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Dulwich Hamlet and Coronavirus

Griff_Turnstile said:
A good lawyer could almost certainly argue that any player being furloughed is “unavailable” considering that both player & club would be committing fraud should those furloughed players be playing..
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That was my thinking but, as I said earlier, it's hardly the hallmark of an "elite" competition if clubs have to use unpaid amateurs to complete their fixtures.

At best just one of the 5 or 6 solutions available to member clubs falls within the League's own rules.
 
The questions posed by the club are well considered and entirely valid. The League has set the rules of the competition, the current situation is understandably testing the application of those rules, and it's appropriate for clarification to be provided. That the League isn't providing that clarification is the cause of the current position - they can't or won't provide that clarity, leaving clubs at risk of subsequent sanction, and that continues until they make clear how their own rules will be applied.

The League should have acted as quickly and decisively as possible to provide clarity to a situation their rules clearly weren't intended to deal with - that they've not done that, to the benefit of their member clubs, gives rise to obvious questions over who does benefit from or is protected by their refusal to do so.

And if it gets to the point where there are lawyers in court arguing the finer points of the application of the rules we might as well all go home. Which at this rate is not to say it doesn't reach that point, of course.
 
I think replacing paid players who are on furlough with unpaid players would be dodgy for all sorts of reasons - if it's not also fraudulent use of furlough it's certainly an abuse of the system and very ethically dodgy.

I'm sure those in charge wouldn't go down that route though.
 
AveryDave said:
The League should have acted as quickly and decisively as possible to provide clarity to a situation their rules clearly weren't intended to deal with - that they've not done that, to the benefit of their member clubs, gives rise to obvious questions over who benefits from or is protected by their refusal to do so.
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This is the point really isn't. What is the point of a league at all - it seems they don't see it as being for the clubs who compete in it who they're treating like the enemy, and it's certainly not for the fans who can't go to games anyway. They should be working to ensure the best outcome for the member clubs and I'd say the best possible outcome now is all of those clubs still existing when something approaching normality resumes. Instead they're digging their heels in and for what exactly?
 
Monkeygrinder's Organ said:
This is the point really isn't. What is the point of a league at all - it seems they don't see it as being for the clubs who compete in it who they're treating like the enemy, and it's certainly not for the fans who can't go to games anyway. They should be working to ensure the best outcome for the member clubs and I'd say the best possible outcome now is all of those clubs still existing when something approaching normality resumes. Instead they're digging their heels in and for what exactly?
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A sensible solution surely would be to let the clubs who want to end their seasons do just that and let the clubs who want to continue get on with some weird mini-league. Obviously all but two of the second group will probably come to regret their decision but that would be on them. That would also reduce the ridiculous number of games that would need to be played if everyone continued. I mean, Slough and Welling have 28 games left each and we're approaching mid-February.

This would obviously only be possible if step 3 is done for the season i.e. no relegation from NLS.
 
National League "refuse to comment".

londonnewsonline.co.uk

National League refuse to comment as Dulwich Hamlet take stance not to resume their season due to financial fears

The National League have declined to comment on Dulwich Hamlet refusing to resume their campaign unless adequate funding is in place.
londonnewsonline.co.uk londonnewsonline.co.uk

Is the League Chairman Brian Barwick OBE still alive? Ever since the season started he seems to have been doing a passable impersonation of George Osborne following the EU referendum result.
 
Griff_Turnstile - But an equally good lawyer could argue it is the clubs choice to furlough, and that finance is being made available. Chicken and Egg really as NL haven't specified which sanctions will be acted upon.

Regardless, the club won't put itself in debt for 3 months of football. Even the loans don't cover the actual rest of the season, only until March.

League board has to go, absolute shambles.
 
YTC said:
Griff_Turnstile
Regardless, the club won't put itself in debt for 3 months of football. Even the loans don't cover the actual rest of the season, only until March.

League board has to go, absolute shambles.
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It beggars belief. So, even if the clubs took this loan option and carried on, the same situation will recur at the end of next month with another ten weeks until the play-off final.
 
Reports online suggest clubs are today being formally notified of charges for failing to fulfil fixtures last weekend. Punishment ranges up to expulsion from memory, though I can't see that happening for a first "offence."

Nothing like pouring petrol on a fire to put it out. Especially on the day a letter from a DCMS minister to another MP emerges, using coded language to criticise the league for getting clubs to restart on a promise of the grants rolling over if required.
 
Roger D said:
Reports online suggest clubs are today being formally notified of charges for failing to fulfil fixtures last weekend. Punishment ranges up to expulsion from memory, though I can't see that happening for a first "offence."

Nothing like pouring petrol on a fire to put it out. Especially on the day a letter from a DCMS minister to another MP emerges, using coded language to criticise the league for getting clubs to restart on a promise of the grants rolling over if required.
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The League Board members have clearly never heard the old proverb that "when you're in a hole, stop digging". They seem to be locked into a cycle of just doubling down on the blunders they've already made any refusing to admit to any mistakes. The first and biggest mistake was to even consider starting behind closed doors, then to find someone daft enough to fund it.

What's actually happened to League Chairman Brian Barwick OBE? We never seem to hear from him. On the face of it he ought to be a big hitter at this level with plenty of useful contacts, given his experience of high profile roles at the FA and RFL. I've begun to think he must have seen this job as a nice little sinecure to tide him over for the last few years before retirement without really having to do anything. Now he's presiding over a massive crisis and seems to have gone missing in action.
 
Pink Panther said:
The League Board members have clearly never heard the old proverb that "when you're in a hole, stop digging". They seem to be locked into a cycle of just doubling down on the blunders they've already made any refusing to admit to any mistakes. The first and biggest mistake was to even consider starting behind closed doors, then to find someone daft enough to fund it.

What's actually happened to League Chairman Brian Barwick OBE? We never seem to hear from him. On the face of it he ought to be a big hitter at this level with plenty of useful contacts, given his experience of high profile roles at the FA and RFL. I've begun to think he must have seen this job as a nice little sinecure to tide him over for the last few years before retirement without really having to do anything. Now he's presiding over a massive crisis and seems to have gone missing in action.
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If the league digs any deeper the clubs will be playing Aussie rules by the end of the season.
 
Pink Panther said:
The League Board members have clearly never heard the old proverb that "when you're in a hole, stop digging". They seem to be locked into a cycle of just doubling down on the blunders they've already made any refusing to admit to any mistakes. The first and biggest mistake was to even consider starting behind closed doors, then to find someone daft enough to fund it.

What's actually happened to League Chairman Brian Barwick OBE? We never seem to hear from him. On the face of it he ought to be a big hitter at this level with plenty of useful contacts, given his experience of high profile roles at the FA and RFL. I've begun to think he must have seen this job as a nice little sinecure to tide him over for the last few years before retirement without really having to do anything. Now he's presiding over a massive crisis and seems to have gone missing in action.
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The Rugby Football League cited his contacts when he joined them. By the time he left a lot of people were asking whether he had mislaid his contacts file given how little difference his presence seemed to make.

I didn't see him at London Broncos much, which seemed odd given his role in the sport and given he only lived about four miles away. Perhaps he spent most weekends on the M62.
 
Think I might drop Vanarama a line telling them they can go whistle if they think I'll ever use their services given they seem to be standing by and watching as hundred plus year old community clubs are driven to extinction in their name.

The sponsor getting concerned about their image could see pressure put on the clowns running the league to reign in their egos.
 
Hamlet have tweeted confirmation the club has been charged with failing to fulfill the Braintree and St Albans fixtures.
 
At a times like this, if your a nation state you turn to the UN or if an employer in dispute with your staff - ACAS conciliation, at least in an attempt to try and plot a way forward.
The National League could of course, look towards the services of an expert, I don't know say like David Bernstein (then again....he may not be very keen given how his excellent advice was ignored last time.)

But seriously, we need to be suggesting how this could ever start being resolved ("Blessed are the peace makers")

Suggesting a conciliator "may" be a way forward , I doubt the League would opt for it given their bunker mentality, but at least we can say we tried

In the meantime forward with the "Rebel Alliance"
 
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sleaterkinney said:
I guess they couldn’t get consensus on stopping the league?. So they will just keep docking points?.

Not arsed if we end up going back down to the isthmian tbh.
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Voting on continuing or stopping the league doesn't close until the end of the month in accordance with a legal requirement to give clubs 28 days in which to vote. This is part of our club's argument. The National League suspended fixtures for a fortnight around 3 weeks ago, then ordered the clubs to resume playing without having resolved the funding issue that prompted the suspension of fixtures in the first place. If the vote is to halt the season then everyone will have wasted a shedload more money playing another 4 weeks of fixtures that count for nothing.

Deducting points is an irrelevance unless you still believe we're competing for promotion, or that the leagues below will resume playing and someone will be relegated from our division.

Of course there remains the possibility that the National League may find an argument for expelling us, but personally I care less and less about this the longer the whole saga drags on.

The folly of allowing the season to begin behind closed doors becomes more grotesque by the week. I believe the National League's prime motivation to complete the season is to provide promotion candidates for the Football League. The likes of us are largely irrelevant, although we're probably becoming an increasing irritation to them by publicly challenging them and drawing attention to their serial ineptitude.
 
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bkbk said:
Wouldn't even bother replying to those clowns at the League
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Concord have done exactly that, informing the league they won't reply. They also accuse the league of a breach of duty of care and say the fact they have deposited paperwork showing them to be close to insolvency is just cause.

It's difficult to see this being sorted without mass resignations. Will it be league officials or clubs though?
 
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