Non league community saddened as 9th tier club fold with immediate effect

The non league community have been left saddened as 9th tier club St Panteleimon FC announce they are fold with immediate effect.

The Spartan Premier League Premier Division side say the financial demands of Step 5 of the non league football system are ‘unsustainable’.

St Panteleimon FC had sat 5th with 50 points from 30 games played, with Real Bedford leading the way at the top with 83 points from 33 games, while MK Irish are 2nd with 75 points from 30 games.

St Panteleimon FC have folded with immediate effect.

The Spartan Premier League side say the financial demands of Step 5 football are ‘unsustainable’. pic.twitter.com/nWTISix7nm

— Ollie Bayliss (@Ollie_Bayliss) March 28, 2024

STATEMENT:

Announcement from St Panteleimon FC

St Panteleimon FC was founded in 2015, a church team put together to help those less fortunate who have experienced difficulties and hardship in their young lives. The objective being to provide a footballing platform for them to come together, interact and find a common goal through football towards more positive, new beginnings.

St Panteleimon started its journey playing Sunday football in KOPA league and it became quickly apparent through the performances of its players that this group represented something very special indeed.

Soon after winning the First Division title in its first year, a decision was made to join the English National League pyramid and St Panteleimon FC became an FA Accredited club. St Panteleimon FC entered the Middlesex County League First Division (Step 7) and astonishingly recorded an ‘invincibles’ championship winning season also achieving a cup double that same year. Promoted to the Middlesex County Premiership Division (Step 6), St Panteleimon went on to record the longest winning streak in Middlesex County football remaining unbeaten in two calender years and once again winning the League and Cup double.

Promoted to the Spartan South Midlands Premiership Division (Step 5), St Panteleimon continued to remain competetive and would have been promoted to the Isthmian League as Champions (Step 4) had Covid not seen the season voided that year. An inspiring story from the most humble of beginnings…

At this level and with no home ground to call our own, the financial demands required to meet with the criteria are unattainable, unsustainable and beyond our scope. It is with great sadness therefore that we announce that St Panteleimon FC will fold with immediate effect and have informed the SSML and our groundshare hosts of this decision. We would like to thank everyone that has supported our journey throughout the past 9 years and to all the players, past and present, for creating some of the most cherished memories imaginable and a success story we hope inspires others.

St Panteleimon FC wish all clubs, at all steps, the very best with their aspirations in football and a successful onward journey.

Our record will stand proud achieving:

4 x League Titles

3 x League Cups

An ‘Invincibles’ season

A record ‘2 year’ unbeaten winning streak

Proud record at Step 5 – finishing top in the voided season.

Above all else, changing the lives of so many players who wore the shirt, helping them on and off the pitch and continuing to help and support them and their families in life. This stands our biggest achievement of all.

Adios Amigos!

This is how fans reacted with the non league community saddened as the 9th tier club fold with immediate effect…

@JoannePowell14: Surely they could have coasted till the end of the season. Unfair on those clubs whose scores may be expunged and affected for promotion or relegation decisions. Really poor form.

@TerryShrieves: It’s very hard at step 5. Like it is at step 7. 6. 4. 3 and every other level. But success is relevant. It’s not all about winning leagues & cups it’s about competing & creating a football club that young lads want to aspire to play for.

@DanHarvey74: Another of these types of clubs which has no infrastructure or fanbase, no ground and presumably reliant on one person’s investment so unsustainable and now disrupts not just this league but various others. Can they really not hang on for another month? Pathetic.

@ItsMeTomC: Do you happen to know whether points gained against them across the course of the season will be scrapped?

@BrownPhilip: Their results will be expunged from the record of all teams, and they will be placed at the bottom of the table for relegation purposes.

@skyliner61: Very disappointing. I hope they’ll be back at a lower level soon.

@SurreySteve3: Another team bites the dust sadly. ☹️

@ajmphs: Ground share costs were a major cause too. No ground shares would help us, other clubs that have their fixtures dictated by them. The FA have their head in the sand, ground grading costs a lot of money and the pyramid has decimated grassroots Saturday football. No leadership.

@TimGale8: No ground, no support, no atmosphere, no real presence anywhere, just a few quid. 😡 Grass isn’t always greener, likely taken the place of a proper run club. 🙄

@hargrave_park: Surely with the few games to go it would have made financial sense to carry on rather than get a seriously substantial fine, which I believe is what happens this late in the season or are they being let off 🤔🤔 Can we go back into the cup competition they knocked us out off 😜

@jonsmithUC: I hear most days when visiting clubs about huge issues caused by clubs throwing silly money around at Steps 5 & 6 of the NLS. Constant 7 day approaches & subsequent inflationary pressure on player wages is driving clubs out of sustainability. We need transfer windows in the NLS.

@SteadmanAaron: Another reason why these teams without their own ground should not be allowed to play in the Non-League pyramid step 6 upwards. Eventually the money will dry up 👍

@Tonyh53T: They won’t be the last! Wage bills at this level (and lower levels) are a joke and along with matchday exps, the pyramid system at the lower levels is in danger of imploding at some stage, and all the groudshares don’t help either? I hope i’m wrong! Happy easter👍

@Liam_Mortimer3: But it’s okay because all higher tier/ level teams are offered parachute payments to financially stay a float.

@1_hunz: Another day, another team folding due to financial demands. Sadly, the @FA do not care about grassroots football because it makes them no money.

@GarethECoates: It’s always sad when a club folds and unusual for it to be doing fairly well when the shutters come down, although this does at least offer clarity to other clubs competing for play-off places. It’s so hard to survive in the pyramid without a home ground.

@1980StatMan200: Another reason why having your own ground is so important and having a financial structure budget. All money spent on players was way over what you could actually afford. Such a shame