Toolstation NCEL Premier Division
Athersley Rec manager Shane Kelsey says he is shocked that the pandemic hasn’t triggered a financial reboot of Non League Football.
However, the Rec head honcho has yet to see a change towards that policy by other clubs.
“Put it this way, don’t ever quote me as Michael Burry (the American hedge fund manager who predicted the financial crash of 2008) because that forecast (of Non League Football rebooting) has gone spectacularly wrong,” Kelsey told Non League Yorkshire.
“It shocks me because I did actually think we would (see a reboot).
“You would have thought clubs would have saved money because of the uncertainty about the future.
“But I can see the sense in it from the teams who want to be ambitious.
“If there’s only ten games played and you’ve set off with ten wins and it gets curtailed then you’re in pole positions and going places.
“There hasn’t been a reduction (in the wages some clubs pay) and if anything it has accelerated (to higher figures) a tad.
“The top and bottom of it is nothing has really changed which surprises me.”
Kelsey is leading the brave approach by the Rec who don’t pay their players in the unforgiving NCEL Premier Division.
Recruitment is difficult for them, especially when clubs from Division One can out-muscle them.
“Teams from the league have seen they have a chance so ultimately there’s teams in the league below in a financially better position than ourselves,” he said.
“People (players) these days are more interested in their profile so they don’t want to be associated with the tag of not being able to compete.
“That’s general society today.
“You have kids who want the bigger output for the minimum input and that’s the case in football.
“What I have found most disappointing is the lack of willingness of kids or players to actually play football.
“They’d rather sit on the bench and pick up a few quid.
“The other disappointing thing is the lack of respect you get when they don’t give you the courtesy of returning your call or message.
“When I was growing up I always had courtesy to speak to (interested managers) even I was turning them down.”
Athersley host AFC Mansfield on Saturday, hoping to spring a surprise and pick up their first points of the campaign.
The Rec side who faced Campion in the FA Cup contained many debutants because of various injuries and holidays.
Kelsey expects to have bodies back for the visit of Mansfield.
“There’ll be seven individuals who will be available to me and who are signed on but weren’t available against Campion,” he said.
“Whether they will in the squad or make a difference is a different matter.
“But for a team like us to have seven extra bodies is massive to us and makes a huge difference in terms of options and how we can set-up or approach games.
“We have an a or b option at the minute when ultimately you’d like to have two, three, four, five options.”
One player potentially returning is powerful defender Dale Brettoner who almost ended up looking like Terry Butcher after suffering a bad head wound in the opening few minutes of the first day defeat at Sherwood Colliery.
“Five minutes (he lasted), Kelsey said.
“(The wound) opened up well.
“It was just a clash of heads, nothing in it.
“He wanted to carry on but I wouldn’t let him carry on with (that wound).
“It was in a tricky place above the eye as well.
“He’ll have been walking round Cardiff last Saturday watching Barnsley giving it all the big one (over the war wound).”
If you have enjoyed reading Non League Yorkshire over the past few months, please consider making a donation to the not-for-profit organisation NLY Community Sport which provides sport for children and adults with disabilities and learning difficulties. CLICK HERE to visit the JustGiving page. There is a video at the bottom of the page showing our work.
NLY Community Sport, run by James Grayson and Connor Rollinson, has always had combatting social isolation at the top of our objectives when running our Disability Football teams.
Our work is playing an important role in reintroducing our players, who have disabilities and learning difficulties, back into society.
We have six teams, a mixture of Junior and Adult teams – Nostell MW DFC, Pontefract Pirates, Selby Disability Football Club and the South Yorkshire Superheroes (Barnsley) – across Yorkshire.
We have enjoyed great success over the past three years. Several of our players have represented Mencap GB in Geneva, including Billy Hobson from Selby and Greg Smith, whose story is quite inspiring.
You can learn more about the organisation HERE and on our Facebook page.
Watch the video below to see highlights from our three years as an organisation. The video was produced for our players at the end of March to remind them of good memories from the last three years.