Isthmian 2014/15

[Paddy]

Correct! We obviously mullered VCD today (you weren't there so know no different!)- and we also won at their place where they were truly terrible... But these are the games we/you need to win - anything against that damnable Kentish hegemony would be a welcome bonus. Just don't mention Bury Town; the Urchin nemesis.

Got me thinking that... why all of a sudden is Kent football swimming with money? Ebbsfleet have dosh, Margate have dosh, VCD have some form of dosh, Maidstone have legit dosh.

What's so great about Kent?!

 

[Silver Stone]

It's a lovely place when you get away from the river. Or something.

Football in this county has always been boom or bust, most clubs having their highs and (especially financial) lows. At least this time we're making our own money!

 

[Lurchin Urchin]

Got me thinking that...

What's so great about Kent?!

Its two tunnels - one to France, one to the nirvana to the north.

 

[Aberstone]

Its two tunnels - one to France, one to the nirvana to the north.

I could be your reference LU if you ever fancied applying for a post within the Essex Tourism Board?

 

[Silver Stone]

Nirvana to the north, haha.

Let's face it, both sides of that bridge are pretty shitty, the further away from it you go, the better things get.

 

[Lurchin Urchin]

The sadly under-appreciated majesty of the Thames Estuary indeed! I believe your out-of-town shopping centre is better than ours but as I have never been to either (okay IKEA once) I cannot judge for certain. However this in not an accolade I'd want Anyway, as this is a football forum I shall desist from further (unwarranted) sniping about Kent - except to grumble that the postponed Margate away game has been rescheduled for Tue 24 Feb which I can't make.

It would make sense for our players to car-share with Margate as they all live round our way!

 

[Grays1890or1888?]

No worries

It's a chain of events... Cardsfan got me & PP from our forum, I got you from your forum... you've now got to go on the hunt for someone missing. Geographically speaking from Woking to Kingston to Dulwich, you should probably be getting us that Grays fan that used to post on TFF.

I'm alive see pink & blue on our forum this morning

Gutted about Saturday, we deserved to lose but our forwards were having shooting practice at the corner flag!

 

[DarkSithLord]

I'm alive see pink & blue on our forum this morning

Gutted about Saturday, we deserved to lose but our forwards were having shooting practice at the corner flag!

Welcome to the Forum.

 

[Paddy]

I'm alive see pink & blue on our forum this morning

I was joking about Pinknblue having to go get another member but fair play he went out & did it!

Welcome back to the family Mr Grays fan! Now... somewhere slightly North-East from Grays for you to go fishing for new forum members... lol

 

[Grays1890or1888?]

Got to be East Thurrock or Billericay

 

[Riverside64]

Sneaked out the bottom 4.

Close call as both the 'Chins and Witham were drawing as we approached the 86 minute mark but a decent header by Johnson and a tidy finish by Purcell secured our win as Margate too bulged the onion bag late on.
Still looking over our shoulders but we can now afford half an eye on the little group of 4 above us, Angels, Lewes, Canvey and Hampton.

Woeful crowd of 112 who actualy witnessed a reasonable game of football, played on a pitch more suited to wellies than boots. The type of pitch where 30 yard slide tackles are not uncommon.

Promotion looking even more of a 3 horse race given the losses of the top 3 in the chasing pack.

 

[publeaguelegend]

I was joking about Pinknblue having to go get another member but fair play he went out & did it!

Welcome back to the family Mr Grays fan! Now... somewhere slightly North-East from Grays for you to go fishing for new forum members... lol

Sounds like a plan. We should operate as some sort of Isthmian pyramid scheme. What happened to all the Margate posters? They were almost as numerous as the Urchin mob at the start of the season.

Sneaked out the bottom 4.

Close call as both the 'Chins and Witham were drawing as we approached the 86 minute mark but a decent header by Johnson and a tidy finish by Purcell secured our win as Margate too bulged the onion bag late on.
Still looking over our shoulders but we can now afford half an eye on the little group of 4 above us, Angels, Lewes, Canvey and Hampton.

Woeful crowd of 112 who actualy witnessed a reasonable game of football, played on a pitch more suited to wellies than boots. The type of pitch where 30 yard slide tackles are not uncommon.

Promotion looking even more of a 3 horse race given the losses of the top 3 in the chasing pack.

Fantastic for the number one club in Essex. Tonbridge shipped 5 goals against fellow strugglers Canvey over the weekend. Would be devastated to see our feeder team go down.

 

[Wombletom]

I see Maidstone have signed George Porter after being released by Dagenham.
Good luck with that one. He's a petulant little fuckwump and has a stinking rotten attitude.
Sure, he has a talent. But he rarely attempts to use it. Spent most of his time with us stropping about like a sulking teenager when things didn't go his own way.

He wil excite you at times, but more often of not he will frustrate the hell out of you.

 

[The Paranoid Pineapple]

I see Maidstone have signed George Porter after being released by Dagenham.
Good luck with that one. He's a petulant little fuckwump and has a stinking rotten attitude.
Sure, he has a talent. But he rarely attempts to use it. Spent most of his time with us stropping about like a sulking teenager when things didn't go his own way.

He wil excite you at times, but more often of not he will frustrate the hell out of you.

This is a marvellous turn of phrase

 

[Wombletom]

This is a marvellous turn of phrase

When he was playing for us in 2013, I told him to his face that unles be sorted out his stinking rotten attitude he would be bumming around in non league football in 3 years time.

The little fuckwump proved me wrong... .....He's managed it in just over a year.

 

[mnb089mnb]

I travelled to Kingsmeadow this evening only for the game to be postponed five minutes before KO.

Does that make the referee a fuckwump? I'm unsure.

 

[The Paranoid Pineapple]

I'd say so. Bit shitty given that the pitch was passed fit at about 5pm. It's not as though Bognor's just down the road so I feel rather sorry for anyone who travelled

 

[mnb089mnb]

I'd say so. Bit shitty given that the pitch was passed fit at about 5pm. It's not as though Bognor's just down the road so I feel rather sorry for anyone who travelled

Not great. I get the impression clubs are under a lot of pressure to ensure games are on. Time to get artificial pitches on board and maybe even play fewer games!

I did get the chance to see the Kingstonian club shop (that looks like it was stocked in 1996 and never again since) and to see the concerning influence of Wimbledon on the place - it'll be great when K's get their ground back.

 

[Wombletom]

I travelled to Kingsmeadow this evening only for the game to be postponed five minutes before KO.

Does that make the referee a fuckwump? I'm unsure.

Quite posdibly. I do a fair bit of work on the pitch at Kingsmeadow. It's generally in excellent condition considering that it already had a season of use and we're only half way through.


If there was the forecast of exceedingly low temperature, then I'm not sure why the frost covers werent put on the pitch.

 

[mnb089mnb]

Quite posdibly. I do a fair bit of work on the pitch at Kingsmeadow. It's generally in excellent condition considering that it already had a season of use and we're only half way through.

If there was the forecast of exceedingly low temperature, then I'm not sure why the frost covers werent put on the pitch.

I don't want to have too much of a go at anyone about it as I doubt anyone wanted the game called off. There was an hour long pitch inspection at 4pm, so I'm unsure what went wrong as it was obvious that temperatures were going to drop.

 

[Wombletom]

If it had been a Wimbledon game tonight then I'm certain that the frost covers would have been put down as soon as possible after repair work from the match on Saturday was done.
Possibly Sunday morning, we would've had a team of volunteers in to help out.

Tonight shall forever remain a mystery.

 

[The Paranoid Pineapple]

Not great. I get the impression clubs are under a lot of pressure to ensure games are on. Time to get artificial pitches on board and maybe even play fewer games!

I did get the chance to see the Kingstonian club shop (that looks like it was stocked in 1996 and never again since) and to see the concerning influence of Wimbledon on the place - it'll be great when K's get their ground back.

Tell that to the Ryman League - they expanded it to accommodate a couple more teams a couple of years back (after a particularly harsh winter where everyone ended up with a massive fixture backlog).

Yes, it's a shame, isn't it? Sadly, in the wake of the news about Wombles probably flogging it to Chelsea, our board seem to have decided that we don't have a viable future at Kingsmeadow, so there looks to be little prospect of us ever regaining control of our own ground. Indeed, the future looks altogether gloomy if you ask me.

Glad you made the journey - sorry there wasn't a game to watch. Apparently (latest on the website) the goalmouth at the Athletics Ground end was deemed to be frozen...

 

[Paddy]

The worst thing about ALL OF THIS is that this was literally the first fixture we've had this season where I've not been scheduled for work. I was on my way to the ground when I heard the news, luckily I don't live that far away.

 

[mnb089mnb]

Yes, it's a shame, isn't it? Sadly, in the wake of the news about Wombles probably flogging it to Chelsea, our board seem to have decided that we don't have a viable future at Kingsmeadow, so there looks to be little prospect of us ever regaining control of our own ground. Indeed, the future looks altogether gloomy if you ask me.

The situation at Kingstonian is pretty bad, especially as it involves a fan owned club in Wimbledon. It's all well and good saying you want to move, but there can't be that many options in that part of London - as Wimbledon themselves have proved.

 

[The Paranoid Pineapple]

Quite. This is why I think the statement our board put out was so misguided and ill-judged, because it basically absolves AFC Wimbledon of any moral responsibility to take care of us. Relocating to somewhere at the other end of / outside of the borough wouldn't, I'm sure, be considered a satisfactory solution to most Ks fans, unless it was in the form of a very short-term groundshare. The only way they're going to be able to secure the club's long-term future is to find a viable site within the town or in close proximity to it. If that exists, and they're able purchase and develop on it, then that's great, but I rather have my doubts...

 

[Paddy]

The situation at Kingstonian is pretty bad, especially as it involves a fan owned club in Wimbledon. It's all well and good saying you want to move, but there can't be that many options in that part of London - as Wimbledon themselves have proved.

There are options, they just all suck.

King George's Field in Torworth & Chalky Lane in Chessington are the only other venues in the Kingston borough (as far as I'm aware)... the latter would probably need us to demote a few levels & is the opposite side of the borough, the former at least has good transport links with the A3, several busses to Kingston & Tolworth train station nearby.

Then if we want to 'Wimbledon' it & move out of the borough we represent then we can go down the route of Beveree in Hampton (shared there before between leaving Richmond Road & moving to Kingsmeadow), Imber Court in the Esher/Molesey/Thames Ditton no mans land (please kill me the second that gets confirmed) or Walton Road in Molesey (would take it if the only other option is sharing with the plod!)

Good ol' Geoff Chappel has already said he'd be up for having us at Kingfield in Woking but that's way too far away.

 

[Cardsfan]

Please don't come to Kingfield, its way too far away, your crowds would be unsustainable and I haven't seen our pitch so nice in years

 

[Meadow]

Quite. This is why I think the statement our board put out was so misguided and ill-judged, because it basically absolves AFC Wimbledon of any moral responsibility to take care of us. Relocating to somewhere at the other end of / outside of the borough wouldn't, I'm sure, be considered a satisfactory solution to most Ks fans, unless it was in the form of a very short-term groundshare. The only way they're going to be able to secure the club's long-term future is to find a viable site within the town or in close proximity to it. If that exists, and they're able purchase and develop on it, then that's great, but I rather have my doubts...

Incredibly misguided.

1. I doubt our board would consider selling unless there were safeguards in place to keep Kingstonian at Kingsmeadow under the current agreement.

2. If our board hadn't considered safeguards, it's highly unlikely that they'd get enough votes to sell (75% of the electorate, I believe). Having been right royally shafted by Sham Hammam all those years ago, a lot of us wouldn't want to do the same to another club.

3. Not sure Kingston Council would be at all happy given the deal they effectively brokered.

Looking at point 1 though, how much longer has the rent-free period last, and would K's be able to afford a modest rent when that ends.

 

[Paddy]

Am I right in thinking it was a 25 year deal? So whenever 25 years post you obtaining the perimeter lease is up... if I'm right with that time frame then rent is a moot point as you'll be long gone before that Grayhound Stadium or not.

But, since you asked, no we probably can't afford rent on it... hence the board wanting to move out (to either buy a plot of land & build a ground OR rent off of someone else... which indicates they have the money to pay for rent in the first place confusingly enough)

 

[Paddy]

Please don't come to Kingfield, its way too far away, your crowds would be unsustainable and I haven't seen our pitch so nice in years

Don't worry... Our long ball tactic will make sure the middle of the Kingfield pitch stays in pristine condition.

I seriously doubt we'd ever consider going to Woking anyway but it's nice of Geoff to remember where 2 of his 5 FA Trophy winners medals came from!