Non-League Football: Morecambe's David Artell on a weekend in Rhyl

David Artell / David Artell / 01 May 2008 / Leave a comment

For the squad at Stamford Bridge, the off season might mean two weeks on one of Roman Abramovich's yachts in Monte Carlo with various supermodels, but in the lower echelons of English football, it's very different.

With the end of the season approaching it is now the time when players enter negotiations about their new contract; either with their present club, or after moving on. Some players will be in for a pay rise while others will have to take a pay cut. Fortunately I've been lucky enough to increase my wage from my first salary but that's not saying much as I started off on £37.50 per week! The following year my money went up a fiver a week to £42.50. That was my wage during my two year apprenticeship after I had just left school at the age of 18. My first wage as a professional was £125 per week and while that doesn't seem much, as an eighteen year old who was still living with my parents, I could spend it on whatever I wanted. Its certainly more spare money than I get now.

Its at this time of year that agents who look after players in the lower leagues earn their money as they have to try and get their player a contract. This is easier said than done with more than 600 players out of contract last summer and a similar number this year, they have to make a lot of phone calls to managers who might just be looking for that particular player. Once initial contact has been made then I don't let my agent negotiate on my behalf because I feel that if I'm happy with what's on the table then it doesn't matter if my agent is telling me to hold out for more or wait for a better offer. When I was younger, my agent did negotiate on my behalf for two reasons; because I didn't know where to 'pitch' myself and because I was petrified of going into manager's offices!

The role of an agent at our level is totally different to that in the Premiership; it is far simpler. With the exception, perhaps, of appearance money there are very few clauses in contracts at our level. Compare this to players at the top level where there are image rights, get out clauses, the exchange of vast amounts of money both between the clubs and the agent and various other parties to deal with; then its easy to see why they earn lots of money and handle everything on behalf of their players.

With the British Summer just around the corner I'm hoping that some hot weather is on the way so I can get in the garden and sort it out (it will more than likely come in July during pre-season so we're running in really hot weather). I'm not holding out much hope, though, so I'll have to get a tan on our holiday. We haven't booked anywhere yet as my wife is renovating a house and we won't go away until it is back on the market. With an eight week turn-around we should have a couple of weeks in June to get away but it will only take a unreliable workman for the schedule to fall behind and for us to settle for a weekend in Rhyl!

Getting back to football swiftly, and with Chelsea's victory at Stamford Bridge last weekend keeping the race for the championship alive, teams at both ends of the league have plenty to play for. I still believe that Manchester United will win the title, so the real battle will be at the other end and one of this weekend's games could have a massive say in who gets relegated. At any other stage of the season, Fulham against Birmingham wouldn't rank highly in terms of importance; but, with Fulham finally winning away they will believe that they can get another three points when they return to Craven Cottage. One of the main reasons that Fulham are fighting relegation is because of the injuries for the majority of the season to Jimmy Bullard and Brian McBride. Bullard is their best player and someone who can both create and score goals, something which Fulham have struggled with this year. As well as that, he is also a character that galvanises players simply with his enthusiasm. I can see him creating plenty of chances for his team-mates so I'm going for a high scoring game where over 2.5 goals will be scored [2.02].

Tags: David Artell, Football Betting, Football Blog, Morecambe, Non-league Football