Bodmin Dragon Fold

[Steve Carpenter]

Bodmin Dragon has informed the league that the club has folded and will not be taking it's place in D2(E).  As a result:

1.  No team will be relegated from D2(E) at the conclusion of 2024-25 season;

2.  Gorran will receive a 'bye' in the George Evely Cup.

[We Two]

Too much attention to buying sucess at the professional level has sadly filtered down to grassroot level and has caused the closing of several clubs at grassroot level throughout the country.

Professional players in the Premier League have seen an average increase in their wages of 3,600% since 1994, the cost of living /consumer price index has increased by 94% in the same period, that will explain why some clubs are very close to going out of business because of living beyond their means.

It's unlikely that Bodmin Dragon paid their players huge sums of money if anything at all, but the effect of the money being offered to players at a slightly higher level will always affect those in what was considered to be junior football if playes are enticed away by a few pounds pocket money.
A suggestion is that the various county football associations should also look at holding a financial bond for any newly formed teams may help the plethora of short term clubs that are formed country wide.  A bond would also help pay any outstanding debts incurred, or returned to a club if they had no outstanding debts.

[TomTom]

I dont think that stuff has much influence. There's a set pool of players in Cornwall. Some get paid, some don't. If anything as teams go up the leagues their budgets and league catchment area increases which sould have a positive impact on the local lower clubs. 

For grassroots clubs it's things like increased costs - pitch and facilities hire, FA and league registrations, insurances, fines, kits & equipment etc. 

Players seems to lack commitmemt and availability or some teams are a particular friendship group with no succession planning in the club. 

Training facilities and availability. Smaller clubs struggle to get access or put off by high costs

Matchday squad increases to 5 subs means the best clubs attract more players while small one club teams have bare 11. 

Struggle for volunteers to help with day to day management and additional burden from FA for mandatory training, Safeguarding etc. 

Players aren't getting the enjoyment from football. Referee shortage or no ref at all can mean you'd rather not play and do something else. 

League rules favour clubs with more than one team. Reserves and third teams can call on players from higher teams who have already finished while small clubs lose players to cricket / work / summer holidays and has an impact to the end of season. 

There's a multitude of reasons and many i've missed.... clubs are created and fold all the time. It's just a bit concerning how many have gone before the season started so far. 

[Dave Deacon]

I see the situation as largely down to people not being bothered with no responsibility to help and no commitment! 

Oh! Add no respect to their shortfall too! 

[We Two]

2 minutes ago, Dave Deacon said:

no responsibility to help and no commitment! 

Oh! Add no respect to their shortfall too! 

100% agree, and that's the general way of things at present, only where those items mentioned are a natural article in the formation and running of a club, are they unlikely to fold.

Too often expectation and hope's of success in certain areas of life are replaced by scepticisim and non commitment followed by failure.
Clubs of any persuasion rely on the background behind the scene people who run them, and who all too often are taken for granted

[winston]

Add rule changes, and less than adequate officiating in to the mix. Fines & yellow cards for dissent, sometimes equalling the punishment for cynical fouls/tackles, which have resulted serious injuries, leading to time out of the game & off work, with some never to return!

[Dave Deacon]

9 hours ago, winston said:

serious injuries, leading to time out of the game & off work, with some never to return!

That would be an interesting statistic - the number of serious injuries that actually lead to time off work throughout all the players that appear during a season!

[Foul Throw 3]

10 hours ago, Dave Deacon said:

That would be an interesting statistic - the number of serious injuries that actually lead to time off work throughout all the players that appear during a season!

I imagine quite low. The St Piran League have a benevolent fund for this precise reason and it was utilised very little last season as I remember them publishing the details. If players do get injured and need time off work, get your secretary to raise with the league as it's a very simple form to help cover loss of earnings. 

[TheOpinionoftheReferee]

22 hours ago, winston said:

Add rule changes, and less than adequate officiating in to the mix. Fines & yellow cards for dissent, sometimes equalling the punishment for cynical fouls/tackles, which have resulted serious injuries, leading to time out of the game & off work, with some never to return!

https://www.cornwallfa.com/referees/development-and-workshops/the-fa-referees-course

 

[scotty2009]

Although Ive not played for 7 years now…Being in goal I lost a fair amount of work time over injuries.

I broke my kneecap vs Polperro in 2003 and had to have 4 weeks off work

I also badly dislocated my finger vs Grampound in 2003 and again had 3 weeks off - as an electrician at an industrial site (often working at height) the health and safety team wouldnt let me on site.

in 2011 I was off work a few days for a concussion I got against St.Buryan.

I also dislocated fingers vs Camelford in ECPL in 2007 and again was sent home from my site.

I split my leg open bad vs St.Merryn in 2005 ish and had 2 weeks off 

there was a few others aswell!!!

with how companies are this day and age, maybe people dont want to risk their jobs? And also if they dont get sick pay?

[winston]

There you have it.

Add the Mousehole player recently suffering a horrendous sounding injury and lengthy time off work 

[B Manning]

Having to dig into the memory here, but in my refereeing I can only recall three serious injuries they are two broken legs and a broken collar bone this is in 49 years and approx 3000 Appointments at local and contrib level, in Cornwall in 23 years I can only recall 1 broken leg I am not saying there have been no injuries but I hope this puts it into some perspective especially to the inadequate officiating comment.

[Dave Deacon]

I tend to agree with B Manning - over many seasons of being involved in local football matches, I can barely recall many really serious incidents!

As for using the refs as an excuse, well some are better than others but you can say the same about players who unnecessarily make it more difficult than it should be for the man in black.

[Martin Eddy]

Thought about the player shortage last night. Most clubs with a youth system cannot keep up with the demands of players. So why are we so short when it comes to men's football.

[Steve Carpenter]

7 hours ago, Martin Eddy said:

Thought about the player shortage last night. Most clubs with a youth system cannot keep up with the demands of players. So why are we so short when it comes to men's football.

The drop off in numbers post the age of 16 is a long standing and ongoing topic of conversation that has many elements to it.

Whether there is a player shortage or not is another debatable topic.  Taking out those players that registered but didn't kick a ball in St Piran last season it works out at about 32 players registered per team - 4,350 players, 136 teams.  The factors that then come into play have been oft discussed on here but the one that gets mentioned to me on a regular basis is commitment.  The bottom line is that unlike in 'the good old days' football on a Saturday afternoon isn't the be all and end all it used to be. 

This season to date we have @3,100 players registered.

Last season the Benevolent Fund paid out to 5 players but there of course may be others with employment packages who didn't need to claim additional support.

[Dave Deacon]

12 hours ago, Martin Eddy said:

Thought about the player shortage last night. Most clubs with a youth system cannot keep up with the demands of players. So why are we so short when it comes to men's football.

Could some of the drop off be that the youngsters have played “organised football” since a very young age and just get tired and bored of it?

[Dave Grose]

On 30/07/2024 at 17:08, scotty2009 said:

Although Ive not played for 7 years now…Being in goal I lost a fair amount of work time over injuries.

I broke my kneecap vs Polperro in 2003 and had to have 4 weeks off work

I also badly dislocated my finger vs Grampound in 2003 and again had 3 weeks off - as an electrician at an industrial site (often working at height) the health and safety team wouldnt let me on site.

in 2011 I was off work a few days for a concussion I got against St.Buryan.

I also dislocated fingers vs Camelford in ECPL in 2007 and again was sent home from my site.

I split my leg open bad vs St.Merryn in 2005 ish and had 2 weeks off 

there was a few others aswell!!!

with how companies are this day and age, maybe people dont want to risk their jobs? And also if they dont get sick pay?

Didn't u have sports insurance 🤔 

[chesterfield]

On 02/08/2024 at 22:24, Dave Deacon said:

Could some of the drop off be that the youngsters have played “organised football” since a very young age and just get tired and bored of it?

Back in the late early 90s I was playing men’s football when I was 12 I was a regular in the team by 14 and the same applied to lots of other sides with under 16 in the teams. Larger squads helped the older players not putting pressure to turn up and play 90mins because there was a few young uns! in around the squad! Lost lots of local teams around mid Cornwall laddock , veryan , bugle and there was always about 4 teams that were playing at par running track! Never got bored loved away games as could get served for beer! Good times!

[The Badger]

I put this out there on another thread last month.... 

Difficult times for many reasons at local level. obviously cost of living is one and people have to work. Others and not only these, many more people going into further education today vs years ago and moving away, more structured local football through higher education - do they need to play weekends when playing midweek at college? League restructure under st pirans & only being able to play for 1 cub - lots said clubs would fold as a consequence, football tiering - many players stepping up and pulling from the lower leagues - this season it seems like more than normal,  list goes on...

 

One other thought and not saying positive or negative, but noticing more 3rd teams and development sides than before. I imagine some of these players would normally filter into multiple local teams around to give them numbers and probably and even existence. 

 

[Roche Raider]

On 07/08/2024 at 08:06, chesterfield said:

Back in the late early 90s I was playing men’s football when I was 12 I was a regular in the team by 14 and the same applied to lots of other sides with under 16 in the teams. Larger squads helped the older players not putting pressure to turn up and play 90mins because there was a few young uns! in around the squad! Lost lots of local teams around mid Cornwall laddock , veryan , bugle and there was always about 4 teams that were playing at par running track! Never got bored loved away games as could get served for beer! Good times!

I think in recent years, events that have caught the wrong headlines for the youth players such as Blazey, Bude etc would suggest they're not quite cut out for first teams. 

[JonColenzo]

I don’t understand how teams getting voted into leagues without proof of a squad to start the season. New teams without their own squad then advertise for players and decimate another team / club by signing their players? Seems very strange