(CLASS ACT: Stockport’s Matty Warburton)
By Chris Dunlavy
Leamington had just beaten Salford. Their manager, Paul Holleran, had just been handed the National North manager of the month award.
Yet even on that glorious day in October 2017, with his side on the fringes of a play-off spots, the wily old campaigner was under no illusions.
“Not for one second did I think we were in anything but a relegation battle,” said Holleran, who has led the Brakes since 2009. “And it was the same for everyone in the bottom half.
“When you looked at the calibre of sides in that division, it’s frightening. They were all spending money. Without those resources, it’s hard work.”
And it will be again. Leamington, after all, are that increasingly rare beast in National North – a traditional, part-time team who train just two nights a week.
A decade ago, such outfits roamed the plains of Step 2. Today, they are a species in steep decline.
Since semi-pro Solihull won the National North title in 2016, the top two positions have been occupied by full-time sides.
AFC Fylde stormed to glory in 2017. Kidderminster, who lost in the play-offs, came second. Last season it was Salford City, backed by the billions of Singaporean Peter Lim, who prevailed ahead of Harrogate Town.
Chasing them home were York, Kiddy and Nuneaton, all full-timers. Stockport and Darlington, fallen giants with bumper crowds, added to a division of unprecedented strength.
Predators
Telford, Alfreton and Tamworth, once the apex predators of Non-League, were reduced to bottom-feeding anonymity.
“I said at the start of last season that only full-time clubs would get promoted,” said Stockport boss Jim Gannon. “And that’s exactly what happened. The gulf was just too big.”
So it remains. Salford, the headline act, are gone but the ensemble cast remains, joined from above by Chester and below by Hereford. Both are former EFL clubs.
Chester are nominally part-time, but a three-day week and a £1m donation from fan Stuart Murphy has allowed managerial duo Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley to keep – and sign – players beyond the reach of most Step 2 clubs.
Hereford are semi-pro, but the Bulls’ average attendance of 2,554 in the Evo-Stik Southern Prem eclipsed every National North side except Stockport, and is likely to rise.
Elsewhere, Southport boast freshly-minted full-time status. Stockport have just four part-timers left on their books and will sign no more. Telford are one of several clubs who’ve added a Monday morning to their training schedule.
“The professionalism of National North has gone up incredibly over the last couple of years,” said Gannon. “And It’s not enough to just keep pace. Everybody wants be at the forefront.”
In other words, it is an arms race – and one that shows no sign of slowing. So is this the new normal? Will National North gradually be consumed by professionalism, just as the top flight was over the last decade?
In the short-term, the trend is likely to continue, fuelled in large part by the dangled carrot of two extra play-off spots.
Equally, however, it is important to consider that this divisional bout of keeping up with the Jones’ was born from a freakish set of circumstances.
Never before had so many big clubs – Hereford, Darlington, Halifax – collapsed at the same time, let alone in the same region. Never before had sides of York and Stockport’s stature tumbled so far. Post-recession and FFP, such scenes are unlikely to be repeated.
And whilst monied pretenders are nothing new – Wigan, Fleetwood, Canvey Island – they historically emerged in isolation. The current glut is unusual, with Lim’s resources unprecedented in any era.
That the situation is not mirrored in the Southern half of Step 2 offers further evidence of a northern ‘bubble’, as does the feeling amongst some managers that the 2017-18 campaign represented a high water mark.
“I don’t think it will be as difficult as last year,” insists Darlington manager Tommy Wright. “With Salford and Harrogate gone, the playing field is a lot more level.
“Now, I don’t think there’s a real big spender. Chester will be throwing it about, but even that will be modest in comparison. I think there’ll be ten, maybe twelve teams who genuinely think they can get promoted. As Jim says, that wasn’t the case last year.”
Prospect
If Wright is correct and the big money is gradually filtering upwards, it will only be a matter of time before the big boys follow.
Right now, NLN resembles a graveyard of fallen giants. Unhindered by rich rivals, the capacity of clubs like York and Stockport to generate revenue should ensure their ascent, just as it did for Luton and Oxford in the National Prem.
The great unknown is whether more benefactors wait in the pipeline. Premier League and even Championship clubs are now beyond the means of all but the megarich. Those in League One and Two face huge running costs and the majority carry significant debt.
Port Vale, for instance, hammered the ‘For Sale’ signs up in 2017, yet demanded £100,000 for exclusivity and somewhere north of £1.5m for the keys. Any buyer would then have to pump twice that amount in just to cover wages.
Clubs in Steps 2-4 can be bought for half the hassle and a fraction of the price, with the added bonus of modest overheads and – in all likelihood – regular victories.
It has proved an enticing prospect, both for locals-made-good like Irving Weaver and prospectors like Lim. Whether it remains so will have a huge bearing on the fates, and finances, of minnows like Leamington and titans like Stockport.
In the meantime, National North will be perhaps the most competitive division in the country. And Peter Beadle, the manager of Hereford, isn’t writing anybody off.
“We all know the full-time teams have an advantage,” he says. “But what I would say is look at Brackley. They’re not full-time but they were a stone’s throw away from going up last season. It isn’t all about money.”
*This article originally featured in The @NonLeaguePaper which is available every Sunday and Monday
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