Happy Days

[sinkov]

Clitheroe 9 Darlaston Town 1

Not many games where you can realistically chant 'We want ten'.

[Supersub6]

Clitheroe 9 Darlaston Town 1

Not many games where you can realistically chant 'We want ten'.

I was at Ashington yesterday and the Redcar supporters were chanting "we want ten" as they hammered the Colliers 8-0. A sad debut for an 18 year old keeper who is on a short term loan from Sunderland and replaced our regular keeper yesterday because the club have received an incentive from Sunderland to play him! He tried to play out grom the back which cost us the first two goals in the first 7 minutes and I am still trying to work out what he was doing with the third goal because he was walkabout in the area with four defenders closing down one attacker! He had not yet trained with the team and the first quarter of an hour was a horrible start. THe sad thing also is that we no longer have a goalkeeping coach because the club got rid of him, along with the manager and his assistant who resigned a couple of weeks ago.
They have scored over 100 goals this season and have a goal difference of 75 and are 10 points ahead of the second place team with 2 games in hand. Very good side who work hard the whole game.

Ashington, on the other hand, are in 19th place and have the same number of points as the two clubs above them and the relegation zone ---sadly our goal difference is now -31 and the worst in the Division.

Great win for your lads yesterday though.

[sinkov]

Darlaston are in trouble, their manager has left recently and, I believe, has taken half a dozen players with him. They turned up with just 12 players and were behind to an own goal after just 30 seconds. It never rains but it pours, that was easily the quickest OG I've ever seen. They had to bring their only sub on after 18 minutes and started the 2nd half with just 10 men, a red card saw them down to 9 after 81 minutes. I wouldn't say they threw the towel in but their hearts didn't seem to be in it, and they were outclassed, outplayed and out fought, they were lucky to keep it to single figures.

The referee, as often, provided the highlight of the afternoon, our Danny Wilkins slipped and fell on the rain-soaked pitch and the ref gave a free-kick to Darlo, it mystified everyone, including Danny, but when he produced a yellow card for Wilkins it became clear that it was for diving. Danny pointed out that there wasn't a Darlo player within six feet of him, so just who was he supposed to be diving over. Of course it was to no avail, the booking stood and Danny was left standing in the pouring rain, scratching his head and looking perplexed. Where the feck do they find 'em ?

[Supersub6]

Such are the vagaries of non-league football with managers moving on and players following them.
The problems at Ashington revolve around some 'Empire Building' and when thnigs are going well on the field, they are happy, however, heaven forbid that anyone criticises them.
Ken, with his expeience of many years involved with non-league football has suggested so many things over the last five years, however, the Board just don't follow things up. He arranged a ?5000 grant from a local house building concern and all the club had to do was to contact a person whose name he gave to them -----no follow up. They advertise for sponsors to put boards up in the ground but they advertise on Facebook rather than do the hard slog and go out and attract businesses.

WE have a management team of two players at the moment, both really good lads, however, it is an extra burden for them to try to play and manage. Never mind, life goes on.

Sorry about the referee experience, it sounds a very strange one, however, we have had similar up here as well. I am really happy that I am no longer involved these days.

[mnrht]

Any idea Sinkov what the Clitheroe lads get paid if it's anything at all. What sort of gate does Clitheroe they get? Would these figures be typical for this league, just wondering.

[ballcock]

Any idea Sinkov what the Clitheroe lads get paid if it's anything at all. What sort of gate does Clitheroe they get? Would these figures be typical for this league, just wondering.

Those Clitheroe lads will be on a good screw.

Non league players at that level are just as mercenary as full time pros, and will not pay for nothing

I bet some of the guys are on a couple of hundred a match

[sinkov]

Any idea Sinkov what the Clitheroe lads get paid if it's anything at all. What sort of gate does Clitheroe they get? Would these figures be typical for this league, just wondering.

Wage bill for last season was 158k, so I would think the established players, those under contract, must be on easily 200 a week plus. The only two I can quote for a fact, we had a 20 goal a season striker 4 seasons back and he was on 250 a week, I would imagine he'd be wanting 300 plus a week now. Last season we signed an 18 yo who had just been released by Accy Stanley, he was on 150 a week. I know that because I'm besties with his grandma.

Average gate has dropped to just below 700 this season. They usually budget to break even on gates of 700, they're down mainly because we're like Billy No Mates out here in the Ribble Valley now, we used to have local derbies with the likes of Colne, Ramsbottom, Padiham Radcliffe, Bamber Bridge, Lancaster and Kendal but they've all been promoted or relegated and several 1,000 plus derby games have gone with them. All the rest of the clubs are from Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, and down into the Midlands. Clitheroe are one of the best supported teams in the country at this level (Stage 8) and their league, NPL West I would think is one of the best supported at this level as well. I'll put a link up for the attendances, then you can check them for yourself.

https://www.thenpl.co.uk/attendances

[mnrht]

Thankyou Sinkov. Wages much higher than I expected.