Let’s not beat about the bush. One of the most famous teams in England at schoolboy level would have gone out of existence this week but for the intervention of the Manchester Evening News.
The death threat to Manchester Boys revealed by this paper was both frightening and shocking in equal measure.
In a nutshell, the Boys had been informed by Manchester city council they could no longer use their pitch at Rushford Park in Levenshulme free of charge as they had for the past eight years.
The team was warned that they face eviction if they cannot find £1,500 to cover the ground costs before the new season starts in September.
To their credit the council is hoping to find a solution that will allow Manchester Boys to continue.
But how did it come to this? How have an institution which provided players like Nobby Stiles, Brian Kidd and Peter Barnes, find itself teetering on the brink of oblivion for the want of a measly £1,500?
It’s easy to point the finger at the council. But the truth is its hands are tied. It is being forced to make savage cuts right across the board by a coalition government which, in my opinion, is betraying the very people who voted them into office.
No, the predicament facing Manchester Boys is not the fault of our council. The blame lies fairly and squarely on the way football is run in this country. And to my mind, the way football is run in this country stinks to high heaven.
English football is awash with money. It is richer now that it’s ever been and gets richer with every passing season.
But where does that money go to? Does it filter down from the Premier League to cash strapped clubs like Manchester Boys or the teams we see playing in the park on Sunday morning?
You know the answer to that question as well as I do. The big boys in the Premier League dine on lobster washed down with champagne. Meanwhile, the clubs which really need financial help – namely football’s grassroots, survive on the crumbs left by the rich.
Let me give you just a few examples of the injustices in this country’s football which separates the haves from the have nots.
You must have been holidaying on Mars if you failed to spot David Beckham at the recent wedding of Prince William and Katherine Middleton.
Had you been on planet earth you would have noticed that Becks was strolling around at the wedding with a specially commissioned top hat tucked under his arm.
Do you know how much that top hat made of silk from Italy set him back? It cost him £10,000 – enough cash to keep Manchester Boys in action for the next five years.
Beckham’s former United team-mate Wayne Rooney, allegedly paid a hotel lackey £200 to bring him a packet of cigarettes which would have cost him a maximum of £7.50 if he had bothered to go for them himself.
City’s oddball striker Mario Balotelli was spotted handing a homeless person £1,000 outside a Manchester casino after reportedly winning £25,000 at the roulette wheel.
And some Premier League stars are even known to have splashed out hundreds of thousand of pounds on super injunctions to prevent various newspapers revealing their nocturnal habits.
OK, I’m being unkind to Becks, Rooney and their Premier League colleagues. It would be unfair to lay the problems facing grass roots football at their door. But it shows you where the money in English football is going to.
The Faceless Ones at the FA and the Premier League are forever banging on about the financial assistance they provide for the lowest tiers of the football pyramid.
The life or death situation currently facing Manchester Boys show that to be a figment of their imagination.
Manchester Boys need help and they need it quickly. They provide an invaluable service to kids living in some of the most deprived areas of this city.
When I was approaching my teenage years as a pupil at Burnage Grammar School in the late ’50s, being picked to play for Manchester Boys was an honour bettered only by playing for England schoolboys.
Sadly, those days have gone. Now one of the greatest teams at schoolboy level are as poor as a church mouse.
Manchester Boys now are so poor that they can’t even pay a referee for his services. Instead, he receives a packet of crisps, a penguin bar and a bottle of cheap cola. And the refs, God bless ’em, are happy with that.
Football people in this city, I know, will do everything in their power to ensure the legacy of Manchester Boys lives on.
Only yesterday I spoke to City’s legendary secretary and life president Bernard Halford who was shocked and horrified by the very thought of the team going out of business.
“I can remember Manchester Boys playing intercity matches at Maine Road in the 50s,” said Bernard. “The fans of both Manchester clubs would turn up in their thousands to watch them.
“Of course times have changed but Manchester Boys isn’t just about providing future stars. It gives kids from poor neighbourhoods somewhere to go and something to do.
“It gets those kids away from drugs and petty crime and it ceasing to exist would be a great tragedy.
“I will do everything I can to help Manchester Boys to continue. I know the supporters of both Manchester clubs would give willingly for a cause like this one.
“I will only be too happy to get the ball rolling.
“Manchester Boys will survive – I can promise you that.” Tweet
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'Sixer',
From my memory 'Manchester Boys' and the 'Area' teams were actually run by the then Manchester Schools Football Association (look at the lapel badge you were given). Weren't they supported by the Education Committee of the Council?
Quite right Salopian I still have my MSFA tie pins and my MEN Trophy winners plaque from 1973. We beat Stockport over 2 legs. Steve Kinsey and Eric Nixon went on to play for a reasonably successful local side.
We used to meet on Aytoun Street outside the dole office for away games. There was no funding even in those days. The kits were awful. Old rugby shirts if I remember big enough for adults let alone 11 years olds.
If every Prem Footballer committed 0.5% (or even 0.25%) of their net salary to grass roots football in THIS country, I'd have a lot more time for them.
It should be written into their contracts. It's about time the players accepted they are vastly overpaid and instead of average players being able to purchase the latest ferrari or porsche, do something for the Sport that pays (Excessively) you.
Surely nobody could argue with the article & yet another inexplicable anomaly in the modern game when such a team with a rich heritage struggles to survive.
How about some of the old boys (who became wealthy pro's) digging deep to help out.
Never mind helping the Manchester Boys find the cash to pay rent on their pitch or pay referees, they should be afforded their own ground and training facilities. When one considers the organization's contribution to domestic and international football it's a wonder there isn't a permanent memorial in their honour, bestowed upon them by the city itself. The list of great footballing names that have come from the Manchester Boys is long and highly esteemed, and should make any Mancunian feel proud. Even the name conjures up a real reverence in the footballing world and beyond.
So good on The Manchester Evening News for fighting their corner. You'd think some high profile names from Manchester's football elite might have added their voice and support to this issue by now. Dennis Viollet would be crimson with rage if he knew how the football establishment had let it come to this. Maybe Becks might read this and decide his money shoud be spent not on top hats but on top teams.
Great article, why arn't we asking the premier league players of both United and City to donate to grass routes football. Its gives them great exposure and the clubs benefit as well.
30 years ago i played under 11's and we usually has no changing rooms for games, 30 years on football is awash with money and the under 11's of today still have little changing facilities available to them. Tell me how did Trevor Brooking get knighted? Certainly wasn't for his work at grass routes. Keep up the good work Paul Hince!!
Keep up the good work Paul Hince agree with everything you say mate
Ashamadly I am completely out of touch with schoolboy football so please tell me where to send my donation and secondly cant the MEN approach all the professional clubs within the greater Manchester area and request that they allow one Saturday of fund raising outside their grounds with all proceeds going to area schoolboys and girls associations, Split the cash evenly so we can again have good representation from Lanchashire and Cheshire towns and cities which run schoolboy(girl) teams. I know SAF would support it and Im sure the Sheiks would
CTID
Football in England is in effect in a parlous state, highlighted by the problems for Manchester Boys.
School masters that refuse Saturday mornings, playing fields sold for housing, left wing politicians frowning on competitive team sports, computer games and other distractions.
Multimillionaire 'stars' that give absolutely bugger all back to the game (except where their marketing and business interests and advisers dictate).
Worst of all influx of foreign players into 'top' clubs in a money driven Premiere League and UEFA Champions League created by a bunch of greedy businessmen.
Thank you Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United.
I agree, 1500 quid is spare change in a nightclub to the modern footballer. Also, how many high powered sportscars that they can't even control do they actually need, after all they only have one backside to sit in a car with.
do they have a web site
also would like to donate,details are required.
An article written with real feeling by the brilliant Paul Hince of the MEN and which I'm not ashamed to admit made me shed a few tears when I read when I was back up in Salford at the weekend. How can it be when players often unproved at the highest level are being sold for £20million + and Manchester Boys who have produced absolute footballing legends such as United's Stiles and City's Young may be forced to fold because they can't find £1500 to pay their ground rent. Let me tell you this if we don't invest in the long term grass roots of English football then a) the game is finished and b) I certainly don't want to be a part of it.
Manchester the home of football..............