Serie Z2.

0
West Midlands football uncovered

Issue 3, March 2021

 We need to talk about Covid
D
on’t say I didn’t warn you. I told you
there’d be a gap between edi�ons
while I decorated the flat. My
publica�on, my rules.
I’ll get into the content of issue
3 shortly but first, before you
recklessly toss your specs into
the bin, I want to point out
your eyesight has not
miraculously improved since
January – I’ve raised the point
size of the text.
Now, this is not some cheap
effort to fill pages with less effort –
a�er all, this is a digital mag so space ain’t
an issue. Rather, I thought maybe the small
print size in the first two issues might
require too much faffing about zooming in
and out on the Scribd free pla�orm I
publish on. Hopefully it won’t detract from
the page design too much. But you lot
don’t care about the nice�es of page
layouts, right?
Anyhoo, enough technical talk, it’s about
�me Serie Z addressed the pandemic-
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shaped elephant in the room which has
bedevilled the non-league game now for
two seasons.
For that reason, there is only one
ar�cle in this edi�on. I spoke to
the chairs of Black Country
clubs just three miles apart but
at different rungs of the non-
league ladder, to get their
opinion on the long-term
effects of consigning back-to-
back league campaigns to
history.
Much has been said about clubs
going under because of the uncertainty
caused by UK lockdowns, and the strain
applied by being denied supporters and
clubhouse revenue has been obvious for all
to see.
I’m happy to say the two club chiefs we
spoke to offered a brighter outlook for the
game than you might have expected. Let’s
hope their predic�ons come to frui�on.
And now I must bid you adieu, the flat
packs are calling.
Max
Half page £60
Full page £100
 tytyt
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Football’s

LONG
In the 12 months since Covid-19 brought UK grassroots sport to
such an abrupt halt, social media streams have been awash with
the concerns of supporters warning of the imminent demise of
their clubs in the absence of fans. With fears of folding apparently
so widespread, Serie Z has spoken to the owners of two Black
Country football clubs separated by one rung of the non-league
ladder, and three miles or so of the A458, to find out what effect
two stop-start seasons have had and what long-term scarring may
have been caused by the pandemic.
Words and graphics: Max Hall.
Ground imagery by RWD Photography.

COVID
“I
think there could be an upli�,” says
Halesowen Town chair Karen
Brookes, when asked about the
gate numbers she might expect when the
season restarts in August, “because people
are desperate to get back. What the
government and a lot of councils seem to
have realised is just how important non-
league football, and non-league sports –
rugby, for example – is to people’s mental
health. To get out and socialise with
people is hugely important.”
Halesowen, of Division One Central of
the Southern League, will start again in
August a�er the second wave of the public
health crisis put a lid on their abor�ve, six-

Words/graphics: Max Hall.Portrait: Nigel Cliff

game 2020-21 season. The eighth-�er club,
just like near neighbours Lye Town, will have
seen a second successive campaign null-
and-voided although the circumstances
surrounding how the previous season was
se�led could hardly have been different.
Brookes’ club, known to their fans as The
Yeltz, would have returned to the seventh
�er at the first a�empt as Southern One
Central champions two seasons ago –
provided, that is, the FA and
league officials had decided to
se�le a campaign truncated at
around the three-quarter stage
by using points-per-game
(PPG). Although second in the
table, a point behind
Berhamsted, The Yeltz had a
game in hand and, therefore, a
be�er PPG average over their
27 fixtures.
Although I wanted the focus of the
interview to be the damage caused over the
last two seasons combined, it is clear the
injus�ce Halesowen feel was meted out at
the end of the 2019-20 season s�ll burns.
“It was very stop-start, stop-start,” says
Brookes of the situa�on a year ago. “You
couldn’t get any sense out of the FA and our
league, in terms of what was happening and
when things would stop.
“Using points-per-game we would’ve been
promoted and champions. We were told by
the FA there would be consulta�on. I
remember the dates now. On the Thursday
in March – I think it was the 19th – we were
told there would be consulta�on with [the
clubs], there was an FA mee�ng on the
Friday and on the Monday, in the press – we
read it in the papers – we read the season
would be null-and-voided. There was no
consulta�on whatsoever. I was, to try and
put it as politely as I can, spi�ng feathers.”
Brookes accepts it was an unprecedented
situa�on for the footballing authori�es to
deal with but the sense of confusion that
reigned at the �me was echoed by Lye
chair Brian Blakemore, whose Midland
Football League side play one rung below
their tradi�onally bigger neighbours.
“Obviously this pandemic is nothing
anyone could have planned for and I
wouldn’t have liked to be the one making
decisions about what to do and what not
to do,” says Blakemore, who stressed he
did not want to cri�cise the governing body
for the sake of it, before adding: “I don’t
understand how the FA could come up with
three different answers being the right
solu�on for three levels of football. The so-
called ‘elite’ clubs carried on playing. Some
levels below that were stopped and used
points-per-game to se�le promo�on and That wasted season was, however, a
relega�on and for our level and downwards chance for the FA to give a significant
[and the two �ers above] they voided the structural li� to lower-league club finances,
season. We had played three quarters of according to the Lye owner.
the season and I think they missed an
“I think my major frustra�on, actually –
opportunity: points-per-game for
and I would caveat it slightly by saying the
FA have been in a really tough posi�on –
but I think they missed a real opportunity
at the end of last season, which was partly
Covid affected,” said Blakemore, from his
home office in Churchill, near Hagley.
“They have had this planned non-league
restructure for a long �me …
[PPG] wouldn’t have changed
anything for Lye, other than the
restructuring would have helped
us and a lot of people at the
lower levels, in terms of more-
regional leagues and less
travelling. In our league, the
obvious example is Wes�ields
going into the Hellenic League
and Loughborough University and
Shepshed going into the [East Midlands-
focused] United Coun�es League – but
then they bring in Newark, which is further
to go than any of them.”
Both club owners agree that, if the
previous season was a disappoin�ng
experience, the chao�c, now-abandoned
2020-21 campaign was near disastrous.
Since the interviews took place, the
Image rendered using
government has published its �metable
Google Maps
about the na�onal vaccina�on programme
and a planned return to something like a
normal life. The associated support
everybody. At Halesowen, for instance, they packages for small businesses, including
were almost certainly promoted.” sports clubs, announced in the budget have
The Lye chairman pointed out PPG would prompted the FA to again decide it best to
have changed nothing for his side, although treat to treat different levels of the na�onal
it was only a �mely victory in the final game game differently. Halesowen and Lye both
before the first lockdown kicked in which face having their nascent league campaigns
would have kept the club above a relega�on again null-and-voided and, crucially, will
zone decided on average points. not have to resume playing un�l some
form of spectator admission is likely to be
permi�ed again.
It was the short period of the season
between lockdowns, when clubs were
expected to con�nue playing fixtures with
restricted gate numbers and with social
clubs shu�ered, that both Brookes and
Blakemore agree was the most trauma�c,
and poten�ally perilous period of a
campaign which never really got started.
“Like a lot of clubs at our level,” says
Blakemore, “I would say the football club
income comes from three sources,
predominantly: gate money, the social club
and sponsorship. Sponsorship has been
very difficult in the last couple of years
because of the general economic situa�on
and, can I say the B-word? Brexit?”
Asked how much of the club’s expenses,
including the playing budget, are typically
met by those three revenue streams, the
Lye chairman es�mated around 35-40%,
and added: “The rest has to be covered by
dona�ons, or me suppor�ng it, or
whatever. The gate money is a big, big help
and the social club is also very important.
Unexpected problems – for instance, we
had a floodlight blow up; that sort of cost
can only typically be met from outside of
the club [income].
“The one thing that has been a posi�ve
in all this has been the support that has
come from the government. They brought
in an early-Covid-phase business-rates
grant, which gave money to local
authori�es. That enabled the club to claim
a grant, although we s�ll have to pay rent
to the council. That’s been massively
helpful but only lasts for a period of �me.
There have been other ini�a�ves: there’s
one at the moment which they’ve called
the Winter Survival Fund, to help you cover
overheads and things for the first three
months of this year.
“If there’d been no support from the
government, I’m not sure Lye Town would
s�ll be here,” added Blakemore, speaking
“
If there’d been no support from the
government, I’m not sure Lye Town
would s�ll be here
”
before the last round of government
support for business was announced. “A lot
now hinges on what happens next, the
latest round of support is being given to
the end of March.”
With no playing budget commitments to
honour during lockdown, and a support
staff comprised en�rely of volunteers,
Blakemore said expenses fell sharply when
matches were not being played.
“Obviously, when you can’t use the social
Lye chair
Brian Blakemore
club and ground, your u�lity bills go down
but you s�ll have to make sure the
club[house] doesn’t freeze. There’s also
insurance and some small expense for
ongoing work on the pitch, which we have
to keep in order.
“If they start [playing] again with no
crowds, and nobody to open your social
club, that’s worse than the situa�on we’re
in at the moment because you’ve got more
u�lity costs, from the floodlights and
changing rooms, and you have to pay the
officials.
“For it to work sustainably, you need to
be able to open your social club. For the
short period when we could open it on
match days, with social distancing, we
made it work. Also, on spectators, for us
they made a rule which gave you a
maximum number of supporters. That
wasn’t an issue for us! At one point, we
could let in 300 people and that was fine
because our gates are around 150. One
hundred and fi�y people can all be
comfortably socially distanced at The Lye!
If that happens, the playing budget should
be the same. If you have to play in worse
condi�ons, that would have an impact on
the playing budget.
“The key issue is, we have had this
government support at the moment,
we’ve got this new one which covers the
first three months of the year. If the
season is voided and you don’t start again
un�l August, you’ve s�ll got another five
months to survive through.
“If we don’t start un�l August and
there’s no further support available, there
must be a chance the club could fold.
That’s not my expecta�on at the moment.
During the current lockdown, when
income is zero, it’s literally zero. People
say you could always get sponsorship but
if you’re not playing – so your company’s
not appearing on shirts and boots and in
programmes – nobody’s going to sponsor
you.”
Blakemore has since assured Serie Z
[and me, it’s Lye-suppor�ng editor]: “The
budget was a posi�ve for us. We have
received another grant to help us survive
financially un�l we can get back to some
income genera�on … It is s�ll difficult
financially but providing the release of
lockdown goes as planned, we will
survive.”
Speaking before the chancellor’s speech,
the Lye chief had said: “Without wan�ng
to sound too drama�c, there would be a
lot of clubs who would really, really
struggle [to survive five months without
further public support]. There are some
clubs in our league who have li�le or no
budget and they struggle because they’re
not able to a�ract the same quality of
players.”
Had The Lye been forced to fold, he
warned, “we wouldn’t be alone.”
The financial situa�on is somewhat
different up the road, where Brookes and
co-owner Keith McKenna had been
steadying the ship a�er taking control in
2018 following years of near-ruinous
ownership.
Brookes, daughter of club stalwart Colin
Brookes, whose name has been associated
with The Yeltz for almost 30 years, was
determined to do things the right way
when she ini�ally stepped in to help. That
was a�er previous owner Steve Lynch was
banned from football ac�vity for two
years because of his dual involvement
with fellow non-league club Eastwood
Town.
Having bought out Lynch, alongside
businessman and former Yeltz youth-team
boss McKenna, Karen Brookes, unusually,
insisted all the paid staff at the club,
including the players, be given their
money on a PAYE basis. The Halesowen
chair is well aware of the prevalence of
cash-in-hand payments across the non-
league game but, although the prospect of
HMRC-registered payments might have
made player recruitment more restricted
for the �tle-chasing club, the playing staff
who did sign up for the last two seasons
must now be coun�ng their lucky stars
they did so.
“I pay PAYE for every player, and the
coaches, at the club,” says Brookes. “I
wanted it done right. Every football club
that is paying players should do so under
PAYE. What that has meant is we’ve been
able to claim furlough for all of our players
during this period – for some of our
players, it’s their main job.”
The furlough scheme, of
course, covers only 80% of
the income of those affected,
and Brookes reached
agreement with her players
and coaches that the figure
would not be topped up.
That furlough cash,
however, is around 80% more
than the vast majority of non-
league footballers and coaches
will have received during
lockdown.
Like her Lye counterpart,
Brookes was insistent the
pandemic would not prove fatal to
her club, but it has certainly made
an indelible mark on the Yeltz’
finances.
“The club covers around 100% of its
expenses in normal �mes, from
sponsors and fans,” Brookes tells Serie
Z, “we were ge�ng 800-plus through
the door when the season finished.
“In year one [of her joint ownership
with McKenna] we were trying to get the
club to break even. We’d reached that
point by March [2020]. A�er three years,
we were almost at the stage where the
club was making up. That’s why this is
all so frustra�ng.
“I don’t envisage the club
will fold. We took out a
business bounce-back loan
[BBL] which needs to start
being paid back in June.
I’m confident the
playing budget won’t
be affected by that
but it will require us
[the owners] to put
our own money into
the club again, when
we had got almost Halesowen chair
to the point where Karen Brookes
the club was 100% self-financing. The BBL
has definitely put us back 12-18 months,
which is frustra�ng, but there are other
clubs in a worse posi�on, who will
poten�ally be going under … We wouldn’t
be, only because Keith and I would’ve put
our hands in our pocket and supported the
football club. Without the grants and the
BBL it’s difficult to see how we could have
survived, we would have been in a lot
greater debt.”
Brookes echoes Blakemore’s gra�tude for
the funding support offered by the
government during the public health crisis.
“We used a business rates grant and
there was a pitch fund [grant] of £1,500,”
she added.
In terms of any long-term financial
scarring, Brookes is posi�ve, even with the
five-to-six-year term of the BBL loan on the
club’s books. Again, speaking before the
budget announcement of further support
for employers, the Yeltz chair said: “There
will be a benefit from [lower bills for]
u�li�es further down the line but it will
take �me. There is no income stream
[during lockdown] and we s�ll pay rent to
the James Grove Trust.” The trust was
established by the owner of the 19th
century bu�on factory next to the ground
which gives Halesowen’s Grove stadium
home its name.
“As a football club we’ll be fine,” said
Brookes. “As long as I’m not paying players
beyond a furlough scheme being in place,
we’ll be fine. It will be difficult. In the
coming year, we would be okay, even if we
have lost some sponsors who have been
great to the club but have told us they just
can’t afford to keep paying.
“We have some brilliant volunteers who
would open the club[house] and open the
shop and get our secondary income
flowing again … We’ve held quizzes and
things like that and tried to stay in touch
with our community. Our fans have been
great. In terms of season �ckets, people
have only used seven and we’ve said: ‘If
you want to donate the cost of your season
�cket to the club by buying a new one,
that’s great, but if you can’t afford to, we’ll
honour them next season.’ We have a
JustGiving page where dona�ons can be
made to the club and the fans have been
fantas�c.”
With both clubs insistent there is unlikely
to be any lingering financial effect on their
finances and playing budgets, all eyes now
are on the Covid-19 vaccina�on
programme and any poten�al restric�ons
on the number of fans permi�ed when the
new campaign starts.
“We could have doubled our gate at the
�me when we were only allowed to have
400 people in to matches [during the
voided 2020-21 season] because, at the
�me, there were no spectators permi�ed
at West Brom, Villa, Wolves and
Birmingham,” adds Brookes, presumably
with an eye on that hoped-for bounce in
a�endance numbers when the government
finally takes the fe�ers off the game once
more.