2017/18 National League North

[Harrier94]

Fixtures come out tomorrow, who do people want to start the season?

 

[Minstermen central]

Boston or Gainsborough away on holiday and want save good games for a piss up

 

[Railway Blue]

Leyton Orient (a)

 

[Kearsley Pilgrim]

its probably more-so all pot luck guessing as i don't know masses about this division, but did have a look around when people bought. You have had a good turn-around which you needed as you looked shocking in that last game of season, but of your mass of signings was only a couple for me stood out, McGuire and Mwanyogo certainly look good additions.........others like most of rest of league's signings are in the could be good, could be bad......I think the fact you have signed pretty much an entire new back line for me is a surprise as you scored so few goals and have not drastically added anything to the forward line.

I whacked you down there as you've got an entire new defence, if that clicks you'll be fine, if it doesn't you could be in trouble as you have not added much going forward, but you are pretty much mostly in the same group as Curzon.....should be solid, lacks an attack to do much more than midtable.

Hope it goes well as your management team come from one of my fave Carlisle teams in Murray and Hawley so i wish them well, but don't go off any of my predictions, usually shocking!

Considering you’ve not been watching Curzon Ashton and Conference North level football for too long, then I think you already know far more than a lot of long standing fans.

And one thing we definitely agree on is that BUFC were absolutely awful at your place on the last day of the season. That was just one of several away games I attended last season where the performance was simply dire.

The back line changes you refer to, apart from the goalkeeper which I think surprised a few, were probably always going to happen. Loanees returning to their parent clubs and one player moving up into the Conference Premier left a number of gaps to be filled. Further up the pitch, some of the newcomers were well known to manager Adam Murray through previous clubs – notably Mansfield Town – but he has also let it be known that some of his targets have gone elsewhere where better deals were on offer (and no doubt this will have happened to other clubs too). We’ll probably not know for sure just how many of the newcomers were actually his ‘second choice’, but it might become a bit clearer when the season starts and we see how good or otherwise they all are. Certainly the problem of the lack of goals you mention is an area all BUFC fans are wondering whether or not has been solved – but we have been ‘warned’ by Mansfield Town fans that Adam Murray teams are more likely to win games 1-0 than 4-1. Having said that, maybe one of the young newcomers might be the next Ricky Miller or Dayle Southwell in waiting, both of whom found their goalscoring touch with us, after lean spells elsewhere before their arrival at York Street.

Its 10 years this summer since we nearly went out of business after relegation from the Football League and the immediate demotion to the Conference North – followed a year later by a further demotion to the Northern Premier League. So given the league in which we now play has seen bigger clubs than us fall into it since then, I believe many feel that we’re currently at the right level - and even a mid-table finish in the coming season wouldn’t be a complete disaster. Whether we can kick-on once the move to the new stadium eventually happens, and become an established Conference Premier club, remains to be seen.

As for Curzon Ashton Dave, I think it has been a huge credit to everyone concerned that they have reached and maintained Conference North status. It must be fantastic for the long standing supporters to be at the same level as local comparative giants Stockport County and be in a higher division than bigger local clubs like Altrincham and - if they still can be regarded bigger - Stalybridge Celtic.

 

[wybantam23]

Ins/Outs for Ferriby

Signed from last season:

Danny Emerton
Mark Gray
Jordon Cooke
Curtis Bateson
Jake Skelton

New signings:

Leigh Hutchinson (Cleethorpes)
Jake Picton (Frickley)
Bobby Johnson (Goole)
Joel Ambalu (Aylesbury?)
Joe Pugh (Doncaster)

Left the club:

Ryan Fallowfield (Harrogate)
Sam Topliss (Alfreton)
Ben Middleton (Harrogate)
Taron Hare (Boston)
Reece Thompson (Guiseley)
Connor Oliver (Halifax)
Matty Dixon (Spennymoor)

Undecided:

Stephen Brogan
Ross Armstrong
Ryan Kendall
Simon Russell
Jordan Douglas
Kojo Keyi
Tom Bolton


Good to see quite a few resigning from last season but some of the players being signed are due for quite the step up, Housham looking to work miracles yet again...

Connor Oliver gone to Halifax, Matty Dixon gone to Spennymoor.

Couple of loanees from last season getting loaned to conf prem and lg 2 teams which is always nice to see. Hoping Rory Watson breaks into Scunny's first team this season, was brilliant for us

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

Considering you’ve not been watching Curzon Ashton and Conference North level football for too long, then I think you already know far more than a lot of long standing fans.

And one thing we definitely agree on is that BUFC were absolutely awful at your place on the last day of the season. That was just one of several away games I attended last season where the performance was simply dire.

The back line changes you refer to, apart from the goalkeeper which I think surprised a few, were probably always going to happen. Loanees returning to their parent clubs and one player moving up into the Conference Premier left a number of gaps to be filled. Further up the pitch, some of the newcomers were well known to manager Adam Murray through previous clubs – notably Mansfield Town – but he has also let it be known that some of his targets have gone elsewhere where better deals were on offer (and no doubt this will have happened to other clubs too). We’ll probably not know for sure just how many of the newcomers were actually his ‘second choice’, but it might become a bit clearer when the season starts and we see how good or otherwise they all are. Certainly the problem of the lack of goals you mention is an area all BUFC fans are wondering whether or not has been solved – but we have been ‘warned’ by Mansfield Town fans that Adam Murray teams are more likely to win games 1-0 than 4-1. Having said that, maybe one of the young newcomers might be the next Ricky Miller or Dayle Southwell in waiting, both of whom found their goalscoring touch with us, after lean spells elsewhere before their arrival at York Street.

Its 10 years this summer since we nearly went out of business after relegation from the Football League and the immediate demotion to the Conference North – followed a year later by a further demotion to the Northern Premier League. So given the league in which we now play has seen bigger clubs than us fall into it since then, I believe many feel that we’re currently at the right level - and even a mid-table finish in the coming season wouldn’t be a complete disaster. Whether we can kick-on once the move to the new stadium eventually happens, and become an established Conference Premier club, remains to be seen.

As for Curzon Ashton Dave, I think it has been a huge credit to everyone concerned that they have reached and maintained Conference North status. It must be fantastic for the long standing supporters to be at the same level as local comparative giants Stockport County and be in a higher division than bigger local clubs like Altrincham and - if they still can be regarded bigger - Stalybridge Celtic.

Tough season for us really. Problem is the club has put all its money towards replacing its 3g pitches outside the ground so all the cup money last season has been used up. So back to scraping around for a replacement 20 goal striker on the lowest budget.....really we should be a good bottom 5-6 fave if for fact we kept a stable squad and our manager so it puts us slightly more stable than some others.....for now.

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

Fixtures come out tomorrow, who do people want to start the season?

Hopefully not Kiddy at home again......that was ridiculous being 4-0 down 20 minutes into the new season!

While we're not the strongest squad, we are probably one of the most stable squads so i'm maybe hoping for one of them sides who have had a mass of changes in the summer.....Southport, NFU....maybe even Salford, someone where the team hasn't gelled and we could possibly hit them by us having better unity.

 

[Monkey Tennis]

I'm guessing one of the trialists for Chorley today was Alex Newby, judging by the fact that he retweeted their post about A Trialist scoring to make it 3-1. Worth a shot at that level, in my opinion - a very talented playmaker, just lacked a little physicality when he was with us, the same with his twin brother who has just moved to Telford.

 

[Josh Butler]

Despite some prior comments on here, think we'll go OK. Quite optimistic with some of the players we've brought in. Squad is settled well in advance so time to gel together which is really useful as a part time side.
Not sure a few sides above us have really got better, think we'll catch a lot of them up.
Gut feeling is Telford, Ferriby, Southport, Leamington, Gainsborough, FCUM could struggle
Brackley, Curzon, Alfreton, Bradford and Tamworth to be in no mans land.
Blyth, Nuneaton, and Spennymoor to be around top 8, us too.
Think Darlington will get SSS, Chorley could slip back as could Kiddy, Stockport to underwhelm. Harrogate to fail again.
Salford ought to win it, York will have enough clout to get 2nd and possible win playoffs. For me them two seem to be a big ahead of the rest

 

[Prodigal]

I think you are correct about Alex Newby, just looked at a pic of him and he certainly looks like the lad who scored the third goal last night. There were an awful lot of trialists last night though so how many will get another game is difficult to say. We have managed to retain almost the entire squad from last season plus two signings already so I would only expect a couple more, unless someone is outstanding.

 

[Monkey Tennis]

I think you are correct about Alex Newby, just looked at a pic of him and he certainly looks like the lad who scored the third goal last night. There were an awful lot of trialists last night though so how many will get another game is difficult to say. We have managed to retain almost the entire squad from last season plus two signings already so I would only expect a couple more, unless someone is outstanding.

If you are short of a back-up midfielder, this lad would be worth a gamble. Played a few times for us in pre-season and looked very accomplished. Also did well at Workington in the league below, and scored plenty for Clitheroe last season.

 

[Prodigal]

Thanks for the info, he looked OK, but it is very difficult to tell, we played two entirely different sides in the two halves, only 4 regulars and 7 trialists in the second half, but he took the goal well, we did lack some creativity in midfield last season and certainly were short of goals so let's hope he impresses in training and gets another chance on Thursday.

 

[DOLF87]

Connor Oliver gone to Halifax, Matty Dixon gone to Spennymoor.

Couple of loanees from last season getting loaned to conf prem and lg 2 teams which is always nice to see. Hoping Rory Watson breaks into Scunny's first team this season, was brilliant for us

How was Fallowfield and Middleton for you last season? Town propaganda suggests that they were 2 of your better players but they would say that.

 

[DOLF87]

Looks to me like there are going to be two teams fighting for the title. York could pinch it from Salford, which would be funny.
Then there are 12+ plus teams that will be fighting for the next 5 playoff places. Boston are going to have a good crack and maybe Spennymoor. Alfreton have the potential to surprise, Telford with new investment? and Southport too?, as well as all the usual contenders from last season. It will be tight. A couple of bad games could be the difference between finishing 4th or 14th.
Harrogate had a strong squad last season that vastly under preformed, part due to injury of key players and part to do with having a hit 'n' miss manager. He missed last season but he got us into the playoffs with a slightly weaker team the season before. We kept 7 out of 9 of our best players and it seems like the replacement signings are of a decent calibre.
That with the full time training we certainly should be a playoff force this season.

 

[Harrier94]

Chorley at home first, time to get revenge for the playoffs. Telford as expected over the Christmas week and end the season at BPA at home again.

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

Good start for us home to NFU then ouch......Stockport and Chorley away!

Christmas at BPA which is twaddle with 3 manc sides

 

[DarkSithLord]

Overall, pretty happy with our fixtures.

Bit of a downer that Boston away is Midweek again but other than tat it could have been much worse.

Start at home to Blyth. Then Boston and Darlington away.

Christmas double header is Stockport. Thats great. Gonna be a big big crowd on Boxing Day for that. Can understand if Stockport are dissapointed though.

Only 2 midweek away trips. Boston in August and Leamington in September.

 

[ForzaCounty]

Can understand if Stockport are dissapointed though.

This makes it Alfreton, Harrogate, Harrogate, Colwyn Bay, Hyde, Barrow for xmas/year year's during our time in NL (it was even worse when in the FL). Hyde is the only local game there and there were no problems then so it's not like it's a policing issue - at least it shouldn't be, but GMP famously make things up as they go along. It wouldn't be so frustrating if those who made the fixtures hadn't deliberately given everyone else (bar Curzon/BPA I suppose) a local derby

 

[DarkSithLord]

This makes it Alfreton, Harrogate, Harrogate, Colwyn Bay, Hyde, Barrow for xmas/year year's during our time in NL (it was even worse when in the FL). Hyde is the only local game there and there were no problems then so it's not like it's a policing issue - at least it shouldn't be, but GMP famously make things up as they go along. It wouldn't be so frustrating if those who made the fixtures hadn't deliberately given everyone else (bar Curzon/BPA I suppose) a local derby

Yeah are not part of the whole local derby because we just havent had one for years. So someone always ends up out on a wim playing us. I suppose if Gainsborough had been relegated we have ended up with Boston and things may have been a bit different. Hopefully Buxton can come up this year, or Matlock for that ,matter so we can actually have a proper local derby again.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Anyone know if Blyth travel well to away games?

 

[wybantam23]

How was Fallowfield and Middleton for you last season? Town propaganda suggests that they were 2 of your better players but they would say that.

Big losses and major spine of the team, however I think alot of performances last season was down I think to how close the squad was the manager as the majority of players we signed last season didnt exactly come highly rated so it remains to be seen if they'll do well at other clubs.

Can always loan them back to us if they are crap though!

 

[Swedes]

Every single game in this league looks miserable. Even so-called big clubs like Stockport and York are becoming non-league stalwarts and losing their appeal as fixtures. The sad thing is following recent seasons I really think we've found our level, and will probably struggle at it too.

 

[from the far east]

For what it is worth I am going to predict a play off spot for BPA.They have a squad where every player has either experience of promotion from CLN or Football league and two who have played in the Premier League.A manager with proven ability at this level.At the end of last season they more than matched AfcFylde away.One very respected observer at the game thought they were much the better side.As the Curzon fan pointed out in an earlier post he thought they were the most impressive side to play at Tameside. The Kiddie fan who thought they looked a good side lacking the final ball well that has been addressed with signings of proven goalscorers.And the Stockport supporter who commented upon what a strong squad of players they have on paper.Plus a billionaire owner and supporter of 50years

 

[WAY22]

Ours aren't too bad overall, but making us go to North Ferriby on Boxing Day is a bit of a piss take.

 

[Kearsley Pilgrim]

This makes it Alfreton, Harrogate, Harrogate, Colwyn Bay, Hyde, Barrow for xmas/year year's during our time in NL (it was even worse when in the FL). Hyde is the only local game there and there were no problems then so it's not like it's a policing issue - at least it shouldn't be, but GMP famously make things up as they go along. It wouldn't be so frustrating if those who made the fixtures hadn't deliberately given everyone else (bar Curzon/BPA I suppose) a local derby

I know what you're saying about your Christmas and New Years games - I'm sure over the years that, with Stockport being reasonably close to a lot of other teams, there could have been much easier and better journeys for you to make at that time of year.

But consider my team Boston United's geographic position and their lack of local derbies.

Whilst Curzon Ashton v Bradford Park Avenue and Alfreton Town v Stockport County don't really look like obvious Christmas / New Year local derbies, but Gainsborough Trinity v Boston United does, it will be the BUFC and Trinity fans travelling the furthest - and on roads not really easier to negotiate than the other two journeys (though I know Stockport across the hills to Alfreton and vice-versa in December and January won't be much fun!!)

Ashton to Bradford is 42 miles; Alfreton to Stockport is 46 miles and Boston to Gainsborough is 54 miles. And in BUFC's case this is the shortest journey they'll make in the Conference North in 2017/2018. When Lowestoft Town were in the Conference North that was our Christmas / New Year double header and that was 100+ miles.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Ours aren't too bad overall, but making us go to North Ferriby on Boxing Day is a bit of a piss take.

Welcome to the forum

 

[DarkSithLord]

For what it is worth I am going to predict a play off spot for BPA.They have a squad where every player has either experience of promotion from CLN or Football league and two who have played in the Premier League.A manager with proven ability at this level.At the end of last season they more than matched AfcFylde away.One very respected observer at the game thought they were much the better side.As the Curzon fan pointed out in an earlier post he thought they were the most impressive side to play at Tameside. The Kiddie fan who thought they looked a good side lacking the final ball well that has been addressed with signings of proven goalscorers.And the Stockport supporter who commented upon what a strong squad of players they have on paper.Plus a billionaire owner and supporter of 50years

Welcome. Great to see another team represented on here.

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

I notice Wolvesford FC having been bloody lucky to not go financially bust last season are deciding to try and go full time in 2018.

https://www.shropshirestar.com/spor...05/afc-telford-set-out-plans-to-go-full-time/

 

[The_Boss]

For what it is worth I am going to predict a play off spot for BPA.They have a squad where every player has either experience of promotion from CLN or Football league and two who have played in the Premier League.A manager with proven ability at this level.At the end of last season they more than matched AfcFylde away.One very respected observer at the game thought they were much the better side.As the Curzon fan pointed out in an earlier post he thought they were the most impressive side to play at Tameside. The Kiddie fan who thought they looked a good side lacking the final ball well that has been addressed with signings of proven goalscorers.And the Stockport supporter who commented upon what a strong squad of players they have on paper.Plus a billionaire owner and supporter of 50years

None of that means a thing. The only reason they'll make the playoffs is if Nicky Clee gets injured and they lose the league by a single point.

 

[MWS]

The only issue I can see with BPA having a really good season is their pitch.

When Guiseley came to EP under Mark Bower they went 1-0 up, got a man sent off and then scored 2 more. Completely outplayed us with free flowing attacking football.

BPA's pitch is not conducive to free flowing football. I predict them doing well away, but struggling at home.