by Clyde1998 »
18 Apr 2023 11:30
Sutekh Clyde1998 paultheroyal Noticed tonight that a few media outlets reporting that “Wrexham are close to breaking Reading’s points record for professional football in England”
The National League is not a fully professional division - Dorking, Maidenhead and Wealdstone are all semi-professional.
In fact, breaking 100 points is very common for winners of the National League - seven of the fifteen winners of the league under a 46-game season have exceeded 100 points (including Stevenage in 2010, whose two wins over Chester were expunged due to the latter club folding during the season, and this season). For comparison, only on thirteen occasions have clubs managed to reach triple figures in a 46-game Football League season under since three points for a win came in (1981-82); that's over a combined 117 seasons.
If the media are to drag the NL into it then what about all the other non league divisions, bet the 100 point mark has probably been breached masses of times, wouldn’t surprise me if, on occasion, some clubs in some divisions had racked up beyond 106 points from playing less than 46 games too. This is why most NL records should remain amongst non-league leagues, clubs and divisions and not compared to the more consistent organisation of the FL.
I found
AFC Wimbledon got 130 points in one of their early seasons - Won 42, Drew 4, Lost 0. This was back when they were playing in the eighth or ninth tier with a few players who played for the old Wimbledon in what's now the Championship and getting attendances of around 3,000 compared to sides who'd struggle to get a couple hundred turn up. In fact, they got
111 points in the previous season and came third!
The further down you go, the more likely it is the division will be uneven due to new clubs entering the league (who's ability may be unclear before the season starts), often only a single side getting promoted/relegated, clubs only being able to attract players from a very close radius and the rapid turnover of players. This all makes getting a triple digit points tally much more likely.
The National League isn't fully professional is it? Unless I've missed Maidenhead turning pro, thought they were still semi pro. National League is still non-league so is different for me.