By Andrew Warshaw
April 12 – In what amounts to one of the most draconian and insensitive rulings in non-league football, 17 English clubs have been punished for failing to meet fixture obligations – in the middle of a pandemic.
The clubs, all but one from the second tier of the English non-league game, have received fines and suspended points deductions, with two now calling for a vote of no confidence in the governing body that runs them.
Worst hit are top-flight Dover Athletic, who have been fined £40,000 and given a 12-point deduction, which comes into play next season. The club will play no further part in the 2020-21 season and their results have been expunged.
The National League, immediately below League Two, is the only non-league division whose season has been allowed to carry on during the Covid-19 pandemic. But Dover said they could not afford to complete their campaign without funding to supplement the revenue lost by not having fans in their ground.
Dover are the only club from the top division to be hit, the rest coming from Step 2, known as National League north and south – all of whom have been found guilty of breaking the rules for refusing to play before their campaign was officially declared null and void, arguing they couldn’t afford to continue without their usual revenue matchday revenue streams. All 16 have been fined and handed suspended points deductions.
A National League statement read: “Given the extremely unusual circumstances that have affected football at all levels and the financial pressures the absence of spectators has brought to bear on clubs, the panel (an independent panel commissioned by the National League) expressed its sympathy with the clubs’ predicament.
“However, the panel believes it must also take regard of the fact that the majority of clubs continued to fulfil fixtures and incur much costs until the League ended on February 19.”
But the ruling has caused widespread anger and resentment among hard-up clubs.
“We won’t be paying the fine, we’ll be taking legal action,” declared Dover Athletic chairman Jim Parmenter. “They know we’ve got no money. They know we’ve done this to prevent the club becoming insolvent and yet they’ve fined us £40,000 which will push us into insolvency.”
National League chairman Brian Barwick, a former chief executive of the English FA, is already quitting at the end of the season but may now find he has to go earlier. Two clubs from National League south, Maidstone United and Dorking Wanderers, are calling for an EGM to hold a vote in no confidence in the board.
“We are now openly calling for a consultative review of the whole operation and governance of the league,” said Maidstone co-owner Oliver Ash.
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