The Rise and Fall of Sandford FC

Sandford FC (“The Blues”) are a football team with a rich history and great worldwide reputation. Traditionally a home of highly skilled individuals, they attracted top talent who often represented the club for their whole careers, encouraging their children to do the same. Culturally, the players saw themselves as brothers and sisters, spending huge amounts of time together and trusting each other totally for safety and support.

Around 2010, the fortunes of Sandford FC along with their sister clubs Sandford Athletic (Reds) and AFC Sandford (Greens) changed for the worse following a takeover at Board level. The new owners pushed a strategy of cost-cutting and austerity at odds with the ever-increasing complexity and rising demands of the modern game.

The mantra the club was asked to work to was “do more with less”.

Wages and benefits were frozen or reduced, leading some players to look elsewhere for remuneration that matched their ability and sacrifice. Many still stayed out of loyalty to the club and what it represented, despite their contracts also being lengthened without their consent and various goodwill measures that had been the cornerstone of the club being eroded. They felt a deep attachment to the badge, the colours and what they saw as a long-term commitment they had made.

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Sandford had traditionally recruited players strongly from across the country, overseas and at various ages and backgrounds – bringing them all together into an Academy where they learned both the technicalities of the game and the “Sandford way”. The common thread was their potential and personal attributes, rather than a specific set of entry criteria.

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As the squad size reduces and the fixture list lengthens, injury and illness has risen amongst the players. Sandford players are significantly more likely to suffer both physical and mental injury or poor health than the wider population – they are also far less likely to ask for help, as they fear the stigma of seeming weak or incapable.

Identity is also key – being a Sandford player is a fundamental part of who they are, it is hard won and hard to detach from.

Many Sandford players have known no other careers since 16 and the club has shaped the way they dress, behave and even speak. It has told them where to be and when.

Cost-cutting measures at Sandford Park also mean that they often lost provision for quality nutrition, sleep or recovery – which reduces their performance as well as increasing their risk of injury/illness. Players’ families often pick up the slack and deliver this care, alongside the uncertainty they manage while their partners are at work in a risky environment. Although there are official rehab and recovery centres for Sandford FC players, these are often funded solely by contributions from the players themselves (deducted from their salaries) – or charities and fans.

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When a player reaches the end of their career at Sandford - whether they retire, leave through ill-health or simply seek opportunities elsewhere – they are not offered any meaningful support in the transition process, despite this being the norm in other comparable clubs. Vocal supporters’ groups see it both as simple financial sense being ignored as well as a duty of care that is being neglected. A club director was quoted as saying “why would we invest in helping people leave?”

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All of this has led initially to a trend of senior and experienced players leaving the club, a pattern which has now extended throughout the side and seen players in all positions seeking contracts elsewhere. Equally, SFC now find it hard to attract new talent as it competes with more forward-thinking clubs in other divisions. Lowering the entry standards in player recruitment just to be able to field an eleven has brought people into the organization who should never have been there.

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On the pitch, the effect has been a noticeable drop in performance that fans and club insiders were scoffed at for predicting back in 2010/11. This has also translated into an impossible task for those left, who often face burnout and overwork in the face of opponents at all levels. They consistently see their efforts criticised in the media by commentators with little understanding of the game, who speculate that lower performance must be cultural or simple lack of effort and interest – further increasing a sense of despair amongst the squad, who are essentially trying to push water uphill.

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A crowd banner at the last home game read: “The Club’s F*~ked”.

Sandford FC isn’t a real football club. It wouldn’t last 5 minutes if it were. You’ll no doubt have seen through the flimsy analogy and realized that this is a frank assessment of wellbeing, career development and people strategy in the emergency services in recent years. However, it can equally apply to many corporate or third sector organisations. People are any firm’s biggest cost, expense and opportunity.

I originally wrote this article a few years back, exasperated at the state of play in policing, frontline healthcare, prisons, schools and so on. As we enter an election year, I have re-posted it to ask: "have we made any progress?"

The same issues dominate the Mightify inbox today and we continue to search for ways to turn the ship around.

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