2018-19 National League South

[rudebwoyben]

That's akin to getting promoted and releasing that you have to go to Boreham Wood once again. Perish the thought.

The Southern South must be truly awful since our near neighbours were always cannon fodder in the Isthmian and they're 7th in that league.

On the other hand, Hendon finished 3rd in the Isthmian Premier, lost in the play-off final on penalties and and are now struggling in the Southern South, although losing most of your squad to bigger clubs and Hampton & Richmond didn’t help. The atmospheric black hole at Earlsmead must have sucked most teams in..

 

[Master D]

The absolute SCENES when that Torquay equaliser went in.

 

[Raymondo316]

We've announced we will be charging 15 quid to get in next season. Certainly not pleased about it but I will reluctantly pay it.

Our owners are living in a dream world if they think 15 quid (17 quid for a seat) to watch the likes of Dorking, Hungerford, Concord, Chippenham etc is value for money like they're trying to claim. At them prices we better atleast be challenging for the playoffs or I can see crowds dropping.

 

[Shotsfan1993]

We've announced we will be charging 15 quid to get in next season. Certainly not pleased about it but I will reluctantly pay it.

Our owners are living in a dream world if they think 15 quid (17 quid for a seat) to watch the likes of Dorking, Hungerford, Concord, Chippenham etc is value for money like they're trying to claim. At them prices we better atleast be challenging for the playoffs or I can see crowds dropping.

Looking at our early bird ST prices I think ours will be similar

 

[DontBringBertie]

Ours are £15 this season as well, although that makes us the most expensive in the division (I think). Everyone panicked when they thought prices might be £18, including Dulwich fans claiming they would boycott because it wouldn’t leave them enough money to spend on their veggie burgers and quinoa.

 

[Pink Panther]

We've announced we will be charging 15 quid to get in next season. Certainly not pleased about it but I will reluctantly pay it.

Our owners are living in a dream world if they think 15 quid (17 quid for a seat) to watch the likes of Dorking, Hungerford, Concord, Chippenham etc is value for money like they're trying to claim. At them prices we better atleast be challenging for the playoffs or I can see crowds dropping.

Are those opponents you've listed any less attractive to the average Stones fan than Gateshead, Solihull, Borehamwood or Braintree? I think most people go to see their own team regardless of the opposition, at least for league matches. A Leyton Orient or a Chesterfield might stimulate more interest, but if they're used to paying £15 I suspect most will keep paying and be grateful if the team is winning most games at the lower level.

When you've just been promoted from a league where £10 is the norm, your own price has gone up to £12, then you find a few clubs are charging £15 and one is listed as £18 on their website (hastily revised to £15) you begin to question exactly what you're getting for all that extra money.

Price elasticity at football clubs doesn't follow conventional rules. If one pub in the street sticks 50p on the price of a pint a lot of people might go and drink in one down the road instead, but football clubs have more of a captive audience and they know it. For me it's not a question of whether or not I can "afford it", I resent being ripped off. When I go to a club that charges over the odds I make a point of not spending money on anything else in their ground.

On the other hand, Hendon finished 3rd in the Isthmian Premier, lost in the play-off final on penalties and and are now struggling in the Southern South, although losing most of your squad to bigger clubs and Hampton & Richmond didn’t help. The atmospheric black hole at Earlsmead must have sucked most teams in..

Hendon literally have no players left from last season's squad. The previous time they lost the play-off final in 2015 they almost went down the following year with the same manager and a lot of the same players.

 

[Luke Imp]

That's a hell of a loss last year for Torquay.

 

[Seventyseven]

That's a hell of a loss last year for Torquay.

It certainly was! I've always wanted to watch Torquay play on a sloping plastic pitch! Last time I was at Earlsmead I had to change ends at half time in two stages...

 

[Soup Ladle]

Watched the highlights of Woking v Torquay, some really good football played, was refreshing to see after watching Solihull at the weekend.

 

[DarkSithLord]

what's the convention on that - it's 2 season's since they were transferred south - is there a minimum time between transfers?

Yes I believe the mininum is 2 seasons so they are free to transfer

 

[Lew]

Good Evening.

 

[DontBringBertie]

Good Evening.

EVENING.

We’ll resume our friendly barrier breaking rivalry next season based on our current form.

 

[East Bank Shot]

EVENING.

We’ll resume our friendly barrier breaking rivalry next season based on our current form.

Don’t think you’ll make it up through the play-offs? As long as you hold on to 2nd/3rd (which looks like you should) then you’ll surely be favourites to go up.

 

[Super_horns]

St Albans into the play-offs after a very good win at Bath with others around them losing.

 

[The Terminator]

Well Done Torquay - Back at the first attempt.

 

[Aberstone]

Jesus wept, that was an awful defeat at Hampton today. Two moments of madness at the back gave Hampton a 2 goal headstart and even a dubious penalty wasn't enough for us to get something out of the game.

 

[Luke Imp]

Well done, Torquay. Hell of a turnaround by Johnson, or at least that's what it has seemed like from the outside.

An under performing side earlier in the season or Johnson getting the best out of them and adding a bit more quality?

 

[E10rifle]

Congratulations, Brother Torquay! Hopefully Brother Stockport will join yourselves and Brothers Hartlepool and Chesterfield in this highest circle of Hell next season.

 

[Jerry]

Well done, Torquay. Hell of a turnaround by Johnson, or at least that's what it has seemed like from the outside.

An under performing side earlier in the season or Johnson getting the best out of them and adding a bit more quality?

Only had to wait 92 years since our last title!

The turnaround under Johnson has been remarkable, when Owers was sacked after nine games we were in 14th and had only scored in 3 of those games. We've now scored 88 goals in the 30 league games since Johnson took over with the second best defensive record.

Remarkably he has done it with very few changes, he's only brought in 5 players and only 3 of those have been first team regulars.

The biggest change has simply been in attitude, Owers was just so negative in his every action and utterance whereas Johnson has said from the off that we should be winning this league and entertaining along the way and anything less would be seen as a failure. The fans bought into him from the word go and our average attendance is double what it was under Owers.

After six years of abject failure which has seen many long standing fans walk away it feels like last seasons relegation might actually have turned out to be a good thing, another season of NL mediocrity would have seen more fans lose interest but this year has brought the club back to life.

Roll on next season and if we can keep hold of Johnson I'm confident we could challenge for the playoffs.

 

[Jerry]

Congratulations, Brother Torquay! Hopefully Brother Stockport will join yourselves and Brothers Hartlepool and Chesterfield in this highest circle of Hell next season.

Will be nice to have some away fans at Plainmoor again! Although hopefully not you.

Fingers crossed for you and Wrexham to go up and be replaced by tinpotters Yeovil and Macclesfield.

And of course Stockport to finally escape regional hell.

 

[Luke Imp]

Only had to wait 92 years since our last title!

The turnaround under Johnson has been remarkable, when Owers was sacked after nine games we were in 14th and had only scored in 3 of those games. We've now scored 88 goals in the 30 league games since Johnson took over with the second best defensive record.

Remarkably he has done it with very few changes, he's only brought in 5 players and only 3 of those have been first team regulars.

The biggest change has simply been in attitude, Owers was just so negative in his every action and utterance whereas Johnson has said from the off that we should be winning this league and entertaining along the way and anything less would be seen as a failure. The fans bought into him from the word go and our average attendance is double what it was under Owers.

After six years of abject failure which has seen many long standing fans walk away it feels like last seasons relegation might actually have turned out to be a good thing, another season of NL mediocrity would have seen more fans lose interest but this year has brought the club back to life.

Roll on next season and if we can keep hold of Johnson I'm confident we could challenge for the playoffs.

Johnson was a bit of a coup for you guys, level wise anyway. He's better than NLS but location wise it probably worked for him.

And he's a competent NL manager, too, so that bodes well for next season.

 

[Lew]

EVENING.

We’ll resume our friendly barrier breaking rivalry next season based on our current form.

I was actually at the Torquay game doing some work for a uni project & thought you played superbly... quite unlucky not to come away with the W

 

[DontBringBertie]

I was actually at the Torquay game doing some work for a uni project & thought you played superbly... quite unlucky not to come away with the W

Yeah thats up there with the best we’ve played this season (for 80 minutes). Doesn’t count for much when you throw it all away by letting in shit goals from set pieces in the last 10 minutes though.

Can you please bring your YOOF FIRM with surgical masks to Dulwich next season? Would be amazing to see their reaction.

 

[Clem Fandango]

Evesham curse continues. 1 up at half time but an abysmal second half saw us lose 4-1. Once again, we had Tom King having to go in goal as number 1 keeper (Will Henry) got recalled by Swindon. Think we are up to 8 keepers used this season. Absolute fucking farce. Whatever divison we are next season we need our own regular keeper!!

Truro away next. Definition of a six pointer. Shitting it

 

[Pink Panther]

Can you please bring your YOOF FIRM with surgical masks to Dulwich next season? Would be amazing to see their reaction.

I often wonder how many of these amateur sociologists have actually visited Dulwich. Have you even been there before?

Evesham curse continues. 1 up at half time but an abysmal second half saw us lose 4-1. Once again, we had Tom King having to go in goal as number 1 keeper (Will Henry) got recalled by Swindon. Think we are up to 8 keepers used this season. Absolute fucking farce. Whatever divison we are next season we need our own regular keeper!!

Truro away next. Definition of a six pointer. Shitting it

It's getting ridiculously tight now with four sides separated by just one point for the third relegation spot. (And that's assuming neither of the bottom two will pull off anything improbable.) That 8 keepers thing can't help. Even if all of them are adequate it must be unsettling for the defenders to have a different man behind them every few games, and that alone has probably cost a few points over the season. Dulwich have been fortunate to have Preston Edwards in goal for all but two games; in the other two we lost 2-5 and drew 3-3.

 

[DontBringBertie]

I often wonder how many of these amateur sociologists have actually visited Dulwich. Have you even been there before?

I have but not sure what that's got to do with anything.

The outrage from some Dulwich fans because they couldn't get a beer or stand next to the pitch at our ground is what would make the reaction interesting.

 

[Aberstone]

Concord's win down at Truro tonight puts them into the top 7. It's ridiculously tight for those final 2 spots:

 

[#Beebot]

Concord's win down at Truro tonight puts them into the top 7. It's ridiculously tight for those final 2 spots:

View attachment 10762

Bath in 5th (64 points) and Slough in 11th (58 points) could still drop out/make it.

 

[Clem Fandango]

Glad Concord got the result they deserved, should never have had to replay the whole thing.

Hopefully thats knocked the stuffing out of Truro and we come away with 3 points there Saturday.

Meanwhile it's worth looking at Eastbourne's run in - Dartford H, Slough A, Concord H. Their form is terrible at the moment and that is arguably the hardest set of fixtures of all the teams down there.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Glad Concord got the result they deserved, should never have had to replay the whole thing.

Hopefully thats knocked the stuffing out of Truro and we come away with 3 points there Saturday.

Meanwhile it's worth looking at Eastbourne's run in - Dartford H, Slough A, Concord H. Their form is terrible at the moment and that is arguably the hardest set of fixtures of all the teams down there.

Please beat Truro. I dont want Braintree in the North