National League Play-off Thread 2017/18

[East Bank Shot]

Well in Tranmere, great to see a proper team go up and completely deserve their place back in the FL. Feel like we’ve had some really good games over the last few years, bit of a shame to see you go.

Next season looks interesting - feel like there’s about 8 or 9 teams that could win it without anyone standing out.

 

[Master D]

Just drove home to the wirral and i guarentee you the 240 miles did not seem as long as that 3 minutes injury time .

Its been a pleasure to have your company for the last 3 years ive never met a more gracious educated bunch in my life ..... apart from fgr chris (sorry mate) ! Hope everyones club gets what they deserve next year..... my wishlist:

Shots and wrexham come up , salford go down, guiseley and woking win their leagues and borehamwood go bankrupt.... never met a more ungracious bunch in my life.

Have you forgotten WHAT THEY DID or something?

 

[Mark kavanagh]

No mate, but it was norburn and against braintree so its forgiven. Time to move on and forgive and forget the past

 

[Master D]

No mate, but it was norburn and against braintree so its forgiven. Time to move on and forgive and forget the past

NEVER.

It'll never be forgiven or more importantly, forgotten. Even just thinking about now I'm getting mad......I just can't.....it's just.....wow.

 

[Luke Imp]

I think you're right Terminator, I reckon they only had something like 2700-3000.

Btw, does anybody know how many FGR took when they beat Tranmere last year? I know they took around 4000 a couple of years back when Grimsby beat'em , but I can't recall last year's numbers.

About the same again, I think? Chris FGR will know.

Salford is our most local game now I think. So it's onto a new battle against the latest rise of the tinpotters, it just never fucking ends. A new dawn will arrive one day.

Brother Tranmere have been awarded emeritus status for the part they played in the 17-18 war. It's important that the 4 remaining Brotherhood members fight as one in the forthcoming war against this latest evil.

Ouch. An Xmas and NY double header with Salford.

 

[RLC]

I think you're right Terminator, I reckon they only had something like 2700-3000.

Btw, does anybody know how many FGR took when they beat Tranmere last year? I know they took around 4000 a couple of years back when Grimsby beat'em , but I can't recall last year's numbers.

3,500.

 

[RLC]

Low attendance. What was the break down? Presumably the lions share were Tranmere fans?

Our support looked similar to last year. I would guess 12,000 Tranmere, 3,000 Wood and a few neutrals.

Our pre-sales were not as high as that, but a lot of the fans in the 'neutral' section were Tranmere supporters and pay-on-the-day was available.

I have never seen a Tranmere goal celebrated like our second today. Crazy scenes and definitely the best moment in my thirty-odd years supporting the Mighty Whites.

I would echo the comments above regarding the friendly welcome at NL grounds, but we really did need to return to the glamour of Oldham and Bury. Can't wait.

 

[LondonOrn]

Does anyone have attendance figures for both sets of fans for the Conference play-off finals played at Wembley?

Crowds have been surprisingly low for the most part in recent years, I know that's partly due to playing teams of small fanbases like Gateshead, Newport, Forest Green and Boreham Wood, but Exeter were bringing 30,000 fans and no way do the club have that bigger a fanbase than Cambridge, Wrexham, Grimsby and Tranmere. Only this season despite pushing for promotion they had a smaller average attendance than Cambridge who finished midtable and Grimsby who had a terrible season.

 

[Luke Imp]

Exeter only have half a Stadium at the minute. They'd have higher attendances if it wasn't for that.

 

[The Paranoid Pineapple]

Congrats Tranmere. B Wood are a horrible club so very glad you made it up. It wasn't especially pretty but that was a tremendous, battling performance with 10 men. When the equaliser went in, after all three Tranmere subs had been made, I thought it was curtains. Great effort to shut them out and come back to grab the winner.

 

[E10rifle]

Exeter only have half a Stadium at the minute. They'd have higher attendances if it wasn't for that.

I do genuinely admire LondonOrn and his (or her) repeated willingness to display their abject cluelessness about lower and non-league football in order to pursue their obviously authentic enthusiasm for increasing their knowledge on the subject.

 

[Soup Ladle]

I do genuinely admire LondonOrn and his (or her) repeated willingness to display their abject cluelessness about lower and non-league football in order to pursue their obviously authentic enthusiasm for increasing their knowledge on the subject.

He’s not as intolerable as SkyBluesRose who came on here doing his weird Mystic Meg thing predicting Armageddon for all proper clubs. LondonOrn is harmless bless him, although he needs to brush up on his knowledge of the basics of substitutions if he wants to be taken seriously.

 

[The_Boss]

Our pre-sales were not as high as that, but a lot of the fans in the 'neutral' section were Tranmere supporters and pay-on-the-day was available.

A wholw new take on being "spread out".

 

[Huntsman94]

Firstly, thanks to all other supporters for your messages. It’s really appreciated so thanks a lot.

I can’t belive we’ve done it. When Rides gets sent off you can’t but help feel that the whole season is over. But those players fought like their life depended on it. Clarke was brilliant. McNulty immense. Harris class. Cook and Norwood superb.

I can’t believe we’re up and with respect I hope we’re not back down here anytime soon! Firmly belive we’ve got it in us to challenge for the playoffs in League 2 next season.

I may have only recently joined this forum but the National League board is brilliant so will still be nipping back. All the best next season to some great clubs... Wrexham, Leyton Orient, Aldershot all deserve to be on the Football League and a special mention to Ebbsfleet as well.

GET INNNNNNNNNN!!!!!

 

[B2TF]

It's important that the 4 remaining Brotherhood members fight as one in the forthcoming war against this latest evil.

I won't tell you again, I founded the brotherhood long before the idea ever popped into your tiny head. I make the rules, I say who's in it, you don't have any say at all!

 

[doveranddover]

Good to see James Alabi there celebrating his contribution to Tranmere's promotion

https://twitter.com/x/status/995352856642379777

 

[Pinner Stones]

Went to the final with four Tranmere fans and after their disappointment last year, it was great to see them go up. As an aside, whenever they have seen Wealdstone and me Rovers, our sides have never won. Nice to get that monkey off our collective backs.

Despite the sending off, Rovers looked comfortable throughout with BW playing some nice football but none of it was remotively threatening. The fact that BW didn’t make Rovers’ keeper make a save says it all.

BW fans were even quieter than FGR last year, whilst TR need a new song sheet. Limited reportire or what!

 

[DarkSithLord]

Tranmere Rovers v Forest Green Rovers National League Play off final 2017 Attendance 18,801
Tranmere Rovers v Boreham Wood National League Play off final 2018 Attendance 16,306

 

[localhero]

Felt like I was going to wake up and it’d been a dream. The beers probably helped with that one!

The 27 year wait to see us win something seemed worth it when Norwood headed the winner with 10 minutes to go. He may be a bit of an idiot but he’s our idiot and he’s now forever written into Tranmere folklore along the with the like of Stuart Barlow, Chris Malkin and Steve Yates. I love him!

Commiserations to BW, might stick a few quid on them to follow the trend and win next seasons final.

I’ll definitely miss this league though, some cracking away days and some quality sets of supporters. Especially those you wouldn’t expect like Maidstone and Sutton. Also sad to lose the games vs our foreign neighbours. I’ll be routing for you to join us next season!

And finally....GET THE FUCK IN!!!!!!

 

[Pliny Harris]

I'd been saying how much of a larf it would be to see Morning Wood in the football league, whether they'd be there with 400 fans or a sudden 1,000 newcomers, and was so fascinated to see the reactions it would elicit from the #Elite92 as the effects of non-league financial doping make themselves known in the most emphatic way possible... but given their style of play evident with us and others, the penny pinching on fans despite their £1m/year injections, and the sort of chode who lobs a bottle at Wembley to harm a player into coming off (I'm sure B-Wood will release a statement saying it was the actions of a minority of their fan base and the other 66.6667% of it couldn't be a nicer bunch), and their overall unworthiness of beating the best team I've seen in this league since the Luton/Cambridge promotion sides when they had 10 men, I say congratulations Tranmere.

A fourth season in this league is too much of a chastening exercise for the SWA, who we've stank at playing, but they've been a gracious bunch while suffering fallen crowds, slow progress and ground-out victories. I wish them the best at further progress in the league above.

Attention now goes towards Harrogant vs. Broccoli, the bankrolled scone-munchers from deepest Toryville & Unionistshire, versus the bankrolled nowhere where there's nowt to do but watch your local team, and even then only 200 do it. When we won at the playoff final down there, they'd hurriedly built a new stand behind one goal to qualify, one with bullshit views that seemed to've been built without a level. Just as well for a ground that resembles a collapsed funfair funhouse.

It honestly makes you yearn like mad for Harrogant to win. A team whose MotM is picked by the sponsors "Harrogate Champagne", where we were waved into the ground by a Beemer with the numberplate "T22ORY", whose casuals wear yellow fedoras and sing about how they pay our benefits, the only ground where I've seen jacuzzis advertised in the programme and men parading around with Moët & Chandon brollies.

It's gonna be a more financially skewed Conference than ever.

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

I find it amazing how much times have changed since we were in the conference.....granted a long time ago.

In our time, the ex league sides were absolutely HATED and we'd never never got any praise or good wishes heading into the final, in fact we played Stevenage when Westley was at the height of his hatred by non-league fans (having not long since f*cked up Farnborough) and even then Stevenage got the popular support in the final..........Mind we were helped during our time within the league by the brilliant 'arsenal of the conference' line from York (amazingly superbly apt now in respect of gradully got f*cking worse over the last 5-6 years)

Yet last 3-4 seasons has been very much changed with the types of small non-league club being so hated that even supporting the ex league side is perfectly fine and a much better option.

think back 12 years ago the majority of the non-league sides were on whole long-term well built hard working clubs which deserved a chance like Morecambe, Dagenham, Stevenage and co...........while now its sides far far too small for the FL, badly built, tiny support and bankrolled which seems to have even the small club fans detest them with a passion.

 

[Tranmerewhite]

That keeper is dogshite, didn't Virgo say he was the best in the league? It was an easy save but he clearly got Wembley fever and wanted to flick it away dramatically for the cameras.

Every keeper is the best in the league when Virgo commentates.

 

[Mark kavanagh]

I find it amazing how much times have changed since we were in the conference.....granted a long time ago.

In our time, the ex league sides were absolutely HATED and we'd never never got any praise or good wishes heading into the final, in fact we played Stevenage when Westley was at the height of his hatred by non-league fans (having not long since f*cked up Farnborough) and even then Stevenage got the popular support in the final..........Mind we were helped during our time within the league by the brilliant 'arsenal of the conference' line from York (amazingly superbly apt now in respect of gradully got f*cking worse over the last 5-6 years)

Yet last 3-4 seasons has been very much changed with the types of small non-league club being so hated that even supporting the ex league side is perfectly fine and a much better option.

think back 12 years ago the majority of the non-league sides were on whole long-term well built hard working clubs which deserved a chance like Morecambe, Dagenham, Stevenage and co...........while now its sides far far too small for the FL, badly built, tiny support and bankrolled which seems to have even the small club fans detest them with a passion.

I think it's more that we have won the little clubs over by not being Billy big bollocks

 

[chief]

I think it's more that we have won the little clubs over by not being Billy big bollocks

The little clubs still bring their scrotes out whenever a biggish team such as Wrexham or Orient are in town. Barrow seem to think they have some sort of rivalry with us now, some kid from Dover punched one of our older fans in the back of the head and I'm pretty sure we've had trouble with Aldershot too.

Constantly get people trying to wind us up on the Facebook page now that you're gone too. I saw someone say we're not in the same league as Hartlepool when it comes to the size of our club, wonder what Master D makes of that.

 

[Mark kavanagh]

Your dead right about the little tinpot supporters baiting the big clubs. Ive mentioned before a little club getting a draw at our place and abusing us from behind the police line, i wonder what happened to them?

As for rivalries weve had some foul and abusive tweets from macc and morecambe who both seem developed some kind of hatred and rivalry that we know nothing about and dont really care about to be honest .

Is it me or did i miss our players having a sing song on the coach insulting borehamwood yesterday or our players getting drunk and singing abusive songs about a club who have just suffered a setback? No of course not we all know form is temporary and the higher you build yourself up the further the fall becomes and being a tranmere supporter i know all about those falls

 

[chief]

Your dead right about the little tinpot supporters baiting the big clubs. Ive mentioned before a little club getting a draw at our place and abusing us from behind the police line, i wonder what happened to them?

As for rivalries weve had some foul and abusive tweets from macc and morecambe who both seem developed some kind of hatred and rivalry that we know nothing about and dont really care about to be honest .

Is it me or did i miss our players having a sing song on the coach insulting borehamwood yesterday or our players getting drunk and singing abusive songs about a club who have just suffered a setback? No of course not we all know form is temporary and the higher you build yourself up the further the fall becomes and being a tranmere supporter i know all about those falls

Your players will have the last laugh when you finish above Macclesfield next season.

That's not intended to bait Macc fans, but Accrington and Chesterfield aside, League Two has a better habit of keeping up with The Natural Order™.

 

[E10rifle]

I find it amazing how much times have changed since we were in the conference.....granted a long time ago.

In our time, the ex league sides were absolutely HATED and we'd never never got any praise or good wishes heading into the final, in fact we played Stevenage when Westley was at the height of his hatred by non-league fans (having not long since f*cked up Farnborough) and even then Stevenage got the popular support in the final..........Mind we were helped during our time within the league by the brilliant 'arsenal of the conference' line from York (amazingly superbly apt now in respect of gradully got f*cking worse over the last 5-6 years)

Yet last 3-4 seasons has been very much changed with the types of small non-league club being so hated that even supporting the ex league side is perfectly fine and a much better option.

think back 12 years ago the majority of the non-league sides were on whole long-term well built hard working clubs which deserved a chance like Morecambe, Dagenham, Stevenage and co...........while now its sides far far too small for the FL, badly built, tiny support and bankrolled which seems to have even the small club fans detest them with a passion.

A lot of it has to do with the previous residents - specifically Luton and Oxford & to a lesser extent Mansfield and Carlisle (well, Carver) - being generally unpleasant tosspot clubs/sets of fans, whereas Tranmere, Orient and Hartlepool are a lot more self-deprecating and down-to-earth. Sure that’ll change with perennial wankers Chesterfield coming down.

 

[Shotsfan1993]

The little clubs still bring their scrotes out whenever a biggish team such as Wrexham or Orient are in town. Barrow seem to think they have some sort of rivalry with us now, some kid from Dover punched one of our older fans in the back of the head and I'm pretty sure we've had trouble with Aldershot too.

Firstly, I don't think we should be in the same category as Dover and Barrow since we've been here for half the time you have (and are an ex FL club like yourselves), and secondly i've never seen any trouble at any of our games over the last 5 seasons?

 

[chief]

Firstly, I don't think we should be in the same category as Dover and Barrow since we've been here for half the time you have (and are an ex FL club like yourselves), and secondly i've never seen any trouble at any of our games over the last 5 seasons?

I heard about some happening in the town centre last season, but that could just be ourselves fighting amongst ourselves. We tend to do that now.

 

[chief]

Chuck Bromley in there too, they have an unfortunate set of fans who like to take their shirts off when they shout 'COME ON THEN'.