Tonights games

[Formic]

Yes Bob that right BUT the FA want Step 1-4 leagues of 22 or 24 so someone has to be promoted from Step 5 to even out the numbers when clubs in Steps 1-4 go bust.

Can you explain your logic a bit more on that assertion - as opposed to just relegating fewer teams?

[SouthRushdenJFC]

Trust our Club song writers are working on something suitable for our No 1 fan Mr Winston.

He tells me that he won't be there to hear it in person

[sussexdiamond]

The FA want a full complement of Step 4 leagues with 22 or 24 teams. That is a total of 136 clubs.
44 Evo Stick NPL, 44 Calor and 48 Ryman.
If any club goes bust at a higher level(Hinckley, Eastwood, Vauxhall, Corby?) you can relegate less teams but it ultimately creates a vacancy/cies further down the chain, which can only be rectified by promoting suitable/ambitious Step 5 clubs.

Reorganizing boundaries for Step 5 then becomes a difficulty for the FA, but hey ho what will we care as we will be Step 4 club!!

[Everyweeker]

Vacancies further down the pyramid aren't really a problem though, as leagues often run without their maximum amount as permitted by the rules.

Still can't see why reprieves are not more likely, given all previous FA indications.

[davealbon]

I think it's not beyond the realms of possibility, if rumours are to be believed, that there will be more teams either going bust or requesting/volunteering for demotion from Step 4 than there are relegation places (in some geographical areas at least). Therefore, if the Step 4 leagues are to keep the minimum numbers requested by the FA (and they seem a lot more concerned about Step 4 leagues with low numbers than they are Step 5 leagues) then the only option is to promote more teams from Step 5 leagues.

We just need to concentrate on making sure that we are in a position at the end of the season to take advantage of the situation IF it happens, and IF we are in one of the geographical areas affected.

[Everyweeker]

Of course, whilst the battle for second is crucial, if an extra promotion place were to become availbale, it wouldn't be necessary or sufficient to finish second. Rather, I guess it would come down to points per game verses other sides applying for promotion.

I.e. we could finish second, but have a lower PPG than another side (in a different league, such as Ampthil''s league (SSML?)) who also apply, and they therefore get promoted.

Or we could finish third, but still be promoted as having the best PPG of sides applying in the correct geographical area (Huntingdon/Deeping have not applied of course).

Realistically, to have a successful PPG, we would need to do well enough to finish in second I would think, but it is worth following on the spreadsheet Trek helpfully links to ;)

And I still think we'll be in the UCL next year, but lets try and win every game anyway

[Olly]

Tbh its so unlikely that we'll be promoted that I'm not even really thinking about it, yes its important we try and finish 2nd just in case, but we'll be in the UCL again next season and to me that's not a bad thing at all, we'll be able to rebuild the team for a league we know about now and have a good crack at the title and we'll get another chance in the Vase as well and possibly Wembley, whereas we obviously wouldn't realistically have a chance in the Trophy and I'm not sure how much of a chance of being near the top we would have in the SL Central league.

[Everyweeker]

The advantage of the SL Central compared to the UCL is playoffs of course, rather than a single promotion spot. Even if we fail in a future Step 4 promotion chase, it might be an exciting ride 8-)

[Trek]

Another team struggling financially to complete the season.

http://www.histonfc.co.uk/news.php?id=1 ... um=twitter

[Formic]

Another team struggling financially to complete the season.

http://www.histonfc.co.uk/news.php?id=1 ... um=twitter

That makes things look pretty grim for Histon. It also appears their fans have lost their voice too, with no discussion about their perils on their forum, and only around 50 turning up for the key meeting.

More here - http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Sport/S ... 232928.htm