Dream League

Not wishing to cause division but just a diversion hopefully not too much derision, I have produced what for me would be a dream non-league league for Bath City.

Poole Town
Weymouth
Yeovil Town
Frome Town
Chippenham Town
Bristol Rovers
Cirencester Town
Cheltenham Town
Gloucester City
Worcester City
Eastleigh
Havant & W
Weston-Super-Mare
Gosport Borough
Dorchester Town
Hereford
Basingstoke
Forest Green
Salisbury FC

I think that every game would have added interest compared to Conference South. National Leagues are a bit of a vanity thing, which work fine at the top level, but for lower/non-league seem ridiculous. Travel would be far easier and gates would be far higher.

I have only made a league of 20 clubs. This would leave week night’s free for Cup games – FA Cup, FA Trophy etc. The top few clubs could enter a national knockout competition (a non-league Champions league if you like).

Is this in terms of travel only or attractive fixtures? I'd happily take in a bit of variety and a trip or two up north to avoid going to places like Eastleigh again, and to a lesser extent Havant.

Very nice, though I'd swap Eastleigh and H&W for Newport and Merthyr

City 'til we're relegated wrote:
I have only made a league of 20 clubs. This would leave week night’s free for Cup games – FA Cup, FA Trophy etc.

This is an excellent idea and very similar to one I heard at a recent match!

Many of the long journeys made by clubs at our level (and the levels below), often to play in front of ridiculously small crowds suggests there's merit in your proposals. It seems ridiculous to me that we have become regular opponents of the likes of Bishop Stortford and Concord, yet haven't played some traditional, local rivals for many years.

2weirdtown wrote:Very nice, though I'd swap Eastleigh and H&W for Newport and Merthyr

I'd almost swap H + W for Fleetwood!

All very well but some there have aspirations beyond local regional football as we do hopefully. Need some variety in life, and not much there for the Exiles !

Mr Comrade, I did not wish to add that the midweek cup games were your idea just in case abuse was hurled your way instead of mine.

Of course there could be some tweaking to the list as the fine recommendations mentioned. I would find this a far more entertaining and exciting league than Conference South(I can't believe it's not the Isthmian League).

Playing in a national league seems to be a bit of an ego thing, but playing regionally would have far more interest, especially if the regions top clubs could be pitted against each other.

stillmanjunior wrote:Is this in terms of travel only or attractive fixtures? I'd happily take in a bit of variety and a trip or two up north to avoid going to places like Eastleigh again, and to a lesser extent Havant.

Travel would be part of the story, I accept your comments regarding Eastleigh and Havant, thank you.

Let's face it, the league we're currently in is of no interest to the general public/casual supporter. It's sh*te.
The sooner some meaningful changes are made, the better. Rebranding it 'national' is purile and an insult to anyone's intelligence.
Might be a small improvement if Weymouth scrape in next season via the play offs, to join Poole.

Yes this division not very attractive, but Rovers, Yeovil and Cheltenham not in our League, literally, and wont be for a while anyway, and as for Chippenham and Cirencester...really? play them regularly?, no thanks.

2weirdtown wrote:Let's face it, the league we're currently in is of no interest to the general public/casual supporter.  It's sh*te.
The sooner some meaningful changes are made, the better.  Rebranding it 'national' is purile and an insult to anyone's intelligence.
Might be a small improvement if Weymouth scrape in next season via the play offs, to join Poole.

Unfortunately Poole seem to have lost form ( or nerve) at just the wrong time and Corby could get automatic promotion. That would be another unattractive fixture

The main issue will be clubs that harbour national ambitions.

How about this:

Start season by playing in 3 mini leagues of 6 local clubs home and away. 10 games.

Top two teams go into a top league of 6, mid two enter mid league, bottom two enter bottom league. Play home and away. 10 games.

Top 2 enter wider league of teams from across South of England (from 5 regions) 10 teams. Play home and away. 18 games.

Micawber wrote:

2weirdtown wrote:Let's face it, the league we're currently in is of no interest to the general public/casual supporter.  It's sh*te.
The sooner some meaningful changes are made, the better.  Rebranding it 'national' is purile and an insult to anyone's intelligence.
Might be a small improvement if Weymouth scrape in next season via the play offs, to join Poole.

Unfortunately Poole seem to have lost form ( or nerve) at just the wrong time and Corby could get automatic promotion. That would be another unattractive fixture

I've been going on the assumption that Corby would be put in the North, surely they would!? Which could mean Oxford City in the South which I'd take over Corby. Seem to remember if you get moved you have to stay there for two years, otherwise Lowestoft would be biting hands off to get in the South, as I seem to remember them taking none too kindly to being put in the north last summer.

Luton Roman wrote: and as for Chippenham and Cirencester...really? play them regularly?, no thanks.

Chippenham provided us with our only proper local derbies since Yeovil disappeared over the horizon. I particularly enjoyed the fixtures there, with a packed ground and some really spicy matches. The banter on here and the Chipp forum before and after was great and I honestly think their rise 10 years back kept us as a club on our toes. Would love to see them join us at this level again one day.

I'd add Dulwich Hamlet & FC United of Manchester to provide for two good "city break" away trips at decent grounds. Heard very good things about Wealdstone away day, maybe give them a spot?

But I totally agree with the main thrust of the post - Bath City vs the M25 doesn't really get the blood racing, it's shame we don't have more West Country rivalries.

Wealdstone away was great and it is on my "must attend" list. Much more so than anything the other side of London.

Playing teams like Cirencester or Weston don't provide any enthusiasm to me. We played Ciren enough times in the Southern League, when we played them at home they wouldn't have brought more than about five fans.

The problem at the moment is the total lack of variety with the games. It's basically the same journey all the time. I don't mind if it's somewhere easy like Maidenhead but even the slight change, i.e. Havant, is a pig of a journey. Some places east I don't mind going to, St. Albans for example, but others are becoming more of a drag, to the extent that I opt out of going to a few.

One of two trips up north is fine to me. I actually really enjoyed my two midweek jaunts to Gateshead but I wouldn't like to do it every season.

Might be a twist to the SL title race yet as Corby's final 3 games are all away to 3rd place Truro, 5th place Weymouth and finally......2nd place Poole.

Oh yes, Maidenhead is a must as well as some other ex-Cardiff supporters have adopted them (or been adoptedby them).

I would invite a few guest teams from outside our area into the Dream League. Yes, Wealdstone for the great atmosphere their fans create. St Albans as they are located in one of my favourite towns. Dover, because we seem to get right up their nose and Boston for a guaranteed 6 points. And maybe even East Thurrock...

I never want to go to Dover again. I like the ground (the big terraces behind each goal are great, the restricted views as you enter are not) but just fed up with some of the fans we encounter, like we did the other week.

As I said at the time, and I still say now - the only positive on losing on penalties in the FA Trophy semi-final was it was to North Ferriby. If it was at Dover it would have been utter hell, pretty sure there would have been some sort of trouble.

Covering a wide area does lower league clubs no favours at all.  It does not add to home attendances. In fact it has a negative impact by discouraging away fans to travel.  Added to this is of course the added cost of away travel for the teams and officials.
Regionalise or die!

What is the picture like abroad? Do they even have a 6th tier?
I am broadly in favour of the idea to regionalise. The costs of running football at this level are far too high and we need more local rivalry to excite a growth in attendances. I agree with Comrade that the games v Chipp were the most exciting moments of recent seasons (Newport too of course), so I would gladly have them back, and this comes from a principal beneficiary of the Isthmian phenomenon.