The Pyramid Isn't Working

What does the future hold for Blyth Spartans, the UniBond League and non-league soccer in general? We don't know is the obvious answer however there is currently a lot of debate and ideas and opinions are flying around about the future of football at the sharp end.
I personally think that we face the future with a great deal of uncertainty and without much realistic optimism.

Blyth Spartans - The Only Way was up
We have used the pyramid to our advantage, for many years we were a big fish in a little pond. The Northern League were for many years happy to preserve the status quo and we as a club happy to go along with this picking up trophy after trophy. Not surprisingly perhaps things became stale and the wheels came off. The novelty of winning wore off and we ended up revelling in the mediocrity of the Northern League. Local rivals Whitley Bay, Spennymoor and Bishops decided enough was enough and escape much to the disgust of those in positions of "power" in the Northern League. We nearly go bust and realise that we must have a go. Jim Telford's drive and determination gels with the passion for the club that the existing Directors have. For the first time in a long while we go for it. What happens, the Pyramid rules and regulations benefit us as we blow the League and only get promoted on the back of Durham City's failure to get their Ground ready in time.
We hit the UniBond and struggle to come to terms with it at first; we are surprised by the fact that teams keep going for 90 minutes. However our secret weapon is our location. Blyth is a geographical outpost in Pyramid terms and teams complain and moan about the distance they have to travel to play us at Croft Park. Add the vital ingredient of shrewd management under Harry Dunn and lo and behold we take the League by storm.
We are now only 2 promotions away from the Football League! This pyramid lark is easy. The first season in the UniBond Premiership sees us more than consolidate with a 6th place finishing. A great cup run adds to the excitement and looking back you realise how close we were. However the momentum we had built up gets lost along the way and we missed our chance.
Since then we have gone through a succession of managers and have basically stood still. We even had the spectre of relegation to contend with which we managed to avoid through the shrewd appointment of Mick Tait and an awful lot of hard work.

Where do we go from here?
Everyone at the club used to talk of the ambitions of achieving promotion and eventually joining the Football League. Chairman and Directors have to have dreams and ambitions to keep them going, I think that the current dream is simple - survival. At this level everyone does the job for the love. We seem to have the right man for the job in John Charlton who has worked a minor miracle since taking over the club however financially the years of travel and relative struggle in the League have taken their toll. We are living from hand to mouth, week to week like most if not all of our rivals. Recent stories confirm Barrow, Altrincham, Gateshead, Spennymoor and even our friends from Bedlington are making the necessary adjustments to their expenditure (cutbacks to the man in the street). We need to stabilise before we even think of going forward. In addition even with the best team in the world we won't get anywhere with our ground. By UniBond standards our ground is ok (it does however need some work to UniBond standards). Improvements have been long planned but as yet are still just plans (another effort is being made with Council Officials to get the much-planned improvements off the ground). Looking at other clubs they seem to have struck lucky. Lancaster City are making huge improvements to the Giant Axe, their Local Council investing heavily. Hyde United and Stalybridge have benefited from having the right local MP so much so that they have the best grounds in the UniBond and are only 15 minutes apart. (I don't count the International Stadium across the Tyne Bridge as a football ground). We need a three year plan which is three-fold - 1. Get the finances right, 2. Get the ground up to standard and 3 Get a Team to Match. A tall order, I think that task 3 is possible as is task 2 but both are pointless without success in task 1. Success on the pitch is no good if it isn't matched off it. The possibility of heartache by winning the League and not going up due to the ground or finances is too much to contemplate for many. I would take it however, you have to grab whatever success comes your way. It may not happen again for a long time.

The UniBond League
This league is without doubt the weakest of the three feeder leagues into the Conference. Look at the last three winners, Altrincham straight back down and in serious financial trouble, Barrow straight back down (although on a technicality the season in the Conference nearly finished them off for good financially). Leeks hung on for a season before being relegated and struggling since their return and are again cutting budgets. The league lacks money, every club seems to be struggling along, getting by every season by the skin of their teeth. Leigh have the opportunity to travel the length and breadth of the Country and hope to survive on gates of about 500. They have surprised a lot of people too date but I have doubts to their long-term financial well being. Unless you have lots of money to invest in players and travelling you end up having no chance, you invariably face financial ruin but you can always say we gave it our best shot. Even with the resources Altrincham have they failed and are struggling financially, what chance has we? Put simply currently none, but have any UniBond club. I don't think so. Some clubs have done things correctly, Morecambe left our League a few years back and have built steadily and are maybe the role model. However geographically they are a good distance from big league football whilst at the same time a biggish town to boot. Healthy crowds of about 1500 certainly help their cause. However the power base of the Conference has certainly moved south since its inception when the teams in the North West, i.e. Altrincham, Witton, Northwich and Runcorn etc dominated.
The state of clubs finances is such that last season saw the revamp of the League's cup competitions into a more regionalised structure and the introduction of a 1st Division broken into East and West was suggested by the League. Full credit to the League, for recognising the problem and are trying to address it however as usual the centrally based clubs out their head in the sand as the move meant little in terms of benefit for them. Will this solve everything, I think not. I believe they should go the whole hog and split the Leagues now into East and West with 22 clubs in each. The teams at the top could then play off to find the Champions. This would help to cut down on travelling costs no end. We suffer more than anyone with regard to this and would benefit greatly. No more trips to Colwyn Bay would of course be an added bonus. Opponents of the suggestion would argue that the quality of competition would suffer. Yes it would but teams might just be able to invest in better players and or facilities if they cut down on travel costs. More importantly teams may survive who would otherwise go to the wall. I have no doubts that if the League doesn't change clubs will go belly up. It is a real change or die situation.

The Pyramid
Supporters of the pyramid will point to the success stories, Stevenage being the best example. Stevenage came from the equivalent of the UniBond 1st to Conference Champions within about 5 years and have stayed there. However they are the exceptions to the rule. Like the Premiership there are only 5 or 6 clubs who will be within reaching distance of promotion. 4 or 5 will end up mid table and the rest will be happy just to survive. Further down the lack of success of UniBond clubs is well documented, Rymans League Clubs seem to prosper better than other and Dr. Martens clubs seem to be able to hang on. Looking below the "Trophy" Leagues the Pyramid has stopped existing in the Northern League. Bedlington have a fine team, but know all to well that a combination of extra cost and a loss of some players due to the extra commitments the higher league brings means that promotion is not an option. That is sad and means that the UniBond and the Northern League suffers. However Bedlington are right to think twice, why face ruin when they know realistically that they would survive comfortably in the UniBond 1st and even prosper but at what cost. Keith Perry also knows that he would loose a good few of his current squad who have done the rounds of the UniBond and would not relish the prospect again, where does he get replacements. People accuse the Terriers of lacking ambition and to a point they do, they also possess a healthy dose of realism gained from the struggle of others (including our goodselves) which only ads weight to their stance. However my prediction is that the Terriers will continue having success were they are but will eventually suffer the same fate as us as supporters become sick of the same old stuff.

What is the Answer?
Put simply I don't know, however this subject has been the subject of debate for many years and will continue to be. My solution would be to do away with the UniBond 1st and let the teams filter back down the Leagues, but to also regionalise the UniBond Premier into east and west with play-off at the end of the season. This would help to give every club a chance. Bedlington would still win the revamped Northern League and might just jump then. Games at Blyth, Gateshead, Spennymoor, Bishops and Whitby would account for half the away travel and I would certainly look forward to the 10 minute trip to Doctor Pit Welfare as opposed to 4-5 hours on a bus to Colwyn Bay.
A Conference Second Division has been suggested. This to me is a total non-starter why not have a Conference North and South, that might just be a runner.

Whatever happens things will have to change and change soon otherwise we will look back in years to come and wonder why we didn't see that things were falling around before and people will ask "why didn't you change".

No sooner is this piece written than lo and behold plans are announced to change the pyramid. The losers are the Rymans League, as apparently they wouldn't play ball. It will go back to the 2 feeders for the Conference and the Northern Premier League will have a structure under it, which at first glance suggests a degree of regionalisation.

Go for it I say.