Works teams were once a familiar feature of football, My father, as a non-league footballer, had a particular dislike of them with their guaranteed jobs and time off for training during the week. When one of the last of them, Westland Yeovil, visited Falmouth Town he was very much on edge.
There are one or two survivors in Germany, Vfl Wolfsburg-Fussball GmbH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Volkswagen. For Bayer Leverkusen, the links are historic. In the Netherlands, PSV Eindhoven retains close ties with Philips through sponsorship, shared technology and board members.
They belonged to a more paternalistic era when company owners thought that running a football team would build worker identity with the company and raise its profile.
For a time it seemed as if university teams competing in the non-league system might be a new type of works team. Team Bath from Bath University had some success and aroused resentment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_Bath_F.C. I had to write to The Non-League Paper to point out that the bulk of university income no longer came from the taxpayer.
Now Solent University have pulled out of the Sydenham Wessex Premier Division 'due to the changing landscape of higher education which has caused a realignment of priorities.' In other words, they have run out of money.
However, a correspondent has reminded me that Cardiff Met were in the prelims for the Europa Cup this season. Students pay a £150 subscription to play: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff_Metropolitan_University_F.C.
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