Anyone on here follows non league football?

[dmulally]

HeatonNorris said:

I long for the days of Danny Bergara, Kevin Francis, Andy Preece and Jim Gannon.

Awesome team back then - went to Wembley twice in a week at one point! (Autoglass and playoffs).

Hard to believe they were only a handful of points away from Premiership football now.

I remember those days well. I'm thinking of flying over to watch a couple of games later in the season so if I do I'll send you a pm. I don't know any other supporters, sadly. When I hear someone in oz spitting out words that I assume mean they are from Manchester I tell them about county and they give me a look.

[darren9]

In true Grimsby style we snatched a draw from the jaws of victory on saturday away at southport. Now we welcome stockport to blundell park. It was a 7-0 thrashing of them last season which started our good run. The same would be nice tonight but, also, highly unlikely. I predict a 1-1 draw.

[P7ERM]

Weymouth FC here and we remember the days of glory and eventualy we will see them again but not untill we can pay for them as they happen

[dmulally]

Do you have alzheimers?

Five games in and Stockport are smack bang mid table. Loving it.

[P7ERM]

Fixed the multiple posts sorry
12 th it is a few years since we enjoyed such heady heights in any division.
But it is the start
Come on you Terras

[MonkeyBusiness]

After completely falling out of love with modern day top class football, tonight I start a new venture following non-league football.

Step forward Guiseley, you will now have me following you. I am looking forward to tonight (against Halifax).

I can't stop following my home town club, but the Premier league will not get a penny more from me.

[dmulally]

Don't waste your time. It's just as heartbreaking in the stty leagues.

fk county and fk non league.

[MonkeyBusiness]

dmulally said:

Don't waste your time. It's just as heartbreaking in the stty leagues.

fk county and fk non league.

Just back. I enjoyed it. 1-1 draw.
Loved the banter between fans stood side by side, and the stand/sit anywhere.

Mind you, £10 in I don't know how much these players earn but I thought that was alot.

[dmulally]

MonkeyBusiness said:

Just back. I enjoyed it. 1-1 draw.
Loved the banter between fans stood side by side, and the stand/sit anywhere.

Mind you, £10 in I don't know how much these players earn but I thought that was alot.

10 pounds seems ok when they are gearing up for promotion which means more travel etc.

Plus I checked the ladder and the last 5 or so games for Gaysley.

fking glory chaser!!!

[Russ35]

Looking at that table just shows how cruel football can be.

I can see 9 teams where I have watched Blackpool play league games whilst we were in the bottom 2 leagues, Kidderminster, Mansfield, Wrexham, Hereford, Macclesfield, Luton, Cambridge Utd, Lincoln City and Stockport County. There is also Grimsby, although I don't think I've ever been there.

I've also seen Blackpool play a league game at Dartford, when Maidstone played there, although I think Dartford have moved grounds since then.

To think what some of the their supporters have had to endure compared to the highs us Blackpool fans have had over the last few years.

[dmulally]

Russ35 said:

Looking at that table just shows how cruel football can be.

I can see 9 teams where I have watched Blackpool play league games whilst we were in the bottom 2 leagues, Kidderminster, Mansfield, Wrexham, Hereford, Macclesfield, Luton, Cambridge Utd, Lincoln City and Stockport County. There is also Grimsby, although I don't think I've ever been there.

I've also seen Blackpool play a league game at Dartford, when Maidstone played there, although I think Dartford have moved grounds since then.

To think what some of the their supporters have had to endure compared to the highs us Blackpool fans have had over the last few years.

This is from the County wiki:

The 1997–98 season saw Stockport County and Manchester City meet in a football league game for the first time in 88 years, Stockport County were victors here, beating Manchester City 3–1, thanks to goals from Paul Cook, Alun Armstrong and Brett Angell. Manchester City did defeat Stockport County 4–1 at Maine Road in the return fixture, however, this did not prevent them from being relegated to the third tier. 1998–99 became the first season in which Stockport County competed at a higher level than Manchester City. Rivalries were renewed in 1999–2000 following Manchester City's promotion back to the second tier. Stockport County beat Manchester City at Maine Road for the first time in history (1999–2000) thanks to an equaliser from ex-City youngster Alan Bailey, and the winning goal from the penalty spot by Tony Dinning. Manchester City were also defeated by Stockport County in 2001–02, when 2 late goals from John Hardiker meant that City were prevented from gaining 100 points in their quest for the Division One title. Stockport County and Manchester City met six times between 1997 and 2002, with Stockport County winning three times, losing once and drawing twice.

[BMRuss]

Bit of a bump, but just wanted to say well done to my local team Ebbsfleet United.

They had a play off final on Saturday at home against Dover and although they didn't win it (0-1) the support the club get for a local side is really quite good and is a credit to football support in this country.

At the game Saturday there were 4,234 people there, probably more than some Scottish premier league clubs, totally gutted they didn't win, but watch this space, they have huge financial backers and will be in the football league within a few years.

Up the fleet

Edited by BMRuss on Monday 12th May 15:37

[Fishtigua]

Guernsey thrashed Jersey yet again this weekend.

http://guernseypress.com/sport/football/2014/05/11...

[dmulally]

Stockport finished mid table of the Conference North which was wonderful. It's such a lovely feeling to not get relegated for once.

[sonicbloo]

dmulally said:

Stockport finished mid table of the Conference North which was wonderful. It's such a lovely feeling to not get relegated for once.

Good for you! I feel for you guys with the plight you find yourselves in. I try to keep track of your scores (via teletext only these days it seems!)and hope you climb the league(s) soon. I'm a York City fan, and thought it was the end of the world when we got relegated to the conference in 2004. We used to have some good matches against County, although I only went to your ground once, when you beat us 1-0 in the play-off semi's in 1994. You had a cracking team then, and still remember the classic and well written verses of "Super, super Kev.......Super, super Kev........Super, super Kev, super Kevin Francis' echoing round the Edgeley park terraces........ from memory he made Peter Crouch look like a dwarf!!!

Edited by sonicbloo on Thursday 15th May 22:29

[mikial]

Black can man said:

Tooting & Mitcham here

Paddy Hasty !

[HQ2]

My son has been born into a family of Fulham fans poor boy! He sometimes asked if we could go and watch a local team (we're Bucks/Herts border now) - so our first Chesham Utd game was the playoff vs St Albans (lost 3-1). Just the tonic the same weekend as Fulham's relegation was confirmed! Good crowd though - just under 3000 (and more turned away due to fire certificate limit).

[dmulally]

sonicbloo said:

Good for you! I feel for you guys with the plight you find yourselves in. I try to keep track of your scores (via teletext only these days it seems!)and hope you climb the league(s) soon. I'm a York City fan, and thought it was the end of the world when we got relegated to the conference in 2004. We used to have some good matches against County, although I only went to your ground once, when you beat us 1-0 in the play-off semi's in 1994. You had a cracking team then, and still remember the classic and well written verses of "Super, super Kev.......Super, super Kev........Super, super Kev, super Kevin Francis' echoing round the Edgeley park terraces........ from memory he made Peter Crouch look like a dwarf!!!

Edited by sonicbloo on Thursday 15th May 22:29

That is a blast from the past. Kev certainly was a freak. Would bang them in more often than not it seemed. I still remember every name from the team in the 90's. Now it's a little harder as they are mostly kids and not really that interested.

I honestly don't see us ever getting back into the league again. I hope we go up to conference some day but the league is beyond our means. We can barely afford to pay the bills as it is.

I was happy to see York go back up not so long ago. Not only that but you guys had a great season. Fingers crossed for your next game!

[SilverPhoenix]

A bit of thread revival for a Friday afternoon!

Any love for the non-league game?

I follow Havant & Waterlooville, who are currently sitting at the bottom of the conference South.

We have a huge game tomorrow against Basingstoke Town, who are currently residing once place above us, in 21st spot!

[GloverMart]

Always loved the non-league game having been a Yeovil Town fan since 1971. Although being in the Football League is obviously greater, I can't help missing elements of non-league somehow.... still, the way we are going, we might be back there next season!!

I am also secretary of Oldland Abbotonians, a small club at Step 6 (Level 10) of the pyramid. We get crowds of between 30 and 40 for home games though this year, we were involved in a Groundhop in October which saw us break our club attendance record with a crowd of 201. I love being involved in the admin side of a football club and would be happy doing this job for many years. In 2015, I also managed to secure two grants worth £70k for the club to deal with anti social behaviour and other issues so by the end of this season, we will have a perimeter fence around the pitch, a new stand, new dugouts and much more.

Non-league football. I love it!!