OSC (Quarter-Finals)

[ChrisB]

It's a pity that North Leigh had to withdraw their team from the OSC...always good for City to play other local sides. I see that a small squad; loss of loan players; and the reserve players already having featured in the competition (along with pitch condition) were given as reasons.

It strikes me that Nomads' players already having played in earlier rounds, and the generally small size of the first-team squad, could well turn out to be a similar problem for City this year. In a number of recent seasons they have used Nomads and Youth players in the OSC, and there just aren't so many of them around this season.

North Leigh do seem to be struggling a bit at the moment. They've never had very large crowds - I had thought, wrongly, that the disappearance of Witney Town might have boosted their numbers - and they seem to be existing on very meagre gates just now.

Thought For Discussion: five of the six least-well-attended clubs in the SL Div 1(West) have Hellenic roots: Bishops Cleeve, Kidlington, North Leigh, Shortwood United and (surprisingly?) Didcot Town. It seems that it's just not a very 'footbally' area!

[ChrisB]

I see today's OM carries an item about North Leigh's plight (HERE).

As I pointed out in the post above, Oxfordshire's clubs (OU apart) really don't get a great deal of support. Kidlington's average gate is even lower than North Leigh's!...and they've only just recently joined the SL. Wantage also found it all a bit too much, and are now back (with lower gates than they used to have?) in the Hellenic.

Promotion to Step 4 doesn't seem to work for most of the clubs in the area. The attendances may go up initially, but the euphoria soon wears off and gates drop again. And once the public stop coming through the turnstiles it is nigh on impossible to get them back on a regular basis. Cup runs will provide a temporary boost...but it will only be temporary.

I wonder why Oxon is such a poor supporter of sports? I'm obviously glad that they do, but I do feel sorry for all those hard-working people who try to keep their clubs going in the knowledge that, realistically, the paying support is always going to be meagre.