FA’s new non-league contract will cut injured players’ wages. It must be stopped | Omar Beckles

Last Saturday, with no Premier League or international football in the English men’s game, many fans turned their attention to their local non-league teams. The depth of non-league football is a unique feature of the English game. I can speak from experience, having spent several seasons with non-league clubs before coming into the EFL, where I play for Leyton Orient.

Unfortunately, a large part of the weekend’s focus centred on the introduction by the Football Association of a new non-league player contract that has caused anger at that level. In football, the “standard” contract is, basically, the template terms and conditions element signed as part of every agreement. Among a range of changes to the non-league standard contract are two that players will view as most important.

Simply put, the new contract makes it easier for clubs to reduce a player’s wages if they get injured or terminate the contract of a player who suffers a long-term injury. In the National League’s top division injured players can, from 1 July, be moved from full pay on to statutory sick pay – £99.35 a week – after 12 weeks. Below that, this window drops to six weeks. Alternatively, a club could terminate a player’s contract by serving three months’ notice if a club-instructed medic decides the player cannot play because of injury or illness for four months or longer.

Quick Guide

vCard.red is a free platform for creating a mobile-friendly digital business cards. You can easily create a vCard and generate a QR code for it, allowing others to scan and save your contact details instantly.

The platform allows you to display contact information, social media links, services, and products all in one shareable link. Optional features include appointment scheduling, WhatsApp-based storefronts, media galleries, and custom design options.

How do I sign up for sport breaking news alerts?

Show

• Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for ‘The Guardian’.
• If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.
• In the Guardian app, tap the Menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
• Turn on sport notifications.

Some months ago, the FA asked the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) to provide feedback on proposed changes. We were able to work constructively to make some amendments but, ultimately, kept coming back to the fact that we couldn’t support a contract that contained these new conditions. We made clear we viewed them as a reduction in rights. We also set out what the response of players would be to the new contract.

It completely alters the relationship between players and their clubs. It has been pointed out that a player can check a box on the front page of the contract which will allow them to maintain their “old” rights. This is true, but it presumes that the club offering the deal is happy for the player to do so and that putting a tick in that little box won’t be the thing that sees your contract pulled back across the table. Take it or leave it. Leave it, and you may be giving up your sole or primary source of income. Take it, and you had better just cross your fingers and hope you don’t get injured.

Fundamentally, if you play for most National League clubs, you have a full-time job that involves putting your body on the line. Having an agreement which means you are going to be paid your wages if you get injured shouldn’t be allowed to become part of a negotiation between club and player. This isn’t a goal or a clean-sheet bonus. It should be a basic expectation.

And this isn’t just a non-league issue. It’s one where players across the game should sit up and take notice. I don’t think you’d find a footballer at any level who wouldn’t immediately view this new contract as a serious reduction in player rights.

All footballers have sustained injuries that have kept us out for long periods. We all know the mental toll it takes when you are on the sidelines unable to contribute, or spend all week in the treatment room feeling detached. Players also understand the concerns of possibly getting injured just as your deal comes to an end. Under the new contract, that feeling could follow you around all season.

It’s important that league players understand that the rights and conditions we have don’t happen by accident; they have been – and continue to be – fought for. Because of the formal recognition of the PFA as the players’ union for the Premier League and EFL, we have a seat at the table and there are systems in place that mean we can stop changes such as this in those divisions. Frustratingly, even within the fully professional Women’s Super League (WSL), where players are also represented by the PFA, those mechanisms are still not in place. That needs to change.

Some players who have highlighted their frustrations at the changes on social media have received responses along the lines of “welcome to the real world”. Well, let’s have that conversation. There shouldn’t be a race to the bottom on workers’ rights. We should want to push forward standards and conditions for everyone – whatever they do for a living.

The anger from many has been, at least in part, because news of the changes came through a warning from the PFA. They weren’t informed by their clubs, leagues or the FA, despite players already thinking about contracts and deals for next season.

The PFA has been working with the National League captains who wrote to the FA last week asking for the changes to be reversed. We will continue to support them. The player voice has been loud and strong. I hope the FA will listen and think again.

Omar Beckles is the chairman of the Professional Footballers’ Association and plays for Leyton Orient