The Next 6 Months?

comrade powell wrote:I agree, TPM. In fact I don't consider the NL to have much in common with non league football as we knew it. If I wanted to follow an 'elite' team with all the hassle that entails I'd watch Bristol Rovers. It has got to the stage in recent months where I'd not be that bothered if the NL kicked us out and we returned to the Southern. Perhaps when the interests of all its member clubs are put first rather than prioritising the interests of these mouthy former EFL ones chasing their return to Mecca I might change my mind. I certainly feel that we have more affinity with Tiverton or Poole than Notts County or Hartlepool.

Surely you would support The Wall.

Surely you would support The Wall.[/quote]

Not one of Pink Floyd's better albums IMHO. I much prefer More.

comrade powell wrote:I agree, TPM. In fact I don't consider the NL to have much in common with non league football as we knew it. If I wanted to follow an 'elite' team with all the hassle that entails I'd watch Bristol Rovers. It has got to the stage in recent months where I'd not be that bothered if the NL kicked us out and we returned to the Southern. Perhaps when the interests of all its member clubs are put first rather than prioritising the interests of these mouthy former EFL ones chasing their return to Mecca I might change my mind. I certainly feel that we have more affinity with Tiverton or Poole than Notts County or Hartlepool.

I agree. If we are booted out, no great loss, unless there is some binding outcome where we have to pay compensation that puts us out of business. I think poor leadership and governance across the board would see this as a justifiable and desirable outcome for not doing as you're told.

LB wrote:

comrade powell wrote:I agree, TPM. In fact I don't consider the NL to have much in common with non league football as we knew it. If I wanted to follow an 'elite' team with all the hassle that entails I'd watch Bristol Rovers. It has got to the stage in recent months where I'd not be that bothered if the NL kicked us out and we returned to the Southern. Perhaps when the interests of all its member clubs are put first rather than prioritising the interests of these mouthy former EFL ones chasing their return to Mecca I might change my mind. I certainly feel that we have more affinity with Tiverton or Poole than Notts County or Hartlepool.

I have to say that I have been feeling the same recently. With only us and Chippenham in this part of the country now, NLS has become very much a London and south east based league, while the top division clearly tries to see itself as an extension of the EFL.

Tiverton? Poole? is that the height of our ambition? surely not. Also not our fault if the rest of the west cant get into NLS. Back to a few hundred on the undeveloped Twerton terraces watching SL hoofball? I thought those days were gone and not to return with the aspiration of the club on and off the pitch. All that hard work to aspire to forever SL Tiverton and Poole with their school pitch?

When all this calms down and we build for 21/22 with, hopefully a team of the quality we have become used to in recent years, lets hope our goals of steady elevation and financial prudence under careful management on field and off field will prevail. For now, lets keep the faith with those who have the future of the club in their hands to do the right thing.

My feelings are the same as Luton's. - So much effort, all round, has been put in by so many individuals at all levels to try and make the Club a success. If we (and others) are demoted then so be it but I would hope we would be aiming 100% to win promotion back to our current level.
Appreciate in normal times NLS frustrates us due to the lack of South West members but we have had WSM & Truro in the past seasons and neither of those fixtures were regarded as stand out. Mind you IF we and others were demoted then its possible some current local SPL might have been invited to NLS as replacements!

Luton and Peter, I chose Poole and Tivvy as examples of clubs we regularly played at that level and not because of their proximity. I could just as easily have mentioned Hastings and Banbury.

While I agree that a hell of a lot of hard work and money has ensured we play at a reasonable level I'm not convinced that we can progress a lot further and I wonder what your realistic ambitions are for the Club? Rubbing shoulders with full time clubs at the next level up? - our first season there ten years ago was a great adventure and it was wonderful beating arrogant clubs like Cambridge. And yes, much of the football we played was a delight to watch. The second season was a nightmare when we were clearly out of our depth and the fight to survive created a financial situation which the Club is still dealing with now.

You give me Poole and their school pitch - I give you Fleetwood and their obnoxious stewards ordering us to get on the coach immediately to avoid the feral teenagers who had spent the match hurling abuse at City supporters herded into a cage. I know which of those two clubs I'd prefer to visit in the future.

I remember the warnings from Geoff Todd that the Conference National was a vastly different animal to what we'd been accustomed to back in the 80s and he was spot on. Who's to say that a decade later it hasn't become even more difficult for part time clubs to survive. Weymouth and Wealdstone are discovering it's no bed of roses this season.

Or maybe your ambition is the EFL...

City 'til we're relegated wrote:Surely you would support The Wall.

They are 'super elite'

Ollie Bayliss tweeted earlier quoting Marc Bayliss of Dorking:

We're expecting a null & void outcome imminently.
We've been taking legal advice and we'd challenge the validity of the resolutions and their outcomes.
Null & void would result in redundancies and have a significant impact on the club.
Let the teams cut loose that cannot play (sanction free) and let the teams continue that want to play.  

This is the full interview with him:  

https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1nAKELVXBPbxL

I want us to go up not down but we have to get our structure right. Would be very disappointed to be back at Yate quite frankly.

Just listened to the Dorking guy. Step 2 vote he says will be for null and void - numbers do look that way- and he will consider legal action if he can’t play on and get promoted - I paraphrase but that’s the summary.

The Community Ownership Share Prospectus did state that the football objective was to strive towards Football League status. I think most of us are realistic to accept this might not be an immediate prospect without redevelopment etc but we should be aiming to play at the highest level within the national league structure.

Yes I agree but not the present NL structure! In my opinion it needs drastic reform with far greater equality amongst its member clubs.

Perhaps my use of the word ‘affinity’ in my earlier post was mistaken. What I meant was that BCFC has more in common with the lower level clubs I mentioned than the former League clubs who fill step 1. Whatever our ambitions surely no one can dispute that.

pete mac wrote:Just listened to the Dorking guy. Step 2 vote he says will be for null and void - numbers do look that way- and he will consider legal action if he can’t play on and get promoted - I paraphrase but that’s the summary.

Bet he swears by it.

LB wrote:Ollie Bayliss tweeted earlier quoting Marc Bayliss of Dorking:
Let the teams cut loose that cannot play (sanction free) and let the teams continue that want to play.  

What I've been saying. A compromise is there for those that want one, but we cannot afford to play on, so we have to accept the consequences, even though I don't believe there should be any under these circumstances.

If the votes go in the way of ending the season I don’t understand how it can then be decided that those clubs who wish to continue can do so. I wish that the same had applied to the Brexit vote however.

Null and void means null and void - guess they can play friendlies

comrade powell wrote:If the votes go in the way of ending the season I don’t understand how it can then be decided that those clubs who wish to continue can do so. I wish that the same had applied to the Brexit vote however.

The brexiteers have been saved by Covid. A good time to bury bad news!

Back to footer. If the choice was between insolvency or relegation then of course I would choose the latter. But I, like many others on here, am ambitious for our club and would hate to drop down to the S.L. again. My lifelong ambition has been for Bath City to become a football league club. We can, given the right circumstances attract 2,000, 3,000 or potentially up to 10,000 given the right circumstances. I was always impressed at how Cheltenham achieved FL status without huge financial input.

While I agree that a hell of a lot of hard work and money has ensured we play at a reasonable level I'm not convinced that we can progress a lot further and I wonder what your realistic ambitions are for the Club?

Interesting to consider:

Short term - Covid recovery, ensure we have a club, and that they are in the NLS next season;
Medium term - ground redevelopment, clear the debt;
Long term - needs an honest assessment of how far the community model can take the club. We have done well to reach the play offs in the last 2 seasons, though well beaten in both, and never really looking like a side ready for the next level. Our record against the top teams in the division has not been good, exceptions aside like Torquay at home. To make and sustain promotion will need investment. Those paragons AFC Wimbledon and now Wrexham have conceded that community models can only take you so far.

Also frustrated that the likes of Cheltenham, FGR and now Weymouth have gone past us. If attendances broadly reflect success we should be well clear of Chip but are not.

Finally, it would help to improve our dire FA Cup record to boost revenue. Looking at the current NLS clubs reaching the 1st Round proper (what else is there to do??), apart from Dorking (3rd Qual best) and Hungerford (79-80) City have waited the longest since reaching that round (11-12). Poor indictment of a once renowned giant killer. Indeed, since Mike Denton's famous brace v. Newport we've only beaten 3 League teams in 56 years !

Anyway, lets put this season to bed and regroup for the next.

City 'til we're relegated wrote:

comrade powell wrote:If the votes go in the way of ending the season I don’t understand how it can then be decided that those clubs who wish to continue can do so. I wish that the same had applied to the Brexit vote however.

The brexiteers have been saved by Covid. A good time to bury bad news!

Back to footer. If the choice was between insolvency or relegation then of course I would choose the latter. But I, like many others on here, am ambitious for our club and would hate to drop down to the S.L. again. My lifelong ambition has been for Bath City to become a football league club. We can, given the right circumstances attract 2,000, 3,000 or potentially up to 10,000 given the right circumstances. I was always impressed at how Cheltenham achieved FL status without huge financial input.

Yes, good shout on Cheltenham, won the Conference in 98-99 with a low points total of less than 2 points per game, with over achieving Kettering and Hayes (!) below them, with ascending Rushden and Yeovil not yet at their peak. Right place, right time.

The Dorking chairman clearly wishes there had been a Resolution 5 ‘none of the above’ - I tend to think that every ballot paper should have that option!

As others have said, if it is null and void it is null and void - if the teams who want to play on want to form some sort of ‘mini league’ then let them but they can’t expect promotion at the end of it.

This could potentially drag on for another 10 days, but hopefully it can be resolved before then so that everybody can move on.

Luton Roman wrote:

City 'til we're relegated wrote:

comrade powell wrote:If the votes go in the way of ending the season I don’t understand how it can then be decided that those clubs who wish to continue can do so. I wish that the same had applied to the Brexit vote however.

The brexiteers have been saved by Covid. A good time to bury bad news!

Back to footer. If the choice was between insolvency or relegation then of course I would choose the latter. But I, like many others on here, am ambitious for our club and would hate to drop down to the S.L. again. My lifelong ambition has been for Bath City to become a football league club. We can, given the right circumstances attract 2,000, 3,000 or potentially up to 10,000 given the right circumstances. I was always impressed at how Cheltenham achieved FL status without huge financial input.

Yes, good shout on Cheltenham, won the Conference in 98-99 with a low points total of less than 2 points per game, with over achieving Kettering and Hayes (!) below them, with ascending Rushden and Yeovil not yet at their peak. Right place, right time.

Cheltenham only got promoted from the Southern Premier to the Conference at the end of 96/97 because champions Gresley’s ground wasn’t up to standard. Cheltenham finished 11 points behind Greeley and only 1 point above Gloucester and Halesowen. As Luton said, definitely right place right time!

Nobody is on the pitch, they think its all over, it is now!  

https://twitter.com/Ollie_Bayliss/status/1362480827943292931
https://www.thenationalleague.org.uk/national-league-statement-outcome-of-written-resol-65151  

Well almost, the FA have to ratify...

Dorking (don't you just love them) are "...in an ongoing dialogue with our legal team and are taking high level legal advice to ascertain the validity of the resolution. Perhaps they would be better off spending the money to avoid the redundancies they were carping about yesterday.

I’d be interested to hear how many people they employ. They always have masses of media people but I assumed they were volunteers, and they probably are. They have a reasonably sized squad I think but not huge.

I expect they will drag this out for months but it didn’t work for South Shields and co so I can’t see what good it’ll do.

If the Dorking chairman/owner/manager/ballboy really wants to to do something useful with the hours he appears to spend each day preaching to the world perhaps he could start lobbying the rest of the 65 clubs about removing the Board who have failed in their job so disastrously this past year. It goes without saying that Brian Barwick should fall on his sword. Let’s hope that the League is properly run when we hopefully restart in August.

stillmanjunior wrote:I’d be interested to hear how many people they employ. They always have masses of media people but I assumed they were volunteers, and they probably are. They have a reasonably sized squad I think but not huge.

I expect they will drag this out for months but it didn’t work for South Shields and co so I can’t see what good it’ll do.

Of course Dorking also brought a very large contingent to the play off game in full recognition of the covid risks at the time.