With winter fast-approaching, football clubs around the country are likely to have a couple of burning questions.
Essentially, these will be tied to the potential weather conditions and how much of an effect these are likely to have on postponements. Of course, we have been no stranger to seeing football matches called off over the years – especially in the winter because of either waterlogged pitches, frozen grounds or snow.
It is unlikely to be any different this year either, though for non-league clubs particularly, the question is, how many matches are likely to be called off?
Ultimately, non-league grounds though are not better at avoiding postponements due to weather and it essentially comes down to one thing.
Non-League Clubs Not As Well Equipped To Deal With Bad Weather
The vast majority of non-league clubs operate on a shoe-string budget. Some might be very well-run, but this doesn’t mean that they are rich. At least not by Premier League standards.
According to a recent focaldata poll, commissioned by non-profit, Round Our Way, indicated that 50 percent of fans say they are worried about how extreme weather is affecting the game.
Meanwhile, 70 percent said that they experienced at least one non-league football game cancellation in the past year because of cancellations. As such, of this figure, 44 percent faced less than five cancellations 16 percent had six to 10 cancellations, while 10 percent experienced 10 or more postponements.
@OfficialShots
What is it with football teams and there grounds being called off because of cold weather and pitches not being in a fit playing surface. Are football players being wrapped up in cotton wool and pampered to much, as the footballs that play in Sunday league go on.— Tony Matthews (@BigTonyshots007) January 4, 2025
The poll also revealed that heavy rain and flooding was responsible for 40 percent of matches being called off at this level, with 70 percent of fans believing that national football associations should be doing more to support clubs that are affected. In addition, it was understood that 56 percent claim that the government should enhance infrastructure in order to combat weather disruption on sport.
While, when it comes to making the decision to call off matches, National League’s General Manager Mark Ives added: “Some referees have to travel long journeys to inspect the pitch. This puts immense pressure on them to get to the ground and make a decision.”
Short Term Financial Impact For Non-League Clubs
The fact is that non-league clubs rely on matchday revenue, primarily to pay wages and should games be called off, it means they are affected for that particular month. Obviously, matches are re-played and, it could be argued that when they are (usually in better weather), there is a better attendance than there would be in the winter when it is colder.
However, football clubs rely on income during the winter when fuel usage usually sky-rockets due to lower temperatures, decreased hours of daylight (which means floodlights for training sessions) and numerous other factors. As such, income generation in winter months (usually when bad weather strikes), is fundamental.
Of course, clubs in the Premier League don’t feel the financial pinch (not as severely), because they often have surplus to mitigate one game being called off, due to television revenue and lucrative sponsorship deals.
Furthermore, they can afford advanced technology to prevent matches from being called off. Currently in the Non League, there are very few clubs that can. Something, clearly needs to change.