City Beat the Ottoman Empire of Non-League Football

Bath City beat Weymouth 2-0 Tuesday night. Weymouth is the sick man of the Conference South this season, so City fans would really have been hoping for a more emphatic victory. Last Spring, however, City lost 0-1 to last season's sick man of the Conference South, Fisher Athletic. This occurred at a key moment in the season and may have cost City a playoff spot. Scarred from this experience, most City fans will be grateful for the three points, however they came. It also means the club's winning streak is extended to four matches.

Here is a quick synopsis of the game: the first half was scoreless, and if anything Weymouth played slightly better. In the second half Weymouth defender David Obaze was sent off for his second yellow card. His height had been thwarting City in the air all evening, and his absence tipped the balance City's way very promptly. A free-kick from Lewis Hogg reached Chris 'Dutch' Holland, who easily put the ball in the net without Obaze in place to stop him. Fifteen minutes later City doubled their lead with a combination of passes from Hogg, Adam Connolly and Mike Perrott, who reached Darren Edwards for the five-yard finish. By all accounts neither team played very well (for a more thorough match synopsis click here).

For City, not playing very well is slightly disappointing. The team's attention is understandably focused on the FA Cup fixture with League 2 Grimsby Town in ten days time, but it is important that they continue to improve their form in the league. For Weymouth, though, not playing very well is a triumph! For almost a year now Weymouth have been one of the worst teams in all of football. Merely playing 'not very well,' as opposed to abysmally, or tragi-comically, is a big improvement. This was the Terras third game in a row playing 'not very well.' Their fans must be hoping that soon they will turn the corner and just be playing 'indifferently.'

Weymouth had better turn that corner very soon, however, or they may not get the chance. The day after City's victory the following message appeared on its official website:

Weymouth Football Club regrets to announce that Notice of Intention to Appoint Administrators was filed at The Courts of Justice, London earlier today. The Board is now working with the proposed firm of Administrators and the Terras Supporters Tust [sic] to try to find a way to enable the Football Club to remain in existence.

The Club is now losing money on a week-to-week basis and without financial support from outside the Club it is unlikely the Administrators will be prepared to enable the Club to continue to trade in order to avoid increasing losses to creditors.

Anyone interested in assisting the Club or acquiring the Club out of administration is encouraged to make contact with the proposed administrators : Benedict Mackenzie 62 Wilson Street London EC2A 2BU without delay.

Basically, the club have two weeks to come up with a lot of money or go into administration. The club have so frequently tried to tap funds from the local business community one would think there won't be any more forthcoming. Once they go into administration the administrators could possibly sell off the club's only asset: Wessex Stadium. This would make the Terras homeless and effectively kill off the club in its current form. Things are looking pretty bleak.

The decision to take the club full-time in 2006 while still a non-league club, a choice very few non-league clubs have made and not regretted, appears to be the origin of the club's financial difficulties. The club's front office really began to fall apart in January of this year, however, when chairman Malcolm Curtis stepped down. He described Weymouth as the 'Afghanistan of non-league football' at the time. I'm not sure what that means, but it doesn't sound good. Since then the Terras have had all their players walk after non-payment of wages, lost a match 9-0 to Rushden & Diamonds after fielding a team consisting of youth players, and tried to cash a fake cheque from a fantasist who claimed he was going to bail out the club's finances. It looked like things could not get any worse, but in the last few days Malcolm Curtis has decided to call in a £240,000 loan to the club from his time as chairman. This action has forced the club to seek administration as outlined above. Apparantly Curtis wants Weymouth to be the 'Iceland of non-league football' as well.

I will admit that I feel quite torn on how to react to Weymouth's plight. It is a straightforward case of a club spending beyond its means. Paying full-time salaries to players before it is absolutely necessary is a foolish gamble, and it is satisfying to see foolish gamblers fail. What's more, it is hard to be sympathetic to such an inept group of administrators (although, to be fair, the ineptness partly stems from there being too many changes in administration). Natural justice requires that Weymouth FC be forced to shut up shop.

There will be innocent victims, however, and this is what makes me hope that natural justice does not prevail. I mean, of course, the fans. There are some that would say they are just as culpable as the club's board. They enjoyed the fruits of false prosperity as the Terras jostled for position in the Conference National standings. I do not believe this is fair. Supporters revel in their club's success, but they are, ultimately, spectators. They do not make the decisions that trade short-term glory for long-term disaster. The more alert fans may suspect that finances are being over-extended, but they have no way to act on this suspicion. The sporting happiness of all supporters depends utterly on the financial competence of a club's directors. Whatever the cause, the Weymouth board has let their fans down. Despite several fan-led attempts to save the club, ultimately they have no choice but to watch helplessly from the sidelines.

It is tempting for Bath City fans to be smug as we watch our old rivals flounder. City supporters are lucky because we follow a club that is not beholden to any 'sugar daddy,' nor living beyond its means (at least we hope so!). Is this, though, because City fans are somehow superior to our counterparts in Weymouth? If City started down the path to financial disaster would we recognise it? Would we somehow find the means to stop it?

Spare a thought for my fellow blogger, Jimmy the Cukoo, who has been chronicling the entire saga on his Terras Blog. After months of frustration he posted the following statement last week:

This should have been a bit of fun, a website poking fun at Dorch and Yeovil but there is no fun in being connected with this club anymore and I wonder for my own sanity and that of my close friends and family whether the time is right to say "no more".

If Weymouth do shut up shop in two weeks time I won't be celebrating. I'll be thanking my lucky stars that I've never had to contemplate making a post like that.