Page 25 - Shirehampton FC v Bishops Lydeard 240822

RESERVES & ‘A’ TEAM
NON-LEAGUE PAPER

By Jon Couch
BRISTOL PREMIER COMBINATION DIVISION ONE a decade of
IT’S fair to say the 2020s has not been too kind BRISTOL & DISTRICT LEAGUE DIVISION FIVE
football clubs thus far. Kick offs 2.30pm unless stated. GFA=GFA Cup
Kick offs 2.30pm unless stated. GFA=GFA Cup
2021 of course, there was the curse of the Covid pandemic,
First, 2021
which kicked in within three months of the decade starting and Rangeworthy A W 12-1
SEP Sat 4
Cribbs ‘A’
D 1-1
A
SEP Sat 4
ended up curtailing back-to-back seasons from Step 2 and TORMARTON RES H W 4-0
MENDIP BROADWALK RES
H
Wed 8
L 2-3
Tue 7
below, right up until the start of the 2021-22 campaign. Sat 11 HALLEN RANGERS H PP
A
D 0-0
Sat 11
Hambrook
L 1-6iety
Just when we thought all was well with the world again, we then get hit with the next crisis to engulf soc
Redfield Rovers
Sat 18
Sat 18
GREYFRIARS ATHLETIC
L 1-2
A
H
and put our Non-League clubs at threat once again. Sat 25 Hengrove ‘88’ A W 2-1
Sat 25
Wick Res
D 2-2
A
A W 11-2
OCT Sat 2
Hanham Abbotonians Colts
OCT Sat 2
As energy and fuel bills soar to unprecedented levels, clubs, fans and the game as a whole have been left
W 2-1
IRON ACTON
Sat 9
H
Sat 9
feeling the pinch. The question is ‘what can we do about it’?
Sat 16 Sat 23 BRISLINGTON RES H D 1-1
In his column in this week’s NLP, Northern Premier League chairman Mark Harris acknowledged the extent
Sat 23
w/o
Tormarton Res
W/o
Lebeq Saturday (Premier Cup 1) A
Sat 30
A
of the problem and the lengths that league chiefs have gone to cut down costs. H L 1-8
Sat 30
PP
NOV Sat 6 REDFIELD ROVERS (2pm)
Mendip Broadwalk Res
A
Harris told us that a recent report revealed that around 2,600 grass roots football clubs folded as a result of
A
L 1-1*
REAL ST GEORGE (2pm)
Shaftesbury Crusade (GFA)
H
NOV Sat 6
PP
Sat 13
Sat 13th a further 6,000 across the UK in grave danger of following suit if we do not address the situation
Covid wi OLDLAND ABB RES (2pm) H PP
swiftly. St. Nicholas (2pm) A L 3-7 Sat 27 HENGROVE ‘88’ (2pm) H PP
Sat 20
PP
A
L 3-5
OLVESTON UTD (Pre.C)
H
Real St George (2pm)
DEC Sat 4
Sat 27
Household energy bills increased by a record 54 per cent in April and are likely to rise substantially again in
L 1-4
HANHAM ABB.COLTS (2pm) H
A
Oldland Abbotonians Res (2pm)
DEC Sat 4
Sat 11
W 6-1
October. One NPL club, previously paying 15p per kWh, now has to pay over 65p, taking their annual spend
NICHOLAS W.RES (2pm)
Sat 11
up to £100,000. H L 1-3 2022
Sat 18 De-Veys (2pm) A W 7-5 JAN Sat 15 Bedminster Down Res (2pm) A W 4-0
With that in mind, fellow Pitching In Trident league member, the Isthmian League, issued a statement earlier
STONEWAY ATH (2pm)
H W 10-1
Sat 22
2022
this month offering its 82 member clubs at Steps 3 and 4 the opportunity of bringing forward Saturday kick-
W 2-0
A
JAN Sat 15 Iron Acton (2pm)
Sat 29
off times from 3pm to 12.30pm in order to save on costs. Brislington Res (2pm) A W 5-2
Sat 29 DRG SV Frenchay (2pm) A L 0-1 FEB Sat 5 Hallen Rangers A D 1-1
W 3-2 up
Chairman Nick Robinson explained: “In March, I went to a ground when things were just starting to go
Sat 26
W 5-3
FC United of Yate
HAMBROOK
FEB Sat 5
H
A
and the clubs said to me ‘our energy bills have gone up this amount - can you help us, can we kick off early?’
A L 1-4
MAR Sat 5 NICHOLAS WAND. ‘B’
BRADLEY STOKE TOWN
Sat 12
W 3-2
H
A
Sat 12
A
W 4-0
PP
Bradley Stoke Town
Made for Ever Res
Sat 26
“I said not this season but we will work it for next season. I haven't forgotten it and everything has got worse
MAR Sat 5 DE-VEYS
since then. H D 1-1 Sat 26 MADE FOR EVER RES H
Sat 12 DRG SV FRENCHAY H W 2-1 APR Sat 2 BEDMINSTER DOWN RES H
"We've done some work as to how much floodlights actually cost, and we know in cup competitions we allow
H
WICK RES
L 1-2
Sat 9
FC UNITED OF YATE
H
Sat 19
£75 to £85 for floodlights, but is that enough? It used to be. Stoneway Athletic (2pm) A
Nicholas Wanderers Res
A
Sat 26
Sat 16
“What it's going to be on the new energy costings, we don't k Nicholas Wanderers ‘B’ (2pm) A
Sat 23now - but certainly for league matches if clubs
Greyfriars Athletic
A
APR Sat 2
can go CRIBBS ‘A’ (6.15pm) H
Tue 5to a 12:30 kick-off or even if they just come forward an hour or so, they can save themselves some
money.” ST. NICHOLAS (6.30pm) H
Tue 12
Mendip Broadwalk Res
A
Sat 16
But it’s not just energy costs which are hitting clubs in the pocket. Travel costs have also sky-rocketed to the
point where coach travel is now a thing of the past for Non-League clubs. That leaves players having to pay
for their own fuel and between 10-15 extra cars on the road for each away journey. Hardly ideal when it
comes to protecting our environme
(* Lost on penalties)nt, is it?
To combat this, Harris revealed that coach travel expenses that clubs can claim for the FA Cup, FA Trophy
and FA Vase have been increased by 20 per cent this year to ensure all fixtures are fulfilled.
While slight tweaks such as changing kick-off times and increasing travelling expenses will make a difference
GD Pts
P
L
F
W
A
D
P
W
GD Pts
A
L
D
F
in balancing the books, clubs and volunteers can also play their part. Creating a safe and comfortable
42
1
76
REDFIELD ROVERS
18
65
15
3
21
3
12
97
46
18
ST. NICHOLAS
2
23
39
environment amid the parameters of your stadium goes a long way and helps to enhance community
38
32
12
5
2
19
39
19
31
BRADLEY STOKE TOWN
57
4
HALLEN RANGERS
3
31
26
63
12
engagement which in turn has an effect on your club’s ability to generate secondary income from clubhouse/
1
6
HAMBROOK
9
19
4
refreshments and merchandise etc. 33 32 10 31 NICHOLAS WAND 'B' 16 11 2 1 3 2 44 28 16 35
REAL ST. GEORGE
14
4
GREYFRIARS ATHLETIC
53
7
19
33
26
8
59
28
11
34
43
CRIBBS 'A' not start to panic just yet, however. Average attendance figures across Non-League remain as
But let’s 16 8 2 6 36 39 -3 26 BRISLINGTON RES. 16 10 1 5 68 38 30 31
29
healthy as ever and there are no indications as yet that the cost of living crisis is preventing the average fan
16
5
2
9
50
21
29
SHIREHAMPTON 'A'
26
8
10
-6
43
20
37
2
IRON ACTON
from clicking through the turnstiles. 38 38 0 25 FC UNITED OF YATE 20 8 2 10 59 52 7 26
7
4
7
SHIREHAMPTON RES. 18
DRG SV FRENCHAY 15 6 4 5 30 26 4 22 HENGROVE '88' 18 7 0 11 45 52 -7 21
It’s the actions of the loyal supporter which are keeping Non-League club self-sustainable in comparison to
68
52
-16
12
TORMARTON RES.
6
1
19
19
6
22
4
-9
19
WICK RES.
43
34
9
their EFL counterparts and that’s what makes football at this level unique. 16 4 6 6 45 43 2 18
NICHOLAS WAND RES.
19
6
41
23
-18
MADE FOR EVER RES.
20
2
11
5
BEDMINSTER DN RES.
18
0
5
19
4
16
7
33
33
OLDLAND ABBOT RES.
We’ve united before and beaten off the effects of Covid, now we can do it again. 1 12 34 52 -18 16
DE-VEYS 18 4 6 8 30 45 -15 18 HANHAM ABBOT COLTS 17 3 0 14 23 72 -49 9
MENDIP BROADWALK RS 16 3 3 10 16 53 -37 12 STONEWAY ATHLETIC 17 1 0 16 24 150 -126 3