Huge effort before a ball is kicked
Dornoch FC’s coach, Mark McAuley, in his new weekly column, gives an insight into how costly it is to run an amateur club
LAST Sunday week, not only did I feel hard done by with the outcome of the season opener, but we, as a team, had the annual Tain to Dornoch sponsored run to complete.
The team and I met at Tain where the 10 mile run commenced. The reason for the torturous run? Money!
Money is what’s missing from this level of football. There is passion beyond question throughout amateur football but there is a lack of money.
Before our season starts we need to pay our league fees for entry into the "Summer League". Then there’s the insurance for injuries, and for the changing rooms. So before a ball is kicked we are already about £600 down.
Pre-season starts and equipment needs purchasing: £70 on training balls, £50 on training equipment. Training starts and these are followed by a few friendlies, our first aid bag needs refilled — £120 to get it set for the season — ice packs and the smell of amateur football, Deep Heat! That’s £4 a spray.
We need electricity and water, so there goes another £300. There are a lot of other bits and pieces that I could list but our biggest expenditure every season is referees’ fees. Based on last season’s books we can expect to spend about £660 on the man in black, and with match fees and travel expenses it quickly adds up, but it’s a difficult job and we are grateful for them.
We rely solely on fundraising, donations and sponsorship. The run and a recent quiz night have generated around £500, which is a great help and we look forward to more fundraisers as the season progresses.
Our second league game took us to one of the league newcomers, Contin FC. Situated on the river and subject to recent flooding issues, we arrived to a very heavy pitch. The game started at a frantic pace, with Dornoch creating a few early chances and disappointingly being denied a penalty when Hook was taken down in the box.
As the game settled, Contin edged a close first half, with Dornoch being the happier of the two for it to remain goal-less. After a personnel change and some re-shuffling at the back Dornoch came out the traps fighting, and it wasn’t long before Calum MacKay gave Dornoch the lead, which was doubled through winger Ayah Rattanaphithak, just 10 minutes later.
A solid defensive display allowed us to lead 2-0 comfortably, with Contin pushing forward it allowed Ayah to help himself to his second and our third, so the final score was Contin 0, Dornoch 3.
The boys have now set their standard and as such, "standards must be maintained". We now set our sights on Brora who visit The Meadows tomorrow (Saturday) and we are aiming to add another tick in the win column.
