2 weeks Ago
Last weekend was Non-league Saturday due to the international break and up and down the country attendance numbers at NL grounds were very healthy. Since the pandemic there has been a steady increase in fan numbers and, if you factor in the cost-of-living crisis and the scandalous cost and availability of premier league tickets, it’s no wonder. We have a thriving non-league scene in our city and I have been a regular at Whitehawk FC, who are synonymous for their charitable fans and great chips, for many years.
For the last eight years I have also been a volunteer manager for my son’s team at Withdean Youth FC. An outstanding community club that has gone from strength the strength recently and now boasts 33 youth teams from Under 8 to Under 18 and are nearing parity with 19 teams for boys and 14 for girls. Unfortunately, due to the growth of junior football and the appalling lack of adequate full size pitches (more on this later) we are having to find ourselves another club as we enter our Under 18 season and we are off to the Withdean Stadium and one of Brighton’s oldest non-league teams, Brighton Electricity FC or The Leccy as most people know them.
Formed in the 1930’s to cater for the electricity company workers this team has been a stalwart of non-league football for 90-odd years and has been playing in their distinctive choccy brown kit for most of that. Grassroots football is a prime example of the failure of trickle-down economics and as funding for local authorities continues to be annihilated by the Labour government's new round of austerity grassroots football faces real problems. Local councils are facing a 27% cut in real terms since 2010 when the architects of this attack on public life were first elected and Unison Union in their report Councils on the brink report that authorities are facing a funding shortfall of £4 billion shortfall over the next year.
The five councils with the biggest predicted shortfalls for 2025/26 account for an immense funding gap. These are Hampshire County Council (£132m), Bradford City Council (£126m), Birmingham City Council (£119m), Somerset Council (£104m) and Leicester City Council (£90m). Without urgent government support, the union is warning that the combined funding shortfall could balloon to £8.
5bn by 2026/27, leaving many councils struggling to provide essential local services and protect jobs. The effects this will have on thriving grassroot youths football clubs up and down the country will be catastrophic. Most clubs rely on council facilities and the system is crumbling, like so many public services.
So far this season we have had eight matches postponed due to unplayable pitches that were all council owned, and some may end up not being played and if you add to that the hotter summers and wetter winters that climate breakdown is delivering the need for better public pitches is needed ever more. As the prices of pitches increases, this leads to exclusion for poorer families as clubs raise their fees leading to an ever-increasing inequality gap. There are many instances of smaller clubs folding due to lack of facilities and this will have a massive knock-on effect to the mental health of many young people.
I’ll be honest I really wanted to stop coaching a few years ago but realised that given the screen epidemic in their lives and the sedentary issues of the pandemic it was important to keep them active. There is a clear link between sport and good mental health in teenagers - only last autumn Sport England reported “Physical activity of moderate to high intensity was most effective in treating depression in adolescents”. Now, given that the Government has slashed funding for PIP and other vital mental health services, a chance of playing sport in their teen years is vital or we will face an avalanche of poor mental health in future.
In the meantime, you can be a real help to your local non-league team and their youth set-up. Check out the fixture lists for Peacehaven, Saltdean, Mile Oak, AFC Varndenians, Montpellier Villa and Whitehawk etc and get yourself along for some community football and buy a programme, get some chips, take your dog and enjoy an afternoon of great football. But if you want to see the greatest kit ever and watch footy in the historic Withdean Stadium then jump on a 27 and come and be entertained by the illustrious Brighton Electricity FC! Steve Davis is Green Group Convenor and Leader of the Opposition.
