eppinggas
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Post by eppinggas on Jul 26, 2024 9:15:51 GMT
The "Where are you Going Thread" sometimes goes off at a bit of a tangent. (Usually my fault)...
So here is a section for issues in the lower leagues - I guess covering step 6 and below. Tier 11 is the bottom rung of the established pyramid, but there are some Clubs of interest below there. Epping Town managed to get relegated from 12 to 13 in a very disappointing season.
I'll be following newly promoted supporter-owned Enfield Town in National League South. I think they will struggle - as did Cheshunt when they made the jump.
Some really bizarre decisions made further down the pyramid.
One of my least favourite Clubs - Sawbridgeworth - finished one from bottom of tier 9 Spartan South Midlands Football League. Played 36, 14 points. Pathetic.
So obviously they were relegated. Nope. Someone must have know someone and they secured a sideways transfer to the Essex Senior League in tier 9. WTaF?
My favourite grass roots non-league Club is supporter-owned Clapton Community FC. Denied promotion from tier 10 in a play-off loss. So another season in the Thurlow Nunn premier division? Nope. The FA have placed them in a new league that has most the teams in south London and Kent.
Was chatting to a Clapton CFC supporter at the back end of last season and he said the Club were disliked by the FA because they were too political. Now I'm certainly not a hipster left-winger. But I can see the attraction of a Club with working class roots, drums, banners, flags and attracting the local community and a large percentage of women and children. Building a real fan base in north east London.
The FA response - punish them and put them in a league south of the river! I'll need to buy a stab-vest for most away fixtures.
The lower leagues, madness, madness, they call it madness.
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Post by Mrs V Smegma on Jul 26, 2024 22:11:42 GMT
Sad news at Hereford Lads Club FC
CLUB STATEMENT đ | It is with deep disappointment that we wish to inform you that the Hereford Lads Club 1st Team, Lads Club Reserves and Lads Club Colts will be pulling out of the Hellenic League Premier Division and Herefordshire Leagues with immediate effect.
One of 3 Hereford clubs in Hellenic Prem and would have gone to see them this season. Reading their Twitter feed seems like they have had a complete breakdown between those running football matters and the club executive. As a result they appear to be no moreâŚ..
Sporting Club Inkberrow have been promoted to Hellenic Prem in their place after unluckily losing last seasonâs play off final against Malmesbury Victoria
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eppinggas
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Post by eppinggas on Aug 15, 2024 9:43:57 GMT
Not sure how I missed this... Clapton FC are no more. That is a long history down the pan. Some debate about whether Clapton Community FC will inherit the Clapton FC titles/history. I don't think so. RIP Clapton FC - pretty inevitable that they would fold. Long live Clapton Community FC! Discussed in depth here: www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/forums/threads/the-demise-of-clapton-fc.13595/ |
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Post by eppinggas on Aug 16, 2024 11:10:20 GMT
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eppinggas
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Post by eppinggas on Sept 9, 2024 8:38:17 GMT
At what point do 'Clubs' become 'Businesses'? I think it creeps in at step 2 - where you feel more of a customer than a supporter.
The premiersh1t is just a collection of global 'brands'. Squeezing the last drop of revenue out of paying customers.
The EFL and right the way down to step 2 are just smaller versions of these 'businesses', invariably running at a loss and requiring a benevolent owner and relatively high ticket prices / merch to keep them going. (There maybe the odd one or two exceptions to this).
Step 3,4,5,6 feel 'right' to me.
Cheap tickets prices, local people supporting their local Club, cheap (ish) beer, that you can have where you sit / stand - go where you want when you want, free parking, no play acting, no waving imaginary cards, games start at 3pm and finish before 5pm, and straight back to your car and home. Your money doesn't go to help pay inflated wages to over-paid players and subsidize loss making businesses. It goes to help keeping a local community asset going.
Not sure when my next visit to the EFL will be. Orient / Rovers? But that's mid-week and mid-December.
I'm going flakey already.
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Post by Mrs V Smegma on Sept 12, 2024 15:48:59 GMT
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eppinggas
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Post by eppinggas on Sept 18, 2024 14:42:55 GMT
I was once saved by one of these scams. It was a mid-week set of fixtures, definitely late 90's. I had quite a big bet on premiership "homes over aways". A flookish set of results had loads of away wins, which meant at 90 mins I stood to lose a fairly significant sum of money (at ÂŁ50 a goal. Ouch). Next morning I checked with the bookies... to be told that the whole bet was voided as one game did not complete - the lights went out at about 60mins. After 65mins even with the match abandonned the 'result' would have stood in terms of the full set of fixtures. I swear I celebrated far more than any win I've ever had. I took this is a warning from God not to do it again. If there is a God. I'm agnostic. |
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Post by eppinggas on Oct 1, 2024 7:38:39 GMT
Non-League Matters is a great forum. Loads of write-ups of local games. Occasionally a permiersh1t report sneaks in. I found this one particularly resonant. Sums up the mentality of the grass roots supporter: www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/forums/threads/saturday-28th-september-2024.14502/page-2#post-299000Premiership Arsenal 4-2 Leicester Attendance 60,000 (head count!) Programme ÂŁx - more like a car sales brochure My first encounter with the Premiership and/or Football League for sometime so more observations on the âexperienceâ rather than a match report. Not the best of starts. We drove to Rickmansworth where there is free street parking, had a âspoons breakfast and got to the station to discover there were no Metropolitan Line trains all weekend. Quick drive to Watford Junction, overground to Euston and tube to Highbury & Islington. The grandson wanted some merchandise from the Club Superstore which is an absolute cash-cow filled with some deafening drum-and-bass or was it (c)rap or was it garage music played by a DJ with a mixing desk? There was an airport-style queueing system that involved negotiating a maze to pay, with hundreds of âfootball touristsâ clutching hundreds of pounds worth of âstuffâ. This is why clubs donât sell all their tickets as season tickets because it is only casual visitors who purchase merchandise. I digress. Accessing the ground was fine other than an airport-style full body search where, upon asking, a ten minute massage would cost an extra ÂŁ20 (that is not true). Inside was the usual âTop Flight Cateringâ ie. absolute rubbish in the food line that wouldnât go down well on âGary Eatsâ â although there was Camden Ale which at ÂŁ7 was declined. There were all the crass attempts to whip-up an atmosphere, including (no doubt paid) flag wavers and drummers. When the stadium was rocking in added on time, it was a cracking atmosphere created by the on-pitch action rather than the off-pitch commercial antics. The game was actually superb, although VAR frustrated goal celebrations from the crowd. Other negatives; having paid for seats, I didnât expect to stand. Imagine going to the cinema and standing. And I realised that I hadnât missed the vile chants between supporters that involved terms referencing body excrement and the act of sexual intercourse. And many fans exiting at 40 minutes and re-entering at 50 minutes only to have missed a goal. I must remember to repeat at the theatre and get up and walk out 5 minutes before the interval and 5 minutes from the end. Back to Watford Junction by 645pm and key in the door in the Shire by 905pm. Marks out of ten? Maybe 6. I think that I would rather be on some scrappy patch of land watching a decent County League game but good to spend a day with the son and grandson.â |
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Post by lostinspace on Oct 1, 2024 13:07:46 GMT
Non-League Matters is a great forum. Loads of write-ups of local games. Occasionally a permiersh1t report sneaks in. I found this one particularly resonant. Sums up the mentality of the grass roots supporter: www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/forums/threads/saturday-28th-september-2024.14502/page-2#post-299000Premiership Arsenal 4-2 Leicester Attendance 60,000 (head count!) Programme ÂŁx - more like a car sales brochure My first encounter with the Premiership and/or Football League for sometime so more observations on the âexperienceâ rather than a match report. Not the best of starts. We drove to Rickmansworth where there is free street parking, had a âspoons breakfast and got to the station to discover there were no Metropolitan Line trains all weekend. Quick drive to Watford Junction, overground to Euston and tube to Highbury & Islington. The grandson wanted some merchandise from the Club Superstore which is an absolute cash-cow filled with some deafening drum-and-bass or was it (c)rap or was it garage music played by a DJ with a mixing desk? There was an airport-style queueing system that involved negotiating a maze to pay, with hundreds of âfootball touristsâ clutching hundreds of pounds worth of âstuffâ. This is why clubs donât sell all their tickets as season tickets because it is only casual visitors who purchase merchandise. I digress. Accessing the ground was fine other than an airport-style full body search where, upon asking, a ten minute massage would cost an extra ÂŁ20 (that is not true). Inside was the usual âTop Flight Cateringâ ie. absolute rubbish in the food line that wouldnât go down well on âGary Eatsâ â although there was Camden Ale which at ÂŁ7 was declined. There were all the crass attempts to whip-up an atmosphere, including (no doubt paid) flag wavers and drummers. When the stadium was rocking in added on time, it was a cracking atmosphere created by the on-pitch action rather than the off-pitch commercial antics. The game was actually superb, although VAR frustrated goal celebrations from the crowd. Other negatives; having paid for seats, I didnât expect to stand. Imagine going to the cinema and standing. And I realised that I hadnât missed the vile chants between supporters that involved terms referencing body excrement and the act of sexual intercourse. And many fans exiting at 40 minutes and re-entering at 50 minutes only to have missed a goal. I must remember to repeat at the theatre and get up and walk out 5 minutes before the interval and 5 minutes from the end. Back to Watford Junction by 645pm and key in the door in the Shire by 905pm. Marks out of ten? Maybe 6. I think that I would rather be on some scrappy patch of land watching a decent County League game but good to spend a day with the son and grandson.â Sounds a bit like Highbury đ..and being inquisitive..was KS in the 'Frisking zone ' ahead of you, đ¤? |
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eppinggas
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Post by eppinggas on Oct 2, 2024 7:52:35 GMT
Non-League Matters is a great forum. Loads of write-ups of local games. Occasionally a permiersh1t report sneaks in. I found this one particularly resonant. Sums up the mentality of the grass roots supporter: www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/forums/threads/saturday-28th-september-2024.14502/page-2#post-299000Premiership Arsenal 4-2 Leicester Attendance 60,000 (head count!) Programme ÂŁx - more like a car sales brochure My first encounter with the Premiership and/or Football League for sometime so more observations on the âexperienceâ rather than a match report. Not the best of starts. We drove to Rickmansworth where there is free street parking, had a âspoons breakfast and got to the station to discover there were no Metropolitan Line trains all weekend. Quick drive to Watford Junction, overground to Euston and tube to Highbury & Islington. The grandson wanted some merchandise from the Club Superstore which is an absolute cash-cow filled with some deafening drum-and-bass or was it (c)rap or was it garage music played by a DJ with a mixing desk? There was an airport-style queueing system that involved negotiating a maze to pay, with hundreds of âfootball touristsâ clutching hundreds of pounds worth of âstuffâ. This is why clubs donât sell all their tickets as season tickets because it is only casual visitors who purchase merchandise. I digress. Accessing the ground was fine other than an airport-style full body search where, upon asking, a ten minute massage would cost an extra ÂŁ20 (that is not true). Inside was the usual âTop Flight Cateringâ ie. absolute rubbish in the food line that wouldnât go down well on âGary Eatsâ â although there was Camden Ale which at ÂŁ7 was declined. There were all the crass attempts to whip-up an atmosphere, including (no doubt paid) flag wavers and drummers. When the stadium was rocking in added on time, it was a cracking atmosphere created by the on-pitch action rather than the off-pitch commercial antics. The game was actually superb, although VAR frustrated goal celebrations from the crowd. Other negatives; having paid for seats, I didnât expect to stand. Imagine going to the cinema and standing. And I realised that I hadnât missed the vile chants between supporters that involved terms referencing body excrement and the act of sexual intercourse. And many fans exiting at 40 minutes and re-entering at 50 minutes only to have missed a goal. I must remember to repeat at the theatre and get up and walk out 5 minutes before the interval and 5 minutes from the end. Back to Watford Junction by 645pm and key in the door in the Shire by 905pm. Marks out of ten? Maybe 6. I think that I would rather be on some scrappy patch of land watching a decent County League game but good to spend a day with the son and grandson.â Sounds a bit like Highbury đ..and being inquisitive..was KS in the 'Frisking zone ' ahead of you, đ¤? Not my report Sir! You're very unlikely to find me at an EFL game, let alone at one in the top flight. I did watch Arse / PSG on TV though... Apart from the Arsenal goals it was very quiet, PSG fans making all the noise. Which kind of reflects my thoughts on "elite" English football. It's very expensive and generally delivers a flat, sterile experience. |
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Post by lostinspace on Oct 2, 2024 8:23:03 GMT
Sounds a bit like Highbury đ..and being inquisitive..was KS in the 'Frisking zone ' ahead of you, đ¤? Not my report Sir! You're very unlikely to find me at an EFL game, let alone at one in the top flight. I did watch Arse / PSG on TV though... Apart from the Arsenal goals it was very quiet, PSG fans making all the noise. Which kind of reflects my thoughts on "elite" English football. It's very expensive and generally delivers a flat, sterile experience.  Ah I see ! Just re read the opening paragraph, and i had mis read it,so apologise there, I can't remember ever going to a PL game, and possibly the last top-flight game I attended ( other than this year's England Holland semi final)would have at White Hart Lane, when it was the First Division |
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eppinggas
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Post by eppinggas on Oct 2, 2024 12:01:44 GMT
Not my report Sir! You're very unlikely to find me at an EFL game, let alone at one in the top flight. I did watch Arse / PSG on TV though... Apart from the Arsenal goals it was very quiet, PSG fans making all the noise. Which kind of reflects my thoughts on "elite" English football. It's very expensive and generally delivers a flat, sterile experience. Ah I see ! Just re read the opening paragraph, and i had mis read it,so apologise there, I can't remember ever going to a PL game, and possibly the last top-flight game I attended ( other than this year's England Holland semi final)would have at White Hart Lane, when it was the First Division No need to apologise... Just trying to think what my last permiersh1t game was. Almost certainly Arsenal at the Emirates (the company I worked for had a couple of season tickets) - that has to be a least 10 years ago. Not many others in the top flight. Arsenal at Highbury - despite the "Highbury Library" tag I stood on the north bank a couple of times and it was a great atmosphere. Would have been pre-Sky and before it all went horribly downhill / all-seater / ridiculously expensive. Also used to watch Palace in the early 90's as I lived in East Croydon - again great atmosphere on the Holmesdale Terrace. The only other one that springs to mind was Millwall vs Everton in the early 90's. I was in the Millwall end, lending my support to Millwall for the day. Needless to say it was scary. The atmosphere at the Old Den was something else! |
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Post by eppinggas on Nov 6, 2024 16:47:16 GMT
Tier 9 football. Probably my favourite level on balance. Some Clubs charging ÂŁ10 entry though.
Essex Senior League breakdown:
6 Clubs charging ÂŁ10
11 Clubs charging ÂŁ8
And a big shout out to the 3 Clubs charging ÂŁ7. Take a bow Athletic Newham, Benfleet and Woodford Town.
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eppinggas
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Post by eppinggas on Nov 6, 2024 16:56:11 GMT
Speaking of Athletic Newham... they sold Ivorian Richard Kone to Wycombe Wanderers back in January. Kone had scored a prolific 88 goals in 109 games for Athletic Newham. Only denied a professional contract earlier in his career because of his visa status. He's currently 9 from 27 for Wycombe.
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Post by lostinspace on Nov 7, 2024 8:24:01 GMT
Ah I see ! Just re read the opening paragraph, and i had mis read it,so apologise there, I can't remember ever going to a PL game, and possibly the last top-flight game I attended ( other than this year's England Holland semi final)would have at White Hart Lane, when it was the First Division No need to apologise... Just trying to think what my last permiersh1t game was. Almost certainly Arsenal at the Emirates (the company I worked for had a couple of season tickets) - that has to be a least 10 years ago. Not many others in the top flight. Arsenal at Highbury - despite the "Highbury Library" tag I stood on the north bank a couple of times and it was a great atmosphere. Would have been pre-Sky and before it all went horribly downhill / all-seater / ridiculously expensive. Also used to watch Palace in the early 90's as I lived in East Croydon - again great atmosphere on the Holmesdale Terrace.  The only other one that springs to mind was Millwall vs Everton in the early 90's. I was in the Millwall end, lending my support to Millwall for the day. Needless to say it was scary. The atmosphere at the Old Den was something else! A ' top attraction ' rather than top fight- or flight!! Was I recall now, Old firm game at Ibrox maybe 15 years ago C were on a roll and Rangers were( as now second fiddle) never been in an atmosphere like that, cut it with a knife, one game where the opposition fans really are moved around as if in a chain gang, the amount of police required to shepherd the C fans in and out was humungus, |
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Post by Mrs V Smegma on Nov 10, 2024 0:35:09 GMT
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Post by Mrs V Smegma on Nov 10, 2024 12:47:36 GMT
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eppinggas
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Post by eppinggas on Nov 15, 2024 16:43:19 GMT
Match report from Northern League News. (Posted on NonLeagueMatters): Sunderland West End 5 â 6 Yarm & Eaglescliffe Where do we start? In a game that will be remembered for a long time to come Yarm & Eaglescliffe remained top of the league after fighting back from four-one down and then from five-two down with nine minutes of normal time to go to win in an enthralling eleven goal thriller. The visitors opened the scoring on twenty five minutes when Atkinson scored a cracking goal to put them into the lead. The lead didnât last long as Lukeman beat the offside trap and slotted it under the keeper for the equaliser . Just before the break the home side took the lead when Linsel scored and they went to the break two-one ahead. Early in the second half Lukeman got a third goal and in the sixty ninth minute Linsel got his second and his teamâs fourth to put them four-one ahead. On seventy five minutes Atkinson got another goal for the visitors and reduced the lead to four-two but again West End hit back when Moaut scored to make it five-two in the eighty first minute. With ninety minutes on the clock Roberts pulled another goal back for the visitors to make it five-three and on ninety two minutes Atkinson completed his hat trick with a penalty to make it five-four. Roberts amazingly made it five all with a ninety four minute equaliser and unbelievably on ninety six minutes Atkinson got his fourth goal and a sixth for the visitors to clinch an amazing comeback to win by six goals to five. Four goals in the seven minutes of added on time at the end of the game for the league leaders, making this a dramatic game which sparked scenes like youâve never seen before. An obvious contender for the match of the season, witnessed by 105 spectators who certainly got their moneyâs worth. |
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