So we’re out there now trying to get the next striker in. At the best of times it’s hard to get a decent number No.9 – never mind when the season has already started.
It’s even more complicated this year. People speak about 700 players being released from Football League clubs over the summer. I’m not really sure where they’ve all gone!
However, I sense the landscape is changing slightly with pro footballers.
One player I spoke to has retired – he’s only 26! With the pandemic and lockdown, lads have had a lot of time to think, contemplate their futures and how that looks for them and their families.
Some have found other incomes. The precarious nature of football, with its one-year contracts, means a lot have gone down the route of working.
I know from our own squad that, over the last 18 months, they’ve picked up jobs. For some, it will be the first time in their life they’ve worked in a ‘normal job.
There is a reality to the situation. We all know a lot of Football League clubs have really struggled through the pandemic. If a club is saying to a full-time player, ‘Look, unless we get some funding or grants, we might not be able to pay you next month’, they’ve got to think about where the next paycheque is coming from.
It’s been a big wake-up call – especially for the older players to think about life after football if they don’t have anything else in the background.
Denne historien er fra August 29, 2021-utgaven av The Non-League Football Paper.
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Denne historien er fra August 29, 2021-utgaven av The Non-League Football Paper.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
SHAKERS REVEL IN MAKING HISTORY
DAVE McNabb says Bury's FA Cup heroes are proud to be writing their own chapters in club history.
WILCOX: WE FEEL COMPLETE WITH WIN
RUSS WILCOX'S verdict after watching his Gainsborough Trinity side outmuscle and outplay their hosts was that it was \"probably our most complete performance\".
CRACKER BY KABIA TOPPLES TUDORS!
ASSISTANT boss Stewart Yetton said his Truro City side were good value for their win over table-toppers Hemel Hempstead Town.
BRAKES PUT STOP ON BORO BATTLERS
SEPARATED only by goal difference before kick-off, these sides remain neck and neck in the embryonic table after playing out 90 minutes in the October sunshine that was a great advert for the division.
BOSS COTT'S GOT A REALLY GOOD THING WITH ROVERS
STEVE Cotterill hailed Forest Green Rovers’ first class performance as they produced a spirited comeback to topple fellow high-flyers Eastleigh at the Silverlake Stadium.
SKIPS STEER HEED'S SHIP
GATESHEAD captains of the past and present are playing a lead role in helping the National League club move on from the departure of FA Trophy-winning manager Rob Elliot.
FA CUP PREVIEW: SWEET! 'DREAM' DRAW IS CHANCE OF OUR LIFETIME
DAVE NORTHFIELD says minnows Biggleswade FC were like 'kids in a sweet shop' when they drew out York City in what he describes as the 'draw of a lifetime'.
PARKER'S HEART IS STILL AT HOME
FORMER England right-back Paul Parker has revealed he would never completely rule out a return to management – but says he would only do so for one of his beloved local clubs.
LOCALS RALLY TO REBUILD BRIDGE
WHEN committee members at Bamber Bridge set out to raise £30,000 to protect the club's future, they were apprehensive about the response they'd get.
RUTHLESS BEES FIND THEIR FEET
ASTERLING second-half performance resulted in league leaders Barnet brushing aside a Boston United outfit that led at the interval through Keaton Ward’s early strike.