The phoenix club thread

[leon]

Good lord no. Sod that.

Fair enough, bit too sociable for you I would imagine, and not easily available on tv….

I like quality, I appreciate it's not for everyone though.

quality????

[Mr Angry]

Not exactly an apples for apples comparison, but when AFC Wimbledon started up, they had the initial meeting (am sure stuff took place behind the scenes) on 30 May 2002, had their first trials on 13 June 2002, and their first friendly on 10 July 2002. They started their league season in August 2002.

Most league AGM's at non-league level don't take place until early/mid June when they ratify their structures for the season. Usually it's done on a trickle-down basis (ie, National League first, then Trident Leagues - Isthmian, Southern, Northern - then feeder leagues, then county leagues). These usually get delayed due to some club or another being demoted / going bust etc. So, working on worst case scenario, of the EFL letting the club limp on until the end of the season, there would still be time to get something together (barring the already stated caveats of "where do we play?" etc).

I remember at the time, AFC applied to join the Isthmian League, and the board of the league voted the proposal down (if I remember rightly, Harrow Borough were one of the clubs who voted against). The Combined Counties League were delighted to take them in - the publicity, attendance and finance boost, and booze sales in the bar for all clubs were utterly massive. A lot of clubs that first season - CCL Division One - had their highest ever home gate that season. Southall moved their game to Chalfont's ground, and had about six tents dishing out curry, which they'd included in the cost of the ticket.

Now, 23 years later, regulations and procedures have no doubt been updated, so the club / phoenix club might not find it as easy as just asking nicely if they can join a league (the CCL Div One is now technically a tier lower, following the formation of National League North / South in 2004). However, I personally doubt that we would be placed as high as NL/NLS, unless somebody in either of those divisions went bust themselves / took a voluntary demotion (I don't think I've heard of too many clubs at those levels being on life support this season). The FA however do prefer to reprieve clubs in those situations, rather than promote an additional club from a lower level. I do think that if we were to apply for the Isthmian / Southern League, that we would be accepted - I would like to think that they wouldn't repeat the same mistake from 2002.

In terms of venue, Wycombe or Aldershot probably. I just think Slough and Maidenhead would be too small. Reading have a larger fanbase than AFCW had, when they reformed, they were constantly filling out Kingsmeadow which was about 3000ish. Even allowing for some fans giving up on football / watching another side, then I don't think a leagueish sized ground would be unrealistic (though again AFCW got "lucky" in the fact that Kingsmeadow's host club, Kingstonian, had a prototype Dai in charge at the time, and he let AFCW essentially have the ground). Just please god not Farnborough - it's the nearest ground to my house, but I would violently resent giving Spencer Trethewy any money...

Was he the bloke that was "rescuing" Aldershot about 30 odd Years ago, appearing on Wogan etc etc?

I thought at the time that he was a little twat.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Yes, he was 18 back then (weren’t we all dicks at 18?)

Think (at 54 years old) he’s grown-up a bit since then, been running Farnboro’ since 2011

[Forbury Lion]

Simply getting behind Reading City might not be the worst option. Established club, with a ground. An influx of support would potentially let them rise rapidly up the leagues and they may not be averse to becoming the home of former Royals, although they might hate the idea . To be honest it would be really easy to take over an existing club and simply rebadge it, probably easier than starting from scratch. Ethically it might not be great unless it’s an agreed takeover.

Why not go full Robert Maxwell and merge them with Oxford City to form Thames Valley City, with games played in Didcot? I'm sure their fans will be up for it

[AthleticoSpizz]

What are you chuntering on about Forbes?

[Forbury Lion]

What are you chuntering on about Forbes?

To be honest it would be really easy to take over an existing club and simply rebadge it

This is what I'm chuntering against ASpizz.
An existing club may be small, may lack history and may have a small following, but I wouldn't want to effectively rob fans of their club
so we can attempt to recreate ours.