The catastrophic consequences of falling out of the Football League

The word Administration has been at the forefront of English Football far too often in recent history. In the last few years administration has hit many members of the Football League and has had a disastrous effect on the everyday running of Football clubs. But what about the clubs outside of the Football League? Administration can have far more of a significant effect on clubs at the lower end of the Football League pyramid without the reliability of ticket sales and other profitable entities that Football League clubs can rely on.

The recent decline of former Football League members Chester City and Rushden & Diamonds highlights what administration leads to all too often. After relegation from the Football League in 2009, Chester embarked on a downward spiral that led to them being expunged from the Conference Premier and eventually, a year after relegation from League Two, the club had been wound up.

Rushden & Diamonds were considered promotion contenders before their relegation to the non-league’s highest division in 2006. Their problems were highlighted by the sheer lack of ticket sales which would ultimately impact the fortunes of the club. In the first three seasons back in the Conference, attendances had been cut 50% from their last season in the Football League and so began their decent into the abyss. In 2011 the club had been expelled from the Blue Square bet Premier due to their unstable financial position, meaning they could not guarantee being able to complete all their fixtures in the 2011/12 season. In the summer of last year, the club entered administration and went out of business.

Just this week it was announced that former members of the Football League Darlington face liquidation after former chairman Raj Singh, who had previously invested two million pounds in the club,  had withdrawn his funding leaving the Quakers in a perilous financial disposition. The club were relegated from the Football League during the 2009/10 campaign and so began the unenviable task of trying to contrive a return to the Football pyramids third tier. But like so many before, not achieving promotion has left the club with huge debts and the added concern of having a 10,000-seater stadium that can only entice 2,000 every week.

Additionally, the club have announced that they have terminated the contracts of interim manager Craig Liddle and the remaining playing staff. Administrator Harvey Madden expressed his displeasure at terminating the contracts but admits it was the only option. Madden said, “Given the current financial position of the club and, as a consequence of my legal obligations, I have had no alternative but to terminate the contracts of all playing staff and the retained administration staff.”

The administrator also acknowledged that, despite interest, no formal offers to buy the club had been received. He continued, “Every effort is being made to progress this to try to save the club. However, at this stage I have still not received any formal offers and unless a deal is concluded as a matter of urgency, time will have run out for Darlington Football Club.”

We wait and see as to whether Darlington can continue as a Football club, but the response from the administrator outlines the harsh reality of entering administration. Darlington, like Chester and Rushden & Diamonds before them, have surrendered their place in the Football League and are now struggling to stay afloat. It seems, at the moment, that losing your place in the Football League is the least of your problems as it can transpire into something which doesn’t just impact the club short term, but its future as well.