This article presents an overview of the work on football and resorts presented in recent postings. First, a word about methodogy, if such a term can be used for a rather subjective, back of the envelope exercise.
First, not all seaside towns are resorts, e.g., ports have not been counted. Second, there are inland resorts that derive a substantial proportion of their income from the tourist and conference trade, e.g., Bath, Harrogate, York.
This article presents an overview of the work on football and resorts presented in recent postings. First, a word about methodogy, if such a term can be used for a rather subjective, back of the envelope exercise.
First, not all seaside towns are resorts, e.g., ports have not been counted. Second, there are inland resorts that derive a substantial proportion of their income from the tourist and conference trade, e.g., Bath, Harrogate, York.
Third, where there is more than one non-league club in a town (Eastbourne has three!) only the highest ranked is counted.
Finally, remember that three categoriies of resort were specified. Type 1 is the small, niche up market resort, e.g., Southwold in Suffolk. Type 2 is the prosperous town in which the resort function sits alongside others, e.g., Bournemouth. Type 3 is the single purpose resort experiencing decline and social and economic challenges, e.g., Skegness.
Assignment of resorts to these categories is necessarily subjective. Some Type 3 resorts have made regeneration efforts, but in most cases these have been partially successful at best.
The study covers 31 cases from the Premier League to Tier 5 of the non-league system. (Skegness is off the radar in the Lincolnshire League). 75 per cent of the Type 2 resorts are in the Premier or Football Leagues or the National League. Two cases lower down are anomalies: Scarborough, which used to have a Football League team, and Guernsey.
The highest Type 1 team is Level 3 and most of them are Level 5 of the non-league system or lower. The modal category for Type 3 resorts is Tier 5, although two are represented in the Football League.
Different types of resorts sustain different types of teams, but economic success tends to drive football success. All the seaside resorts have to cope with semi-circular hinterlands to draw on for support.