It wouldn't have been a proper season without some play off heartbreak. I went along to FC United last night (housemate is a season ticket holder) and despite finishing 20 points ahead of Ashton, they conceded an equaliser in the 93rd minute and then lost the tie in the 122nd. In the Evo-Stik league play-offs take place over one leg. I really can't stand this system of promotion and relegation.
I heard about that, such a shame as FC United have been there or there abouts for the last 4 years or so. Great support as well, almost 3000 fans there yesterday.
My 2nd team Lancaster City finished on 96 points in 2nd place a few years back. They got beat by Colwyn Bay in the playoff final after finishing 26 points ahead of them. Colwyn Bay got promoted the year after and are now playing in the CN whilst Lancaster are still in the same division. Sometimes it's just not fair.
Wrexham finished on 98 points in the Conference one year and still didn't get promoted. The play offs should be altered to give the team who finished highest more of an advantage imo. For example:
6th v 5th Winner of that vs 4th Winner of that vs 3rd (Final)
Wrexham finished on 98 points in the Conference one year and still didn't get promoted. The play offs should be altered to give the team who finished highest more of an advantage imo. For example:
6th v 5th Winner of that vs 4th Winner of that vs 3rd (Final)
I think it would be more useful to give the Conference an extra promotion slot considering how the standard of that league has increased in recent years. A play-off between 3rd in the Conference and 22nd in League 2 would be a lot more entertaining I think and has been taken on in Scotland this season as well as being the norm in Germany for longer.
I think it would be more useful to give the Conference an extra promotion slot considering how the standard of that league has increased in recent years. A play-off between 3rd in the Conference and 22nd in League 2 would be a lot more entertaining I think and has been taken on in Scotland this season as well as being the norm in Germany for longer.
Oh I agree with you, it's effectively League Three. Problem with doing that is that it would have to be voted on by the football league clubs, and turkeys don't vote for Christmas.
Wrexham finished on 98 points in the Conference one year and still didn't get promoted. The play offs should be altered to give the team who finished highest more of an advantage imo. For example:
6th v 5th Winner of that vs 4th Winner of that vs 3rd (Final)
That reminds me almost of the Spanish Third Division (Segunda Division B). The league is divided into four groups- the winners of the four groups (four teams) pair off and play one match to determine which two teams get instant promotion. The second, third and fourth place teams (12 teams in total) all play each other in a complex playoff system for the two remaining promotion slots.
Oh I agree with you, it's effectively League Three. Problem with doing that is that it would have to be voted on by the football league clubs, and turkeys don't vote for Christmas.
We're getting to the stage where more Conference teams are becoming full time set-ups with crowds comparable to the lower League 2 sides. Perhaps still premature but there is possibly a case for incorporating it into the Football League and making the leagues below strictly amateur as they do in Germany.
That way turkeys don't have to vote for Christmas but the elite non league clubs get their reward for increasing the standard at that level.
I like the playoff system - it keeps the season more interesting - and would introduce playoffs for the final relegation place in a league.
Not really! The game itself was fairly boring. Considering FC United can't actually defend that well, Ashton didn't get anywhere near scoring until Chris Baguley came on and when he did he ran the show because he was so much fitter. It had been a silly end to the season with the same groups of players at each club playing twice a week for months and him being fitter just made the difference. FC United finally started shooting in extra time (their first had been a penalty) but Ashton scored with their only two real chances, and one of those was a gift.
I sort of understand that the play offs do keep things more interesting, as teams in 8th or 9th can still hope for promotion and therefore keep playing their best teams rather than blooding new players, but I don't think it makes up for the fact that a team in 8th or 9th weeks before the end of the season can go up. If you're that low down, you haven't earned it over the course of the season, especially in a league where the team that finishes 2nd, a point off first, can be so easily beaten due to being exhausted.
I heard about that, such a shame as FC United have been there or there abouts for the last 4 years or so. Great support as well, almost 3000 fans there yesterday.
My 2nd team Lancaster City finished on 96 points in 2nd place a few years back. They got beat by Colwyn Bay in the playoff final after finishing 26 points ahead of them. Colwyn Bay got promoted the year after and are now playing in the CN whilst Lancaster are still in the same division. Sometimes it's just not fair.
Fifth year in a row in the play offs, I think. This is the first time they didn't get to the final. It's verging on Brentford levels of depressing. I understand why only one team goes up automatically here because there's multiple divisions feeding into fewer divisions, but it's still just so crushing.
What was your average, Midlander? FC United probably got a few more in quite a lot of games towards the end of the season in the Evo-Stik.
Not really! The game itself was fairly boring. Considering FC United can't actually defend that well, Ashton didn't get anywhere near scoring until Chris Baguley came on and when he did he ran the show because he was so much fitter. It had been a silly end to the season with the same groups of players at each club playing twice a week for months and him being fitter just made the difference. FC United finally started shooting in extra time (their first had been a penalty) but Ashton scored with their only two real chances, and one of those was a gift.
I sort of understand that the play offs do keep things more interesting, as teams in 8th or 9th can still hope for promotion and therefore keep playing their best teams rather than blooding new players, but I don't think it makes up for the fact that a team in 8th or 9th weeks before the end of the season can go up. If you're that low down, you haven't earned it over the course of the season, especially in a league where the team that finishes 2nd, a point off first, can be so easily beaten due to being exhausted.
Fifth year in a row in the play offs, I think. This is the first time they didn't get to the final. It's verging on Brentford levels of depressing. I understand why only one team goes up automatically here because there's multiple divisions feeding into fewer divisions, but it's still just so crushing.
I thought they might be but Stockport are the only ones below Conference level with a higher average than ours of 2,200 odd. FCUM aren't far off though.
Yeah, we've not been in a year, bout time we went back there
Ah, fair enough. Hopefully there'll be a fair few decent players knocking around that you can pick up cheaply. Is your budget really that bad?! I'd have thought with the crowds you get compared to some your budget should be ok.
Indeed! Gateshead have had a wonderful upturn in results since he came in. Probably one of the best non-league managers around. The positive if they go up though is that that's one relegation spot taken! Mills is a pretty awful manager in reality. Tactically very naive, and he'll get found out in the league as he did with York. One problem with Gateshead is they'd probably set all kind of unwanted records for worst home and away attendences in the league. We've been moaning at Accrington this year, but even they bring more than Gateshead!
Halifax - Gateshead final would be brilliant, though!
Maybe it won’t be as bad as I’ve made it out to be. I guess our budget is the healthiest it has been for a long time because the money we made from our two finals last season went to paying off all our debt. So we’re no longer in debt. Also, it looks like the Welsh FA (and several sources) are helping by funding us to improve our pitch and facilities. So I guess that will let us have a bit more of a budget as we won’t have to worry about spending on other things, that pitch is a complete mess too so we would have had to spend a fair bit on it. Although our average attendance is in the top five for this league, it’s actually been pretty low for us and with being a fan-owned club we rely heavily on our gates, so getting attendances below 2,500 when we’ve probably estimated for 3,000 upwards will put a bit of a dent into our budget. I know our performances have been poor but I don’t understand, three years ago we nearly lost this club and would have had to watch a different club (or at least under a different name), in a lower league and in a different ground, so regardless of our performances I’m just happy to still be able to sit in the Racecourse and watch the team I’ve watch since I was seven.
Yeah, I don’t imagine their attendances would increase greatly if they do go up a league. Only 303 away fans against Grimsby tonight, it’s only a two and a half hour trip which is pretty manageable on a weeknight. As expected more than usual for their away games but still pretty poor. It’s a shame but that’s how it is with some of these teams. You’ve got to admire the ones who make the away trip when there are only a handful of them. I think Braintree had the least fans to the Racecourse this season with less than 15 and I expect Gateshead weren’t too far behind. In a way it’s quite sweet because they are your genuine football fans who have the utter most love for their club, none of these little ****s that you get when Luton visit or something.
They were both tight first legs. Cambridge really have hit a dry patch in front of goal at the moment. I had this game on in the background and it was horrendous. Hopefully that’ll be a better game on Sunday! Tonights match sounded as if it was better but I didn’t watch it. Both ties are still all up for grabs in the second leg.
Wrexham finished on 98 points in the Conference one year and still didn't get promoted. The play offs should be altered to give the team who finished highest more of an advantage imo. For example:
6th v 5th Winner of that vs 4th Winner of that vs 3rd (Final)
Thanks for reminding me. That was painful, possibly more painful than losing in the final the last season because we actually deserved to go up that season.
Maybe it won’t be as bad as I’ve made it out to be. I guess our budget is the healthiest it has been for a long time because the money we made from our two finals last season went to paying off all our debt. So we’re no longer in debt. Also, it looks like the Welsh FA (and several sources) are helping by funding us to improve our pitch and facilities. So I guess that will let us have a bit more of a budget as we won’t have to worry about spending on other things, that pitch is a complete mess too so we would have had to spend a fair bit on it. Although our average attendance is in the top five for this league, it’s actually been pretty low for us and with being a fan-owned club we rely heavily on our gates, so getting attendances below 2,500 when we’ve probably estimated for 3,000 upwards will put a bit of a dent into our budget. I know our performances have been poor but I don’t understand, three years ago we nearly lost this club and would have had to watch a different club (or at least under a different name), in a lower league and in a different ground, so regardless of our performances I’m just happy to still be able to sit in the Racecourse and watch the team I’ve watch since I was seven.
Yeah, I don’t imagine their attendances would increase greatly if they do go up a league. Only 303 away fans against Grimsby tonight, it’s only a two and a half hour trip which is pretty manageable on a weeknight. As expected more than usual for their away games but still pretty poor. It’s a shame but that’s how it is with some of these teams. You’ve got to admire the ones who make the away trip when there are only a handful of them. I think Braintree had the least fans to the Racecourse this season with less than 15 and I expect Gateshead weren’t too far behind. In a way it’s quite sweet because they are your genuine football fans who have the utter most love for their club, none of these little ****s that you get when Luton visit or something.
They were both tight first legs. Cambridge really have hit a dry patch in front of goal at the moment. I had this game on in the background and it was horrendous. Hopefully that’ll be a better game on Sunday! Tonights match sounded as if it was better but I didn’t watch it. Both ties are still all up for grabs in the second leg.
Thanks for reminding me. That was painful, possibly more painful than losing in the final the last season because we actually deserved to go up that season.
That sounds a lot more positive financially then! To be honest, if you're facilities are being improved, that should help to attract some pretty good players, too, as that's often just as if not more so important than wages for players.
Haha, I know that feeling. I was just saying with a few mates the other day, that for the first time in my lifetime, I can enjoy the play-offs this year. Every year in the conference, I couldn't enjoy it, as we were worrying about our future, having only just come off the back of being literally minutes away from going bust as a club.
yeah.. not sure it is love for their club though. A lot of them are Newcastle fans who are disgruntled with the way Newcastl are playing, and so are heading along to Gateshead. Bit like Halifax - if they really cared, they wouldn't have let their club die!
I didnt see the Cambridge game, but watched last night's - Grimsby incredibly unlucky not to be a few goals up I think. Gateshead playing exactly like York did under Mills - seems he hasn't changed.
And hey - you didn't deserve to go up that season, we did hehe
Talking of attendances, York have 1400 away fans at a dead-rubber match at Scunthorpe today. Not bad considering lots of people are saving up for the play offs, so didn't want to go today. Not as good as some lg 2 clubs, but should take our average away attendance up to about 950 I think.
Looks like the play-offs could be interesting. My money's on Southend, but it's going to be very tight methinks!
Reading pitch invaded, only to find that Brighton had in fact claimed the last play-off place, how unfortunate.
I was at that game and it was the most bizarre thing ever. People obviously heard others saying 2-2, referring to the Bolton Birmingham game, but people thought they were referring to the Brighton game A lot of people just went on the pitch for the sake of it, including me I must admit. I'm not a Reading fan so it was quite funny seeing everyone's faces drop when the real score came up on the big screen.
Delighted that Birmingham have stayed up too. 93rd minute and all!