What's going on?

So, Hurricanes have sadly folded. But they were one of a few sides yesterday who couldn't get a side out, and this news comes on the back of Bulls Head going and before that the likes of St Patricks.

Teams folding is a year on year occurrence and to my knowledge we still haven't broken any records this season yet (thankfully) but what is going on with our sunday sides?

how can so many clubs affiliate at the start of the season yet end up struggling so badly?

what is the reason?

are there too many fines about that put clubs under financial pressure? are there too many unreliable idiots who sign on and lack commitment?

is sunday football too expensive these days?

are some clubs held to ransom by their so called 'star' players?

maybe a club should sign on 18 players before the July deadline (as opposed to 12) before they are accepted into the Alliance. Just one thought although there are many reasons on top of that...

And we've not even reached the cold spell where the fairweather players decide its just not worth the hassle

i think that was yesterday - when the temperatures were relatively mild!

personal opinion is - signing for clubs in two leagues should be banned, 16 players should sign on by deadline you mention, punishments are too difficult to dispute and too costly, players may not pay fines, I think we are at saturation point for number of teams - unless its a new youth team, a new club probably takes other teams players.

would also have a two week winter break, christmas parties take their toll, also improve pitch conditions...and finally double membership costs but you get half back when u complete the season

like that last one about a returned deposit. think there is something like that in the district league. think the winter break is generally self imposed anyway - we are bound to get a cold snap sooner or later, and i know some clubs went 8 weeks last year without a game. i don't oppose punishments for on field offences at all, but personally I don't agree with some of the lesser fines - for example clubs not fielding 11 players etc. just a personal opinion that one

Hellboy wrote:

Down to the idiots that join up for a few weeks because they are bored, and they have no intention of finishing, or commited to the club for the whole season, finances are stretched sometimes, i suspect it isnt one main problem, but lots of little ones in between, that make a team fold, not much player loyalty these days, if one person leaves his sheep do follow, so they are following their friends around and not bothered about the club at all, if one of them goes to play for blah blah fc....his mates will follow even if its a crap club.

Some blamehas got to go to the mnagers, who know exactly who they are setting on, be it a showboater or a thug, its a short term fix, but fails in the long term.

let's weed out the superstars!

And the thugs for deffo.

Money and commitment for me are the 2 factors:

Yes it is getting very expensive to run a sunday league club and at the same time I'm sure we all know a lad or 2 that have lost their job. The financial concern tends to rest on the ppl running clubs (which not too many want to do) and if the pressure gets too much for them they start to wonder whether its worth the hassle. If these people stop their involvement then clubs will disappear. How we fix this I have no idea but if there are fines for not fielding 11 and the such like I would suggest they be the first to go. I know it would be difficult to do any other way but I still think players are responsible for their fines for reds/yellows and assuming that the money will always be paid back to the club is in some cases naïve (althpugh happy to say my lot aren't too bad)
Commitment is clearly another issue and ithis is one I think we can do something about. I agree with the earlier statement that we are about at saturation as far as new teams go and a lot of times I think we're just moving players around the alliance. My proposal is simple; if you sign for a club you play for the club that season - simple. Yes there will be some with mitigating circumstances that will have to be evaluated but if you. Take Bulls Head for example it seems those lads did everything tp keep that club going and in the end ran out of players as they were allowed to just transfer out of it.
Again just my opinion

i think the costs come into it quite a lot, most places charging ~£50 to use a plot of grass for a couple of hours is ridiculous.

card happy refs don't help either, it doesn't go down too well getting booked one week for example swearing, the next week you button it and the other team get away with the exact same thing, i'm not saying one way is right or wrong but there needs to be consistency.

recently in our games (and this has nothing to do with us not fielding a team this sunday) decisions from refs/linesmen have been utterly terrible (to the point where you are wondering why you even bothered making the effort to play), it is a hard pill to swallow having to hand your subs over after such events and doesn't do much to ensure those players turn up the following week, especially if money is tight.

these are just things i've picked up on recently that might contribute to teams not turning up/folding.

Quote :

i think the costs come into it quite a lot, most places charging ~£50 to use a plot of grass for a couple of hours is ridiculous.

card happy refs don't help either, it doesn't go down too well getting booked one week for example swearing, the next week you button it and the other team get away with the exact same thing, i'm not saying one way is right or wrong but there needs to be consistency.

recently in our games (and this has nothing to do with us not fielding a team this sunday) decisions from refs/linesmen have been utterly terrible (to the point where you are wondering why you even bothered making the effort to play), it is a hard pill to swallow having to hand your subs over after such events and doesn't do much to ensure those players turn up the following week, especially if money is tight.

these are just things i've picked up on recently that might contribute to teams not turning up/folding.

Its the cost.

With the economic climate the way that it is its very hard to find sponsership for a kit that costs £600 at least, then on top of that some clubs have to fork out £80 per home game (£50 pitch hire and £30 ref) and subs alone will not cover that. Plus some players are not committed enough anymore. The drink culture is in full effect, where its seen as cool to go out on the juice every Saturday night till 5am, be sick and have a hangover every Sunday.

Last season we paid £350 for our pitch per season which compared top some clubs is a bargain but this year we have taken on the whole costs of Magna 73 FC which between 4 sides has to raise £3,000 per season just to survive. Thats why we did the excessive pitch hire during the summer, thats why we are hosting a 6 a side tournament and thats why we charge £5 subs per game.

I think its a combination of finance, players and running of the club,

but in my opinion £5 per man is not too much to pay to play on a sunday morning, given pitch fees, ref fees, equpitment over a season, if you get somebody on the ball to collect the money , you shouldnt have a problem (we charged £4).

in the teams ive played for weve never had a problem with unreliable players as they've generally just been booted out, and replaced by lads that will turn up regardless of opposition and weather etc, anyone that didnt pay subs wasnt allowed to play,

also the general running of the club, some clubs are alot more organised, not always better on the pitch, but they take good care of finance, always turn up with a full team, etc

i suppose it comes down to the ambition of a team and its players, if you are in the highers divisions, and losing week in week out players will leave to go win games (and trophies?), and you can struggle to replace them with good enough players to survive, then no matter how well a club is ran it will be very hard for them.

it would be interesting to see the ratio of teams who fold in higher divisions compare to lower?

The first thing we do on a sunday morning is get greeted by the lovely gerald with his book for subs. £4a week which includes a chance to win £20 on the tote and if you miss a week you have £2 added on to next weeks subs.

very good system, I like that

L.K.F.C wrote:

Money and commitment for me are the 2 factors:

Yes it is getting very expensive to run a sunday league club and at the same time I'm sure we all know a lad or 2 that have lost their job. The financial concern tends to rest on the ppl running clubs (which not too many want to do) and if the pressure gets too much for them they start to wonder whether its worth the hassle. If these people stop their involvement then clubs will disappear. How we fix this I have no idea but if there are fines for not fielding 11 and the such like I would suggest they be the first to go. I know it would be difficult to do any other way but I still think players are responsible for their fines for reds/yellows and assuming that the money will always be paid back to the club is in some cases naïve (althpugh happy to say my lot aren't too bad)
Commitment is clearly another issue and ithis is one I think we can do something about. I agree with the earlier statement that we are about at saturation as far as new teams go and a lot of times I think we're just moving players around the alliance. My proposal is simple; if you sign for a club you play for the club that season - simple. Yes there will be some with mitigating circumstances that will have to be evaluated but if you. Take Bulls Head for example it seems those lads did everything tp keep that club going and in the end ran out of players as they were allowed to just transfer out of it.
Again just my opinion

I agree to some extent with the last point about transferring out, i think that has a lot of merit, however, you will get some players who want to change clubs as they are not getting on with players or the manager, or maybe not getting game time. Perhaps a 'cooling off period' of a month could be put in place. If you move club in the season, you have to give four weeks notice, during which time you can play for your current club (if they want you too) but not the one you want to move too. This gives the club four weeks to find a replacement.

L.K.F.C wrote:

Money and commitment for me are the 2 factors:

Yes it is getting very expensive to run a sunday league club and at the same time I'm sure we all know a lad or 2 that have lost their job. The financial concern tends to rest on the ppl running clubs (which not too many want to do) and if the pressure gets too much for them they start to wonder whether its worth the hassle. If these people stop their involvement then clubs will disappear. How we fix this I have no idea but if there are fines for not fielding 11 and the such like I would suggest they be the first to go. I know it would be difficult to do any other way but I still think players are responsible for their fines for reds/yellows and assuming that the money will always be paid back to the club is in some cases naïve (althpugh happy to say my lot aren't too bad)
Commitment is clearly another issue and ithis is one I think we can do something about. I agree with the earlier statement that we are about at saturation as far as new teams go and a lot of times I think we're just moving players around the alliance. My proposal is simple; if you sign for a club you play for the club that season - simple. Yes there will be some with mitigating circumstances that will have to be evaluated but if you. Take Bulls Head for example it seems those lads did everything tp keep that club going and in the end ran out of players as they were allowed to just transfer out of it.
Again just my opinion

i think that goes into the realms of who you want in your team. yes, you may be lucky enough to attract a whole array of senior league stars, but that is suicidal in my opinion - as soon as you lose a few games SOME (NOT ALL) of these lads don't want to know and will leave the club in the lurch.

hotshot66 wrote:

i think the costs come into it quite a lot, most places charging ~£50 to use a plot of grass for a couple of hours is ridiculous.

card happy refs don't help either, it doesn't go down too well getting booked one week for example swearing, the next week you button it and the other team get away with the exact same thing, i'm not saying one way is right or wrong but there needs to be consistency.

recently in our games (and this has nothing to do with us not fielding a team this sunday) decisions from refs/linesmen have been utterly terrible (to the point where you are wondering why you even bothered making the effort to play), it is a hard pill to swallow having to hand your subs over after such events and doesn't do much to ensure those players turn up the following week, especially if money is tight.

these are just things i've picked up on recently that might contribute to teams not turning up/folding.

i think blaming the officials in part is a bit scandalous! easy way to not get done for swearing at the ref - keep your traps shut!

Magna 73 Sec wrote:

Quote :

i think the costs come into it quite a lot, most places charging ~£50 to use a plot of grass for a couple of hours is ridiculous.

card happy refs don't help either, it doesn't go down too well getting booked one week for example swearing, the next week you button it and the other team get away with the exact same thing, i'm not saying one way is right or wrong but there needs to be consistency.

recently in our games (and this has nothing to do with us not fielding a team this sunday) decisions from refs/linesmen have been utterly terrible (to the point where you are wondering why you even bothered making the effort to play), it is a hard pill to swallow having to hand your subs over after such events and doesn't do much to ensure those players turn up the following week, especially if money is tight.

these are just things i've picked up on recently that might contribute to teams not turning up/folding.

Its the cost.

With the economic climate the way that it is its very hard to find sponsership for a kit that costs £600 at least, then on top of that some clubs have to fork out £80 per home game (£50 pitch hire and £30 ref) and subs alone will not cover that. Plus some players are not committed enough anymore. The drink culture is in full effect, where its seen as cool to go out on the juice every Saturday night till 5am, be sick and have a hangover every Sunday.

Last season we paid £350 for our pitch per season which compared top some clubs is a bargain but this year we have taken on the whole costs of Magna 73 FC which between 4 sides has to raise £3,000 per season just to survive. Thats why we did the excessive pitch hire during the summer, thats why we are hosting a 6 a side tournament and thats why we charge £5 subs per game.

the saturday nights on the booze have been around for a few decades Kev, i blame the current generation. society has steadily over the years handed them everything on a plate - and they have been brought up to want and expect everything without breaking sweat. again, i'm only saying this is SOME not ALL lads, but are we really surprised when a 21 year old spits his dummy out when things don't go his way?

dikenio wrote:

I think its a combination of finance, players and running of the club,

but in my opinion £5 per man is not too much to pay to play on a sunday morning, given pitch fees, ref fees, equpitment over a season, if you get somebody on the ball to collect the money , you shouldnt have a problem (we charged £4).

in the teams ive played for weve never had a problem with unreliable players as they've generally just been booted out, and replaced by lads that will turn up regardless of opposition and weather etc, anyone that didnt pay subs wasnt allowed to play,

also the general running of the club, some clubs are alot more organised, not always better on the pitch, but they take good care of finance, always turn up with a full team, etc

i suppose it comes down to the ambition of a team and its players, if you are in the highers divisions, and losing week in week out players will leave to go win games (and trophies?), and you can struggle to replace them with good enough players to survive, then no matter how well a club is ran it will be very hard for them.

it would be interesting to see the ratio of teams who fold in higher divisions compare to lower?

i personally think £5 is too much - especially if some lads play Saturdays and even train in the week. but i do fully understand that is what it takes these days to cover the costs of a season, so its a vicious circle. in my opinion pitch fees are way over the top - sometimes you're paying through the nose for very poor quality pitches - and we all know that sunday morning adult football is way down the list!

Widds wrote:

L.K.F.C wrote:

Money and commitment for me are the 2 factors:

Yes it is getting very expensive to run a sunday league club and at the same time I'm sure we all know a lad or 2 that have lost their job. The financial concern tends to rest on the ppl running clubs (which not too many want to do) and if the pressure gets too much for them they start to wonder whether its worth the hassle. If these people stop their involvement then clubs will disappear. How we fix this I have no idea but if there are fines for not fielding 11 and the such like I would suggest they be the first to go. I know it would be difficult to do any other way but I still think players are responsible for their fines for reds/yellows and assuming that the money will always be paid back to the club is in some cases naïve (althpugh happy to say my lot aren't too bad)
Commitment is clearly another issue and ithis is one I think we can do something about. I agree with the earlier statement that we are about at saturation as far as new teams go and a lot of times I think we're just moving players around the alliance. My proposal is simple; if you sign for a club you play for the club that season - simple. Yes there will be some with mitigating circumstances that will have to be evaluated but if you. Take Bulls Head for example it seems those lads did everything tp keep that club going and in the end ran out of players as they were allowed to just transfer out of it.
Again just my opinion

I agree to some extent with the last point about transferring out, i think that has a lot of merit, however, you will get some players who want to change clubs as they are not getting on with players or the manager, or maybe not getting game time. Perhaps a 'cooling off period' of a month could be put in place. If you move club in the season, you have to give four weeks notice, during which time you can play for your current club (if they want you too) but not the one you want to move too. This gives the club four weeks to find a replacement.

not a bad shout widds to a certain extent, but I still think a lot of it comes down to who you sign in the first place. if they are likely to cause u trouble by buggering off, i wouldn't sign them in the first place

Polska legend II wrote:

Widds wrote:

L.K.F.C wrote:

Money and commitment for me are the 2 factors:

Yes it is getting very expensive to run a sunday league club and at the same time I'm sure we all know a lad or 2 that have lost their job. The financial concern tends to rest on the ppl running clubs (which not too many want to do) and if the pressure gets too much for them they start to wonder whether its worth the hassle. If these people stop their involvement then clubs will disappear. How we fix this I have no idea but if there are fines for not fielding 11 and the such like I would suggest they be the first to go. I know it would be difficult to do any other way but I still think players are responsible for their fines for reds/yellows and assuming that the money will always be paid back to the club is in some cases naïve (althpugh happy to say my lot aren't too bad)
Commitment is clearly another issue and ithis is one I think we can do something about. I agree with the earlier statement that we are about at saturation as far as new teams go and a lot of times I think we're just moving players around the alliance. My proposal is simple; if you sign for a club you play for the club that season - simple. Yes there will be some with mitigating circumstances that will have to be evaluated but if you. Take Bulls Head for example it seems those lads did everything tp keep that club going and in the end ran out of players as they were allowed to just transfer out of it.
Again just my opinion

I agree to some extent with the last point about transferring out, i think that has a lot of merit, however, you will get some players who want to change clubs as they are not getting on with players or the manager, or maybe not getting game time. Perhaps a 'cooling off period' of a month could be put in place. If you move club in the season, you have to give four weeks notice, during which time you can play for your current club (if they want you too) but not the one you want to move too. This gives the club four weeks to find a replacement.

not a bad shout widds to a certain extent, but I still think a lot of it comes down to who you sign in the first place. if they are likely to cause u trouble by buggering off, i wouldn't sign them in the first place

the only trouble is how do you actually know if they are likely to cause trouble especially if someones saying dont worry ill be there every week i wont let you down ill pay my subs etc etc. clearly a difficult thing unless you know them quite well.

suppose you find out in a) pre season friendlies or b) first month of the season. when the sun is out and the weather is still nice in September and no rot has set in, then you should have plenty of players still around in the squad ready to step in

Polska legend II wrote:

Magna 73 Sec wrote:

Quote :

i think the costs come into it quite a lot, most places charging ~£50 to use a plot of grass for a couple of hours is ridiculous.

card happy refs don't help either, it doesn't go down too well getting booked one week for example swearing, the next week you button it and the other team get away with the exact same thing, i'm not saying one way is right or wrong but there needs to be consistency.

recently in our games (and this has nothing to do with us not fielding a team this sunday) decisions from refs/linesmen have been utterly terrible (to the point where you are wondering why you even bothered making the effort to play), it is a hard pill to swallow having to hand your subs over after such events and doesn't do much to ensure those players turn up the following week, especially if money is tight.

these are just things i've picked up on recently that might contribute to teams not turning up/folding.

Its the cost.

With the economic climate the way that it is its very hard to find sponsership for a kit that costs £600 at least, then on top of that some clubs have to fork out £80 per home game (£50 pitch hire and £30 ref) and subs alone will not cover that. Plus some players are not committed enough anymore. The drink culture is in full effect, where its seen as cool to go out on the juice every Saturday night till 5am, be sick and have a hangover every Sunday.

Last season we paid £350 for our pitch per season which compared top some clubs is a bargain but this year we have taken on the whole costs of Magna 73 FC which between 4 sides has to raise £3,000 per season just to survive. Thats why we did the excessive pitch hire during the summer, thats why we are hosting a 6 a side tournament and thats why we charge £5 subs per game.

the saturday nights on the booze have been around for a few decades Kev, i blame the current generation. society has steadily over the years handed them everything on a plate - and they have been brought up to want and expect everything without breaking sweat. again, i'm only saying this is SOME not ALL lads, but are we really surprised when a 21 year old spits his dummy out when things don't go his way?

Seen that this month, players that wont run the line, as far as i am concerned, your willingness to run the line shows how good a club man you are. First game Dave Ilnicki had for us in a friendly, he was tagged 'a quality player, absolute mustard' and he really is, and when he came off as sub after 60mins he jogged over and took over running the line...possibly our best player willing to run the line, and then other players won't do it because they think they are too good for it, and it tends to be the younger ones...

yes dave is top notch on and off the pitch. and running the line is a good test. maybe other players don't know enough about the laws of the game to run it - they don't want to be called cheats now, do they?

Polska legend II wrote:

yes dave is top notch on and off the pitch. and running the line is a good test. maybe other players don't know enough about the laws of the game to run it - they don't want to be called cheats now, do they?

Very true!! I ran the line for a mate on Sat, flagged a lad that was 5 yards off and he called me a cheat about 8 times...bless him!!

ha ha excellent. and of course you are, so no harm done (in reality bet he was a bit young and thought he knew it all did he?)

I dont like all this abuse to younger people!

I turned up to watch a few mates play for reem team as my team didnt have a game and gladly ran the line for them as they only had 11 and there team has nothing to do with me

We are not all bad lol

Polska legend II wrote:

ha ha excellent. and of course you are, so no harm done (in reality bet he was a bit young and thought he knew it all did he?)

Haha - it was a vets team!! He was about 50 yrs old!!!!

And Jenko - one of a dying breed!!! Keep up the good work tho!

Widds wrote:

Polska legend II wrote:

ha ha excellent. and of course you are, so no harm done (in reality bet he was a bit young and thought he knew it all did he?)

Haha - it was a vets team!! He was about 50 yrs old!!!!

And Jenko - one of a dying breed!!! Keep up the good work tho!

Haha cheers widds would of thought mark would of noticed as it was him reffing this sunday! I did make sure reem didnt concede a penalty but i bet you wish i had let the penalty stand to help you boys out

Jenko wrote:

Widds wrote:

Polska legend II wrote:

ha ha excellent. and of course you are, so no harm done (in reality bet he was a bit young and thought he knew it all did he?)

Haha - it was a vets team!! He was about 50 yrs old!!!!

And Jenko - one of a dying breed!!! Keep up the good work tho!

Haha cheers widds would of thought mark would of noticed as it was him reffing this sunday! I did make sure reem didnt concede a penalty but i bet you wish i had let the penalty stand to help you boys out

Just a bit mate, Reem are probably best equipped to win all their remaining games this season, need to get some breathing space from them asap if possible...you know what to do next time haha

I did know it was u jenko I was told b4hand, but I did say on other posts that not ALL the younger generation are the same. And I still say u did a solid job!

And widds, if u got called a cheat by a 50 year old it can only mean that his pace has long gone and he was frustrated at being caught offside!

Widds wrote:

Jenko wrote:

Widds wrote:

Polska legend II wrote:

ha ha excellent. and of course you are, so no harm done (in reality bet he was a bit young and thought he knew it all did he?)

Haha - it was a vets team!! He was about 50 yrs old!!!!

And Jenko - one of a dying breed!!! Keep up the good work tho!

Haha cheers widds would of thought mark would of noticed as it was him reffing this sunday! I did make sure reem didnt concede a penalty but i bet you wish i had let the penalty stand to help you boys out

Just a bit mate, Reem are probably best equipped to win all their remaining games this season, need to get some breathing space from them asap if possible...you know what to do next time haha

It probably would of helped us out at kaffir as well if they hadnt won to try drag ourselfs back into the title mix up!

It was blatently outside the area though

I know about half of the reem squad and have played with quite a few of them before, i think they will drop points this season from people not always turning up due to going out on saturday nights and they only had the bare 11 this sunday

I brought in a new one this year.

£100 per man, up front for the season. I didn't apply it to anyone who was obviously going to spend most of his time on the bench, but the majority paid up early on.

Helped me to get commitment and also budget.

I did allow certain players to have a couple of extra months, but my poorest player (money wise) Paid up for Saturday side and Sunday side before the end of August, showing that if he can save the cash, anyone can.

I now have no hassle collecting weekly subs and have a reliable (mostly) squad, due to the fact that they all paid up.

Ps... Kilworth 2nd pitch is available for £40 a week. Marked and goals = nets up... nobody took us up on it.. you miserable beggers ;-)

ps... talking of super stars.... Rudkin owes me the lot!! and for his tracksuit.

Polska... I should have listened.... lol

I think I will turn up on christmas day and steal his new power rangers, as punishment

Ha ha quality. Blood = stone. Put him in the transfer window lol