated by Matt Busby’s Manchester United and their unbelievable line-up of stars and style of football. Nowadays as a veteran card-carrying member of both MUFC and BAFC, I have pondered the FCUM situation for some time.

I have come to the conclusion that FCUM’s supporters reached a point as mainly locally-based MUFC supporters, where they could no longer really afford to support United and felt somewhat anonymous and ostracised supporting a hugely successful high-profile PLC club whose Saturday afternoon capacity crowd had naturally attracted a large proportion of tourists, package-trippers, off-comers (like me) and corporate suits.

The Glazer factor was just an excuse in my opinion to try something a bit cheaper, at local grass-roots level where they could find kindred spirits, have a direct influence and still remain credible, because as every supporter knows, that rare individual who switches allegiance loses all respect in their peer groups and is seen as the weakest of characters.

I remember there being hell on at Old Trafford when Rupert Murdoch was touted as a buyer and the long-time owners the Edwards family were often vilified and abused for one reason or another. The Glazers might be American businessmen with little football knowledge and a dodgy debt portfolio – but who would they really like to run United, a well-meaning supporters group or international businessmen? And does it really matter if you just want to watch a great top-flight team playing the cream of English and European sides?

It is the price of fame I’m afraid and if you simply can no longer afford it or enjoy it – there is no shame in that whatsoever, there is always the TV. But what do you do on a Saturday? Of course – find an excuse that lets you invent a cheaper alternative more suited to your personal agenda. Your team is like your Mum in a way - good or bad you've been through a lot together, you don’t turn your back on them and you definitely don’t go and get another one that suits your current self-centred outlook.

What do other readers think now that we have no AFC to moan about?


NATIONWIDE NORTH MAKE UP 2006-07
The final make-up of next season’s Nationwide North will not be known until Altrincham’s appeal to the Football Association on May 23. Should The Robins’ appeal against their 18 point deduction, they, and not Scarborough, will be relegated into Barrow’s League for next season. Canvey Island’s resignation from Conference National is set to reprieve Tamworth from relegation and this could yet also save Leigh RMI from the drop into the UniBond. All issues will be discussed at a Conference board meeting next Tuesday. Northwich and Stafford Rangers are promoted to the Conference National with Blyth Spartans and Farsley Celtic moving up from the UniBond Premier.


NATIONWIDE CONFERENCE PLAY-OFFS
Hereford United 3 Morecambe 2 (Hereford United won 4-3 on agg) (6278), Grays Athletic 2 Halifax Town 2 (Halifax Town won 5-4 on agg) (2886).

The Final will be between Halifax Town and Hereford United, played at Walkers Stadium, Leicester, on Saturday, 20 May, with a prize in the Football League awaiting the victors.

NATIONWIDE SOUTH PLAY-OFF FINAL
St Albans City 2 Histon 0 (3175).


MOMENTUM BEGINNING TO GROW
From www.nonleaguedaily.com, 6 May

The momentum of the new Runcorn football club that is being formed by the ex-fans of Runcorn FC Halton is continuing to grow. At a meeting on Tuesday, the executive committee was established, and one of the first decisions made was that the name of the new club would be Runcorn Linnets Football Club. It was thought that the original "AFC Runcorn" could lead to confusion with the existing Runcorn AFC Ltd, known as Runcorn FC Halton, should it continue to participate in the nation League structure. The next few weeks will be vital to the new club, since it needs to attempt to gain a place in the North West Counties League, and the application date for new entries has long passed. Initial contact with the FA, both nationally and in Cheshire (with whom the club wishes to affiliate to return to its Cheshire Senior Cup tradition) has been encouraging, and the next step is to convince the North West Counties League of the viability of the club. As part of the big push to get the new club off the ground, it needs to get funds into the club as soon as possible. Not only will this money be necessary to pay some of the initial setup costs to be incurred in the coming weeks, but it will also lend credibility to the business case necessary for the application to join North West Counties. Some people have generously offered to make donations, and others have suggested a regular standing order would help to provide a level of financial stability that is essential to the survival of a non-League football club. The club is trying to encourage the people of Runcorn to spare whatever they can afford because it all adds up, and will make a massive difference as the club is starting out. In order to recognise the generosity of those that contribute, the club will have a "Roll of Honour" that will include all the names of the people who make donations to the club in its formative period prior to June 10 2006. The names of these individuals will be commemorated in match programmes and on the club website. People with telephone or internet banking can organise payments with the following details:

Account Name : Runcorn Supporters Society Ltd T/A Linnets Independent Supporters Trust
Sort Code : 08-92-99
Account No : 65156575(00)

The Runcorn Linnets club website is now available at www.runcornlinnetsfc.co.uk with regular updates, and there is an email distribution list that fans can join to get the most up to date news.


CASSIDY FEARS RELEGATION SCRAP
From www.nonleaguedaily.com, 8 May

Workington could face a scrap for Nationwide North survival next season if they do not invest in new players over the summer, manager Tommy Cassidy warned. Chairman Dale Brotherton revealed that the club was heading for a major five-figure loss this season as a result of increased costs associated with promotion to Nationwide North and falling attendances at Borough Park. But Cassidy signalled that he is still looking for funds to recruit over the next few months, in a bid to see the club improve on the thirteenth place they achieved this year in their first season at Conference level. “If Workington want to get better and move up the Pyramid system, we have to bring in quality players, and to do that you have to spend money,” he said. “If we haven’t got that money we will stay where we are or fall by the wayside. We have hit a wall. To get over it we have to bring quality players in. The club have to decide if we are capable of bringing them in. If not, we’ll have a hard season to stay up. Football has changed. You play for money today. That’s the way it is.” Cassidy is already talking to potential new recruits for next season. “I’m looking at the level above us, the Conference, and ex-League level, but you have to look everywhere,” he said. “If we get a diamond from down below we will take him. But it’s the same old story. Will they come to Workington?” The board are planning urgent measures to boost revenue, including increased usage of Borough Park. Brotherton and Cassidy are due to discuss the playing budget for next season, with the chairman saying he hopes the club’s current plight does not impact on funds made available to the manager.

SCARBOROUGH COULD GO PART-TIME IF RELEGATED
From www.nonleaguedaily.com, 9 May

Scarborough could turn part-time if they drop into Nationwide North after finishing bottom of the Conference National table. Chairman Malcolm Reynolds and the club's other officials will be discussing the option over the next week as they await the outcome of Altrincham's points penalty appeal and Canvey Island's battle against financial problems. The Seasiders` originally turned full-time when they gained promotion into the Football League nineteen years ago and they have retained that status ever since. Reynolds said: "If we are relegated then there is a compelling argument for turning part-time. On the other hand we could stay full-time for one more year and have a real good go at bouncing straight back into the Conference National. We have to look at what Northwich Victoria have achieved. They dropped into Nationwide North and have bounced back in style. I'm sure they will be up there in the Conference National next season as well. Turning part-time wouldn't really affect the wage bill as such, but we won't be able to afford the £30,000 per month that we finished the season on. We can't carry on with a bill like that because the club can't cope. One advantage of turning part-time will be the logistics of things because we wouldn't have the problem of players travelling over to Scarborough every day for training." Reynolds and boss Neil Redfearn are currently checking their options as regards players' contracts. The chairman added: "We only have Lee Fowler, Denny Ingram and Michael Coulson on contract at the moment, with the youngsters such as Jimmy Beadle, Carl Cook and Ryan Blott also being tied to the club. The rest of the players' contracts have now expired, so over the next week or so we will have to have a think about who we want to come back."

WAGE CUT FOR ALFRETON
From www.nonleaguedaily.com, 10 May

After being forced to implement a reduction in Nationwide North club Alfreton Town’s playing budget for the forthcoming season, chairman Wayne Bradley urged the club’s fans not to panic, but to be positive. Next season sees the introduction of ‘wage capping’ in Nationwide North, which means clubs only have available to spend on players wages what they generate through gate takings and other commercial activities. Allied to a 17.3 per cent reduction in attendances for League games last season, the reds chief has had no option but to cut the club’s cloth accordingly. Alfreton have now fallen in line with some other Nationwide North clubs who have already cut their wage budgets since the Division was formed two years ago, and the Reds have had to follow suit. Bradley explained: “The club has climbed to a level in the hope that the community would support and sustain it but the increases just haven’t arrived yet in the numbers we need. I have nothing but admiration for our fantastic hard core of fans, but it is the stay-away people who are making it difficult to push on. We are only going to be as good as the attendances the club can generate. We have got to make a stance now otherwise things will continue to get worse rather than better. It is a survival budget but it is not one that condemns us. There are clubs surviving in the Division with the budget Gary Mills has been given. It will test a very different side of the management who have been given the brief to create a youthful side which will excite and be in touch with the support we have got. If we can’t increase the support level significantly, we will increase the relationship and affinity between the fans and the team. However, I am firmly of the opinion that we have in our ranks a manager who will prove his worth because he will be assembling a team from within the community and not one from outside that some fans can’t relate to. In some ways we are going back to our roots and Gary has been asked to resurrect the camaraderie and spirit which has been in the club since it began. We are the minnows of the League and if we are to succeed it is going to be through sheer had work, determination, spirit and togetherness from everyone in the club. There has been a danger as we have progressed over the past few years that the club has lost some of its touch with the harmony of supporter to player affinity. Alfreton Town needs to be Alfreton through and through. Plenty of invitations have gone out but if local players think they are good enough and have the heart and desire to want to wear the Reds shirt, they are welcome to come and have a trial.”