2017-18 National League South

[DarkSithLord]

Bognor Regis confirmed as relegated I see with Whitehawk soon to join them.

 

[Aberstone]

Poole Town 2-1 Wealdstone (Att: 442)

'The gameplan was perfect for 70 minutes' - quote from Mr Wilkinson which is all the more hilarious/tragic because Jonathan North had pulled off a couple of worldy saves to deny Poole before their equaliser. There were some decent spells of football, mainly within the last 10 minutes when we went 3 up top but it was predominantly aimless with players not knowing where their teammates will be.

What annoys me is for our budget we should be dictating a style of play for the opposition to react to, not the other way around.

I'll be at all the remaining fixtures but only because it's of force of habit rather than any sort of allegiance to this team.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Braintree deducted a point for playing an ineligible player earlier in the season but hopefully they still get the job done tonight to officially relegate Whitehawk.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Braintree made hard work of it but Whitehawk are confirmed as gone. Dont think they will be missed by many..

 

[bristolbull]

hereford confirmed as southern prem winners tonight,nice to be back in the national leagues again,preferably south please.

 

[iron4ever]

Dont know where to begin. 1st half Whitehawk were poor but we find ourselves a goal down due to them given a penalty that never was and another blooper from our keeper. We come out 2nd half all guns blazing and its 2-2 with us pressing for a 3rd before our keeper goes awol again and we are 3-2 down. Cue yet another late comeback to make it 3-3 before we get the winner in added time same as last Saturday. One thing for certain is watching Braintree this season has been one hell of a rollercoaster ride. Can we make the play offs? who knows but if recent results are anything to go by we still have a chance.

 

[Raymondo316]

hereford confirmed as southern prem winners tonight,nice to be back in the national leagues again,preferably south please.

It all depends on who wins the Southern Premier playoffs.
If Kettering or Kings Lynn win you go South.....Weymouth or Slough you go North.

Just had a look at the table, its mental how the top 5 have totally dominated that league. Slough could end up with 99 points and finish 5th

 

[Darlo On Tour]

Braintree made hard work of it but Whitehawk are confirmed as gone. Dont think they will be missed by many..

Maybe this endangered bird species Whitehawk will become extinct in the not too distant future.

 

[Darlo On Tour]

hereford confirmed as southern prem winners tonight,nice to be back in the national leagues again,preferably south please.

Nice one really pleased for Hereford. I was at Edgar Street in 1996 for the 1st leg semi final play-off, cracking day out that was on a Sunday.

I would imagine the South, but then again we had Gloucester & Worcester in the North in the 2016/2017 season. And currently competing in the North we have the likes of Brackley Town & Leamington which are some distance to travel from the North-East. So anybody's guess really?

 

[Clem Fandango]

Dreadful penalty decision last night and then second yellow for Cundy which totally ruined the game, was 1-1. Thank God this season will be over soon.

As for North/South the other factor is we'll be in frigging Evesham again and that's further north than Hereford so who knows.

 

[Look Out There Are Llamas]

It all depends on who wins the Southern Premier playoffs.
If Kettering or Kings Lynn win you go South.....Weymouth or Slough you go North.

Just had a look at the table, its mental how the top 5 have totally dominated that league. Slough could end up with 99 points and finish 5th

On the flipside Dunstable could be safe with 13 points and 132 goals against...

 

[Liam_SWFC]

Braintree made hard work of it but Whitehawk are confirmed as gone. Dont think they will be missed by many..

What's happened at Whitehawk? Money run out?

 

[DarkSithLord]

What's happened at Whitehawk? Money run out?

Yep.

 

[Liam_SWFC]

Yep.

Think the same fate is waiting quite a few clubs, Eastleigh being one.

 

[Aberstone]

3-0 defeat at Chelmsford on Monday and a 1-0 defeat at Hemel on Thursday has left me begging for the season to end. Justifiably defeated on Monday by an impressive Chelmsford team but we deserved a draw last night based on the first hour against Hemel.

Bobby Wilkinson has got to sort this out though, even before the Trophy run our style of play was reactive rather than proactive and it's not good enough. I'm desperately hoping he gets recruitment right in the summer and shuts a few people up...

What I hate though is I feel like the club's soul is being ripped apart and we're self-destructing despite our budget. I'm going to be boycotting the home games vs. East Thurrock and Oxford City as a matter of protest against the increase in admission prices to £15 next season. Supporters not allowed in on Thursday night due to a supporter highlighting prospective hooligans (most of whom follow the club everywhere) kind of summarises where we are.

I feel like with the Raider (not that I'm particularly endeavoured) we're missing an open goal with him and 2 supporters (one youthful, one old school) being at university fresher days to advertise Wealdstone. It's an absolute freebie!

 

[Aberstone]

Yep.

Not completely true otherwise Steve King wouldn't have signed a 3 year deal.

 

[Seventyseven]

Well, it's now official (as if it was ever in doubt!). Most Gulls fans found the drop into NonLeague the first time round a bit of an eye-opener when we had to visit grounds such as Eastleigh, Boreham Wood et al... to say it was a bit of a culture shock after visiting League 1/2 grounds on a regular basis (since 1929) would be an understatement.

Then we went back up.... and straight back down again.... and, here we are, 3 years later (3 years of struggle) looking at an adventure into Level 6 for the first time in our history.

Having visited the majority of the grounds in NLS over the years I know what to expect and am under no illusion as to how tough this division is going to be to get out of (hopefully at the right end). We are at this level now because of years in a downward spiral both on and off the pitch.

Apparently we are going to stay full-time next season. Are there any other full-time outfits in NLS?

Now that reality has sunk in, I'm actually looking forward to next season.... a few new grounds to tick off for starters. More 'local' games for me. And, the best bit about dropping down to NLS.... no bloody long trips up to the Grim North (went to Hartlepool on Saturday, which was one of Torquay's longest treks of the season.... only took 7 hours to get there and 5.5 hours to get home).... so, yes, Eastbourne (even Oxford) is going to seem like a popping down to the local park.

So... onto next season.... The 'Yellow Army' have followed the Gulls through thick and thin all over this land for years and we have a well-deserved reputation of being one of the friendliest. We travel in good numbers too. Hartlepool for instance, where 152 of us hardy souls braved the Grim North to (what we hoped) would be a victory to keep us in contention to not get relegated... sadly, that didn't happen. We also have many exiles in the South East (The Capital Gulls) so any games in and around Big London should attract a decent away following... but I suppose that'll all depend on how well we're fairing in the league table.... near the top and we could well out-number the home fans on some occasions, near the bottom... well, that'll be the likes of the ones that made the trip to Victoria Park.

I know it's a few months away, but if any of you NLS'ers need any information on visiting Plainmoor next season, ask away... there's a handful of us on here who will be more than happy to impart our knowledge on such things like where to drink, where not to drink, where to park, where to stay etc.

COYY

 

[LondonOrn]

Torquay's relegation is sadly all too endemic of the way football is going, with the bigger clubs getting richer and clubs with an impressive history and large fanbase (which counts for little these days on the pitch in so many cases) getting themselves into spiralling debts and freefalling down the leagues in a desperate attempt to keep in touch. Look at the increasing number of big clubs in the Championship, and those of similar size or only slightly smaller dropping down into League 1 or lower on an ever more frequent basis.

In 2013 Stockport were the first ex-league club to drop into the sixth tier (not counting Scarborough who were a dead man walking), followed by York last season and Torquay this. What price a club with a long league history dropping into Step 3 for the first time during my lifetime?

On the plus side, maybe whoever of those three clubs goes up first can establish a new precedent - the first club to get back-to-back promotions from Step 2 to the Football League!

 

[Aberstone]

I missed the 3-0 win over East Thurrock last night and I'll be missing Thursday's night fixture at home to Oxford City. Interestingly I picked up a programme on Saturday for the first time all season (excellent quality by the way) but the chairman's notes indicated a reduction to the budget next season because we'd 'gone for it' this season (classic Wealdstone) so a trimming of the squad is required for next season, in other words expect plenty of player turnover.

Seventyseven - There aren't any other full time teams in the league and to give an idea on potential Stones numbers, we took just under 300 on our first visit to Truro a couple of years ago. That was the final game of the season however but if it's on a Saturday, I'd imagine everybody would have Torquay marked down as their one trip they can't miss so would be over 200 Stones fans there. If there's anything riding on it then expect that number to double or treble in size.

This was the year to get out of here but with potentially Torquay, Woking, Hereford, Billericay and Dulwich here next season crowd averages will be a lot closer to the North. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Aberstone]

As for Whitehawk - segregated on Saturday. Bag searches, not allowed a drink inside the ground and there's no terracing either. Great that one fan's Twitter account states 'Against Modern Football' yet supports a club that encapsulates modern football perfectly...

 

[Seventyseven]

Cheers Amberstone.... as for 200 travelling down to Kernow, that is impressive.

Unfortunately, we segregate all games. Up until now away fans have been given the Ellacombe End (covered terracing) and part of Bristow's Bench (seating) so can quite easily accommodate a decent number of away fans. However, with the expected huge reduction in away fans next season, I wouldn't be surprised if the Ellacombe End was opened up to home fans and away fans allocated the seating in Bristow's Bench when the expected level of away support is low. Not great if you hate sitting at a football match.

Regarding segregation.... do most/any teams in NLS employ this (with the exception of Whitehawk, who thankfully won't be in this league next year)? As said before, we do travel in decent numbers (and relatively well behaved) so it would be a shame if teams segregated just for our appearance (I know that sounds a bit BillyBigBollox, but trust me it isn't meant in that way). I love this level of football (I also follow Tonbridge Angels, my local team) where you can, on the whole, change ends at half time, mix with home supporters, have a beer on the terrace and generally enjoy the game rather than being penned in like cattle, denied a drink and have to watch the whole match from one spot (normally seated, which I hate).

 

[DarkSithLord]

Havant 4-1 up on East Thurrock tonight. Ahead of Dartford at the top on GD. Going to be a very interesting final day. May come down to who can score more?

Havant host Concord
Dartford travel to basement club Bognor.

 

[yellow]

Wait - you can drink while watching at this level?!

Game changer.

 

[LondonOrn]

What, you can't do that in the NLP?

I've been to plenty of games in non-league where you can do what Seventyseven described, admittedly they were all below Step 1, so maybe that explains it.

No wonder so many fans of ex-league teams (or teams that have returned to the league from the NL) hate the NL - seems it's basically just a watered down version of League 2, with far fewer fans, even worse referees, but with the same overly stringent regulations.

 

[yellow]

If you can then I've missed out the last few years!

I've not really been to too many grounds over the last few years though - Aldershot, Bromley and Chester. If Saturday's aren't busy then I may look to do a few more as I imagine trips to Plainmoor will be limited.

 

[Seventyseven]

You definitely can drink on the terrace (at most games I've been to at this level anyway). And change ends. And, if you're a smoker, indulge... as long as it's not in the stands/covered areas. And you're not penned in like a herd of cattle.

Obviously, there will be a few grounds (inc. Plainmoor) where you can't do any of the above.

Lewes fans hated it when they made it up to NL level because it stopped them from having a tipple on the terrace.

As Yellow says... 'Game Changer'

 

[DarkSithLord]

Adam Flanagan and assistant manager Glen Alzapiedi are to leave Concord Rangers at the end of the season.

 

[LondonOrn]

Disappointed to see Bath and Welling miss out, at least St Albans still have a chance.

Like to see either them, Truro (highest a Cornish team's ever been up in the pyramid) or Hampton & Richmond go up (nice to see them bounce back after the disappointment of finishing 2nd and not getting promoted in 2009 and getting relegated soon after - ex-league club fans will love the Beveree!).

 

[Aberstone]

Below are the only fixtures I'm aware of that have been segregated this season:

Braintree Town vs. Chelmsford City
Hemel Hempstead Town vs. St Albans City
Hemel Hempstead Town vs. Wealdstone
St Albans City vs. Hemel Hempstead Town
Wealdstone vs. Hemel Hempstead Town
Whitehawk vs. Wealdstone

As for alcohol consumption on the terraces, I'd say around half the clubs let you do this although in some cases like at Bognor and Truro, you're only allowed to drink at one end. We don't unfortunately as our clubhouse is outside the ground so don't permit alcohol to be brought inside.

Regarding tomorrow's fixtures, I wonder if Bognor will intentionally throw the towel in at home to Dartford so they can leapfrog Havant to the title? This league is mental, we're awful yet should have picked up 10 points from our 4 games against both teams.

 

[Don Tonberry]

I've got one eye on Havant's result today. Always had a soft spot for them so hope they finally get over the line.

Keen to see how Hampton & Richmond do, too. Jamal Lowe has been an excellent signing from them.