Back in May 2022 I penned an article about the challenges of promotion to the National League. Despite the pleasure and satisfaction of winning the National League South title in style, I wrote, reality was about to hit home in the form of the National League being the division from hell. Why so ? Well travel and playing squad costs are higher, bar income is far lower due to pitchside drinking restrictions, competition is huge and the step up is simply gigantic.
Well this turned out to be a fateful prophecy. As I write this Maidstone United are bottom of the National League, struggling to pick up points and already relegated mathematically with five matches still to play. With a defeat-weary squad, a debilitating run of serious injuries to senior players and handicapped by some poor recruitment decisions back in May, it would have taken a miracle for us to stay up.
It has been a hard fall indeed this season, made all the more painful for fans and owners because last season was so exceptionally successful. Maidstone United won the league, National League South, with games to spare. From November onwards it felt like we would win every single match. Indeed we won all but one Kent derby match, seven in all, while in all ten previous seasons we had hardly won any. We had a close, talented squad of players for the level we were at, a hard-working manager and excellent team spirit. Confidence flowed through our collective veins. Results on the pitch led to revenues rising off it. This enabled us recently to announce a tenth consecutive year of profits, a record that everybody associated with the club can be proud of. It really was a season to savour for our supporters…
But promotion to the National League opened the door to a whole new ball game. Wrexham are funded by wealthy Hollywood owner Ryan Reynolds, other clubs like Notts County have 20,000 seater stadia which would not look out of place in the Premier League. Chesterfield, Southend, Oldham, Dagenham and Scunthorpe are all big clubs at this level. It is some adjustment from playing in front of a few hundred fans scattered around grounds at National League South level.
Given the disappointing results this season the question inevitably arises as to why we have again had such a hard time of it after promotion. Have we learnt nothing from our last relegation year in 2019 ? The answer is probably ´yes and no’. The whole management team at the club is more experienced, everybody works really hard but that doesn’t prevent some mistakes, new mistakes, being made. Two things stand out as we assess this season so far. Firstly our player recruitment methods needs to be improved, we cannot punch our weight otherwise. In the past, recruitment has been the team manager’s job alone. In the future we must insist on more precise and objective research, analysis and assessment of what prospective new players might bring to the club, before approval is given to sign them. Secondly we have had a terrible run of injuries. To put it in financial language, not far from 30% of our total playing budget has been out of action at any given time. This is almost too much for any budget to bear. Several players have effectively missed an entire season. We have had big medical bills to pay too. Much of this is simply bad luck (analysis also shows that our 3G pitch is not at fault) but we must look again at improving fitness, conditioning, diagnosis and treatment of injury. So some non-optimal recruitment combined with a horrific catalogue of injuries has proved to be an insuperable combination, despite the best efforts of the team on and off the field.
People don’t always realise that football finances on the lowest rung of the English professional ladder are but a shadow of those in the Premier League and elsewhere. In a fortnight with his new club in Saudi Arabia Ronaldo will earn the same amount of money (€2m) as the entire annual turnover of our club. Messi or Neymar will earn in a single morning what our top players earn in a year. The elite game is another world, where some clubs declare annual losses in the hundreds of millions. At our National League level the numbers lose at least three zeros, although the ‘very rich’ clubs might be able to afford to lose £2 million or so in a bad year, at least while their owners remain willing and able. Wrexham have just declared a £3 million loss for the year 2021-22. Stockport County lost over £4 million during their successful promotion campaign a few seasons back. Other clubs like Maidenhead United, are sitting on valuable stadia development projects, which underpin their competitive playing budgets. To complete the picture every season it seems a few clubs at National League level do get themselves into financial difficulty. This season Southend United have been accused of not paying staff on time and have accumulated significant debts while Scunthorpe, previously a fixture in the EFL, now look as though their financial and ownership woes could mean they join us in the relegation places.
However, unlike some other club owners, at Maidstone, where 30 years ago the old club went bust, leaving a huge hole in many supporters lives, we cannot and will not risk getting into financial difficulties by borrowing too much money or overspending. Unlike most other club owners we had to finance the building of a new stadium in 2012, which has had a lasting effect on our pockets. This means our hands are largely tied when the playing budget is spent even if we need reinforcements. Moreover a run of poor results inevitably means attendances and associated revenues fall, making it even more difficult to break even let alone fund new players. Finally if and when we do identify new players and manage to find a way of funding their recruitment they can often be unwilling to join a club in the relegation places. It can be a pretty vicious circle. So yes it’s tough operating like a normal business in this unreal environment where others splash the cash and accept operating losses but it is what it is. Any success, when it happens, tastes all the better.
Our aim is still for the club to compete at the highest level it reasonably can while protecting the Gallagher Stadium for current and future generations of supporters. We know we can compete at National League level if we can cut out costly mistakes on and off the field and if the lady luck of injuries starts smiling again. We still believe.
So despite the fading away of last season’s dreams we remain positive. Ours is a great club which serves thousands in the community. We will bounce back very soon, whether it be us or new owners in the future taking it forward. Coping with ups and downs is part of life and football is no different.
