Dulwich Hamlet player-coach Michael Timlin wants non-league version of PFA to give players greater financial protection

BY SAM SMITH

Dulwich Hamlet player-coach Michael Timlin wants improved financial protection for non-league players after several members of the South Londoners’ squad were left without furlough support.

The Champion Hill outfit missed the October 30 deadline for the furlough scheme by a day – although through no fault of their own. Dulwich did not expect the season to be nulled and continued to pay their first teamers on the final day of each month.

National League North and South campaigns were terminated on February 18 after clubs were asked to vote on continuing without fans in attendance and with no source of funding.

Former Southend and Fulham midfielder Timlin, 35, is among Dulwich’s summer signings who will not receive government support. He can work for his brother’s electrical engineering company – but other players will struggle to find a job.

A close friend, Francis Duku, had tried to set up a non-league equivalent of the Professional Footballers’ Association – the union that represents professional footballers.

Timlin said: “I don’t think this [confusion over the government loan] would happen in the Football League. The Football League have had their issues in the past, but I don’t think it would have got to this stage.

“I’m fortunate to know a bit about the Football League [EFL] because Francis Duku is CEO of Our Game. One of the things he was trying to put in place – but it wasn’t taking off because players were not understanding the backing that they were going to get and the clubs weren’t backing it at the time – was something like the PFA for non-league players. I think the National League definitely needs that.

“I call it a ‘union’ but Our Game wouldn’t be a union like the PFA. If the National League had something like the PFA, the players would be more in a position to understand the ins and outs of what’s currently going on and probably feel more protected.

“Moving forward, something like that has to be looked into, as far as having a board in place whose work coincides with the league. They would get some rules and regulations in place to make sure the league and the players are protected. It would just be like what you see in the Football League.

“The PFA are heavily involved in a lot of the decisions and it gives players a peace of mind knowing that someone is in those meetings making sure that their best interests are taken into account. It’s one of those bodies that when things go wrong, you call upon them. That’s when you start to realise how important it is having something like that.

“Players may not even realise they are part [of the PFA] because the money gets taken out of their wages by the clubs. But with Our Game, you have to pay the money yourself and by doing that you suddenly realise you are paying for something. It can almost stop you.

“If the clubs backed it and if it was done in the same way as the PFA – where the clubs are charged and it comes out of wages – it makes everything more professional.

“The only way the National League can get better each year is by the clubs taking it upon themselves to get involved with something like Our Game.

“The clubs and the players are the ones who have lost out this season. It does feel like nobody has been held accountable for what has gone on this season.”

Timlin, who played over 450 times as a professional, signed for Dulwich in the summer. The South Londoner grew up watching his hometown side. But the campaign ground to a halt in the middle of January with Dulwich completing just 13 of their 40 league fixtures.

Timlin played 90 minutes in their final game, a 2-0 loss at Billericay Town.

“The one thing I will say about Dulwich is that they run the club as well as they can in terms of the financial side,” said Timlin. “You see a lot of teams who start getting big crowds and start spending more money than what they’re getting in.

“I thought I was going to be one of the players able to go on furlough. When I signed, I actually asked the chairman if the club would be able to go into a furlough scheme again if there was another pandemic. He said that he imagined there would be because it would be governed by the government stopping us, so they would have to put something in place.

“The first frustration was that there were going to be no fans because to see them taking in 2,500 to 3,000 a game was incredible. It was only going to get better – once you had the new stadium it was only going to go on a wave heading up.

“Nulling the league is a positive for the club as far as moving forward is concerned. The real personal thing is that I’m 36 this month and this is another season slipping away from me. I would have hated to have had this season be my last year.

“I know that won’t be the case because I’m still fit and my determination is more than ever to produce for Dulwich and to produce for [manager] Gavin Rose and [assistant manager] Junior Kadi.”

PHOTOS: KEITH GILLARD