WHEN SATURDAY COMES

Printed in the National League South game v Wealdstone Boxing Day 2019. We beat the league leaders 2-1 in front of 1,307 people. Not a bad birthday present.

When Saturday Comes and if I can't get to watch Slough or Brighton are playing on a Thursday morning at 6am to satisfy Chinese TV, I still need to watch a game of football. Any level will do and I'm always amazed at how many clubs survive in this country. Within a few miles of my house I can watch a dozen teams who enter the FA Cup or Vase. Every year there's a Chichester City who get an FA Cup break, transforming the club from one recently on the brink of bankruptcy, to one with a lot more financial breathing space.

But it's not all a bed of roses. The other Wednesday I went to see Southwick v Arundel in the Southern Combination Division One, just below the Southern Combination Premier League, seeing as every league now boasts it has a Premier League. Their ground has seen better days, they've had to call time earlier in the season on their under 18's as too many players had work and college commitments. They've got a smart clubhouse that's opened every day of the week, but they have to compete with neighbouring teams for players, sponsorship and crowds. 

I managed to get along to near neighbours Shoreham for the first time since they got promoted to the Ryman League. Promotion was at the expense of Champions Haywards Heath losing points after failing one of those player registration bureaucratic puzzles where you need to be fluent in Latin and a mind-reader to understand. It was a promotion to far, financially crippling the club so I asked their friendly co-chairman Stuart Slaney how the FA could help clubs like Shoreham. 'Making funding more accessible to clubs to help with the stadium upgrade criteria when being promoted; in my opinion the criteria is far to strict. It can cost a club thousands of pounds to upgrade even before a ball is kicked.' In their one and only season at that level they finished rock bottom and were relegated back to the Premier then again last season into Division One where they are struggling. There's no doubt the ground grading rules has made the place smart but with average gates of just 57 (83 when the Albion play away) is a 250 seater stand the priority? Surely it should be pitch that should be receiving investment, as the more games it can take, the more income for the club, but like so many it bobbles and is full of divots that doesn't help the game flow. I ask Stuart about 3G 'That is every lower league clubs dream but again funding is not that straightforward and you need a dedicated person to try and process an application for funding and even if you application is successful you still have to find around 20% of the final costings which again is out of the reach of most clubs.'

This season alone two teams in the Southern Combination, Siddlesham and Cowfold, have had to withdraw their first teams because of rows with their parish councils over lease agreements. 
And at grassroots level things are even worse. 
As I watched my eldest play on pot holed, sloping, mud bath I wondered how this was meant to help with his development unless he was going to make a career from planting potatoes. An FA report published in December 2015 found that 2,360 grassroots teams had disbanded over the past three years and the number of regular 11 a side players aged 16 or over had fallen by 180,000 since 2005. More FA Commissioned research spoke to players with nearly all citing facilities, finances and red tape as off-putting factors. 'Players don't want to play on shit pitches with cold showers when you can go play fives or sevens on 3G flat pitches with good facilities for the same price, and not get fined for bookings of wearing the wrong sock tape.'
The Tory Manifesto promised everyone the moon on a stick and to fix the things they broke in the first place. They said they will invest £550 million in grassroots football and "ensure every family in England will be, on average, 15 minutes from a great football pitch."
Our national game has been crying out for investment for years, thankfully Slough Council had the foresight to invest in new facilities not just for our club but for everyone in the borough. Meanwhile the FA stood motionless as Bury went bust, and other clubs can't pay players or staff. The government has starved local authorities of cash so they have no money to maintain their pitches, so I wouldn't hold your breath that things are going to change soon. 
So if you've been thinking of a New Years Resolution, why not go and help out your club and become one of the army of volunteers that keep our beautiful, bobbly pitch, game alive and kicking.