Being an amateur footballer, you would have gone through the situation where your confident gaffer shared about his ambitious long term plans for your team during a pre-match briefing or post-match rant. Being a new amateur team who are making strides in the top half of a division in an established league, your team manager would talk about their title aspirations for the upcoming seasons. Some who even invested some money in their team in the form of match expenses and transportation fees would elaborate about his massive plans such as cementing his side a permanent berth in the first or elite division of an established league in years to come.
As we began to understand the notion that ‘the ball is round’ as giant killing feats are occurring more frequently even in the professional football scene, gaffers of some amateur sides are ready to embrace several tough challenges ahead just to build their unrecognized unit with a relatively small squad roster into a formidable and superior force in the amateur scene.
When you look at the successful amateur teams in the past few years, some would rise to ‘stardom’ within the span of a couple of seasons whilst the patient ones were willing to take a few years just to reach the top of the ladder. For instance, you have exuberant sides like Team Intense who made a quick leap to championship status in the ESPZEN Saturday League last year. On the other hand, you have teams like Singapore Vipers who kept their faith on a squad roster comprising of loyal senior players and talented young lads to attain their top flight status in the Equatorial Football League gradually.
While you have a minor group of gaffers who would admire and mimic the technical know-how and mental approach of their beloved managers in the world football scene, you have several leaders who adopted a ‘realistic’ approach in the management of their teams. They enter the competitive amateur scene with the simple idea of enjoying their social football status.
Obviously, not a single football team in the planet would love to lose but these major group of gaffers believed that their ultimate aim is to raise the competitive level of their teams yet enjoying their weekend dosage of the game as well. Title targets or survival from relegation dogfights are not the key priorities for these guys as it is about congregating and maintaining the camaraderie within a fun-loving bunch of ‘football enthusiasts’ for the longest time possible.
Possessing an under-23 amateur team with little depth or even none at times due to National Service commitments placed upon their boys, some gaffers would even opt for this ‘less pressurizing’ stand just to keep their players happy within the camp. In return, this safe approach would boost the ‘longevity’ of their amateur teams and keep them away from extinction or disbandment.
Are long term plans beneficial for your amateur football team?
What do you think?