Saturday 21 June 2014

The hidden world of non-league football

Just a few leagues below the £300,000 per week earning, champagne sipping poster boys of the Premier league live the stars of the non-league. The jugglers of the part-time football career receive little by comparison in the way of financial rewards, so much so that the vast majority work a second job to pay the bills. Though low paid in comparison, anyone that’s been to a standing terrace with hundreds rather than thousands of spectators in attendance will know that the effort that the lower league players put into performances equals, if not exceeds that of many of at the top of the football tree. If this is the case, is money really a motivator?

Footballers are always in the media for how much money they earn from the game, and don’t get me wrong, in my opinion the majority are majorly overpaid. “The average wage for a top flight player being around £30,000 per week”[1]. This is more in a week than a fully qualified nurse with the NHS would earn in a year. The NHS website shows the starting band for nurses as between £21,478 and £27,901[2], in what is surely a much more important role in the world. Sticking to the profession of football, if money were the main motivator, those at the top of the football pyramid would be by far the most motivated, putting in the most effort and making the greatest sacrifices.

Herzberg suggests that money has an ability to demotivate, but as long as the minimum requirement is achieved, will not be a great motivator.[3] As displayed in “Braintree Town’s marathon week in the conference”[4], Braintree captain Dean Wells travels 1374 miles playing the game he loves in conditions that Herzberg may even see sufficient to demotivate. However, Dean Wells states within this article “The work rate of the lads, considering the number of games we've had and the travelling, is superb. If we were in mid-table and just going through the motions, you could be disheartened. But the position we're in, we can't afford to have those thoughts.” This would back up Herzberg’s theory of achievement, recognition, advancement, work itself and even personal growth as being greater motivators. Personal growth in particular here is relevant with Dean Wells making the step up to full time football following the season in which he was selected in conference team of the year.
 
For three out of four weeks, Braintree played three matches a week last season. It is hard to imagine this being enforced in the Premier League, such is the difference between league and non-league football. Many would see the reason for this difference comes back to power. The power of one of the top clubs in the highest tier in English football is far greater than one of those much further down, and this is not just because of the financial influence that one of these clubs has. Braintree Town manager Alan Devonshire seems to believe that other clubs in the same division would not have been treated in the same way.[5] Though not stated, it is suggested that there is an imbalance of power in the Conference, with the better known ‘larger clubs’ favoured over those perhaps historically lesser known. Perhaps these sides that bring in more spectators, spread the word of the league further and are more recognisable by Football League follower’s uses personal influences against the authorities.

Though so many differences can be seen between league and non-league clubs, the players are still there to play the game that they love, putting their all into performing for reasons other than the widely mediated financial gains, and creating the game that we love from top to bottom of the pyramid.



[2] NHS Careers agenda for pay April 2014 available at http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/explore-by-career/nursing/pay-for-nurses/ (accessed 16/06/2014)
[3] NetMBNA.com (2002-2010) available at http://www.netmba.com/mgmt/ob/motivation/herzberg/ (accessed 21/06/2014)
[4] BBC football (2014) available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26818712 (accessed 21/06/2014)
[5] BBC football (2014) available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26785223 (accessed 21/06/2014)
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