WHILE the eyes of the footballing world focus their attention on ticket prices, mass walkouts and multi-million pound television deals, spare a thought for the clubs whose existence falls outside of the national spotlight.

As supporters of English football’s elite clubs finally begin to put their collective foot down over the spiralling cost of match day tickets, clubs lower down the ladder are searching desperately for a way to trigger a mass walk-in, rather than a walkout.

Heavy and relentless rain over the past six weeks has washed out hundreds of non-league and grassroots fixtures across the country – and with a lack of on-field activity, comes a lack of income.

And herein lies the problem.

Fixtures can, and have been washed away by Storms Frank to Imogen, but bills and running costs have not – and while the turnstiles remain stationary, non-league clubs are seeing their outgoings far outweigh their income.

But it's not just football suffering, local rugby clubs have also taken a substantial hit in recent weeks - and even those without the ability to charge on the gates, are feeling the impact in the shape of bar takings and programme sales. 

Taunton Town chairman, Kevin Sturmey spoke last week about how recent postponements – the Peacocks have seen their last four home games washed out – are decimating the club’s cash flow.

"It's really hard for us at present as our cash flow has been decimated by the last four out of five home games being postponed", he said.

"It's also so demoralising, as we are doing everything we can on the pitch, with verti-draining, slitting and preparing for games as we have to do.

“We never received any financial help in the very wet winter of two years ago, even though money I believe is still sat there.

“The ridiculous thing is that our pitch is an income generator and when it's flooded, our asset is not usable - but if our changing rooms had flooded we could have got compensation.”

Photographs from the Viridor Stadium on Saturday afternoon showed an asset far from useable – and with more heavy rain and potentially, snow forecast in the coming days, there looks like being little respite.

It’s becoming hard to ignore and unless a solution is found in the not too distant future, the future of some non-league clubs could be put in jeopardy.

Whether the support comes from the FA, RFU etc. or from local authorities, there needs to be a system put in place by which sports clubs competing at a semi-professional level can obtain financial support during periods when wet weather plays havoc with the fixtures.

Town chairman, Kevin Sturmey agrees: “We are lucky that football is only one part of our business and even this week I have negotiated new ‘non-football’ agreements, which will be due in April and September but of course we need the help now.

“There should be an FA, League or even local authority fund to help with short term financial problems - after all we are a major asset to our town and community."

Another potential solution is artifical pitches, but with that comes the issue of funding and maintenance. 

Plans have been drawn up to install dozens across the country over the next five to ten years, but the problem is an immediate one and only a limited number of clubs are in a position to build, fund or obtain planning permission. 

Grassroots and non-league level is the foundation of sport, and something, urgently, needs to be done to ensure its future isn’t washed away by the weather.

E-mail your views to sport@countygazette.co.uk.