Elastic strapping effect....

[BartonRaz]

I think maybe Conference North/South could be attainable in time. We certainly have a hard core support which is at that level at least. Ground issues could become a problem if we move up the Leagues though. Either a serious upgrade to the Dog 'n Duck, or a new ground, would be required to go to that level I would think.

Do we know how high we could go before we would be obliged to make ground improvements/move elsewhere? I would have thought that the Dog and Duck would be more or less ok as is up to and including Conference North/South level.

I don't think for one moment that the D&D would be eligible for BSN in its current state, but what I would say is that IMO it's a better ground than Solihull Moors.

[davealbon]

I think maybe Conference North/South could be attainable in time. We certainly have a hard core support which is at that level at least. Ground issues could become a problem if we move up the Leagues though. Either a serious upgrade to the Dog 'n Duck, or a new ground, would be required to go to that level I would think.

Do we know how high we could go before we would be obliged to make ground improvements/move elsewhere? I would have thought that the Dog and Duck would be more or less ok as is up to and including Conference North/South level.

We've had to make ground improvements already, just to be eligible for promotion to the UCL Prem (even though WTFC already play in the Prem at the same ground)! More improvements would no doubt be required in order to meet the necessary grading to enter the Southern League.

We considered this when we first looked at the D&D as an option for the senior side, and believe that we could get it up to SL standards relatively easily and cheaply, although the FA are getting tougher on ground grading requirements now. Having visited a number of Conference N/S grounds, I'm sure we could get the D&D up to a better level than some (better even than some Conference Prem grounds!), but there's no guarantee that that would be enough for us to qualify for that level - as we've seen this season, there are different requirements for promotion into a league than there are for staying in the league if you're already there!

[Trek]

Interesting to note, that Oadby Town are appealing for volunteers for a work party tomorrow morning to erect a fence to achieve necessary ground grading in the event of promotion to a higher division. Shouldn't all this work have been completed before the end of March?

[SouthRushdenJFC]

If I remember correctly clubs needed to have provided proof, in the forms of receipts etc, that they had purchased the materials necessary to make the improvements.

[Sid]

As I understand it there are a minimum of 16 promotion places from the 14 step 5 divisions this season due to Isthmian (Ryman) League expansion. I believe that means should St Ives fail the grading, Spalding would be promoted from 3rd place.

[davealbon]

If I remember correctly clubs needed to have provided proof, in the forms of receipts etc, that they had purchased the materials necessary to make the improvements.

Some clubs did. Not all were given this option though.

[Formic]

As I understand it there are a minimum of 16 promotion places from the 14 step 5 divisions this season due to Isthmian (Ryman) League expansion. I believe that means should St Ives fail the grading, Spalding would be promoted from 3rd place.

I think this helps to back up my comment earlier about St Ives ground being OK - but it also suggests that both St Ives and Spalding might go up!

[Bob's Bitch]

Btw Formic my info came from the Non League Matters forum, backed up by a story on the St Ives website calling for helpers to get jobs done around that March date.