Boreham Wood FC Chairman Danny Hunter has weighed in the furore caused by a host of proposed changes to the FA’s standard Non-League contract sent to the Club Secretaries that appear to penalise Non-League players should they get a long-term injury or illness.
Hunter said, “I’m honestly aghast at some of the proposals put forward to us by the FA, but particularly the proposal that looks to penalise an injured player and allows clubs to terminate a player’s contract if he receives a long-term injury.
“Without going into too much detail, as I would like to discuss things further with the FA, PFA and National League board, I simply could not in good conscience expect my Manager to ask our players to put their bodies on the line for our Football Club and when their bodies are broken through no fault of their own, then look for loopholes to cancel their contracts.
“I have five sons and 14 grandchildren, and if that’s what the world of football has come to, then I want no part of it. However, I am part of it and someone has to stand with the players and insist that clubs do the right thing and simply say NO to these proposals as a collective. In the meantime I have spoken with my players personally and I’ve assured them that while I’m Chairman here they are looked after…
“The last two seasons we’ve had players needing all kinds of operations from ACL’s, ruptured Achilles, muscles coming away from the bone, and all things in between… We cannot get suitable insurance from people to cover these eventualities and the player insurance that we are forced to take from the National League is beyond a joke and is not fit for purpose.
“I’ve met with the league’s hierarchy a number of times over the years, but I gave up in the end, as I got no support from anyone in power to find or create an insurance policy that gave all players at our level decent health cover.
“As such I went and created our own in house player insurance, but that does mean my players have to trust me to always do the honourable thing by them and trust me to look after them when they get long term injuries… I’m more than happy to do that but there are players at other clubs who are not that fortunate and when they really need a clubs help, some do not get their operations paid for, x-rays covered, their MRI’s dealt with and their consultancy fees paid for, even though they put their bodies on the line for their clubs.
“I feel the FA have misjudged the feeling in this particular room and these talented lads are simply trying to earn an honest living and deserve to be respected within their own industry as they are the entertainment.
“So, now is possibly the right time as a collective for Owners, Chairmen, Managers and Players to simply stand up side-by-side and say enough is enough – let’s do the right thing. For me we need to take time out, get round the table and find a sensible solution that we can all sign off on, but if we don’t and the players decide to take action, then I can only support their solidarity.” Hunter concluded.
OUR CLUB. OUR TOWN. OUR COMMUNITY.
