Views from the Sieve

Interestingly we have almost met before in the FA Trophy, Spennymoor United winning 1-0 at home to Dagenham in the 1977-78 quarter final. I wonder if anyone on here remembers that game?

Spennymoor United folded in 2005, and reappeared as Spennymoor Town in the Northern League division 2 (equivalent to the 2nd division of the Essex Senior league). Since then they have made a spectacular rise through the levels, with 4 promotions in 11 seasons. They actually won the Northern League 4 times before accepting promotion to the NPL! They reached the NL North playoff final in 2018-19, eventually losing on penalties to Chorley.

They also have a good cup pedigree, winning the FA Vase in 2012-13, and more recently, narrowly losing to Bromley in a Trophy quarter final replay in 2017-18.

Credit to the Football Club History Database for the above info.

https://fchd.info

Home game, new team to watch, team in division below, four of the top sixish drawing each other … couldn’t have gone much better this.

Means Maidenhead will be Tuesday night now which I also approve of

Managed by ex Salford Managers - Bernard & Jonno.

For those who have watched the Class of 92 documentaries.

Believe it or not I actually went to that Spennymoor game. We were a really successful team in FA trophy games at the time and a good side.
We were the better side but lost out on a mud heap of a pitch.
They won’t be so lucky this time

Went to Spennymoor to watch Ilford play in the Rothman’s Cup Competition on the 21st February 1976. It was a long drive from Ilford on a damp and foggy day. Ilford won 2-0, with a side that included John Still and Tony Bass, who in fact scored one of the goals. Waited 48 years to see this team play again !

A nice draw for us, yet again. Especially when considering the ties elsewhere. A shame though that if we were to win, Southend away would need to be postponed. Was looking forward to that game being on a Saturday.

What happens to the prize money, which starts out small and likely pays for transportation.

But the last round or two is enough to a) make the owner a bit richer b) add to the features of the stadium c) distributed to the team and staff is some sort of formula d) some of all of the above.

It's only really making the final that brings any serious money in this competition. If we won it our total prize money would be somewhere approaching 100k, or losing in the final around 70k. I believe finalists also get a share of the ticket sales which are the only significant gate receipts for the whole competition. I guess any such winnings would just save the owners a few quid of shortfall that they are currently plugging.

This is getting off topic, but as a new fan to English football what sort of revenue does a National League club see in a given year and what sort of expenses are clubs looking at. Are ticket sales and gate receipts (and food and drink and the club shop at the matches) the only real source of revenue? Media such as BBC paying a rights fee?

Income is typically from gate receipts, bar sales, function room hire, sponsorship, fundraising, TV deal with BT Sport, player sales, and of course cash injection from owners.

I am led to believe that profit on merchandise is close to non existent, it's more of a marketing tool. I think we also contract out the catering for a fixed fee, so we aren't exposed to variations in sales.

Main expense is, as you'd expect, player and staff wages.

Turnover for clubs at our level varies wildly as you might expect, especially with covid. I'd hazard a guess that in a normal season you might see a range of 500k-4m.

Oxhead wrote: ↑Tue Jan 18, 2022 8:52 am Believe it or not I actually went to that Spennymoor game. We were a really successful team in FA trophy games at the time and a good side.
We were the better side but lost out on a mud heap of a pitch.
They won’t be so lucky this time

I believe I was with you that day and remember watching the game via beer goggles as we spent about 2 hours drinking Camerons Strong Arm before the game. It was an own goal I seem to remember by Willie Currie, great days. By the way sorry to hear about the hip, that is what happens when you are an elite sportsman, never had that problem myself. Keep well and will see you (if you are up and about) at the final