Derby County Chair David Clowes (below) this week spoke the language of mediocrity, the same as tens, possibly hundreds, of club chairs, boards and owners of clubs over the weekend just passed, as the season for most clubs draws to a close. I know that sounds harsh, but humour me for a minute of your time.
This season, Derby County didn’t actually win any silverware, no trophies. In fact, their men’s U21 side even lost to Buxton in the semi-final of the Derbyshire Senior Cup. The women’s side didn’t do much better either, finishing just above the relegation spots in the FA Women’s National League North.
Their first team didn’t even win enough matches until the last possible moment to avoid relegation, though of course that was from only recently genuinely struggling to survive. And that last point is the key.
Setting aside anything about the economics of football at the moment that means a club like Derby County has had to fight for its life off the pitch, the point I’m making is this: these football clubs are not ordinary businesses, and ‘success’ on the pitch being finishing just above the relegation places is an example of that, as it is for all those clubs who finished outside of the top one, or who got knocked out of the cups in the first round or beaten in the final. The fact is it’s not all about winning matches, even though the focal points every week are that. Even more so because of the hyperspeed news cycle we now have.
Clubs compete in leagues and in cups where only one can be the winner. Regardless of how much in the way of merit payments a club in the Premier League can now earn, or a Champions League qualification spot can bring, only one takes home the silverware. The rest is, most of the time, mediocrity or even failure. But that’s only on the pitch.
Off it, clubs are special, vibrant, driven by a passion from the fans that David Clowes talks about in his message to Derby County fans, and which will resonate with so many of us.
The success of a club can be hard to quantify sometimes, especially if we’ve just lost a playoff semi-final, or finished another season in a mediocre, mid-table spot. Perversely, success can actually be avoiding relegation in the last few weeks or last day of a season. What a weird business.
But the winning on the pitch is just part of what clubs are, and it’s why the loyalty they get from fans starts the moment those fans attach themselves to what is usually a lifelong love affair that you won’t see anywhere else.
That’s why clubs and those in charge need to be thoughtful in the way those fans are treated. It’s why respectful, robust and honest relationships work over trying to control the message or worse still, control the medium giving you the message.
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