MK Irish '£10 per point' plan pays off with promotion

George Shrieves (left) has contributed over 20 goals for father Terry's successful MK Irish team

It's an arrangement unlikely to suit the mega-rich stars of the Premier League.

But paying players a rate of £10 each per point earned has certainly worked for Milton Keynes Irish this season.

They are now looking to complete a double after winning the South Midlands Premier Division title on Non-League Day with four games to spare.

"I've had a fait bit of criticism over that, saying it won't work and you won't be able to win this sort of league with that sort of money, but that's quite a lot we have to find," manager Terry Shrieves told BBC Three Counties Radio's Non-League Show.

"Whether it's 15 or 16 in the squad, it's across the board, they get £10 a point. What it does do is take all the ego out of the team.

"If we don't play well or someone plays better than someone else, there's none of that 'I should be on his money', or 'he should be on my money', there's nothing like that – everyone's on a level playing field, everyone's treated the same."

Not playing well has hardly been an issue this season, with 24 of their 30 league games won and only one ending in defeat - a 4-2 loss at Tring Athletic in January.

And Saturday's 3-0 victory over Kempston Rovers in front of a crowd of over 500 at their Irish Centre home in Fenny Stratford, secured with goals by Rev Kalek, James Meadows and Kelvin Osei-Addo took them to 77 points, 18 clear of second-placed Tring.

It means that next season they will be playing in the fourth tier of English non-league football for the first time.

Irish missed out 12 months ago despite finishing with 85 points from 36 matches, as Real Bedford swept to the title with 91 and they then lost in the play-offs.

But they are only two goals short of last season's total with 94 so far, with Mason Spence, Meadows and the manager's son, George Shrieves, all contributing more than 20.

"I think there's only one game we haven't scored in and that was at Winslow, a 0-0 draw," said Shrieves.

"They have tried really hard this season, their attitude has been brilliant, they've not moaned about the training or anything, they've just got on with it – a really good group of lads."

He continued: "With the league won, we've just got to focus on the cup now. We don't want to fall away, let ourselves down and think everything's over. We'll put the effort in and get the rewards with another trophy hopefully."

MK Irish won the title after beating Kempston Rovers on Saturday

Three days after the win over Kempston, Irish beat Winslow 3-1 to reach the South Midlands Premier Cup final, in which they will meet either Biggleswade United or London Lions.

After that, they can concentrate on the step up to a new level next season - but will a similar payment plan be in operation?

"We'll pay a bigger win bonus next season because we're going up to a stronger league. When you increase that, if you're winning and the crowd watch you, it's a lot of money you have to find," added Shrieves.

"If you're not winning, you don't have to find any money - but then the people stop turning up. Everyone wants to watch a winning side.

"If we go on a losing run next season, I don't know how that will affect us but the players have trusted me, they've stuck with us after last season – a few of them could have left – and next season they'll be playing a better level of football."

Unlike League Two club Milton Keynes Dons, whose origins were in Wimbledon, Irish's connections are all local to the area.

MK Irish were formed in 2020 by a merger of three other clubs - Milton Keynes Robins, where Shrieves was formerly in charge, Unite MK and Milton Keynes Irish Veterans.

Promotion success, though, has taken slightly longer than he had hoped.

"June 2018 my old man, @TerryShrieves, called me from Spain saying he was taking over a football club and we'd be step 4 in 5 years time… Taken 7 years so he's wrong for a change but we've done it! What a journey and what a club, Up The Irish," his son posted on X.

Terry Shrieves was speaking to BBC 3CR's Ollie Bayliss