That same argument can be used paying players in the MPL when there is no prizemoney or anything but mana of winning the thing.
Nelson coach John Slotemaker said if the club gave him money to buy three players he could win the league easy, but he'd rather just develop players than waste money winning a league with no prizemoney.
In an amateur competition there is no point spending money to win your name on a trophy for 12 months.
Spot on Luis. But as we have seen there are clubs around that do seem to be able to find the benevolent businessman willing to put their money into the club and I accept that in those circumstances it's for the club involved then to decide where that money should be spent. Abramovich doesn't put millions into Chelski to see them develop players but to win trophies and that is the rub. If a player needs developing at Chelski he will soon find himself playing for another club.
All local clubs have that dual function of providing football for all levels from social to elite with widely varying resources. Unfortunately some have taken to rorting the Charitable Trust funding to achieve success at the elite level while others plunder their junior parents. Either way paying for food, petrol and booze for any player at the local level is foolhardy and does nothing for the game.
I actually like Richmonds approach where they are using outside money (hopefully this is true, where is the cash coming from Duffy?) to bring quality players into the local game, much as National League clubs did in the old National League days. An approach that lifted the standard of the local game and helped produce players like Wynton Rufer and Ricki Herbert (and got us to the World Cup in '82).