Grassroots football needs some love, or it will perish

An intrepid trip to the heart of North Devon on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in September included a visit to the picturesque ground of Torridgeside AFC, who were hosting Stoke Gabriel & Torbay Police in the South West Peninsula League.

As well as glorious sunshine beating down on a lovely pitch, the T-Siders boast a tremendous clubhouse, with all the luxuries of cold beers, ciders, fizzy drinks and a warm coffee, plus one of the best value portions of chips found anywhere in regional football.

The players on the pitch responded to their pleasant surroundings with a hugely entertaining and hard-fought 1-1 draw. No quarter asked or given, it was a super game and a super advert for the league, but there are major problems further down the pyramid.

The South Devon League is doing fairly well, in comparison, and the Devon & Exeter League still boasts nine divisions, but North Devon is down to three divisions and the Plymouth & West Devon version has just one.

For the secretary of the South West Peninsula League, Phil Hiscox, the worrying trend is dominated by one central issue: the quality of facilities.

“Football is suffering at the bottom of the pyramid, the Plymouth & West Devon League is down to one division and one team, Horrabridge, is fielding their first-team and reserves in that division,” said Hiscox.

“Facilities is the biggest problem. The Devon League, Peninsula League and Western League are part of the National League system, which means there is grant money available and ground grading means clubs are pushed into ground improvements.

“The gulf between those with facilities and those without is bigger than it’s ever been and that means players have a choice, not just as to where they play their football but also what they want to do with their Saturday afternoons.

“You hear also sorts of horror stories about councils giving up on marking pitches, calling games off on the weekend to save money and the perennial problem of dog mess. Players have so many options with what to do with their time and you have to look after people who want to play football.

“Footballers deserve decent facilities and there is an argument the FA should make their investment more widespread [to include local leagues] but there is a counter-argument that the Football Foundation isn’t there to fund facilities that should be looked after by local authorities.

“There needs to be a proper view on what clubs need at certain levels because there is an occasional overkill, with clubs instructed to build stands and lay paths when their crowds don’t justify that requirement.

“Pitch quality is a massive issue and so is the small-sided game, but what I find odd is the impact and growth of youth football.

“When I played, there wasn’t anything like the current level of youth coaches with badges and qualifications. Every school is seemingly advertising soccer courses and yet those players don’t seem to progress to adult football.

“Whether they’ve either played too much football as kids or when they get to the adult game, they look at the facilities available and decide to do other things.

“What should be happening from the explosion of youth football is more people coming through to the adult game and there should be better technical players, but it all comes back to the issue of facilities.

“Clubs in the Peninsula League have spent a lot of money and effort to build clubhouses and maintain standards because players deserve a decent pitch, warm showers and clean dressing rooms.

“If you don’t look after players, the local game will die, and we will never develop international stars without looking after the bottom because players don’t become superstars without putting in the effort as youngsters.”

It is clear there are questions to be answered at all levels of the game and clubs need support, or it becomes inevitable that teams will drop out at the bottom of the pyramid.

In North Devon, for example, Ilfracombe Town 2nds have withdrawn from the North Devon Football League, an incomprehensible prospect in years gone by, and runners-up of their top division last season, Park United, have also gone.

Stories like this are repeated all across Devon and Hiscox makes an extremely good point on the paradox between a huge growth in youth football and a drop-off in participation at the adult level.

The opposite should be happening, but this is 2024, and people will not accept cold showers, dirty dressing rooms and quagmire pitches.