Quote Originally Posted by Baloo View Post
I watch dozens of non-league games each year. I think you underestimate the experience of their fans who follow their teams at great expense in lieu of watching bigger and more successful neighbours. They hope for progress of course but by definition it's not the be-all and end-all for them.

I understand the financial viability issues and don't know the answer to that tbh - but I just hope it doesn't involve obliterating half of them, or creating new hybrid clubs that disenfranchise the current fans in search of a broader, more fickle audience.
Personally, I don't think there is any need to even consider mergers or anything similar. However, it's clear that the way professional football operates in financial terms in this country is ludicrous, especially when you look at other countries. Players' wages at all levels of the game here are totally out of proportion to their levels of ability, and that is clearly the main reason why so many clubs struggle so badly in terms of finances. Right the way throughout the English pyramid, clubs are paying players far more than they're actually worth. Although they don't earn anywhere near enough income to justify their wage bills, most clubs carry on paying wages they can't afford regardless.

I don't believe anything remotely similar happens in other countries' lower divisions, or at least not on the scale it happens here, but throughout the English pyramid we accept it as the norm. The more you think about it, the crazier it is.