Hawks director: National League U-turn on play-offs wouldn’t have happened without power of social media

Trevor Brock reflected on ‘one of the most exhausting weeks of my life’ and admitted his eyes had been opened to the power of social media.
Hawks director Trevor BrockHawks director Trevor Brock
Hawks director Trevor Brock

The Hawks director was amazed by how his club’s #promote2 campaign alongside National League North outfit York City captured the imagination and helped force the National League into an embarrassing U-turn about staging the play-offs.

#promote2 saw both clubs change their Twitter avatar to incorporate both badges in a moment of rare solidarity between two clubs who rarely have much to do with each other.

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Local MPs were contacted - Hawks relying on Alan Mak and York likewise on city MPs Rachael Maskerll and Julian Sturdy.

Alan Mak MP, left, with Hawks directors at Westleigh Park last Friday morningAlan Mak MP, left, with Hawks directors at Westleigh Park last Friday morning
Alan Mak MP, left, with Hawks directors at Westleigh Park last Friday morning

In addition, Peterborough MP Paul Bristow - a York fan - also lent his support.

‘I don’t think it (the U-turn) would have happened without #promote2,’ said Brock.

‘Before this I didn’t really realise how important social media has become. As a 65-year-old, this really brought it home to me how it can get a message across so quickly.

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‘By Friday evening we were trending at No 1 in the UK for a while - even above Black Lives Matter - that was a hell of an achievement.’

The ball had started rolling the previous evening when Brock phoned York’s sporting director Dave Penney, the former Oxford United, Cardiff and Doncaster player.

‘I didn’t know him that well, I’d only ever met him briefly, but he felt exactly the same as we did,’ Brock recalled.

‘We put our heads together and came up with the idea of a new proposal.’

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Though that proposal - to promote the second-placed club in both South and North divisions in the absence of play-offs - was rejected by the National League board, momentum was starting to build.

That included a hastily-arranged meeting with local MP Mak at Westleigh Park on Friday morning.

‘It was pure chance that Alan was coming to the club anyway for a meeting with our general manager Adie Aymes,’ revealed Brock.

‘Alan immediately grasped the problem we had, and you can’t believe how good a job he has done.’

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Within a day, he had spoken to Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston had received assurances that there was no government guidelines saying step 2 play-offs couldn’t take place.

‘If we had asked government the question we wouldn’t have had an answer for two or three weeks,’ said Brock.

‘Alan got answers from the Sports Minister in 24 hours. If you have friends in high places, it’s good to use them.

‘There is no doubt that Alan’s work prompted the rethink.

‘But lots of people have worked extremely hard.

‘The media team, headed up by Henry Deacon, have done a tireless job - as have the likes of Paul Doswell (manager) and Tim Mellor (vice chairman).

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‘But this is only the first battle of what I’m sure will be many battles.’

The play-offs will only take place with a minimum of four clubs - up from the two previously mentioned.

If they can’t take place in the South, they won’t take place in the North, and vice versa.

And if they don’t take place, there is currently no idea whether the second-placed club will be promoted.

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The National League board have said they can ‘modify, restrict, postpone or cancel’ the play-offs as they see fit, but have not yet committed to guaranteeing original promotion places if they do.

That is in total contrast to the EFL’s framework agreed weeks ago.

‘The EFL resolution has covered all bases,’ said Brock

‘They said that in the event the play-offs could not take place, the next highest-placed club would be promoted.

‘In our division that is still up in the air, there was nothing about the second-placed team going up in the event of no play-offs.

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‘There are many reasons why the play-offs might not occur, but at the moment that’s another battle for later on.

‘The EFL were prepared to do the right thing in terms of sporting integrity.

‘They said there will be promotion and relegation across all their divisions, even though it has upset clubs like Tranmere and Stevenage.’

Hawks admit that at present there are so many questions, and virtually no answers, regarding play-off participation.

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‘There could be a cost and a level to it that might make it stupid (to take part),’ commented Brock

‘It’s a big decision we’ve got to take.

‘Will we have to operate at Premier League level, or EFL level?

‘How much will they reduce it for the National League South?

‘How different will it be? Will we need sterilised balls? How many sanitisers will we need?

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‘The cost of deep-cleaning the stadium will cost a lot of money.

‘We don’t know anything about these things in all honesty at the moment.

‘We’ll need 50 or so stewards at the ground to stop people trying to get in, because if you think they won’t try you’re living in cloud cuckoo land.

‘It will be a question of working through the problems as they occur.’

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Chester FC, who finished in a North division play-off place, have publicly stated their concerns about the cost of taking part.

The Blues said: ‘We will not risk the long-term financial sustainability of the club and as such we must be in receipt of the full facts to enable an informed decision to be made.’

Brock agrees, saying: ‘Every club will be concerned, we will all be wary.

‘We are being optimistic but not complacent, that sums up our position.

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‘We are just hoping it’s something we can do and that we’re not priced out of the market.’

Reflecting on events of the past few days, he added: ‘It’s been one of the most exhausting weeks of my life.

‘It’s dominated our lives for days - last Wednesday through to Monday was just manic.’