Who might be joining the Vanarama South next season?

Ah. It's probably BMF rather than Barnstaple I'm thinking of

LB wrote:If there is a north/south imbalance hopefully nobody will get the idea that Lowestoft is in the south!

Time for the annual outing of the map of the delineation of the North/South divide and the band of bordering counties, from where clubs can go North or South, depending on the numbers.

Lowestoft is in the borderlands - just!

You lot forget this every year!

(For those less trainspottery as the worst of us with the shape of English counties, the buffer zone consists of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk. Oh, and a random delineation of bits of South Walean counties divided by an arbitrary straight line! Any team from any of those counties have to wait to be assigned which league they'll play in.)

So...

That means that the only clubs in the Northern league at present who are eligible for southward mobility are Gloucester and... Lowestoft!

And no one from the Northern Premier League contenders is from anywhere near the borderlands - so you just know which one of those two we're going to get if Boreham Wood stay up and Leamington or Redditch win the Southern League play-off! (Actually, we could still get both!)

Leamington would be good, bringing back memories of the title winning night in '77!

I remember being at Leamington in '77 as well, makes me feel old when you realise it was nearly 40 years ago.

Going back to earlier in this thread Odd Down applied for promotion then withdrew the application. Barnstaple are now the only realistic candidates but I think there is still a slight query about their ground. If they go up they will renew rivalry with relegated Bideford.

I spent a year living in Barnstaple when I was 16 in 1969. Used to watch their home games. Seem to remember they were struggling a bit but it was always great entertainment backed by a fairly vociferous crowd of a couple of hundred at most. Barnstaple is big enough to support a Southern League club at least but they've never come anywhere near it.

comrade powell wrote:Leamington would be good, bringing back memories of the title winning night in '77!

Yes, but we won't get them, as they'll go North. Pay attention at the back.

And it was 1978. And they play at a different ground.

Looking at the North table it is still possible, although probably unlikely, that Lowestoft could be relegated.

If we do have to play them hopefully the away game won't be on a cup Saturday as Margate was this season.

I see Lowestoft lost this evening. If Brackley win on Saturday and Lowestoft don't they will be relegated - I see Lowestoft are playing Gloucester on Saturday, so perhaps Tigerroar's boys can do us all a favour.

There are a few of us who would be rather happy to have Lowestoft in our league!!

LB wrote:If Brackley win on Saturday and Lowestoft don't they will be relegated.

I can't see either of those happening.......but it's a funny old game Saint.

Thanks Jimmy

Hitchin throw away 2 goal lead to Hungerford in last 30 mins to lose 3-2 who play Leamington who won on pens in final.

Hopefully Hungerford will get through - not a bad trip for us and maintains the north/south balance.

In tonight's Isthmian play-off semis, Dulwich Hamlet scored an injury time winner away to the form side Bognor, while East Thurrock easily brushed Tonbridge Angels aside.

Of that pair, Dulwich please!

Amen to that. Hamlet are a well supported club who would surely bring a sizeable following to TP if we play them.
Given the discussion on another thread about admission prices we should be rooting for them. How much income would a home game against E Thurrock generate in comparison?

I'm sitting on the fence in the north/south divide.

Actually it's looking a bit simpler now. Slightly.

If Boreham Wood stay up and Leamington get promoted, six of the ten teams who will be joining our level will be from the North. Someomeone will definitely have to transfer leagues.

The only eligible clubs are Gloucester and Lowestoft - but there's a very good chance that Lowestoft might get relegated today, which would mean, unless the Conference mob move the goalposts at the last minute, Gloucester would rejoin us.

However, if Boreham Wood come down and Hungerford win next week, that could add a further complication, as there will be six Souths and four Norths. This would mean that we's have to lose someone to the North.

As it stands, Oxford City are the only club in our league in the Northward mobility band, but I seem to remember some rule about having to remain in one league for three years. So then they'd have to start taking from the North-most teams in the Southern band.

In which case, bye bye Bishop's Stortford (with Hemel Hempstead following closely behind if they complain).

The National League have got to be praying for a Boreham Wood result today!

Roy D Hacksaw wrote:..... but I seem to remember some rule about having to remain in one league for three years. So then they'd have to start taking from the North-most teams in the Southern band........

My understanding of the ruling is this. The club cannot be forced to move back north/south during the initial 3 years, but if they are asked to and they agree, then they can be switched. I may of dreamt all that though.

kermit wrote:

Roy D Hacksaw wrote:..... but I seem to remember some rule about having to remain in one league for three years. So then they'd have to start taking from the North-most teams in the Southern band........

My understanding of the ruling is this. The club cannot be forced to move back north/south during the initial 3 years, but if they are asked to and they agree, then they can be switched. I may of dreamt all that though.

You have obviously been in France too long!

Aside from being in the weird position of hoping that we didn't score another against Margate to make sure that Havant went down (and have you ever seen a team losing two nil playing keep ball in the corner before?), results elsewhere ironed things out a little. Welling helped Boreham Wood out by losing to them heavily, meaning that only one of the clubs coming down from the National National will come South.

Meanwhile, in the Northern League, Gloucester held Lowestoft to a draw, dooming the Suffolk side to relegation. This makes The Tigers the only Northern team in the mobility zone.

What this means is that if Hungerford win the play-offs we get them. But if Leamington win, they'll go North, and barring accidents or weirdness we'll almost certainly get Gloucester back.

And by this time Monday we'll know what's what!

It's approaching half time in the Isthmian and Southern play-offs.

Currently East Thurrock are 3-0 up against Dulwich Hamlet, while Leamington are leading 1-0 at Hungerford.

So it looks like ET are a done deal in the East, but the Southern still has goals in it by all accounts - and if Leamington hang on, it's looking a lot like a Gloucester return.

I'll keep you posted.