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Have you ever stopped to wonder what would happen to Non-League clubs across the country if<br />
they didn’t have any volunteers?<br />
If the turnstiles had no operator? If the car park had no stewards? If the programmes had no<br />
sellers?<br />
As you’re reading this, look around you. It’s highly likely that you’ll be staring at the same faces<br />
standing on the terraces and sitting in the stands that you see most weeks. It’s the same for the<br />
loyal volunteers that keep Non-League clubs going, but what will happen when they’re unable to<br />
continue their roles?<br />
I refer back to an excellent column by the long-serving Northern Premier League chairman Mark<br />
Harris in a recent edition of The Non-League Paper. He said: “The biggest challenge for Non-<br />
League football is bringing in more volunteers.<br />
“If I lined up all 68 of my chairman in the NPL and gave them a choice of either £10k in cash or<br />
20 new volunteers, very few would actually take the cash because it’s the volunteers that get you<br />
the money. It’s the volunteers that make the community programme work.”<br />
Harris goes on to say that he believes a co-ordinated volunteering initiative is required to bring<br />
fresh blood into the lower levels – and he’s spot on.<br />
Non-League clubs couldn’t survive without their volunteers, who have pledged an incredible<br />
amount of hours into the running of their clubs. But volunteers won’t last forever and a new generation<br />
must now be coming through.<br />
Non-League is all about people and that is a recurring word.<br />
The National League system must find a way to engage communities within their local football<br />
clubs. By doing so, more people are likely to want to get involved. The next step is having a clear<br />
volunteering pathway in place so that people know how and who to approach at their club.<br />
The correct training should be in place so that a volunteer is familiar with the possible roles they<br />
could be fulfilling at a football club.<br />
There will be people now who would like to volunteer at their local team but are unsure how to<br />
go about doing so. It can often be difficult to approach a club on a matchday, not because staff<br />
aren’t willing to help but rather that they are busy. A structure can help eradicate these problems.<br />
If you can, put yourself forward to help out your club. It could only be for a couple of hours each<br />
week but it will certainly be appreciated – and you might just enjoy it too!<br />
David Richardson
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