Non League players and management have to start thinking before tweeting

By James Grayson (Twitter: @jamesAgrayson)

A few days ago Matlock Town assistant manager Nick Buxton provoked controversy with a tweet aimed directly at striker Lee Ellington.

Former Halifax Town goalkeeper Buxton tweeted: “Will miss Lee Ellington his happy go lucky style !!!!! Only guy I know that got s***loads of money to watch football matches!! #moneygrabber.”

Now Buxton may claim ‘banter’ as the reason for the tweet, but from a Non-League Football public image perspective, it is a totally unprofessional thing to publish – and of course, totally derogatory to Ellington.

Buxton is wide open to possible civil action from Ellington, but while that is extreme, he certainly deserves a letter from the FA reminding him of his conduct.

Players, management and supporters of non-league clubs have to be more careful on Twitter as the whole world can see tweets. People must start thinking before tweeting, otherwise comments will come back to haunt.

Now Buxton should also remember that it was himself and Matlock Town manager Mark Atkins that put Ellington on a contract. I don’t know how much money he was getting, but Atkins and Buxton agreed to such a deal.

So if they feel hard done by then really they should be blaming themselves.

Ellington has proved season after season that he is a prolific goalscorer in the Blue Square Bet North so one bad year doesn’t make him a bad striker.

Buxton should also be concentrating on accessing his own club’s campaign as well because seventh-bottom in the Evo Stik Premier Division doesn’t exactly constitute a success.

But, the point is that the tweet was the wrong thing to do and as a member of management at Matlock, he should know better.

The moral, think before you tweet.