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Post by OWHH on Apr 30, 2019 15:40:13 GMT
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Post by nptonexile on Apr 30, 2019 22:09:56 GMT
I hadn't, but interesting that a club is removed on the basis of actually having no fans and a set up that makes Barwell FC seem like Whitehawk!
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Post by exile on May 5, 2019 17:00:52 GMT
If we go north we will definitely be playing Brackley again, as they lost their playoff semi final against Spennymoor today.
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Post by ChrisB on May 12, 2019 10:03:53 GMT
The 'super play-offs' are now over (wins for Kings Lynn and Tonbridge - one North and one South presumably), and it's still looking like a swap for City for next season unless the FA go strictly geographically and send Braintree North ahead of us. So could be some lengthy trips next season (Blyth Spartans about 550 mile round-trip!). Apparently the Steps 1-4 allocations are to be released on Tuesday (14/05)
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Post by ChrisB on May 19, 2019 8:52:44 GMT
The FA's provisional allocations for next season have been published in today's NLP. As perhaps expected, City and Gloucester go North (Braintree go South despite being north of Oxford). There are still, apparently, questions hanging over Gateshead and Ebbsfleet, so any collapses there might have an effect on placements. Link to the Steps 1-4 page from the NLP CLICK HERE.
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Post by Logistics on May 19, 2019 10:14:30 GMT
Well I think we all feared, and sadly expected that news to come sooner rather than later. I'm sure that no matter which league Jonah wanted to go into, he's just happy he's now got a concrete answer that should help him with contract talks/recruitment for next season's squad!
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Post by nptonexile on May 19, 2019 12:11:53 GMT
Not sure I treat trips to York, Hereford or even Kettering (well, Burton Latimer) as sad!
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Post by ChrisB on May 19, 2019 15:26:08 GMT
Yes, distances are generally greater, but there are some big grounds and 'big' clubs to visit. I suppose, now the (provisional) decision has been made, that no one wants a late switch back South if any clubs do fold. I'm sure MJ needs to know exactly where the club stands to enable good choices for the squad to be made.
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Post by toocoulson4schoolson on May 19, 2019 20:11:54 GMT
Going North is good for people's Groundhopper scores, but a needless extra financial burden on the club and potentially a disadvantage in terms of player recruitment.
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Post by Padz on May 19, 2019 22:35:44 GMT
Yes, distances are generally greater, but there are some big grounds and 'big' clubs to visit. I suppose, now the (provisional) decision has been made, that no one wants a late switch back South if any clubs do fold. I'm sure MJ needs to know exactly where the club stands to enable good choices for the squad to be made. I think the club would rather be messed around somewhat if eg: Gateshead take a voluntary drop before the agm and city found themselves in the South Early calculations by the club estimate our travel expenses alone at 30/35 grand! , added expense we definitely could do without
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Post by ChrisB on May 20, 2019 8:13:53 GMT
...but a needless extra financial burden on the club and potentially a disadvantage in terms of player recruitment. So do you think the FALC should have avoided this and run the two Step 2 divisions with different numbers of teams to avoid the long treks? Looking at the top four Steps, National North does have much more travelling involved than any other: because of the 'shape' of England I guess. Perhaps, as at Step 3, another league should be added in - a National Midlands - though this would ruin the FA's neatly symmetrical version of the Pyramid. As things stand this is likely to remain an issue, as the density of clubs is greater in the south, though it certainly wasn't helped this time around with four clearly 'South' clubs (Braintree???) coming down. Interestingly Step 1 for next season now looks to have a 12:12 split North:South.
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Post by toocoulson4schoolson on May 20, 2019 9:58:17 GMT
I would totally be in favour of having 3 divisions at step 2 from a logistical standpoint, but it would require either much smaller leagues (and therefore a shorter season or a third round of matches in the season) or a far more teams at Step 2 (creating a bottleneck in terms of promotion to Step 1)
I think a more elegant solution could be a firm border with each league simply running with however many teams fall within those borders, but that could quickly fall down if you had back to back seasons with such asymmetrical promotions/relegations.
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Post by ChrisB on May 20, 2019 16:05:57 GMT
Next season (assuming no further changes to allocations!) OCFC's average round-trip will be 280 miles. Shortest to Brackley (50 round-trip) and longest to Blyth Spartans (550 round-trip). If we'd remained South (in place of Braintree) the average round-trip would have been 152 miles. If we'd been at Step 1 (in place of Maidenhead...the nearest I could get) the average round-trip would have been 268 miles. So City will travel not far short of twice as far because of the move.
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Post by nptonexile on May 20, 2019 19:09:52 GMT
Going North is good for people's Groundhopper scores, but a needless extra financial burden on the club and potentially a disadvantage in terms of player recruitment. Financial burden on the club is negligible, City lost (arguably) its two best/most influential players (Pato/Sinclair) whilst in the South! As for 'groundhopper' comments...if visiting Hereford, Kettering, York et-al (closer or little further than Concord or Truro) is seen as that - what is the point of the club at all? Drop into the Hellenic League...save a few quid!
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Post by nptonexile on May 20, 2019 19:24:42 GMT
Yes, distances are generally greater, but there are some big grounds and 'big' clubs to visit. I suppose, now the (provisional) decision has been made, that no one wants a late switch back South if any clubs do fold. I'm sure MJ needs to know exactly where the club stands to enable good choices for the squad to be made. I think the club would rather be messed around somewhat if eg: Gateshead take a voluntary drop before the agm and city found themselves in the South Early calculations by the club estimate our travel expenses alone at 30/35 grand! , added expense we definitely could do without Guessing those figures have been quoted with more than a hint of Doom assessment! To a fair degree, offset by larger visiting support (and there will be) to Marsh Lane. Hereford, Kettering, Chester, York all guaranteed to bring healthy followings - not to mention Darlo and others who will see Oxford as a good day out (kind of similar to our trips to Truro) and bring at minimum, three figure support!
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Post by Padz on May 20, 2019 19:35:30 GMT
I think the club would rather be messed around somewhat if eg: Gateshead take a voluntary drop before the agm and city found themselves in the South Early calculations by the club estimate our travel expenses alone at 30/35 grand! , added expense we definitely could do without Guessing those figures have been quoted with more than a hint of Doom assessment! To a fair degree, offset by larger visiting support (and there will be) to Marsh Lane. Hereford, Kettering, Chester, York all guaranteed to bring healthy followings - not to mention Darlo and others who will see Oxford as a good day out (kind of similar to our trips to Truro) and bring at minimum, three figure support! You’ll have to forgive the club for not being too excited by mounting costs of playing in a northern division , probably something to do with that million and a half quid debt they’ve been firefighting for the last 3 years
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Post by toocoulson4schoolson on May 20, 2019 19:36:08 GMT
Going North is good for people's Groundhopper scores, but a needless extra financial burden on the club and potentially a disadvantage in terms of player recruitment. Financial burden on the club is negligible, City lost (arguably) its two best/most influential players (Pato/Sinclair) whilst in the South! As for 'groundhopper' comments...if visiting Hereford, Kettering, York et-al (closer or little further than Concord or Truro) is seen as that - what is the point of the club at all? Drop into the Hellenic League...save a few quid! I'm not sure how the fact players left 'whilst in the South' is at all relevant - everything which happened to the club in the last few years happened 'whilst in the South'. We went on two great cup runs 'whilst in the South', we signed both of those players 'whilst in the South', I got the shits from a dodgy train station sandwich 'whilst in the South'. Anybody is welcome to look forward to any game they please, but I personally value the financial stability of the club over that. Padz has already quoted the figures in terms of addiional travel costs, and it's simple maths to work out how many extra paying adults would need to come through the turnstiles to make up for it.
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Post by ChrisB on May 21, 2019 8:27:57 GMT
OM article about changes in recruitment likely to be produced by the move North HERE. Think they could look at their figures again, though. An "...average round trip of 268 miles" is on the low side (I reckon it's 280). And if they compared the travelling in the North with what it could have been in the South (if Braintree rather than City had gone North) then it's an 84% increase in travelling.
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Post by nptonexile on May 21, 2019 11:38:06 GMT
Guessing those figures have been quoted with more than a hint of Doom assessment! To a fair degree, offset by larger visiting support (and there will be) to Marsh Lane. Hereford, Kettering, Chester, York all guaranteed to bring healthy followings - not to mention Darlo and others who will see Oxford as a good day out (kind of similar to our trips to Truro) and bring at minimum, three figure support! You’ll have to forgive the club for not being too excited by mounting costs of playing in a northern division , probably something to do with that million and a half quid debt they’ve been firefighting for the last 3 years I don't see added petrol nor the odd (and it can be odd) stayover hotel bills amounting to a £30,000 increase frankly! As said, increased revenue through the turnstiles would (imo) compensate to a great degree!
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Post by nptonexile on May 21, 2019 11:50:06 GMT
Financial burden on the club is negligible, City lost (arguably) its two best/most influential players (Pato/Sinclair) whilst in the South! As for 'groundhopper' comments...if visiting Hereford, Kettering, York et-al (closer or little further than Concord or Truro) is seen as that - what is the point of the club at all? Drop into the Hellenic League...save a few quid! I'm not sure how the fact players left 'whilst in the South' is at all relevant - everything which happened to the club in the last few years happened 'whilst in the South'. We went on two great cup runs 'whilst in the South', we signed both of those players 'whilst in the South', I got the shits from a dodgy train station sandwich 'whilst in the South'. Anybody is welcome to look forward to any game they please, but I personally value the financial stability of the club over that. Padz has already quoted the figures in terms of addiional travel costs, and it's simple maths to work out how many extra paying adults would need to come through the turnstiles to make up for it. It's relevant - as you stated moving to the North would make player recruitment more difficult! I don't disagree with that, but again, I don't feel it is a major issue - Sinclair ostensibly left due to family commitments, to Hemel! Also, think City finished higher up the league when last in the North than ever in the South!
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Post by Logistics on May 21, 2019 12:36:50 GMT
No matter what differences of opinions there are above, I think we can all agree that this season is going to be more crucial than ever for everyone to get down and support the club. Bring a friend... get them to bring a friend etc.
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Post by toocoulson4schoolson on May 21, 2019 12:52:35 GMT
I'm not sure how the fact players left 'whilst in the South' is at all relevant - everything which happened to the club in the last few years happened 'whilst in the South'. We went on two great cup runs 'whilst in the South', we signed both of those players 'whilst in the South', I got the shits from a dodgy train station sandwich 'whilst in the South'. Anybody is welcome to look forward to any game they please, but I personally value the financial stability of the club over that. Padz has already quoted the figures in terms of addiional travel costs, and it's simple maths to work out how many extra paying adults would need to come through the turnstiles to make up for it. It's relevant - as you stated moving to the North would make player recruitment more difficult! I don't disagree with that, but again, I don't feel it is a major issue - Sinclair ostensibly left due to family commitments, to Hemel! Also, think City finished higher up the league when last in the North than ever in the South! If Rob Sinclair thought travelling to Oxford from Hertfordshire was too much of a burden, imagine how players will feel about this season's away travel. Some players won't be bothered by it, especially younger ones who will see the club as nothing more than a stepping stone, but others will see every overnight trip as time not spent with their kids and every late night travelling back from a midweek away game as a costly morning off of work the next day. If you've got two contract offers on the table, downsides like those will sway your decision. It will make us less competitive in the player market. Every difficulty which being in the North creates is an extra barrier to the success and stability of the club. No matter how big or small we think those barriers may be, they're ones we wouldn't have to cross if we were in the South.
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City since the fifties
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Post by City since the fifties on May 24, 2019 18:48:09 GMT
Gateshead been refused licence for next season (can appeal).Does this mean Aldershot back to the National league and city back to the South to replace Aldershot?
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Post by hedges on May 24, 2019 19:28:37 GMT
It seems and its all down to gossip columns than fact at the moment but it seems more likely that Truro will get a reprieve and stay in the south...which in itself is ironic since they are in trouble themselves and have stated they would rather be relegated and rebuild lower in the pyramid than spend another season struggling in the NLS.
Maybe if City were to make a case on that basis then we might stay South I guess......but it has certainly put the cat among the pigeons and no one really knows what's going to happen.
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Post by OWHH on Jun 1, 2019 4:50:10 GMT
When in absolutely confusion, it's always nice to take a gander at Aldersh*ts Forum www.shotsweb.co.uk/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=49558&start=150Its possible we may be playing them next season, although as Hedges has said you have the Truro problamo. Having said that when Vauxhall voluntary went down in the North, Hayes appealed but were unsuccessful. And we stayed in the North. Now that was a messy Pre season. What's stopping Gloucester protesting too,after only one season in the south.
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City since the fifties
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Post by City since the fifties on Jun 1, 2019 7:28:46 GMT
What about Ashton Utd in Nln appealing to be reprieved if there is a place to fill in the Nln.
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Post by OWHH on Jun 1, 2019 22:07:50 GMT
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Post by Spanner on Jun 7, 2019 21:07:25 GMT
Gateshead seem to think they will be In North next season according to their Forum. Where does that leave City as too many teams there. Either Gloucester or City back to South?
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Post by Logistics on Jun 8, 2019 11:24:18 GMT
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Post by OWHH on Jun 8, 2019 13:03:43 GMT
Trophy 🏆 already.. Won agm cup now hopefully get Weymouth away in good weather start or end of season.. Oh, condolences to Gloucester
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