What do CP players do now? :: zerozero.pt

130 days. 130 long days that separated the end of the 2022/23 season and the beginning of the 2023/24 season for the vast majority of players competing in the Portuguese Championship. A particular case in Portugal, the fourth tier has the longest gap between seasons, for those who do not compete in the promotion phase. A cycle that is repeated in the last two editions, after the maintenance phase was discontinued.

Thus, for hundreds of players the last game of the season took place on April 7th. Even earlier than in the previous season, which ended on the 16th of the same month, more than five months before, on August 19th, the start of a new edition was given. History is about to repeat itself and the summer is expected to be long and marked by uncertainty, the kind that can tighten the chest of those who still don’t know what to expect in 2024/25.

Income, physical form or even mental health. In this game everything is lost and little or nothing is gained. O zero zero set out to discover the effects of such a long break on those who suffer it firsthand: the players.

«We are still in April and they are already asking for a response by May»

Rafa Pinto is already one veteran in these wanderings. At 25 years old, the attacking midfielder has known no reality other than that of the Portuguese Championship since he made the transition to senior football in 2017. He experienced the competition with and without the maintenance phase, so he speaks with knowledge of the facts.

«There is nothing positive about ending the season so soon», he told us. «Before, when there was a format in which there was a first phase and then the climb and maintenance phases, there were also defects and I think they wanted to put an end to that. It caused many clubs to stop paying in the first phase and only invest in the maintenance phase, or to spend the entire season waiting for that phase. I think the FPF wanted to put an end to this and protect the player”, argued the creative, who represented Lusitano de Évora in the second half of the season.

A protection for the player that ends up causing extra problems, in the athlete’s view. «When it ends so soon, the player ends up not getting paid for three months, which is a long time, and is stuck. A player who stayed in this first phase, without playing in the promotion phase, and who could even make the jump to League 3 next year… It makes a lot of difference if you are out of action for three months and another player is out of action for only one month.”

The last argument whets our appetite: does the player feel the differences generated by the long stoppage in terms of market movements? «It is inevitable that a League 3 or League II club that wants to come and get a player from the Portuguese Championship will look at this. But they also have no other option: either they sign a rising player or everyone else has been out of action for three months,” he told us.

«It is difficult to negotiate and many players are harmed, in the sense that the season is now over and there are many clubs that are already making calls to renew or sign. It’s too early to say yes. A player ends up always waiting for something better to appear, But we are still in April and there are already clubs demanding a response by May, for example. It’s too early. Either the player misses this opportunity and later on there may not be something so good, or they say yes and then something better comes along and they can’t let go. We were harmed in this aspect», the midfielder also confessed regarding negotiation issues.

To the pain by Rafa Pinto represent those of many others. Luís Elói, winger who represented Oriental this season, identifies with all of this. «It is difficult in several contexts. Inevitably, physical fitness is lost because it takes too long to stand still. Then, at a financial level, most clubs pay for nine months, the competition clubs. We stayed at home for three months, another one after that when we started training… It’s been four months without receiving payment. It is inevitable that we have to look for something outside of football, especially those who make a living from it», he confessed.

Their stories also converge at this point and the long break opens the door to another professional world. In the case of Elói, he is already working to cope with the months in which the pitches do not provide a livelihood. Rafa Pinto hopes to follow the same path: «I’ve already been sending out CVs, I’m waiting for them to call me.». For these two, as certainly for many others, the football vacation they bring everything but rest.

An uncertainty that leaves marks

Let us return to focusing on the issue of the market, which is highly volatile and capable of leading to despair in this context. The fact that the season ends very early for most clubs leads to timely planning for the following year, which means demanding answers early, but also that open places become scarce for those who still have a climb to play. .

«That happened to me when I was at Sertanense and we went to the climb phase», Rafa Pinto told us. «League 3 even finishes first. I felt like I had a great season and could make the leap, but when my season ended, there was only a month left before the pre-season started again and most clubs had everything set. I didn’t make it to Liga 3 and even in the Portuguese Championship it was at the last minute. For a player who went through the promotion phase, had a good run and was only behind Belenenses, being a week away from starting pre-season and not having a club… The worst thing about the stoppage is the player’s mental health.»

Pumbaa, Pandora’s box was opened. In a world that is unpredictable in itself, where careers begin and end in the blink of an eye, the very particular context of the Portuguese Championship is an added challenge to the players’ mental health. As with everything in life, there are those who cope better and there are those who cannot do without help.

«For young people, who maybe stay at home for three months waiting for the phone to ring, it’s horrible. It’s being three months without training, without having the locker room and not knowing if the phone will ring. That’s the worst. During that year of Sertanense, I kept looking at my cell phone, it didn’t ring and I didn’t notice. Last year, I was at UD Santarém and we didn’t go to the climbing phase, which was the objective. I suffered a lot. I looked at how much time I had and didn’t know what to do. I even started seeing a psychologist and that helped me.», revealed Rafa Pinto.

Luís Elói, whose career includes a spell at Sporting, can understand this pain very well: «This is the third year that I’ve been in this situation. At first I was scared. The months went by and I was always a player who, perhaps, already had something agreed upon even before the end of the season. From then on, things only start to appear towards the beginning of the season. During those months I was scared. Nobody cared, the other championships were about to start and for us, most of the players in the Portuguese Championship, the invitations took a while to arrive..»

Beach, work and hope for change

Without the daily routine that the season provides, for Rafa Pinto, times are for «doing a bit of beach time» and «walking around» in the Cascais area, where he is from. This is how he spends his time until the phone rings with the long-awaited call to go to work, but even that becomes tiring.

“Sometimes, we don’t know what to do. We do it one day, we do it the next day and the next thing we know it’s only been a week. I’ve spent two years in this situation and now I’m trying to arrange more things with former colleagues who aren’t from the area. Pass by, try to be distracted. But it’s also difficult, because we won’t always be combining lunches, dinners and going out when no income is coming in», he said.

Luís Elói is already working, in order to meet expenses while waiting for the ball to roll again. «The bills and the belly are not fed with thoughts. In my case, as I make my living from football, it is inevitable that I will have to look for something. I always try to work,” he confessed.

In conclusion, they both share one opinion: change is needed. “It was much preferable [ter a fase de manutenção], both financially and physically. For many clubs, it’s even better to end now. They know they don’t go up or down and it’s always less money they spend. They prefer it this way, because if there is a maintenance phase they risk going down and having to invest more. It’s sad, but it’s the reality we have», said Rafa Pinto.

Elói subscribed to the opinion and also expressed his desire for a new competition: «There are clubs that might even be more convenient to end earlier, because they don’t have as much expense. There should be a competition by the end of May or beginning of June, because there is a lot of downtime.”

The curtain has come down for most artists. The ball juggling is now on the shelf for the next few months, until the hustle and bustle returns, and gives way to conventional work.

«Bills and the belly are not fed with thoughts.»