The post below outlines some of the ways a non-league football club can get itself into difficulty. It would be most unfair, though, to say that all non-league clubs facing hard times are in a mess of their own making. An example of a club finding itself facing a potential crisis through no - or very little - fault of its own is Kettering Town.
The Poppies' lease on their ground, Rockingham Road, runs out in 2013, and as yet there is no indication of what is going to happen thereafter. Should they be promoted, they would be forced to consider a groundshare since Football League regulations stipulate that clubs coming into the League who do not own their ground should have a lease on it for at least ten years. Kettering's start to the current season strongly suggests that that won't be a problem just yet, but developments this week have sent Poppies fans into a lather. Some background is required here.
Kettering were, for some time and with conspicuous success, managed by Mark Cooper. Last season he left to take over as manager of Peterborough; he was replaced by Lee Harper, who was the team's first-choice goalkeeper. Harper appointed as his No. 2 John Deehan, the former Villa, West Brom and Norwich player; Deehan was in effect the manager on match days, in charge of substitutions, with Lee Harper believing that he needed someone not on the field to be in charge of that sort of thing on matchdays. Deehan was fired by Kettering's chairman Imraan Ladak after a 5-1 extra time defeat at Leeds: Ladak had disapproved of a substitution made by Deehan during that game. Harper stayed: but this week he left, to be replaced by Morell Maison.
Maison is a former Kettering manager who was fired by Ladak after "only" taking the team to the play-offs from Conference North in 2006-07; he wasn't even allowed to take the team into the playoffs, that privilege instead falling to Graham Westley. They were eliminated by Farsley Celtic, but gained promotion the following year under Cooper. It was after that, though, that Morell Maison really made his reputation in the game, during a turbulent period as majority shareholder, and manager, of Halesowen Town.
Things started quite well for Maison, who took Halesowen to the play-offs in the Southern League Premier Division in 2007-08 but the following season was a nightmare for the club. It all started in September, with a game at Chippenham. The game had started with Halesowen in second place in the table. Chippenham beat them 2-1: after the game Maison called his players together for an on-field debrief, as was his habit. He became involved in a full and frank exchange of views with one of his unused substitutes, Dean Brennan (who had been the division's top scorer the previous season, while with Corby) after which Brennan required medical treatment. Results declined: so did the club's financial position. A number of players were released. Replacements were brought in, several of them on loan: one, from Leicestershire, missed his stop when on his way to his debut game and ended up in London, leaving Halesowen short-handed for the game.
Two clubs who had loaned players to Halesowen complained that they hadn't received any fees, and Halesowen were threatened with suspension from the FA - which would have prevented their playing. Those fees were paid, just in time: but two other clubs were not paid their share of the gate from FA Cup and FA Trophy ties played at Halesowen. That led to Halesowen being banned from both competitions for the 2009-10 season - the ban from the FA Cup still applies in 2010-11. The Yeltz Trust - a fans' group - believed they had overthrown Maison at a general meeting, but the coup was overturned upon appeal to the courts. One of the leaders of it, together with the club's groundsman, launched a winding-up petition: Maison took the club into administration and they were deducted ten points. Maison eventually left, only to resurface
briefly, and very oddly, at Chester City.
So, what of Maison's return to Kettering? Fans don't seem to have been filled with enthusiasm, with some of them expressing the hope that he doesn't get good results during his spell as caretaker manager, lest he be given the job on a permanent basis. His record as Halesowen manager suggests he's quite a good coach - as does his previous record at Kettering. But let's say he hasn't got much business sense. And he seems to regard any questioning of his decisions as a personal affront. If Maison gets the job permanently, Kettering should do ok, provided he just does the coaching.
When Lee Harper departed, Kettering's fans forum ran an online poll to see who they might want to replace him. The thread starter posted "Have resisted the temptation to add Morell Maison and Ron Atkinson" - Atkinson, a Kettering manager form the 1970s, was Maison's mentor when he was there previously. Mark Cooper and A. N. Other lead the poll. Life is never dull at Kettering while Imraan Ladak is there. I've got the feeling that it's going to be even less dull while Maison is there - even if it isn't going to be much brighter.
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