The Non-League Thread

[Smiley Culture]

21 minutes ago, Large said:

This is sadly too true. Our area is saturated with teams which makes it so difficult to build a fanbase. We've probably also taken on a bit too much this season with the jump into Step 6, but it was an opportunity we had to take. Can you believe that at Step 6 [so only the second rung of the NLS ladder] we are the only team in our league that doesn't have a playing budget for players. I cannot for the life of me get my head around that players at our level are actually receiving money to play. It's a joke.

But I don't want to end on a downer. We're trying to compete and build something bigger than just a successful First Team. Just need to get a few more bodies through the turnstiles. 

Always wondered why teams in that area don’t merge. The history of Football in that part of London is pretty messy, with most clubs being swallowed up by Dagenham & Redbridge or being phoenix clubs of various natures. Mergers would surely bring together three or four club owners, who could pool their resources together and surely create a club that’s sustainable around the Ryman Premier level, rather than lots of clubs struggling to make ends meet off crowds of 30-40. 

[Large]

4 hours ago, Smiley Culture said:

Always wondered why teams in that area don’t merge. The history of Football in that part of London is pretty messy, with most clubs being swallowed up by Dagenham & Redbridge or being phoenix clubs of various natures. Mergers would surely bring together three or four club owners, who could pool their resources together and surely create a club that’s sustainable around the Ryman Premier level, rather than lots of clubs struggling to make ends meet off crowds of 30-40. 

Too many egos. I was discussing this with the Development team at County FA earlier this week. There's quantity but not enough quality, and clubs are far too precious to merge with others. Generally will only happen if one takes in the other rather than an actual merger to create something new.

[Danny]

4 hours ago, Smiley Culture said:

Always wondered why teams in that area don’t merge. The history of Football in that part of London is pretty messy, with most clubs being swallowed up by Dagenham & Redbridge or being phoenix clubs of various natures. Mergers would surely bring together three or four club owners, who could pool their resources together and surely create a club that’s sustainable around the Ryman Premier level, rather than lots of clubs struggling to make ends meet off crowds of 30-40. 

Enter Hayes FC and Yeading FC, merged over a decade ago to form the Middlesex super club that is Hayes & Yeading FC. Yeading fans stopped turning up and Hayes fans still sing “We’re ‘ayes, not Yeading, we’ll kick your fucking head in”.

[Smiley Culture]

1 hour ago, Large said:

Too many egos. I was discussing this with the Development team at County FA earlier this week. There's quantity but not enough quality, and clubs are far too precious to merge with others. Generally will only happen if one takes in the other rather than an actual merger to create something new.

Are you involved at NFFC then Large or just a fan?

[Large]

Involved. Chairman/Secretary plus any other hats I have to wear along the way. Haven't had to do turnstiles yet. 

[Smiley Culture]

4 minutes ago, Large said:

Involved. Chairman/Secretary plus any other hats I have to wear along the way. Haven't had to do turnstiles yet. 

Oh nice. Will have to come over one day. It’s on the Central Line and quite a nice journey for me from Epping. 

What’s the aim for the club then? 

[Danny]

Anyone know why Clapton CFC play in the Middlesex counties? Bit of a stretch for them?

[Smiley Culture]

2 minutes ago, Danny said:

Anyone know why Clapton CFC play in the Middlesex counties? Bit of a stretch for them?

They formed late and it was the only league that would take them, I think. Their owners (they’re fan owned) are the people that formed the “Clapton Ultras”, a far left Supporters group that would take flags, drums, stickers and that sort of thing to games. There was a big fallout because the Clapton FC owner is dodgy as hell and they boycotted the whole of last season before starting their own club in the summer. 

[Danny]

1 minute ago, Smiley Culture said:

They formed late and it was the only league that would take them, I think. Their owners (they’re fan owned) are the people that formed the “Clapton Ultras”, a far left Supporters group that would take flags, drums, stickers and that sort of thing to games. There was a big fallout because the Clapton FC owner is dodgy as hell and they boycotted the whole of last season before starting their own club in the summer. 

Yeah I've a mate who went to a couple of their games so found out a bit about them. Not really for me mind. Just thought it was weird they're playing the otherside of London, but that makes sense.

[Large]

24 minutes ago, Smiley Culture said:

Oh nice. Will have to come over one day. It’s on the Central Line and quite a nice journey for me from Epping. 

What’s the aim for the club then? 

Short term to just get our house in order. I took a break from the club for about 5 years due to work. I came back this season just in time for pre-season. We've got a real good core of people involved, but there's a lot going on with too few people doing it, so dealing with that. I need to get more volunteers in. Longer term I want us to be a real community club. Football for all regardless of ability. So providing football for every age group and gender. And with the First Team we just want to get as high up the NLS as possible, but this season our objective is to stay in Step 6.

[Smiley Culture]

56 minutes ago, Large said:

Short term to just get our house in order. I took a break from the club for about 5 years due to work. I came back this season just in time for pre-season. We've got a real good core of people involved, but there's a lot going on with too few people doing it, so dealing with that. I need to get more volunteers in. Longer term I want us to be a real community club. Football for all regardless of ability. So providing football for every age group and gender. And with the First Team we just want to get as high up the NLS as possible, but this season our objective is to stay in Step 6.

Apologies for my naivety but what league would you drop into if you went down?  

[Large]

Well this isn't too clear at the moment.  It should be to the division we came from which would be the Essex Olympian Division One, but then from then on it will be into the Essex Olympian Premier Division. It is not clear though whether there will be any relegation this season as there are a few clubs who might not make the ground grading criteria for next season. There are also a couple of teams that are just well out of their depth in the NLS. Poor infrastructure, administration, etc. So it's no guarantee that regardless of where these teams finish they will still be permitted to continue within the league.  

What is meant to happen at the end of the season is the team that finishes top of each of the 19 Step 6 Leagues will be promoted into their regional Step 5 league and the teams finishing in the bottom two places will be demoted. Additionally, the top 9 second placed teams across all Step 6 Leagues, determined on an average points per game basis, shall also be promoted.

[Smiley Culture]

1 hour ago, Large said:

Well this isn't too clear at the moment.  It should be to the division we came from which would be the Essex Olympian Division One, but then from then on it will be into the Essex Olympian Premier Division. It is not clear though whether there will be any relegation this season as there are a few clubs who might not make the ground grading criteria for next season. There are also a couple of teams that are just well out of their depth in the NLS. Poor infrastructure, administration, etc. So it's no guarantee that regardless of where these teams finish they will still be permitted to continue within the league.  

What is meant to happen at the end of the season is the team that finishes top of each of the 19 Step 6 Leagues will be promoted into their regional Step 5 league and the teams finishing in the bottom two places will be demoted. Additionally, the top 9 second placed teams across all Step 6 Leagues, determined on an average points per game basis, shall also be promoted.

Funnily enough, I watched an Essex Olympian League game the other week. It was Epping v Dagenham United in Division Four. It was 3rd v 2nd. The standard was appalling. It ended 11-2. 

[Large]

Yeah, it ain’t the George until you get to Division One. Some of the teams start trying to play football then, but all will be quite organised an well drilled. I actualy think for the last few years Division One has been stronger than the Premier Division. We have our reserve team in Division Five, but the players in there are a long way off of being good enough for the First Team.

[Large]

 Newbury Forest had a good day yesterday. We played Sawbridgeworth Town away in a friendly and got a great chance to look at a few new players. As well as a couple of seasoned ‘pros’ who could be great additions to the squad if they can be convinced to stick around, we had two kids from our college programme who were extremely impressive. Another clean sheet is always nice too. 

[Smiley Culture]

Just now, Large said:

 Newbury Forest had a good day yesterday. We played Sawbridgeworth Town away in a friendly and got a great chance to look at a few new players. As well as a couple of seasoned ‘pros’ who could be great additions to the squad if they can be convinced to stick around, we had two kids from our college programme who were extremely impressive. Another clean sheet is always nice too. 

Saw you were playing Sawbo. I’ve never got over there for a game either actually. Good win that. 

[Large]

5 minutes ago, Smiley Culture said:

Saw you were playing Sawbo. I’ve never got over there for a game either actually. Good win that. 

Yeah the result was nice, but with friendly games unless it’s an absolute drubbing the result is a bit insignificant with the changes that both teams will be making. Sawbo stuck their First Team out though so it was a good challenge, and most importantly was our performance which was great. We’ve a big game away to White Ensign next weekend. They’re challenging for the title so won’t be easy. They also play on a ridiculously small pitch [the league had a mare there as it is never big enough].

[Large]

So Newbury Forest got dicked at the weekend. We lost 4-0 to White Ensign. Now there are a couple of things to take into consideration. First is league position. They're challenging for the title and promotion and we're looking to avoid relegation. So this wasn't a game that we likely to get anything out of. Second is the pitch. This is the smallest pitch ever. I'm talking 9 metres short of meeting the required length [don't know the width but that is too narrow as well], and was the bobbliest one we've played to date. If you know the local non-league football in our area then you'll no how bad it must have been when I say that it was worse than The Spotted Dog. Even taking these points into consideration the performance from Forest was poor. From the moment they turned up they was moaning. The pitch is crap, the changing room is crap, the warm up is crap, as soon as there was a miscontrolled pass of a wayward shot it was crap. It was poor. But that's over now, so next up is a massive bottom of the table clash with Fire United on Saturday at the Terence Macmillan Stadium in Plaistow [another atheltics stadium. Wonderful]. Fire are one point above us but have played three more games. So all to play for.

[Smiley Culture]

Bloody hell, that’s a massive game this weekend @Large. All the best for it, hope you get a win. 

Why’s this level proven to be so difficult for you? Standard? 

[Large]

The standard is higher, but not higher than we are capable of. The big difference though is consistency and key positions. For instance our wide right player is courted by almost all of top teams in our division, and the next two above. We really struggled in goal though at the start of the season [although I feel we've resolved that now] and we have no goal scorer. There are also issues outside of the club that we are having to deal with at the moment which are having a huge impact on everything. We also have no playing budget, so we were alway going to struggle there.

[Eco]

Massive match this weekend for Boston against league leaders Chorley. With all that's been going on, I haven't been able to keep up with them as much as I'd like, but now that things have cleared up a bit, I should be able to start keeping up more with the Pilgrims. 

Only 6 points off of the last promotion playoff spot, and with 8 games remaining, now is a great time to start a late season push. 

[tlr]

Have been to Boston United, proper old school ground but an absolute dive of a town. They are the longest serving side in that division I believe and have always seemed to do well whilst similarly getting nowhere. Huge run of games for Chorley now - had a blinding start to the season (won 9 of their first 10) and were home and dry before the Doncaster drubbing in the FA Cup, whereafter they struggled to even draw half the time. It is basically a two horse race now between themselves and Stockport County (Spennymoor I expect will fall foul of their backlog of matches) and they are due to meet at Chorley in April. Should be a cracker.

Edited March 15, 2019 by tlr

[Large]

I'm hoping we can get a game on this weekend. We haven't been able to play a home game since the beginning of the month. If the rain holds off we should be good, especially with the wind we're getting which helps remove the surface water. It'll be two weeks since a game on Saturday. I'm going stir crazy.

[The Artful Dodger]

Incredibly sad news that North Ferriby United have been formally wound up and no longer exist. People may remember them for a memorable FA Trophy win against the far bigger Wrexham in 2015. Used to go there quite a bit as they were my most local side usually, always played Hull in pre-season. Know people involved at the club personally, will effect many people.

[Large]

It's always sad to see these clubs fold. Would love to know how they got into the situation they did.