Relegation Thread 2017/18

[The_Viking_Magpie]

Bottom end of League 2 - A sorry and desperate situation. Been there before and it’s not nice, thankfully we’ve never fallen through the trapdoor to Non League Football like Chesterfield are about to, and Mansfield have.

I would never want that unremovable stain on my club’s history, let alone playing a village team with 25 away fans opposite me

 

[AdamStag]

Once you get on that slippery slope it's hard to stop it, look at Sunderland, Villa very nearly went the same way. Bury are in danger of the same next season as well you'd feel.

It’s more common for sides to have been in non-league now than ever. But there can be sides which can go the other way

Burton were a non-league club until a decade or so ago, and are now better than any side in this league by far. Not a bad place to be for a “non-league” club as some would incorrectly label them. Not a bad “stain” for a championship side that have beaten derby, Fulham, millwall and sheffield Wednesday

Not bad for a “non-league club”

 

[Luke Imp]

We’ve the same with radford though, yes he’s the chairman, but he’s also part of the board which makes decisions together. No-one individual to my knowledge can make decisions without the board. We’ve also prominent supporters groups involved after what happened with haslam.

We're the same. That should be a little more common up and down the country IMO.

 

[AdamStag]

We're the same. That should be a little more common up and down the country IMO.

Absolutely Luke. And like what’s going on with york, those fans groups should never be pressured into selling up to the chairman. And if such a request was ever made, alarm bells would be going full pelt.

 

[The_Viking_Magpie]

Yet there are far more examples of clubs doing the opposite of Burton, who have quite simply been a huge example of success, but how many traditional non league clubs have now established themselves like Burton as league clubs? It’s easy to cherry pick the odd one or two, but step back and looks at the bigger picture. Any league club that has dropped down to non league level and now returned to the football league, as so many have done, surely can’t view it as anything other than an embarrassing or dark stain on the said club’s history#cherrypick#stain

 

[AdamStag]

Yet there are far more examples of clubs doing the opposite of Burton, who have quite simply been a huge example of success, but how many traditional non league clubs have now established themselves like Burton as league clubs? It’s easy to cherry pick the odd one or two, but step back and looks at the bigger picture. Any league club that has dropped down to non league level and now returned to the football league, as so many have done, surely can’t view it as anything other than an embarrassing or dark stain on the said club’s history#cherrypick#stain

I think anyone who’s small minded enough to state that non-league is a stain when there’s a non-league club 2 leagues above us all is wrong.

It’s an odd one, all 3 sides in the promotion spots all have a “non-league stain” on them. Come on Accrington, Luton and Wycombe fans, how does it feel to be in the top 3 with a “non-league stain” about you? Must be awful.

Poor Bristol rovers and doncaster safely in league 1 with that “stain” wigan - played in Europe with that “stain” oh, the list goes on. It’s laughable.

 

[The_Viking_Magpie]

So you’ve manage to quote 1 example (Burton) and that’s it. I’ll help you out with another Wycombe. Anymore you want to quote? Plenty of sides have gone the other way and are still in the abyss. You are the king of cherry picking, yet you can’t seem to see it yourself . Bizarre

Would be interesting to hear the thoughts of current sides in L2 who have in the last decade or so have dropped down and played in the conference. If that period not a stain on the club’s history or an embarrassing chapter? What would you describe it as? Good times? Nice change? Needed? Or the result of continued off-field mismanagement resulting in the ultimate failure in the EFL?

You get to go to some new grounds I guess, bet that was nice for you Adam? I’ve never been to Barrow or Ebbsfleet I’m sure it’s magical.

Dress it up however you want to buddy , it’s non league

 

[Chris FGR]

We spent 128 years in non league.

That must be a fucking massive stain.

 

[The_Viking_Magpie]

So you’ve manage to quote 1 example (Burton) and that’s it. I’ll help you out with another Wycombe. Anymore you want to quote? Plenty of sides have gone the other way and are still in the abyss.

We spent 128 years in non league.

That must be a fucking massive stain.

No, you are traditionally a non league club Chris. You know that , it’s not a criticism it’s fact

 

[Si Robin]

Adam's best example is Wigan - they were formed in 1932 and spent 46 years as a non-league team, and have been a League team for 40 years this year.

Are they still a non-league club playing in the League, or are they now a traditional league team.

Then there's Cheltenham Town - 112 years as a non-league team and now nearly 20 years as a League team - with a one year drop in 2015/16. Are we still "traditionally" a non-league team - when does that tradition change?

Since the change to automatic promotion in 1987, and then 2up/2down in 2003 it is now much more likely that "traditional" league teams are going to drop. Notts have ridden their luck a few times in recent memory - it only takes one shit season for them to fall through the trap door. It's how teams cope with the drop that's important.

The whole "non-league is a stain" approach is the exact sort of approach that will bite you on the ass.

 

[Indian Dan]

I hates the lot of yous

 

[AdamStag]

Adam's best example is Wigan - they were formed in 1932 and spent 46 years as a non-league team, and have been a League team for 40 years this year.

Are they still a non-league club playing in the League, or are they now a traditional league team.

Then there's Cheltenham Town - 112 years as a non-league team and now nearly 20 years as a League team - with a one year drop in 2015/16. Are we still "traditionally" a non-league team - when does that tradition change?

Since the change to automatic promotion in 1987, and then 2up/2down in 2003 it is now much more likely that "traditional" league teams are going to drop. Notts have ridden their luck a few times in recent memory - it only takes one shit season for them to fall through the trap door. It's how teams cope with the drop that's important.

The whole "non-league is a stain" approach is the exact sort of approach that will bite you on the ass.

It’s basically laughable, that’s all.

As I said earlier, I feel so sorry for the “stained” Accrington, Luton and Wycombe in the top 3.

 

[Indian Dan]

 

[Soup Ladle]

I don't think you can really plan for the conference, the finance model needed is completely different. The drop of payments is massive, you lose youth funding (I think, I know we did) away followings of 1500/2500 provided by Coventry Notts Lincoln Mansfield Grimsby are replaced by 25 from Boreham wood. Unless you're someone really small and have experience of going down like Barnet, I bet no club runs at a profit.

Hartlepool were "prepared" last season apparently, and nearly went into admin a month or 2 ago, and are now talking about going part time.

We weren't prepared at all and had 29 full time pros once August came round. We were training at Premier League grounds, staying in fancy hotels ahead of trips to the likes of Ebbsfleet. Paying FL wages. We basically spunked everything on getting back first time of asking. All well and good that but we appointed Craig Harrison and most of the players we signed were sick notes. After it appeared likely we were never going back up, the owners pulled the plug.

I've also heard the rumours about going part time. To be honest, I'd be gutted if we did, even if just temporarily to get back on an even keel.

 

[GTFCfish]

The more I read The_Viking_Magpie's posts the more convinced I am that he's secretly trolling.

'An unremovable stain on a clubs history' ffs?

No quite the opposite actually, that 'stain' of being down there makes all of us who've endured it much more appreciative of being in the Football League, even with this awful season GTFC are having i would take it any day over being back in that fucking cesspit.

Looking down the list of current League 2 teams there are 18 that have been down there in recent(ish) times, do you think fans of all 18 clubs don't celebrate any good times just because we are all 'stained' with a visit to non league in our histories, tarnishing any successes we might have in the future?

 

[Posh Harry]

Bottom end of League 2 - A sorry and desperate situation. Been there before and it’s not nice, thankfully we’ve never fallen through the trapdoor to Non League Football like Chesterfield are about to, and Mansfield have.

I would never want that unremovable stain on my club’s history, let alone playing a village team with 25 away fans opposite me

You don’t want to play a village team with 25 away fan So? I thought you’d already played FGR at home

 

[Chris FGR]

Maybe all clubs who have been in non league, should be made to insert the prefix "Former Non-League Club" into their names.

For example-
Former Non-League Club Lincoln City beat Former Non-League Club Shrewsbury Town to win the prestigious Checkatrade Trophy Title. They returned home as heroes to an open top bus parade as every man, women and dog rushed onto the streets to cheer them, including many in club legend Simeon Akinola shirts.

Or,
Former Non-League Club Luton Town have in the last three years made over £100m in player sales/sell on clauses, a record for a Former Non-League Club.

 

[The_Viking_Magpie]

You don’t want to play a village team with 25 away fan So? I thought you’d already played FGR at home

We have already, 154 FGR visiting fans that day at Meadow Lane

I wonder how the important people associated with traditional league clubs who have experienced non league football view those say 1-5 years outside the football league? Do you think they are proud?

No different for my club if we dropped down I’d be embarrassed for sure and would rightly view it as the nadir in the club’s 150+ year history!
If not a low point what is it FFS? We are entering a true ‘spinzone’ If it’s anything other than a shameful low point.

P.S. I never said it isn’t (more) common nowadays, and boy do I know how close we’ve been (I was at those games after all) alas we’ve never been a non league club. Surely nobody wants that as part of their history

 

[Si Robin]

What league did Notts play in before 1887/88?

 

[Ban Fat Stan]

For me following my team in either league 2 or the conference all I want is those memorable moments ,the odd successful season. Lets be honest who doesn't want that.

As a Barnet fan we drop out the league, win the conference back into the promised land and fuck it up again and again.

You can tell yourself that bobbing around in league 2 is amazing.....Give me success or competing in any league is far more fun.

 

[The_Viking_Magpie]

Totally agree Stan. I feel for the fans of lower league clubs that just stay in the same division neither go up or down season after season. Where’s the fun in that?

Fortunately teams like Grimsby and Notts have expedienced quite the opposite. Up and down more than a whores knickers . Fun, fun, fun.

Saying all that I bet there are fans of a few former league teams stranded in the non league pyramid right now who may disagree

 

[AdamStag]

The more I read The_Viking_Magpie's posts the more convinced I am that he's secretly trolling.

'An unremovable stain on a clubs history' ffs?

No quite the opposite actually, that 'stain' of being down there makes all of us who've endured it much more appreciative of being in the Football League, even with this awful season GTFC are having i would take it any day over being back in that fucking cesspit.

Looking down the list of current League 2 teams there are 18 that have been down there in recent(ish) times, do you think fans of all 18 clubs don't celebrate any good times just because we are all 'stained' with a visit to non league in our histories, tarnishing any successes we might have in the future?

Tbh, I’ve not seen such a ridiculous comment on here before. TBH, were a better club than we were before we went down, and we now know what it’s like down there should it happen again. Quite a useful stain i guess

 

[Habbinalan]

There are bigger stains on most clubs than the label "non-league." Most of them reside in or around the boardroom and are related to money, power, greed - all the elements that are a stain on any community.

But what doesn't kill you (or put you in a perpetual coma - Stockport, Barrow, York? Are Wrexham finally stirring?) makes you stronger.

For the lucky ones, probably most, being non-league is a process that can remove stains, strengthen values and build resilience. That applies to those rising from the depths, re-kindled as phoenix clubs, revived from their deathbeds or simply flirting with the experience.

You all know who you are.

 

[mowgli]

We've been in The Football League for 25 years now and some fans on other sites still say we are a non-league team, we've stayed up on the last day twice in that time 1999 and 2014 and i thought we were gone both times but thankfully i was wrong How long do you have to be here to be considered a FL team. We have played in a FA Cup Semi-Final in 2001 and The League Cup semi-Final in 2006 how many lower league teams have done that?

 

[The_Viking_Magpie]

Alright ‘flip flop’ calm down, and I don’t believe that opening statement for a second this is the onefootballforum after all.

Well that’s a silver lining if ever I’ve seen one. I’m glad Mansfield are a better club now following their non league adventure , so I’ll put you in the ‘needed’ camp shall I?

That’s putting a very positive slant on it Adam, I like it.

P.S. What’s it like down there?

 

[Tom_CUFC]

There's no doubt our spell in non-league helped saved the football club, it gave us the chance to start completely from scratch and give us (just) enough leeway to be able to build up from the bottom again. Scraping even one more season in League Two would have been probably far more than we could've handled and ultimately we almost certainly wouldn't be at this level now or anywhere near it for that matter.

I have absolutely no desire for Cambridge to ever go back to non-league football, but having now got out of it I'm glad we were able to experience it, there is simply no better promotion in football than the one from the Conference to League Two, particularly for those of us who have dropped out of the league previously. We could've spent those 9 years in this division playing the same old teams on rotation but got to visit plenty of places that we never will again, where no one ground was anything like the next, it was a whole different footballing experience but as long as you can escape it in a relatively timely manner then I find it hard to look back on too negatively.

Obviously fans of Stockport, Wrexham, York and Torquay will differ on that view at this point in time, and that I completely understand....but going into non-league can definitely end up being a positive, if your club handles it right.

 

[Luke Imp]

We had our most successful ever season last year whilst in NL and smashed tonnes of records in the process so every cloud. Wasn't too much fun up to then, mind...

Granted, you'd not like to be stuck down there for too long (Wrexham, I'm looking at you).

In terms of teams who've had the shortest stint in the NL in their history, we're probably one of the lowest - 7 in 135 odd years (6 of those consecutively).

 

[Liam_SWFC]

The biggest stain in English football will be in this division next season, when the MK Dons roll into town.

 

[mowgli]

The biggest stain in English football will be in this division next season, when the MK Dons roll into town.

It would be fantastic if they they then got relegated again to become a non-league club as gthat's where they should have started not parachuted into The Football League

 

[CFC91]

The situation that Chesterfield find themselves in, should serve as a warning to all teams in league 1 or lower, in that it only takes a bad season( or 2) to fall out of the league. I can`t remember them being near the bottom of this division before, so it must be hard for their fans to take.

We've never been out the FL. And I never thought we would be especially after how good we were until the last 3 seasons.

It is a warning how badly things can go wrong, our board is a joke, our deby is crippling, our wages are horrendous and the fan base is more divided than you can ever imagine.

The life has been completely sucked out of the club and I suspect there will be some emotional and angry people at Forest Green tomorrow and the next home game.

It could well be the end of the club, we cant sustain the currently level of debt unless the club is taken over, which Dave Allen and Ashley Carson seemingly don't actually want to happen despite all their bravado.

Never thought it would actually happen but i'll be there tomorrow, seeing it through to the bitter end. The board don't deserve our support, the players don't deserve it but the club and what it stands for does.