2017-18 Isthmian Leagues

[rudebwoyben]

Well, after escaping relegation on the final day last season Hendon did marvellously well to finish 3rd, get to the play-off final and push Dulwich all the way to penalties.
The world won’t implode just yet.

 

[Tin Roofs & Stone Steps]

Well done Dulwich!! Nice end to the season considering what’s been going on off the field.

 

[rudebwoyben]

Hopefully they’ll start the new season at their own ground too.

 

[Meadow]

Is Imperial Fields up to standard for the National South? Obviously they'd hope to be back home by then but if not?

 

[Silver Stone]

Absolutely, Imperial Fields is like Wembley compared to some places in the Conference South

 

[Meadow]

Absolutely, Imperial Fields is like Wembley compared to some places in the Conference South

Fair enough. My closest ground as it goes, I heard the occasional cheer, especially during the penalties. Not seen a match there in years though.

 

[Raymondo316]

Fair enough. My closest ground as it goes, I heard the occasional cheer, especially during the penalties. Not seen a match there in years though.

Its one of those grounds where you can never make much of an atmosphere. Good terracing behind each goal, but the lack of cover or wall at the back means any noise doesn't travel much.

 

[Meadow]

Its one of those grounds where you can never make much of an atmosphere. Good terracing behind each goal, but the lack of cover or wall at the back means any noise doesn't travel much.

It's also very cold in winter as it's in a river valley. I remember a London Senior Cup match there where the pitch was playable at kickoff but it was abandoned at seventy minutes because one area was frozen. My garden less than half a mile away was a good five degrees warmer.

 

[JaredSUFC]

Imperial Fields used to be my local ground. Great in the sunshine, horrid in the cold. If they covered them properly those terraces behind each goal would be amazing

 

[Paddy]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1inu6blXlaCuykULnRxHPFLMcCnAPU1NtmlM27JJ9nFE/htmlview#gid=0

Latest guesswork involving the Isthmian is Walton Casuals, Staines Town & Met Police will go Southern League while our East Angian trio of Lowestoft Town, Leiston & Needham Market get bumped to the new central division.

Interestingly enough from the Conference South Whitehawk will be relegated down to the Isthmian but fellow Sussex side Bognor Regis Town will go down to the Southern League.

 

[Riverside64]

I think Lowestoft et al were always going central though it's tough given the banding stretches from the east coast to the Welsh border. Unfortunately some teams will always be on the boundary edges.

Dorking & Leatherhead now seem to be heading South and Stortford back in the Isthmian. Interesting game to play though hopefully only for another few days as the first official proposal of the re-structuring is due 11th May I believe.

 

[Paddy]

Haha the doc has changed in the hour or so since I posted the link!

I preferred the last split that put Met Police in a different league to us as we will most likely end up with the filth for the bank holiday games.

 

[Paddy]

Well, we are certainly sticking to our guns regarding pushing for promotion next year...

Louie Theophanous (from Billericay Town), Reece William-Bowers (from Leatherhead) & 2017/18 Isthmian Premier golden boot winner Elliott Buchanan (from Staines Town) all sign for Kingstonian in the last couple of days.

I'm 25% excited about us buying the league & 75% shitting myself that the people running the club have very short memories & have forgotten what happened to us the last time we did this...

 

[JaredSUFC]

Well, we are certainly sticking to our guns regarding pushing for promotion next year...

Louie Theophanous (from Billericay Town), Reece William-Bowers (from Leatherhead) & 2017/18 Isthmian Premier golden boot winner Elliott Buchanan (from Staines Town) all sign for Kingstonian in the last couple of days.

I'm 25% excited about us buying the league & 75% shitting myself that the people running the club have very short memories & have forgotten what happened to us the last time we did this...

The question is are you spending the Wimbledon money on new players whilst not having a long-term base (if the deal with Corinthian Casuals is currently only 1 year at the moment of course)? If yes then that's beyond silly tbh

 

[Raymondo316]

Kingstonian going the shit or bust route?? Theophanous & Buchanan is a top strikeforce at National South level, both will score goals for fun at against Ryman defences.....cant imagine they will be cheap at all

 

[Meadow]

The question is are you spending the Wimbledon money on new players whilst not having a long-term base (if the deal with Corinthian Casuals is currently only 1 year at the moment of course)? If yes then that's beyond silly tbh

They're not allowed to spend that money on anything other than a new ground or for buying into a groundshare. There is the £80k lease payoff though.

 

[Paddy]

We've got a new director with deep pockets apparently.

But yes the wombledollars are for venue use only, as mentioned by Meadow. It also covers rent at any ground too iirc.

Initially we are going in to King George's Field on a 1 year ground share with the intention of becoming shared owners (or buying in to the ground in some way).

 

[Riverside64]

Isthmian Premier for 2018/19

AFC Hornchurch
Bishops Stortford
Bognor Regis Town
Brightlingsea Regent
Burgess Hill Town
Carshalton Athletic
Corinthian-Casuals
Dorking Wanderers
Enfield Town
Folkestone Invicta
Haringey Borough
Harlow Town
Kingstonian
Leatherhead
Lewes
Margate
Merstham
Potters Bar Town
Tonbridge Angels
Whitehawk
Wingate & Finchley
Worthing

Full article from the Bostik site.
http://www.isthmian.co.uk/new-season-new-structure-new-clubs-50509

 

[Raymondo316]

Hell has frozen over.....Hendon & Harrow have actually left the Isthmian League.

 

[Paddy]

I vote Riverside, as the bearer of the news, to start a new thread for the season

 

[Meadow]

Plod aren't happy.

http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/metro...b-statment-regarding-restructure-2297190.html

 

[Paddy]

Doubt the Southern League were particularly happy with that one either! I, on the other hand, am happy to see the back of the pretend police even if it is a local game for us

 

[Aberstone]

Hell has frozen over.....Hendon & Harrow have actually left the Isthmian League.

Hahahaha!

That's both club's playing squad absolutely decimated as a result.

 

[The Paranoid Pineapple]

Congratulations Dulwich! I didn't want to see you go but you've very much proved over the last few seasons that you're too good for this league. All the best and I hope we might join you one day in the league above.

Sad also for the Isthmian poster loss. Good job Hornchurch have come up or else it would just be myself & Paddy here next season (not for the first time I don't think )

Well, we are certainly sticking to our guns regarding pushing for promotion next year...

Louie Theophanous (from Billericay Town), Reece William-Bowers (from Leatherhead) & 2017/18 Isthmian Premier golden boot winner Elliott Buchanan (from Staines Town) all sign for Kingstonian in the last couple of days.

I'm 25% excited about us buying the league & 75% shitting myself that the people running the club have very short memories & have forgotten what happened to us the last time we did this...

Ha yeah, these are largely my sentiments. I think we've still got a couple of directors who've been there for a while and know all about our past struggles so I'm sure they wouldn't do anything to put the club's future at risk and yet, with what we endured in the past, I do kinda feel we need to be very, very careful on this front. Hopefully it's just a case of the newish director (was he in oil or something?) having deep pockets, as you suggest.

Hahahaha!

That's both club's playing squad absolutely decimated as a result.

This is the thing I always kinda wonder about. I know that the prospect of playing in a league other than the Isthmian is appealing to some fans - different away days etc - but surely for a club based in London & the home counties you're much better off remaining in the Isthmian from a footballing perspective (access to better players, save a lot on travel costs etc).

Dunno if this restructure has really solved many problems. Not sure I really like Greater London being carved up, for example.

 

[Aberstone]

Greater London being carved up isn't a new phenomenon though - 2006-07 had ourselves, Northwood and Cheshunt in the Southern League whilst Harrow and Hendon were in the Isthmian. That one year in the Southern Prem was great for fans (back then I only really attended home games) but put serious financial pressures on the club, not least because that was year 15 of groundsharing. It also meant having to recruit an entirely new team because of the reasons you've alluded to above.

The borders unfortunately are arbitrary, Greater London clubs have better access to road and rail networks which is probably why Harrow, Hendon and the Met have been shunted over rather than the likes of Bognor, Worthing and a.n.other.

 

[Riverside64]

The whole re-structure is a mess in my opinion. You have the whole of Norfolk and Suffolk playing in the Central at step 3 and the Isthmian at step 4.

Would teams like Dereham / Sudbury / Bury really want to go up knowing the following season they'll be heading off to Birmingham?

The Premier plus feeder division(s) should cover the same geography so the sooner we move to 1, 2, 4, 8 the better instead of the current 1, 2, 4, 7.

How step 2 relegation and step 3 promotion will work next season I have no idea. 6 teams coming down but 8 looking to replace them so presumably the play-off winner from 2 leagues loses out. If that is the case hopefully it'll be done via a cross divisional play-off system rather than the farce that is PPG.

Unfortunately PPG is the precedent so you could have sides going into their play-off final knowing that even if they win they won't go up. Converse with Hartley Wintney this season who went into their play-off final knowing that they were always going to go up irrespective of their result vs Cambridge City.

 

[The Paranoid Pineapple]

Greater London being carved up isn't a new phenomenon though - 2006-07 had ourselves, Northwood and Cheshunt in the Southern League whilst Harrow and Hendon were in the Isthmian. That one year in the Southern Prem was great for fans (back then I only really attended home games) but put serious financial pressures on the club, not least because that was year 15 of groundsharing. It also meant having to recruit an entirely new team because of the reasons you've alluded to above.

The borders unfortunately are arbitrary, Greater London clubs have better access to road and rail networks which is probably why Harrow, Hendon and the Met have been shunted over rather than the likes of Bognor, Worthing and a.n.other.

Yeah, true. It's always been a problem. I remember Guildford being shunted into the Southern at the same time Godalming were in the Isthmian as well so, as you say, the borders are really quite arbitrary. I just hoped that the restructure might have made them a bit less so. I suppose to a large extent it's just very dependent on which teams are playing their football at any given level.

The whole re-structure is a mess in my opinion. You have the whole of Norfolk and Suffolk playing in the Central at step 3 and the Isthmian at step 4.

Would teams like Dereham / Sudbury / Bury really want to go up knowing the following season they'll be heading off to Birmingham?

The Premier plus feeder division(s) should cover the same geography so the sooner we move to 1, 2, 4, 8 the better instead of the current 1, 2, 4, 7.

How step 2 relegation and step 3 promotion will work next season I have no idea. 6 teams coming down but 8 looking to replace them so presumably the play-off winner from 2 leagues loses out. If that is the case hopefully it'll be done via a cross divisional play-off system rather than the farce that is PPG.

Unfortunately PPG is the precedent so you could have sides going into their play-off final knowing that even if they win they won't go up. Converse with Hartley Wintney this season who went into their play-off final knowing that they were always going to go up irrespective of their result vs Cambridge City.

Some good points here.

I hadn't realised that re relegation/promotion, but looking at our forum, the same question's been asked there are it looks as though you're right. I had assumed there would be four relegations apiece from the National Leagues but it seems as though they haven't bought into that and it will remain as three apiece, meaning cross-divisional playoffs or something similar. So extra games and less opportunity to go up! Fucking great. It was hard enough getting out of these bloody leagues as it was and now they've made it ever more difficult. What a load of bullshit.

 

[Lurchin Urchin]

In preparation for Kingstonian being moved to the Southern, the Isthmian League was clearly concerned at the potential lack of a red hoopy kit for next season. So we have helped them out by taking a batch of old K's shirts and putting them in a super-hot wash...

http://www.afchornchurch.com/2018/05/11/new-league-new-kit/

Crikey - there'll be riots on the streets of Upminsta

 

[Paddy]

Wow that Hornchurch shirt is certainly a different approach to your usual kits! Looks kind of egg chasing as opposed to football.

 

[Pink Panther]

I just don't get these two-tone shirts. They just look a mess. Either have plain red or red & white .