By Neo Lekhela
Football clubs all across the world have been significantly impacted by the cost of living crisis, which has now changed how they operate and compete. The rising crisis has made it increasingly challenging for teams to draw in and retain top talent, especially in cities like London.
At bigger clubs, player earnings are among the primary facets of the cost of living crisis. The pressure to demand higher wages due to the crisis has drastically increased the cost of operating a football team. Many clubs simply came afford the exorbitant wages necessary to pay their players and to attract great talent, and smaller clubs have found it difficult to compete with their larger counterparts.
Many local grassroots club owners have been largely impacted by the crisis as many simply can’t afford to keep the local clubs going due to families not being able to pay small fees like £20 per session for their children to attend.
If the parents can’t pay, how will the clubs run with no additional support from the government?
Weekly prices hiked up
Club owners having to hike up weekly prices to keep up with costs has resulted in a decrease in the number of attendees.
Katie Barbumgi, 42, full-time single mum, has two wons who attended their local Saturday football club in Finsbury Park for two years prior to the pandemic. She has now had to withdraw them from attending as she simply can’t afford the costs.
“As a mother this was probably one of the most humiliating things for me, as my children would ask so many questions and I would have to lie to them,” Barbumgi said.
“What helped me was that I wasn’t the only mother in this position. A lot of my boys friends also had to leave so I felt like the embarrassment wasn’t all on me.
“So many more families are in these circumstances and it’s simply not right, the government should be investing in the local initiatives for our young people during these times.”
Grassroots clubs forced to close
According to the Youth Sports Trust organisation , the rise in the cost of living crisis has led to 2,600 grassroots football clubs folding in the last 12 months. A further 6,000 across the UK are at risk of closure between now and the end of the next season (2023).
Benjamin Mosaldi, 37, aspiring local football club owner, initially set out plans to launch his football club in Canonbury last year, but due to the strenuous money demands and bills he faced he decided to not go through with his business plan and launch the club as he felt it was not achievable.
“Since the pandemic, many local football clubs have gone into debt and have been forced to shut. In itself, most grassroots clubs don’t get government funding as everything is done by partnerships, sponsors and donations,” he said.
“The government are just watching local clubs and initiatives that are bettering local communities across London crumble.”
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