Ebbsfleet

[Monkey Tennis]

Of course it’s a success.Don’t really see what attendance has to do with it. Many hundreds of lower level clubs don’t even cover match official fees with their gate money, but they play their sport just the same, raising funds with community and social activity.Boreham Wood are just particularly good at it.

It's a success as a facility - as a football club it's a massive failure, hence the chairman having his meltdown about nobody attending.

 

[karlready]

It's a success as a facility - as a football club it's a massive failure, hence the chairman having his meltdown about nobody attending.

I take your point to a certain extent. As a national football team, they are only viable because of their facilities. But hundreds of players use their pitches weekly, so they are a community club in the true sense of the word.It’s a pity that they are geographically where they are; most of the locals are too busy polishing their rollers,manicuring their lawns,or, walking down the road to watch Arsenal or Tottenham . Difficult to predict, but it’s entirely possible Boreham will get into the EFL. Been my prediction since the season start.
I’m not a fan, but I am really envious of the set-up, and philosophy.

 

[Monkey Tennis]

I take your point to a certain extent. As a national football team, they are only viable because of their facilities. But hundreds of players use their pitches weekly, so they are a community club in the true sense of the word.It’s a pity that they are geographically where they are; most of the locals are too busy polishing their rollers,manicuring their lawns,or, walking down the road to watch Arsenal or Tottenham . Difficult to predict, but it’s entirely possible Boreham will get into the EFL. Been my prediction since the season start.
I’m not a fan, but I am really envious of the set-up, and philosophy.

Regardless of division, you'd rather watch a match at Aldershot than Boreham Wood.

There situation reminds me a little bit of Hyde, who were propped up by Man City for a while (even changed their kit and badge to blue) - not sure what happened though, I think Man City just dropped them and let them flounder.

 

[Pink Panther]

I take your point to a certain extent. As a national football team, they are only viable because of their facilities. But hundreds of players use their pitches weekly, so they are a community club in the true sense of the word.It’s a pity that they are geographically where they are; most of the locals are too busy polishing their rollers,manicuring their lawns,or, walking down the road to watch Arsenal or Tottenham . Difficult to predict, but it’s entirely possible Boreham will get into the EFL. Been my prediction since the season start.
I’m not a fan, but I am really envious of the set-up, and philosophy.

Rollers in Borehamwood? It's a hellhole for working class London overspill. Last time I was there the high street pubs had doormen on duty at 5pm.

 

[Sestonpoolie]

Apart from the main high street which had a couple of decent pubs,Borehamwood has nothing going for it.
The locals were a decent bunch though.

 

[Red Deserato]

Despite being in the 7th tier, I believe that Worthing could sustain itself in the national league considering the crowds we can pull. Especially as we're not far off a few teams in the 5th attendance-wise playing teams with smaller away followings.

 

[simonfromsurrey]

But funded by plastic

Its a no from me

 

[karlready]

Apart from the main high street which had a couple of decent pubs,Borehamwood has nothing going for it.
The locals were a decent bunch though.

Oh, I thought it quite posh on the one occasion I have been...but then I do live in Aldershot.

But funded by plastic

Its a no from me

Boreham’s income is from plastic, and social activities, but their stadium pitch is prem- quality turf. Great set-up.
I sound like an apologist for Boreham.

 

[Pink Panther]

Despite being in the 7th tier, I believe that Worthing could sustain itself in the national league considering the crowds we can pull. Especially as we're not far off a few teams in the 5th attendance-wise playing teams with smaller away followings.

Just for the record, the median annual spend on players is £250k in National South. (So around £6k a week over a 40-42 week season for part-time clubs.) In the National Division it's closer to £750k.

 

[Raymondo316]

Despite being in the 7th tier, I believe that Worthing could sustain itself in the national league considering the crowds we can pull. Especially as we're not far off a few teams in the 5th attendance-wise playing teams with smaller away followings.

We at Maidstone thought that but sadly its not that simple.

So much money is being spunked at National level, that unless you got a sugar daddy who is prepared to keep pumping in loads of money it will always be a real struggle. Just to put things into perspective we finished bottom last season with a player budget of 700k!!

 

[DontBringBertie]

Just for the record, the median annual spend on players is £250k in National South. (So around £6k a week over a 40-42 week season for part-time clubs.) In the National Division it's closer to £750k.

Laughable that Dowson said we had a mid table budget last season in the South.

Any idea what Dulwich’s budget is?

 

[Pink Panther]

Any idea what Dulwich’s budget is?

I've heard no sort of figure whatsoever for this season. Last season it was the median £6k p/w or £250k p/a (for a part-time regime), a figure that was given directly to supporters by the club's managing director at a fans forum shortly after we secured the return to our own ground. It's presumably a lot more than last season, but whether by 50% or 100% or anything else up to the figure quoted for Maidstone I've no idea.

All I know is that we've switched to a "full-time" regime with daytime training sessions on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and we budgeted for an average league attendance of 2,100 and to have no home games or prize money from FA competitions. So far the average attendance is about 10% down on what's budgeted for (our attendances are always lowest during the first two months of the season) but we've won three rounds of the FA Cup (two at home) with associated matchday revenue and prize money to offset that. (And of course we're live on the BBC in the next round at home to Carlisle with £75k appearance money.)

There's obviously going to be some overlap between the smallest full-time budgets and the most extravagant spending at part-time clubs (e.g. Billericay), and we're clearly not spending anywhere near the level that they did in signing Rhead, Gunning, Robson etc.

A lot of our players have other employment of some sort that can be fitted in around football, mostly coaching or personal trainer type stuff. For example star summer signing Danny Mills works for the Hamlet academy as assistant manager of our youth team, which has just reached the 2nd Round Proper of the FA Youth Cup. There was a lengthy podcast interview with him recently in which he stated that he hadn't really intended to seek another contract with a full-time club, but that the coaching role offered to him swung it. By contrast another player works as a cabbie etc. Nathan Green (scaffolder) and Anthony Cook (office job in the City) both left for Welling in the summer as they couldn't commit to the new regime, but I'm sure it suits some other players even if they could earn as much from some other part-time clubs.

I personally have a job that could easily be fitted in around this sort of schedule, as my employer offers the option to work reduced hours on a pro-rata basis, with working from home also an option. Most of my work is dome online, team meetings are often held by Skype with colleagues working from home; my office is at Vauxhall but my line manager is based in Sheffield and generally works in London a couple of days a week. There's can be a lot of flexibility in juggling employment schedules these days if you pick the right job.

 

[Farleigh]

Time to resurrect this discussion?

Ebbsfleet couldn't play a new signing, as under a transfer embargo due to an unpaid bill.

 

[Fleetfanwest]

Appoint new manager Dennis Kutlieb highly rated 5th tier German league manager, certainly a left field appointment.

 

[Monkey Tennis]

The Ebbsfleet article says he's been making waves in European football and talks of his win against Hansa Rostock's B team as some kind of tactical masterclass. He's been managing at a standard comparable to the Northern Premier League.

 

[Chief Rocka]

"The fifth-tier NOFV-Oberliga Nord is renowned as one of Europe’s toughest lower divisions"

I get bigging up your new man but come on now this is silly.

 

[rudebwoyben]

"The fifth-tier NOFV-Oberliga Nord is renowned as one of Europe’s toughest lower divisions"

I get bigging up your new man but come on now this is silly.

I mean the fact that it’s a league covering a small region is a bit of a giveaway.

 

[Master D]

"The fifth-tier NOFV-Oberliga Nord is renowned as one of Europe’s toughest lower divisions"

I get bigging up your new man but come on now this is silly.

Made up leagues don’t count anyway.

 

[BarraMatt]

I was hoping lockdown would continue for a while yet, but now it's out there, I'm looking forward to witnessing a Danny Cowley-esque tactical masterclass from the new manager away at Dover, live on BT Sport.

 

[doveranddover]

But they'll be in the South Division

 

[Master D]

Did they get relegated again?

This is the problem with these yo-yo clubs like Ebbsfleet, Woking, Halifax etc, you can never remember what division they are actually in until you look at the fixtures on the first day of the season.

 

[doveranddover]

Did they get relegated again?

God knows

 

[Fleetfanwest]

Statement issued by Ebbsfleet after being virtually demoted by 0.002 using PPG,
Considering they had a very strong legal case to bring against the National League for this wankshambles of a decision,they have shown integrity and class in deciding against it,not least because the useless incompetent dullards at the NL were incapable of making a decision for such a long time that any court case would entail the temporary postponement of the playoffs,and considering the exorbitant amount of money the 12 participating clubs have had to shell out,and any postponement would wreck what may already be a shortened coming season,so Ebbsfleet have taken that into consideration,plus the chances of getting a fair hearing from the NL or FA are frankly negligible.
As I have already stated Ebbsfleet have conducted themselves with class and integrity over this grossly unfair decision,which is far,far more than the NL have shown.


Ebbsfleet United today make the following statement regarding the end of the 2019/20 season and the division the club will compete in for the 2020/21 season.

Having regard to the wider interest of the National League, Ebbsfleet United have decided to accept the NL position and what that entails and will decline to proceed with the legal challenge process available to the club.

With the National League North and South play-offs being scheduled to commence this coming weekend, we wanted to update our supporters on the end of season outcomes and the league we expect to play in next season.

The decision to proceed with play-offs in the North and South divisions, combined with the decision by the league membership to decide the 2019/20 season finishing positions based on an unweighted points-per-game basis, means Ebbsfleet United will be relegated should play-offs proceed and be completed.

We are fully aware of the fine lines and fractions that have led to that result and have certainly tabled them on behalf of all players, staff and supporters, via the correct and proper channels.

As all our supporters will know, when the season was prematurely ended our club finished out of the relegation zone and as one of the top form teams in the league.

Nevertheless, an unweighted points-per-game system saw us moved down one place into the relegation positions by 0.002 of a point. This is the leanest mathematical calculation of any club in the UK to be relegated on this system. We are the only club to be sent into the relegation zone by points-per-game, and one of only three clubs – along with AFC Fylde and Chorley – to be relegated in the only division in the National League framework to retain relegation under the points-per-game season-end solution.

Perhaps most frustratingly for our club is the great effort and goodwill displayed in February to ensure our home match against the travelling Stockport County squad went ahead – despite extreme weather conditions, in the form of Storm Jorge, rendering the majority of matches to be postponed in the London region. Had this game not proceeded it would effectively have made the difference when the points-per-game system was calculated.

We believe in making every effort to work overtime and stage matches, when perhaps the easy option would have been to give up and declare an early postponement the night before.

We have taken a considerable amount of legal advice around the process and what options are available to us, and have made representations to the National League seeking answers and clarity around a number of concerns and issues. In short, we have made a strong case on behalf of the club and have raised and highlighted a number of points which have been heard by the National League.

It is fair to say we disagree with the National League and their legal advisors on some matters and processes. It is also the case that there is a clear legal pathway available to the club to pursue the fight against what we are sure many supporters view as an unfair, and very unlucky, outcome for our club. However, as with any legal challenge, we must make a judgement on the merits of such action and, at all times, whether we wish to continue pursuing it or not.

The decisions on finalising the season have been made under difficult conditions and have been without precedent. They have been made with an intent to find a solution for, and to please the vast majority of clubs wherever possible, and unfortunately for Ebbsfleet United we have fallen on the side of the small minority who are severely affected by the outcome.

To launch a legal challenge and arbitration when 12 fellow member clubs are planning for and hoping to compete in a play-off series, at great cost to them and the league, would be extremely disruptive, and of course would carry no guarantee of any outcome other than further weeks of delays and uncertainty.

We have, as noted, argued strongly our case to the National League through correct channels and we believe it now to be in everyone’s best interests to accept that, unfortunately for Ebbsfleet United, the right thing to do is accept our “relegation by formula” and push forward for a strong season in the National League South should play-offs proceed.

It is true that relegation will disappoint our supporters, and we are all extremely disappointed to arrive at this reality. However, in the context of what the nation has experienced in recent months we must also recognise our blessings of health and well-being. The club has been able to take care of our staff and players during the crisis and we have an excellent platform and positive outlook heading into the pre-season in preparation for a strong year ahead.

We have an exciting and fresh new structure and management team in place, and continue to work on putting together a strong squad.

Through no fault of our own we will find ourselves a league below where we felt we had deserved to be next season. However, with the continued support of our loyal fans, and a concerted effort to now confront next season with a positive and combined effort to rectify the outcome that has been handed us, we are confident of a bright and exciting 2020/21.

 

[Master D]

Through no fault of our own we will find ourselves a league below where we felt we had deserved to be next season.

Well, apart from ultimately being one of the worst 4 teams that is....



...FWIW I think they would have survived the way they were playing, but don't tell anyone that.

 

[Fleetfanwest]

Well, apart from ultimately being one of the worst 4 teams that is....



...FWIW I think they would have survived the way they were playing, but don't tell anyone that.

 

[Fleetfanwest]

We'll be back and I wouldnt be surprised if it is after just one season, as there are some really exciting appointments being made at the club.

 

[Monkey Tennis]

That's one hell of a whinge for a club acting with class and integrity.

 

[Fleetfanwest]

That's one hell of a whinge for a club acting with class and integrity.

I don't represent the club, so I can say what I like.
Glad I don't have any link to a racist club, now that would be an embarrassment.

 

[Monkey Tennis]

I don't represent the club, so I can say what I like.
Glad I don't have any link to a racist club, now that would be an embarrassment.

Yep, it certainly would.

 

[Joe.]

Evening all!

Still not buying this don't deserve to go down crap, FFW. We were turgid for 90% of the season and had Bury unfortunately not gone pop, we wouldn't even have needed to worry about PPG. We'll be back.

Already looking forward to the 6 points from Maidstone next season.