Who do you want up/down?

[Cardsfan]

Most of the teams hovering round the drop in League Two are northern, with the exception of Cheltenham and Dagenham. I'm not too fussed really as I wouldn't wish it on anyone, although an extra local game would be nice. The top 5 in the south are Borehamwood, Bromley, Whitehawk, Basingstoke and Gosport - don't really mind which of them comes up as they're all quite similar (although Bromley get decent gates IIRC.) Looks like it will be Barrow and Fylde from the north, happy with Barrow as although they're bankrolled they are the 2nd biggest club in that division.

 

[DarkSithLord]

[ There are no big games in this division, it's non-league.[/QUOTE]

Think Chester and Wrexham fans may disagree with that!

 

[CrazyImp]

[ There are no big games in this division, it's non-league.

Think Chester and Wrexham fans may disagree with that![/QUOTE]
I don't class foreign derbies as big games.

 

[slaphead]

Thats the same soft southern logic that had us unfairly voted out of the football league despite finishing third bottom .......

Quite bloody right too......

 

[Ian Richardson]

Im sure Woking little idiots. Would enjoy Bromleys little idiots.
Would like to see 1 off Gosport or Basingstoke,
don't realy mind about who else comes Down, up or stays.
Looking forward to new places to Visit, have a few beer and have some some sillyness.

 

[Greenacres]

Whitehawk are a good shout, as they have a very good manager in Steve King who works well with a big budget, which by all accounts is what they've got. Bit of a shithole though, and they've got no fans.

I know Brighton fairly well, it is a bit like the curate's egg, good in parts...sadly Whitehawk isn't one of them, even muggers go round in pairs!

You are right about them not having many fans, even though you might think a city that size could support two teams, their problem is that the Albion fans mostly refuse to go anywhere near the place.

 

[AdamStag]

I'd like to see Mansfield back down just so we can enjoy the "in Radford we trust" thread again

We trust, we just haven't done so well since.

We should survive given our run in.

 

[Pliny Harris]

Whitehawk would be such a weird one. Wouldn't be happy with it like most others. No doubt we'd lose 4–1 down there.

 

[GTFC1979]

I was being ironic. Didn't seem to stir people as much as I expected it to though!

Probably because however you meant it, we all know it is true!

 

[DarkSithLord]

Us going down and you guys Visiting Flyde and Whitehawk next season will make you miss us!

 

[Gassy]

How the bloody hell do you think our players "loved" sending you down?

We had one shot on goal, scored and you had the rest of the game. It's not our fault you were so shit you couldn't hit a cows arse with a banjo.

Our fans were completely sympathetic with you, and I was chatting with a good deal with them after what had happened. Colin Daniel only "had a laugh" with City fans after he got tweeted with abuse from your fans after scoring a goal against you - he didn't send you down - you sent yourselves down over a course of the season, some of the messages to him were astonishing (I dare say after some had consumed a fair amount of cider while doing so)

Anyone who has had to endure this shithole of a league would not "glorify" in sending someone else down, even if it was a direct competitor (which you weren't)

Don't get me wrong, the fans were a class act, nothing against you lot. But the players wanted us to go down. They time wasted as of the 60th minute. Even some of teams down here time waste less! Considering the W/D/L made no difference at all to you, I was shocked how desperate you were for the 3 points. I agree, we should have won, and ultimately the table doesn't lie, despite that day being the only day we had been in relegation; we deserved to be relegated. Im not disputing that, but it was the goal that sent us down.

Either way, he had a laugh over our relegation which was a bitter taste in the mouth, its bad enough the situation happened, but having him and Bristol City fans taking the p*ss together was unprofessional. In your logic, if a fan shouts at a player on the pitch, should he just turn round and tell them where to go?

Either way, whats done is done, I have no complaints against the Mansfield fans, just the players for seeming to want us to go down.

 

[Gassy]

This paragraph is cute.

The Conference North comprises the 22 most northern teams in step two. That's all it is. It's just that the non-league structure is inherently southern-centric now and needs overhauling, as in the ten years since we've had a Conference North/South rather than the Conference being served by the Northern/Southern/Isthmian Premiers, the southern focus has worsened and can only directly change if relatively "northern" teams from the Southern Premier gain promotion, eg. Redditch, Corby. I think the best way of changing this is by changing the structure of step five and below. Step five has 14 divisions, eight of which consist of teams all south of Bedford basically. Merge one southern division and through grassroots facilities funding introduce a new northern one and I firmly believe it'll stop the rot. Also, fund step five's Northern League (the Geordie league) so that clubs who finish top are promoted into step four, as this transition has been refused by many clubs in recent past and has finished off one or two others, despite having probably the best attendances in counties league football. In the past ten years the Conference North borderline has gone from just south of Birmingham to south of Oxford/Luton now, which is ludicrous, as is making Blyth Spartans and Workington share the Northern Premier League with Halesowen SW of Birmingham, Barwell (Leics.), and King's Lynn in Norfolk. I hope that helps...?

The Boston United is the same old Boston too, went straight down to the Conference North and then were demoted for general financial stuff.

If we're in the Conference next season then I'd like this lot, purely to make the Conference more enjoyable for us:
Mansfield/York/Hartlepool/Carlisle/Tranmere down
Barnet/FGR/Beastleigh up
----
Dartford/Nuneaton/Alfreton/Welling down (begrudgingly)
Barrow/Guiseley/Chorley up, then Bromley/H&W if I had to choose from the South

I guess that makes sense? Not really, but you've cleared my mind a little. A tad strange but I guess it makes sense, thanks for your help

 

[Gashead]

I was being ironic. Didn't seem to stir people as much as I expected it to though!

Thank God I thought it might have been but you just never know with Rovers fans sometimes!

 

[ShrewdBlue]

Hartlepool are already down and would be good for us if Tranmere came down as well.

Really don't want Barrow to come up, just another Eastleigh. Would prefer Tamworth and Hednesford.

Not really bothered who comes up from the South as long as it isn't Ebbsfleet.

 

[AdamStag]

Don't get me wrong, the fans were a class act, nothing against you lot. But the players wanted us to go down. They time wasted as of the 60th minute. Even some of teams down here time waste less! Considering the W/D/L made no difference at all to you, I was shocked how desperate you were for the 3 points. I agree, we should have won, and ultimately the table doesn't lie, despite that day being the only day we had been in relegation; we deserved to be relegated. Im not disputing that, but it was the goal that sent us down.

Either way, he had a laugh over our relegation which was a bitter taste in the mouth, its bad enough the situation happened, but having him and Bristol City fans taking the p*ss together was unprofessional. In your logic, if a fan shouts at a player on the pitch, should he just turn round and tell them where to go?

Either way, whats done is done, I have no complaints against the Mansfield fans, just the players for seeming to want us to go down.

It's just your argument that I don't get.

So if a side that played you in September time wasted from 60 minutes are they partly responsible for sending you down.

To state the players "wanted you to go down" is rubbish. The players wanted to win a match, that it sent you down was of second nature. We sent torquay down the week before (technically) but they won 3-1 at field mill.

 

[Gassy]

It's just your argument that I don't get.

So if a side that played you in September time wasted from 60 minutes are they partly responsible for sending you down.

To state the players "wanted you to go down" is rubbish. The players wanted to win a match, that it sent you down was of second nature. We sent torquay down the week before (technically) but they won 3-1 at field mill.

We deserved to go down, don't get me wrong, it just frustrated me that they time wasted so much knowing what is was for us. I understand the winning side of it, don't get me wrong, but who starts going down wasting time in the 60th minute? We've lost 1 game at home all season and that was for FGR, and even they barely did it, never mind that early on.

We are responsible at the end of the day, theres no denying that, but what frustrated me was that considering the circumstances, why would your players; and potentially your manager, set up as a team like that, to waste time and effectively cheat when a team is desperate for a result. If we were in the opposite side, I would have been the same - as a fan, feeling sorry for the others.. I have never sung a song (personally) taking joy of anothers relegation, but I would have been upset in the manner in which the team set up and how the scorer reacted after the game.

 

[GEORGE]

Hartlepool are already down and would be good for us if Tranmere came down as well.

Really don't want Barrow to come up, just another Eastleigh. Would prefer Tamworth and Hednesford.

Not really bothered who comes up from the South as long as it isn't Ebbsfleet.

Barrow aren't another Eastleigh at all. Although they have some money they have history in the football league. Saw them quite a few times at Eastville in the 1960 @70's in the old Third division.

 

[ShrewdBlue]

Barrow aren't another Eastleigh at all. Although they have some money they have history in the football league. Saw them quite a few times at Eastville in the 1960 @70's in the old Third division.

They're like Eastleigh because they're tinpotters throwing money at it. No time for them.

 

[Greenacres]

I have often thought that the Conf North and South were a bit skewed anyway, that there were teams in one division that might have sat better in the other, at least for ease of getting to and from away games. I looked at it some time ago and thought that it might have been better if a line were drawn from say the Wash to the Severn Estuary, with teams to the North and South of the line being in the respective divisions instead of a horizontal line across the country.

The following map shows the current set up (this is a pretty good link anyway, fun to play around with):

http://www.fansfocus.com/leagues/_/conference-leagues/#map

At present you might swap Lowestoft with WSM, both would probably find journeys easier to teams in the other division.

 

[Kim Mitten]

Don't think Carlisle will go down, but would love to see Carlisle-Barrow as a league fixture again. Anyone who says they are not rivals is telling porkies - they are historical rivals, sadly not that many people who are now about who would remember them both as league clubs in local derbies, seeing as Barrow got demoted in 1970. You can say the same Workington.

Be interesting times in this division if Barrow, Fylde and $hitehawk got promoted, 3 teams with plenty of resources all just waiting to go pop - this season could be a wonderful time to get out and certainly not a time to be falling in.

 

[Ian Richardson]

They're like Eastleigh because they're tinpotters throwing money at it. No time for them.

Throwing money at it. Yes I agree. But we pay our bills.
Something you should remember that you don't allways do.
Little reminder for you
The club was served a winding-up order by HM Revenue & Customs in January 2010. There had been repeated financial problems during the 2009–10 Conference season, forcing many fixtures to be affected.[1] Although the club was put up for sale, it was suspended from the Conference National for breaches of rules, and expelled in February 2010, all league results for the season being expunged.

So dont give it the big one. When you have history. Oh and thanks for the 3 points.

 

[Luke_ciderhead]

Carlisle and Hartlepool from League 2.
AFC Fylde and Chorley from the north.
Boreham Wood and Whitehawk from the south.
Rovers to stay down. Some mouth watering fixtures there.

 

[Luke Imp]

I'm not overly fussed. From a locality point of view, Mansfield and York would be ideal. Hartlepool wouldn't be the end of the world either.

Can't be worse than last season when we gained Bristol Rovers, Torquay, Eastleigh and Dover!

Just had a look at this. Would be disaster if Hartlepool, Carlisle, Barrow and Fylde all got in this division next year. Add Gateshead that would be 5 600+ miles journeys. Plus there are already 5 500+ journeys in this year for us. Fuck that for Northern bias.

Good! We need some more northern teams!

 

[SomeMightShay]

Barrow up (so they get lumbered with Gateshead at xmas if they can be bothered to play). Mansfield and York down would potentially add a couple of bumper crowds. Losing a couple of the cockneys wouldn't harm our travelling so if Welling can join Dartford then that wouldn't be too bad. Still not been to New Bucks head and i have a mate who lives on outskirts of Cov so I'd be happy to see Teflon (if they could just sack Kittrick to do so) and Nuneaton stay.

 

[mnb089mnb]

They're like Eastleigh because they're tinpotters throwing money at it. No time for them.

Throwing money at it. Yes I agree. But we pay our bills.
Something you should remember that you don't allways do.
Little reminder for you
The club was served a winding-up order by HM Revenue & Customs in January 2010. There had been repeated financial problems during the 2009–10 Conference season, forcing many fixtures to be affected.[1] Although the club was put up for sale, it was suspended from the Conference National for breaches of rules, and expelled in February 2010, all league results for the season being expunged.

So dont give it the big one. When you have history. Oh and thanks for the 3 points.

I can understand why Eastleigh 'fans' feel as they do. Enjoy it while you can, Eastleigh will go bust sooner or later.

 

[rudebwoyben]

Whitehawk is not really Brighton is it? It's an outlying inter-war estate on the South Downs with a very poor reputation for safety, a nightmare to get to by public transport and it will be freezing in winter. The fact that Whitehawk are just really a pumped-up Sussex County League team with a ground full of temporary stands and fewer fans than Wingate & Finchley is also very unappealing.
If we stay down, the selection of teams coming down from League 2 is not appealing at all. Cheltenham and Dagenham would be the best combination but that's not going to happen.
In terms of the Conference North I'd prefer bigger teams to come up than jumnped-up moneyed tinpotters. If Fylde and Whitehawk get promoted they will make the likes of Eastleigh and Fleetwood look like behemoths. So, for the Conference North, I'd prefer it if Barrow and someone like Chorley (who look like they have a very interesting ground) or Hednesford (who have played at this level before) come up.
In terms of the Conference South, Bromley would be a valued addition. While Borehamwood would be a very local match for us, we can do without their (very few) fans who seem to be stuck in some 80s timewarp. Gosport (getting the ferry to a football match!) or Bath City would be preferable.

 

[ShrewdBlue]

They're like Eastleigh because they're tinpotters throwing money at it. No time for them.

Throwing money at it. Yes I agree. But we pay our bills.
Something you should remember that you don't allways do.
Little reminder for you
The club was served a winding-up order by HM Revenue & Customs in January 2010. There had been repeated financial problems during the 2009–10 Conference season, forcing many fixtures to be affected.[1] Although the club was put up for sale, it was suspended from the Conference National for breaches of rules, and expelled in February 2010, all league results for the season being expunged.

So dont give it the big one. When you have history. Oh and thanks for the 3 points.

And it's because of our history that I can say that - we threw a good amount of money at it and paid our bills when we won the conference but 6 years later it caught up with us and we went pop.

As another poster mentioned - it's a matter of time until Eastleigh go bust. Same goes for Barrow, Ebbsfleet, FGR etc. It's a shame that fans always think their sugar daddy is different and they have the best interests of the club at heart - they don't - Just look at what happened to us, Halifax, Hereford etc and wake up.

 

[rudebwoyben]

I think there is a difference in that when the backers of Ebbsfleet, Barrow and FGR walk away, there are enough people concerned with the club to sustain it at Conference or Conference North/South level afterwards. With Eastleigh, Whitehawk and Fylde that won't be the case.

 

[Sparrow]

They're like Eastleigh because they're tinpotters throwing money at it. No time for them.

Throwing money at it. Yes I agree. But we pay our bills.
Something you should remember that you don't allways do.
Little reminder for you
The club was served a winding-up order by HM Revenue & Customs in January 2010. There had been repeated financial problems during the 2009–10 Conference season, forcing many fixtures to be affected.[1] Although the club was put up for sale, it was suspended from the Conference National for breaches of rules, and expelled in February 2010, all league results for the season being expunged.

So dont give it the big one. When you have history. Oh and thanks for the 3 points.

Tinpot Hobby Club.

 

[Greenacres]

As another poster mentioned - it's a matter of time until Eastleigh go bust. Same goes for Barrow, Ebbsfleet, FGR etc. It's a shame that fans always think their sugar daddy is different and they have the best interests of the club at heart - they don't - Just look at what happened to us, Halifax, Hereford etc and wake up.

I can only speak for our position and think it fair to say that quite a few people, myself included, were a bit worried about the intentions of Dale Vince when he first became involved in the club. Those views ranged from the somewhat crazy "he wants to run the club down and use the ground as a place to put some windmills" or "it is just a tax dodge", there were many others. The situation was even more worrying when some of the early decisions reflected on a man who clearly knew little about football, he certainly wasn't a lifelong fan. Changing the club badge, altering the team colours and banning meat only fuelled the fire and opposition to what he was doing. However, he has invested so much in the club and used the publicity to promote his green agenda that if he walked away or it all went wrong there would be massive damage to his reputation. Despite all the talk about sustainability I remain concerned that this wouldn't be anything like the case if Dale Vince withdrew his investment, though I don't doubt there might be others willing to take up the reins. Please don't accuse me of being ignorant of the risk or unaware of the consequences.