CREDIT CRUNCH: Kent clubs suffer in current economic climate

Thursday 09th October 2008

NON-LEAGUE football clubs here in Kent are having to cut their cloth accordingly as the credit crunch bites, writes Stephen McCartney.

As our table below shows, 17 out of 32 clubs, have seen attendances decrease, as supporters can no longer afford to watch football here in Kent, especially as bills go through the roof.

One manager of a Kent club, Bromley’s Mark Goldberg, explains the current situation at Hayes Lane.

Speaking to www.newsshopper.co.uk ahead of their Blue Square South trip to Chelmsford City on Saturday, Goldberg said: “Yes, we are having to cut our budget in accordance with economic conditions across the UK and world.

“We’ve also had our anticipated sponsorship revenue reduced by the financial climate, attendances and gate receipts are down and we expected to get through at least two qualifying rounds of the FA Cup. It all has an impact.”

Bromley were dumped out of the FA Cup in the second qualifying round by Ryman Premier League side AFC Hornchurch. This was their first match in the competition, thus losing out on £4,500 worth of prize money from The Football Association.

Our table also shows how much each club has picked up from prize money from Soho Square so far this season.

However, these figures don’t go far in this climate and clubs at our level would like to see an increase in prize money, especially in the FA Trophy and FA Vase.

	Club	Lge	Ave	Crowds	FA Prize Money to date
1	Ebbsfleet United	BSP	1,544	UP 42.1&
2	Dover Athletic	RPL	1,158	UP 22.8%	£7,500
3	Dartford	RPL	1,051	DOWN 7.3%	£3,000
4	Welling United	BSS	590	UP 12%
5	Maidstone United	RPL	483	UP 8.7%	£7,500
6	Margate	RPL	460	DOWN 13.3%
7	Bromley	BSP	456	DOWN 29.1%
8	Tonbridge Angels	RPL	420	DOWN 18.9%
9	Ramsgate	RPL	315	DOWN 14.6%
10	Folkestone Invicta	R1S	275	DOWN 31.7%	£4,500
11	Ashford Town	R1S	242	DOWN 4.3%	£1,500
12	Sittingbourne	R1S	202	UP 6.7%	£3,500
13	Faversham Town	KL	179	UP 12.9%
14	Herne Bay	KL	164	UP 48.4%	£750
15	Whitstable Town	R1S	161	DOWN 35.5%	£3,500
15	Chatham Town	R1N	150	DOWN 14.3%	£3,500
16	Cray Wanderers	R1S	147	DOWN 11.8%	£1,500
17	Hythe Town	KL	140	UP 0.9%	£2,250
18	Tunbridge Wells	KL	121	UP 85.7%	£2,650
19	Beckenham Town	KL	98	DOWN 3.2%	Not Applicable
20	Deal Town	KL	88	DOWN 15.4%
21	Slade Green	KL	87	UP 11.2%
22	Erith & Belvedere	KL	86	UP 1%	£6,150
23	VCD Athletic	KL	80	DOWN 30.5%	£5,250
24	Erith Town	KL	76	UP 39%	£1,550
25	Thamesmead Town	R1N	72	UP 25.5%	£4,500
26	Norton Sports	KL	63	Not applicable	Not applicable
27	Holmesdale	KL	62	DOWN 5.3%
28	Croydon	KL	62	DOWN 5%	£2,650
29	Sevenoaks Town	KL	52	DOWN 8.8%	£750
30	Lordswood	KL	51	DOWN 17%	£900
31	Sporting Bengal United	KL	49	UP 19.2%	£750
32	Greenwich Borough	KL	41	DOWN 5.6	Not applicable