The Non - League thread

[Royal Rother]

Getting Relegated > Financial Doping

Define "financial doping" for me will you?

[Terminal Boardom]

Getting Relegated > Financial Doping

Define "financial doping" for me will you?

Please do.

We have had an exceptional first season with crowds far in excess of expectations. Paper talk of fans deserting the club in their legions has been shown to be nothing more than hogwash. The steps taken by the club, with a great emphasis on youngsters, has resulted with more Under 16s attending games at Stag Meadow than most clubs get as an attendance.

Can't wait for next season. If the squad stays, then I am quietly confident that we can go one better. Last August was a step into the unknown. We knew nothing of the clubs, pitches, players or officials. Next season, we know exactly what to expect.

[floyd__streete]

I bear the Magpies no ill will whatsoever but I have to say the AP / FS double-act does result in a little smirk at their relegation.

They'll be still, what, 2 divisions higher than your pub team after you overspent and went bankrupt. Murked.

[Royal Rother]

Sorry, you're only giving me more cause for smirking at you, but you really don't get what football is for me.

I've enjoyed this season a lot but I don't really care which league we're in, as long as I can go down to Stag Meadow (and away) and see a game of football every week, and feel involved. As for the "pub team" jibe, water off a duck's back mate - we play some really good stuff at times, good enough for me to want to go out and watch it anyway, come rain or shine, and that's all that matters really.

I don't share the delight at Maidenhead's relegation (referred to earlier by TB) but your usual churlishness does make it a little bit sweet, so thanks for that.

[floyd__streete]

Sorry, you're only giving me more cause for smirking at you, but you really don't get what football is for me.

It's about spouting self-important well-run-club high-and-mightiness on a forum of a club you used to watch whilst switching to watch non-league football - the attraction of which is one of very few things I could ever agree with you upon - and then that club themselves actually folding . Can you not smirk at the irony of that instead?

When Windsor folded my first thought was 'that is a shame to see a local club fold'. When Maidenhead went down your first thought was 'ROFL at fLOLoyd'.....despite the fact that I actually go and watch MUFC for the same reasons you discuss in your post and find it a refreshing antidote to the expensive hassle of watching RFC. So that probably says a lot more about you than it does me.

[Alan Partridge]

I couldn't really give a sh!t what league Maidenhead are in, they aren't a local club to me, only Blue Square South is sort of good non league football rather than the less good stuff I will see 2 games of next year with some m8s as I have no life.

i can't stand Windsor though for obvious reasons. Didcot are still massively struggling following their relegation due to their (windsors) financial incompetence and whilst Didcot's side/manager seems to change by the week and they struggle to keep the club going within the rules and finances they can afford (none), Windsor just start all over again having cheated for 3 seasons. They can fcuk off and die for all I care. Delighted to see they didn't go up this year.

[Royal Rother]

Sorry, you're only giving me more cause for smirking at you, but you really don't get what football is for me.

It's about spouting self-important well-run-club high-and-mightiness on a forum of a club you used to watch whilst switching to watch non-league football - the attraction of which is one of very few things I could ever agree with you upon - and then that club themselves actually folding . Can you not smirk at the irony of that instead?

When Windsor folded my first thought was 'that is a shame to see a local club fold'. When Maidenhead went down your first thought was 'ROFL at fLOLoyd'.....despite the fact that I actually go and watch MUFC for the same reasons you discuss in your post and find it a refreshing antidote to the expensive hassle of watching RFC. So that probably says a lot more about you than it does me.

Oh but I did see the irony of that and had a pissed off LOL at myself on here because of it - like you I do like to be right but unlike you I don't take myself so seriously that I can't have a little chuckle at myself.

Maybe my memory is failing me on more recent events but my 1st thought was not ROFL at Floyd - your comments about Windsor brought out a little smirk, that was all.

[Royal Rother]

i can't stand Windsor though for obvious reasons. Didcot are still massively struggling following their relegation due to their (windsors) financial incompetence and whilst Didcot's side/manager seems to change by the week and they struggle to keep the club going within the rules and finances they can afford (none), Windsor just start all over again having cheated for 3 seasons. They can fcuk off and die for all I care. Delighted to see they didn't go up this year.

And this is where your ignorance betrays you - the people currently running the club sweated many hundreds of hours and thousands of pounds in attempts to find solutions which would have meant paying a proportion of the debt over time but were thwarted at every stage by the ex-Chairman whose astonishing stupidity and negligence resulted in the deficit under the weight of which the club eventually folded.

Unfortunately there was a personal agenda of some sort involved which left no prospect of even a proposal let alone an agreement being reached with the creditors.

But this has all been discussed many times on here and you and others refuse to believe the truth so please just carry on maligning the good people who have put huge energy and money into establishing a viable club again.

Shame on you.

[floyd__streete]

Maybe my memory is failing me on more recent events but my 1st thought was not ROFL at Floyd - your comments about Windsor brought out a little smirk, that was all.

Just some banter with TB over the last year or two brought about a comment or two, I always tend to stick a or something in if it is meant in jest. The pub football comment is a bit of banter back towards TB, I am no footballing snob (although the odd Hellenic League game I have seen has hardly captivated me. Can't speak of the standard of the CCL).

Shame about how the local non league scene has really taken a downturn in the last 15 years or so. In the early 90s Slough were a top 5 Conference side, Windsor were equivalent to Conference South now (didn't they play Torquay in the FA Cup and get a result....now that would really be something to smirk at as far as AP is concerned ), Wokingham Town similarly, Newbury were upwardly mobile with a host of ex-Reading players, Bracknell also. Now 4 of those sides play lower than Ryman or Evostick Southern; Windsor and Newbury having folded and reformed along the way, Wokingham merged with Emmbrook and share with Bracknell who seem to be relegated every season! Slough, like Wokingham, play outside of their home town which is a crying shame as they have perhaps lost a generation of supporters.

The only club which has really improved its fortunes is Maidenhead; they were as low as Isthiman League Division 2 South in the early 90s and to be honest with crowds around the 250-mark they are probably more at home in the Southern League Prem rather than trying to compete with the likes of Woking who can command up to 10 times the crowd! Other than a potentially disastrous spell under the previous chairman, Maidenhead have tended to run themselves pretty tightly. Current chairman Peter Griffin is a real Family Guy, can be spotted on the terraces with his kids wearing jeans and a t-shirt and I feel for people like him who have put a lot of time and effort into running the club. Still, they will be competing at a respectable standard next season - this isn't a dig at Windsor or whoever else, more an observation - and I will continue to go along and watch where and when I can paying a tenner on the gate 5 mins before kick off and standing where I want with a pint (albeit in a plastic glass). Happy days.

Was going to go to a Windsor game over Easter actually, until I realised it clashed with a wedding. Perhaps I'll come along next season and I'll be sure to look out for you, Rother

[Terminal Boardom]

Maybe my memory is failing me on more recent events but my 1st thought was not ROFL at Floyd - your comments about Windsor brought out a little smirk, that was all.

Just some banter with TB over the last year or two brought about a comment or two, I always tend to stick a or something in if it is meant in jest. The pub football comment is a bit of banter back towards TB, I am no footballing snob (although the odd Hellenic League game I have seen has hardly captivated me. Can't speak of the standard of the CCL).

Shame about how the local non league scene has really taken a downturn in the last 15 years or so. In the early 90s Slough were a top 5 Conference side, Windsor were equivalent to Conference South now (didn't they play Torquay in the FA Cup and get a result....now that would really be something to smirk at as far as AP is concerned ), Wokingham Town similarly, Newbury were upwardly mobile with a host of ex-Reading players, Bracknell also. Now 4 of those sides play lower than Ryman or Evostick Southern; Windsor and Newbury having folded and reformed along the way, Wokingham merged with Emmbrook and share with Bracknell who seem to be relegated every season! Slough, like Wokingham, play outside of their home town which is a crying shame as they have perhaps lost a generation of supporters.

The only club which has really improved its fortunes is Maidenhead; they were as low as Isthiman League Division 2 South in the early 90s and to be honest with crowds around the 250-mark they are probably more at home in the Southern League Prem rather than trying to compete with the likes of Woking who can command up to 10 times the crowd! Other than a potentially disastrous spell under the previous chairman, Maidenhead have tended to run themselves pretty tightly. Current chairman Peter Griffin is a real Family Guy, can be spotted on the terraces with his kids wearing jeans and a t-shirt and I feel for people like him who have put a lot of time and effort into running the club. Still, they will be competing at a respectable standard next season - this isn't a dig at Windsor or whoever else, more an observation - and I will continue to go along and watch where and when I can paying a tenner on the gate 5 mins before kick off and standing where I want with a pint (albeit in a plastic glass). Happy days.

Was going to go to a Windsor game over Easter actually, until I realised it clashed with a wedding. Perhaps I'll come along next season and I'll be sure to look out for you, Rother

Thanks Floyd. I was discussing the plight of non-league football in Berkshire on Saturday night. It is quite pitiful when looked at in the cold light of day. Is it because Reading FC have seen an upturn in fortunes since SJM took over? Who knows. Windsor's league average this season is 244. Must be doing something right - even at Step 5.

[floyd__streete]

Windsor's league average this season is 244. Must be doing something right - even at Step 5.

That's very decent, must be 5 times most of the other teams in that league?

Is that not what attracts us to football in the first place, the crowd? I dismissed Hellenic League football off the cuff as being of a poor standard, but that's perhaps because in recent years I have watched Reading Town 3 or 4 times in that league and with their pitiful crowds of one man and his dog I was hardly captivated by the whole thing and it felt like I was watching park football (which you can obviously do for free!). The Maidenhead crowd is very small for the league they have just been relegated from, but there are enough 'characters' on the terraces to laugh along at and enough people who care enough to have some banter with the opposing 'keeper and to breate the lino and to jump around like idiots on the rare ocassion we score!

When I was a 10 year old taken along to Elm Park and old enough to understand what was going on, it was the interaction of the crowd with the action on the pitch which really fascinated me and what keeps me coming back to some extent and that is perhaps what seperates true lovers of the game from armchair gloryhunters in their replica Man U or Chelsea shirts who are missing out on a large part of the fun! Those same gloryhunters tend to pack out the pub next door to York Road on a Saturday; I often wonder why they don't get off their bum and watch a game of football for once in their lives as with mobile phones and Twitter etc. you can follow your 'big' team at the press of a button and still enjoy a beer or two.

And if Rother fancies a proper smirk.....I haven't seen Maidenhead win a home league game at York Road since August 2010 (which in real terms is still rather hilarious 15 or 16 visits) . Guess what, I haven't moaned about it once, because these are rank amateurs charging a tenner a go and are (mainly ) bereft of the arrogance and self-importance of many of the professionals. Rarely see much diving either.....

[Royal Rother]

And there's me all these years been thinking your meant up yours, I'm cool and you're a oxf*rd.

If you do come to Stag Meadow I will be EXTREMELY disappointed if we don't meet up!

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

Thanks Floyd. I was discussing the plight of non-league football in Berkshire on Saturday night. It is quite pitiful when looked at in the cold light of day. Is it because Reading FC have seen an upturn in fortunes since SJM took over? Who knows. .

It seems unlikely.

Wokingham floundered when they lost their ground, after having to expensively upgrade to conference standards before Slough pipped them.

Slough's problems are also down to losing their ground.

Newbury crashed and burned when their plan of playing ex-Reading players backfired.

Bracknell have always struggled for support. They were doing OK in the Rymans league, but the move to the Southern League was a disaster. I remember reading their message board, and it was clear that a number of ex-players and officials were on there moaning about how the club was being run, so the club shut the board down. If the club ever manages to get the long-awaited new ground it would be a huge boost, as Larges Lane is shit.

Maidenhead will always struggle at SLP level with their crowds. Didcot got relegated last year, but that was from their highest level ever, I believe.

[Terminal Boardom]

Thanks Floyd. I was discussing the plight of non-league football in Berkshire on Saturday night. It is quite pitiful when looked at in the cold light of day. Is it because Reading FC have seen an upturn in fortunes since SJM took over? Who knows. .

It seems unlikely.

Wokingham floundered when they lost their ground, after having to expensively upgrade to conference standards before Slough pipped them.

Slough's problems are also down to losing their ground.

Newbury crashed and burned when their plan of playing ex-Reading players backfired.

Bracknell have always struggled for support. They were doing OK in the Rymans league, but the move to the Southern League was a disaster. I remember reading their message board, and it was clear that a number of ex-players and officials were on there moaning about how the club was being run, so the club shut the board down. If the club ever manages to get the long-awaited new ground it would be a huge boost, as Larges Lane is shit.

Maidenhead will always struggle at SLP level with their crowds. Didcot got relegated last year, but that was from their highest level ever, I believe.

What didn't help Slough was that they were relegated on a ground grading matter - they had insufficient seats (about 10 sort I believe). As for Wokingham, they sold their ground to clear debts without having a new ground to go to. They shared at Elm Park for a while but the costs must have been mental. Wasn't there a fire at York Rd many years ago which destroyed the main stand? I don't think it has ever been replaced.

If you think Larges Lane is shit, you need to go to places like Raynes Park Vale, Farnham Town and Chessington & Hook Utd.

[Royal Rother]

Although the grounds you mention are all extremely low standard (and their support even worse) I have really enjoyed the away days. Well, maybe excepting Chessington where we were as shite as the weather.)

It's the poor pitches that bug me more than the facilities. But these clubs have zero budget / minimal support so it ain't the clubs' fault.

[Terminal Boardom]

Some of those pitches

Farnham's resembled a ploughed field, Chessington was a swamp and Dorking's just plain awful. On the plus side, Wembley was top class and a tidy ground to boot. But I have a feeling that the final 3 games in the CCL will not go ahead because of the rain. No way will the grounds in question have recovered since Saturday.

[Royal Rother]

Talking of boggy pitches - I'm supposed to be taking my son to an end of season "Tour" to Weymouth on Friday to Monday... as you know, he's a swimmer so, if it goes ahead, at least he can practice his backstroke in the penalty area while the ball's up the other end of the pitch.

[Barry the bird boggler]

Of course if Portsmouth are liquidised then Maidenhead could get a reprieve.....

[Tony Le Mesmer]

Of course if Portsmouth are liquidised then Maidenhead could get a reprieve.....

20th place in the BSS has been reprieved every year since the restructure. Every year until now that is...

[Aly Murty]

Ryman Division 1 South Play-off Semi finals
Dulwich Hamlet 2-1 Folkestone Invicta
Bognor 4-4 Godalming (Bognor win 5-3 on pens)

So on Sunday Dulwich travel to Bognor for the playoff final, should be a very close game. Last season Dulwich beat Bognor in the semis (having finished more than 30points behind them in the league) but went on to lose to Leatherhead. Having been at 4 playoff final defeats following Dulwich and Reading, I would really appreciate a win for once.