Money Can't Buy You Love: The National League Play-off Final

A Disappointing Spectacle

Just 8,049 people were inside Wembley Stadium for yesterday’s National League play-off final. This figure marks a record low since the play-offs began in 2003, a period that includes finals held at Stoke’s Britannia Stadium and a 2011 contest at the Etihad in Manchester. The official attendance was described by some observers as “generous”.

Salford City reportedly sold 3,000 tickets, while AFC Fylde shifted only a few hundred. The rest of the crowd consisted of complimentary ticket holders and neutrals who fancied a day out. With complimentary tickets no guarantee of attendance, the actual number of people present for Salford’s comfortable victory may have been even lower. For the National League, it was something of an embarrassment.

The long trip from the north-west is an insufficient excuse. In 2013, over 16,000 watched Newport County play Wrexham. Two years later, a crowd of 47,000 saw Bristol Rovers defeat Grimsby Town on penalties. The issue yesterday was not geography, but the identity of the finalists.

The Cost of Success

Neither Salford City nor AFC Fylde command much affection among non-league followers. Their rapid ascent, fuelled by significant financial investment, has bred resentment. This isn’t simply jealousy. Many fans are drawn to non-league football precisely because they seek an escape from the financial inequality that warps the top divisions. They believe the integrity of competition is torpedoed when certain clubs possess a cheat code, able to pay wages far beyond the means of their rivals. Adam Rooney’s reported £4,000 per week salary at Salford is a League One wage in the fifth tier.

The very presence of such clubs creates unsustainable pressure. Others feel compelled to increase their own wage budgets to compete, often with disastrous consequences. It is likely a coincidence that Gateshead and Ebbsfleet United are in deep financial trouble while two of the division’s biggest spenders contested promotion, but the pressure is real. There are only two promotion places available from a 24-team division.

Salford’s ownership by members of Manchester United’s ‘Class of 92’ attracts particular criticism. The BBC’s fawning coverage, a consequence of its move to Salford, has amplified this antipathy. The corporation presents Salford’s story as a non-league fairytale, a lazy and dishonest narrative. It ignores the reality of their financial power and the methods used to achieve success.

A History of Predation

This is not a new phenomenon. When the Class of 92 took over Salford in the summer of 2014, they quickly moved to strip a rival club. In January 2015, they poached the management team and several players from Ramsbottom United, who had just won promotion to the Northern Premier League’s Premier Division. By the end of the 2015-16 season, Ramsbottom were relegated.

This filleting of another non-league club was conveniently overlooked in the hagiographic documentary series, Class of 92: Out of Their League. This sort of behaviour explains why so many within the non-league community found a grim humour in yesterday’s empty seats. The BBC’s argument that Salford’s rise offers an alternative for disillusioned Manchester United fans seems to suffer from a severe case of cognitive dissonance. It suggests the cure for the problems of top-flight football is to apply the same financial rules further down the pyramid.

The FA Vase final next weekend will be contested by Chertsey Town and Cray Valley Paper Mills, two clubs from the south-east of England.

For the vanquished AFC Fylde, there is a swift return to Wembley next Sunday. They face Leyton Orient in the FA Trophy Final, part of a Non-League Finals Day expected to draw a considerably larger crowd than yesterday’s promotion decider.