The Non - League thread

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Tony Le Mesmer
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Re: The Non - League thread

by Tony Le Mesmer » 22 Aug 2020 12:58

Four Of Clubs FA Extra Prelim rounds to be played Tue 1st Sept - plenty of local sides involved - will put up a full (well Southern-half) in due course when I summon up the time/energy to do it.


Im hoping plenty will switch to Bank Holiday Monday 31st, which is the 1st day of Stage 2 for crowds. Will certainly pull in a few extra punters

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Re: The Non - League thread

by Four Of Clubs » 24 Aug 2020 22:53

Tony Le Mesmer
Four Of Clubs FA Extra Prelim rounds to be played Tue 1st Sept - plenty of local sides involved - will put up a full (well Southern-half) in due course when I summon up the time/energy to do it.


Im hoping plenty will switch to Bank Holiday Monday 31st, which is the 1st day of Stage 2 for crowds. Will certainly pull in a few extra punters


... Well to date only a mere handful of ties have been put back to the Wed eve. I'd be quite surprised if there are any late changes to exploit the potential crowd availability of the BH Mon
- I think the round was crammed in midweek, to get the competition started as early as poss. and doubt, at the time it was arranged, the BH would have been in anyone's mind.
Only now restrictions are lifted, would it appear to be an option but still doubt anyone will exploit it at such short notice.
In past seasons some STEP05/06 leagues have started midweek to get game in before the EP round of the Cup - sadly not really an option this time of course.

EDIT : However a tie in Essex has now been brought forward 24hrs to B/H Mon :mrgreen:
Woodford Town v London Colney KO 19:45

....but there are now a good 2 doz. KOs on We'd night ...

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Re: The Non - League thread

by paultheroyal » 02 Sep 2020 11:11

Tadley Calleva win their first ever FA Cup tie and Basingstoke Town win on penalties to go through.

Work is slowly progressing on the new ground for Basingstoke Town but being there last night it will not be ready for a few weeks is my bet so they will carry on at Winchester for the time being.

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Re: The Non - League thread

by Royals and Racers » 02 Sep 2020 12:51

Last night went to Burnham FC’s match against Cheltenham Sarcens- 0-0 Burnham won on penalities. Must have been close to the 150 allowed.

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Re: The Non - League thread

by Tony Le Mesmer » 03 Sep 2020 11:18

Royals and Racers Last night went to Burnham FC’s match against Cheltenham Sarcens- 0-0 Burnham won on penalities. Must have been close to the 150 allowed.


very close, 149 in att.

Some amazing attendances for the level on Tues/Wed, plenty of reports of 300 sell outs. 150-200 looked about average on the figures i have seen. Most of them would only get 30-40 usually.


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Re: The Non - League thread

by Old Man Andrews » 03 Sep 2020 11:24

Tony Le Mesmer
Royals and Racers Last night went to Burnham FC’s match against Cheltenham Sarcens- 0-0 Burnham won on penalities. Must have been close to the 150 allowed.


very close, 149 in att.

Some amazing attendances for the level on Tues/Wed, plenty of reports of 300 sell outs. 150-200 looked about average on the figures i have seen. Most of them would only get 30-40 usually.

It is great to see and long may it continue. Hopefully the clubs will do all they can to retain those attending whilst the higher step clubs are behind closed doors.

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Re: The Non - League thread

by Zammo » 03 Sep 2020 12:10

FA Cup tix for Didcot Town vs Royal Wootton Bassett Town FC (that's a mouthful to sing on the terraces) purchased.

300, all ticket affair. 50 allowed from the away side. Only 40 allowed in the club bar at any one time though. Bl**dy Covid.

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Re: The Non - League thread

by Four Of Clubs » 04 Sep 2020 20:50

paultheroyal Tadley Calleva win their first ever FA Cup tie and Basingstoke Town win on penalties to go through.


...ever so slight swing of the pendant here :mrgreen: - Tadley did actually 'win' their first ever FA Cup Tie back in 2013 - an Extra Prelim tie v Ascot which they lost 2-4 but were then awarded the match - promptly got humped 3-5 by the Chalfonts.
...and lost to Ascot in the the following seasons competition - again 2-4 in a replay after a 1-1 draw!

... and have Lost every subsequent tie admittedly - until this week.

The win over Alresford was quite an upset against a side that had been run-away leaders of their division the Wessex Prem.
Good chance for further progress too -they travel to Fawley next Sunday (13th); who sit a division below them in the Wessex One.


Talking of things 'Bassett' - I was at their game this week 2-2 V Chipping Sodbury - won 4-1 on pens
- big 'TJ' up front (Robins fans will recall him) was never properly marshalled by the 'Sods' and notched both goals. Crowed was 181 but it is a big ground so didn't seem un-socially distanced.
'Track and Trace' was a matey with a clipboard inside the turnstile, taking down names and contact numbers; sensibly for the latter just one per group. My phone isn't Smart enough for these 'ere new-fangled apps like 'EvePass' so just as well.


Plenty of other 'local' sides were involved in Cup action midweek :
- Reading City went out at Hamble
- Windsor got past Aylesbury Vale and now travel, with some confidence I'd expect, to Wantage.
- Flackwell won down in Brizzle at Roman Glass; now host Ciren. Town.
- Binfield won their possibly tricky tie, down in the West Country at Westbury and welcome STEP04 AFC Totton next w/e
- Frimley Gn bt Fareham and now have a short trip over to Westfield in Woking.
- Ascot drew 1-1 @ Christchurch but exited 6-7 on pens - the winners now travel somewhere :? to visit Basingstoke.....
- Sandhurst were well beaten 0-4 at STEP05 AFC Portchester

- 'Anorak' nicely aired - I then took in a Hants Div One League game on Wed night
18:00 KO Silchester 4-0 Kingsclere - crowd somewhere above 80 odd - majority were 'hoppers'
- nice swift half in the Calleva Arms at H/T. Don't think there will be many more 'silly season' KOs - probably getting too dark :|


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
...and here's a list of tomorrow's 'local' League games - essentially only CCL & WESSEX have started so far:

Saturday 5th September

05 CCLP
Abbey Rangers v Colliers Wood United
Ascot United v Molesey
Banstead Athletic v Badshot Lea
CB Hounslow United v Guildford City
Cobham v Southall
Egham Town v Sutton Common Rovers
Hanworth Villa v Knaphill
Raynes Park Vale v Camberley Town
Spelthorne Sports v Frimley Green
06 CCL1
AFC Hayes Epsom & Ewell
Bagshot v British Airways @ Camberley Town
Bedfont & Feltham Jersey Bulls
Chessington & Hook United v Cove
Eversley & California
v FC Deportivo Galicia
Farnham Town v Dorking Wanderers Reserves
Fleet Spurs v Kensington & Ealing Borough
Tooting Bec v Godalming Town
Walton & Hersham v Ash United
Westside v Sandhurst Town @ Colliers Wood Utd

HELLENIC no fixtures

05 WESSP
AFC Portchester v Fleet Town
AFC Stoneham v Lymington Town
Alresford Town v Baffins Milton Rovers
Tadley Calleva v Hamble Club
06 WESS1
14:00 Newport (IOW) v Andover New Street @ East Cowes
Andover Town v Fawley AFC
Downton v Alton
Petersfield Town
v Folland Sports

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Re: The Non - League thread

by AthleticoSpizz » 04 Sep 2020 21:19

Wow thanx FoC
It’s been so long
Life is restored!


Great to hear of decent crowds at lowly fixtures....taking the positives from the current mire, (600 plus at Gospit v Portsmiff friendly)


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Re: The Non - League thread

by Four Of Clubs » 05 Sep 2020 12:46

AthleticoSpizz Wow thanx FoC
It’s been so long
Life is restored!


Great to hear of decent crowds at lowly fixtures....taking the positives from the current mire, (600 plus at Gospit v Portsmiff friendly)


Thnx 4 Thnx :D
- glad to be back watching live football out doors - still picking up on a few late call-offs due to Coronas and I was going to post a list of today's 'PSF's but thought there might be too many imponderables.

- there were a few supposedly arranged for this PM but equally many of these are being re-arranged/cancelled at very short notice
- so I didn't want to get people's hopes up.

In an extreme case; some poor 'hopper' booked train tickets a week or so ago to schlep from somewhere over in Essex all the way down to sunny Ramsgit - only to find out yesterday - that the visitors Romford cba'd to travel and the games off.
Gets no refunds on his tickets either - so he either bites the bullet or tries to travel to another random game somewhere else in Kent covered by his purchase.


Haven't checked specifics this AM but here's a scant few lifted from the NL forum. These are scheduled to take place today involving fairly local clubs - and I'm certain there may be many more within our STEP 1/2/3/4 clubs.
e.g. a quick flick about on t'interweb, finds Woking travelling down to play 'Scummers' U23s - but it's behind closed doors.

[I'd strongly advise checking with clubs that these are still on and if there are any special access arrangements in place for those higher up the Pyramid ..... there's even a chance some with restricted numbers may be 'sold' out]

Banbury United v Brackley Town ## tickets were available in advance on line
Chalfont St Peter v Hullbridge Sports
Hanwell Town v Aldershot Town
Metropolitan Police v Winchester City (3pm)
Old Windsor v Maidenhead Town (2pm)
Penn & Tylers Green v Yateley United (1pm)

...I'm planning to head west into Moonraker-land for a WILTS Prem game between Ludgershall and Wroughton - need to negotiate a route around a few M4 closures; reportedly scheduled to the east and west for this PM. :roll:


...oh and I believe the Southern & Isthmian Fixtures have been released now .... both leagues start on Sat 19th Sept.

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Re: The Non - League thread

by Four Of Clubs » 06 Sep 2020 11:37

Results from yesterday's League games...
.... hope no-one tried to go to Ascot :oops: - fixture must have switched venues at short notice - not mentioned on tweets that I could see ... though intriguingly the Yellamen's site had both fixtures (H & A) listed for yesterday? :?
- I hadn't received any Bulletin's yet this season from the CCL - I am on their e-mailing list but perhaps they've gone on-line only for this term?

Saturday 5th September

05 CCLP
Abbey Rangers 1-1 Colliers Wood United
Banstead Athletic 2-0 Badshot Lea
CB Hounslow United 1-1 Guildford City
Cobham 0-4 Southall
Egham Town 0-2 Sutton Common Rovers
Hanworth Villa 1-1 Knaphill
Molesey 1-7 {SEVEN} Ascot United
Raynes Park Vale 2-1 Camberley Town
Spelthorne Sports 2-0 Frimley Green
06 CCL1
AFC Hayes 2-1 Epsom & Ewell
Bagshot 0-2 British Airways
Bedfont & Feltham 1-4 Jersey Bulls
Chessington & Hook United 2-0 Cove
Eversley & California
1-1 FC Deportivo Galicia
Farnham Town 3-0 Dorking Wanderers Reserves
Fleet Spurs 1-3 Kensington & Ealing Borough
Tooting Bec 1-1 Godalming Town
Walton & Hersham 6-0 Ash United
Westside 5-1 Sandhurst Town

05 WESSP
AFC Portchester 3-1 Fleet Town
AFC Stoneham 1-2 Lymington Town
Alresford Town 0-3 Baffins Milton Rovers
Tadley Calleva 2-1 Hamble Club
06 WESS1
14:00 Newport (IOW) 0-2 Andover New Street
Andover Town
3-1 Fawley AFC
Downton 1-4 Alton
Petersfield Town
2-5 Folland Sports

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
...I made it (just) down to:
Wilts Premier Ludgershall Sports 0-10 {TEN} Wroughton
- journey out fraught with issues - - think eldest has been borrowing the car again: so fuel gauge showing only 50 miles. (I did thrash it a bit during the week, so it wasn't all him :wink: )
- Petrol pumps at Morrison's were f£(&ed - that's the 50% that were actually available so got held up a bit there
- thought I'd given myself enough time to get there cross country, as I knew the M4 had issues out West (shut 13-14)
- SatNav still recommended going that way regardless - must remember to completely ignore the *&^%ing thing in future. :evil:
Queuing traffic from about 2 miles east of Newbury and then down to A4 on A34 - dash SW from there to Andover and beyond - arr about 15' after KO - spectator entrance gates shut, game in progress.
Drove round the block parked in the sleepy Crescent that encircles the ground and crept in thru the Members only; no Guest; no sign-in Clubhouse. - can't see how that would operate if they are going to lock the access gates on the other side?
Was quiet enough inside for it not to be an issue - I'm sure it's just to cover themselves during Corioli-time
I even wheedled half a pint of Staropramen at H/T - promising I'd sit in a quiet corner out of the way. 8)
Visitors were several levels better than the hosts hence the scoreline.
If Wroughton had these facilities I could definitely see them knocking on the Hellenic's door for entry - sadly, having been to their ground they have no chance of progress - it's little more than a changing block in an open rec. (Think: Cintra Park only smaller)
Here is a fully enclosed ground with pitch rails and a very large plush social club. Doubt this fairly out of the way little town, N. of Salisbury on the Hants/Wilts borders, would ever contemplate letting their football club have lights though.
Did indulge my 'navigatory-leanings' and trundled back cross-country via Overton, Kingsclere, Aldermaston & Grazeley to the A33 - back indoors by about 18:20.

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Re: The Non - League thread

by Ark Royal » 06 Sep 2020 16:32

Bracknell Town brushed aside National League South Oxford City 2-0 at Larges Lane yesterday. The Robins were very impressive - albeit against a very rusty City - and I will be a regular there this season. Another NLS side in Chippenham Town next up on Tuesday evening.

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Re: The Non - League thread

by Tony Le Mesmer » 07 Sep 2020 12:49

I very nearly headed to Ascot for the game that wasn't, as mentioned above. Late check on their twitter feed saved the day.

Wanted to stay clear of and East/West motorways and the knock on traffic so went to Eversley & California 1-1 Deportivo Galacia.

Awful game that had 0-0 all over it until 2 late goals
Non descript ground
No food or drink
No Toilets in ground ( 1 temp unisex unit a short walk away that smelt utterly rancid)
no programmes
Left early and missed injury time equaliser

If you are ever thinking of going there, head somewhere else


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Re: The Non - League thread

by Old Man Andrews » 07 Sep 2020 12:52

Ark Royal Bracknell Town brushed aside National League South Oxford City 2-0 at Larges Lane yesterday. The Robins were very impressive - albeit against a very rusty City - and I will be a regular there this season. Another NLS side in Chippenham Town next up on Tuesday evening.

Hopefully see you there. Bracknell will do very well under the current manager imo, he knows his stuff and shows a great deal of interest in the youth set up too and makes a point of watching training sessions etc. Just hope the club leave him alone and let him get on with his job and don't meddle in team selection.

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Re: The Non - League thread

by Four Of Clubs » 07 Sep 2020 19:30

Tony Le Mesmer ..... went to Eversley & California 1-1 Deportivo Galacia.

Awful game that had 0-0 all over it until 2 late goals
Non descript ground
No food or drink
No Toilets in ground ( 1 temp unisex unit a short walk away that smelt utterly rancid)
no programmes

If you are ever thinking of going there, head somewhere else


...real shame as when they started up here after joining the CCL in 2009 , things looked to have a very bright future - young ambitious chairman with supposedly lots of spare disposable income with a passion for advancing the club.
- not certain but made his money thru new tech of some kind
- Club progress stalled a bit off the field getting their lights approved and then put up and then a bit more delay with a prolonged wrangle over when they could us them - once local objections had been overcome. Got an idea it cost them promotion too after finishing runners up in 13/14?

Been a few times and the facilities are certainly variable - but they had use of the cricket bar for a while and even set-up the odd matchday BBQ.

There was a food & hot drink hatch inside the changing block the other side of the big Indoor sports hall - so yes a bit of a trek for H/T - but had loos in there too for public general use.
I also did the odd dash out across the road to the Frog 'n Wicket too when the mood took me....
...got a feeling things have slumped on and off the pitch with the young chaps departure.

In other news briefly the FA Cup preliminary Round Tie between Basingstoke and Chichester City has been set for Monday 14th back at Winchester's ground.

...plenty more to follow ....

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Re: The Non - League thread

by Tony Le Mesmer » 08 Sep 2020 08:40

Four Of Clubs
Tony Le Mesmer ..... went to Eversley & California 1-1 Deportivo Galacia.

Awful game that had 0-0 all over it until 2 late goals
Non descript ground
No food or drink
No Toilets in ground ( 1 temp unisex unit a short walk away that smelt utterly rancid)
no programmes

If you are ever thinking of going there, head somewhere else


...real shame as when they started up here after joining the CCL in 2009 , things looked to have a very bright future - young ambitious chairman with supposedly lots of spare disposable income with a passion for advancing the club.
- not certain but made his money thru new tech of some kind
- Club progress stalled a bit off the field getting their lights approved and then put up and then a bit more delay with a prolonged wrangle over when they could us them - once local objections had been overcome. Got an idea it cost them promotion too after finishing runners up in 13/14?

Been a few times and the facilities are certainly variable - but they had use of the cricket bar for a while and even set-up the odd matchday BBQ.

There was a food & hot drink hatch inside the changing block the other side of the big Indoor sports hall - so yes a bit of a trek for H/T - but had loos in there too for public general use.
I also did the odd dash out across the road to the Frog 'n Wicket too when the mood took me....
...got a feeling things have slumped on and off the pitch with the young chaps departure.

In other news briefly the FA Cup preliminary Round Tie between Basingstoke and Chichester City has been set for Monday 14th back at Winchester's ground.

...plenty more to follow ....


I did get the impression things were really falling apart there and they just didn't have anyone on hand to do the basic jobs, let alone dealing with Covid related stuff. Toilets and tea bar you mentioned were closed. Even when you arrived you'd question you were in the right place, no mention at all of the football club's existence that I could see. Shame really as I do like these mutli sport venues in general.

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Re: The Non - League thread

by paultheroyal » 08 Sep 2020 09:10

Has anyone got any experience of the JPL League? Good setup? Good standard? Parents numpties?

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Re: The Non - League thread

by Old Man Andrews » 08 Sep 2020 11:04

paultheroyal Has anyone got any experience of the JPL League? Good setup? Good standard? Parents numpties?

Yes.

My son plays on Sunday for a team who set up a Saturday JPL side at the start of last season. They first approached the better players from the Sunday side to join and presented the league as a pathway into professional football. My son was offered a place in the team so I researched the league in great detail and what was involved in terms of travel, costs etc. To me it seemed like a fairly standard league other than the fact you have to travel a lot more and there is a lot more pressure on the kids at a young age. That is the sort of pressure and demand I would expect from a professional clubs academy (had experience of that too) and there were extra training sessions that the players had to attend each week at an extra cost to the parent on top of their normal season fee. The coaches were also completely moronic and the training was massively overly demanding on what were 10 year old kids at the time. The players didn't enjoy it and many complaints were made about how the coaches spoke to the kids and to the parents. Again if a child is with a professional teams academy you expect this, the players are mini professional footballers and need to get used to the demands they will face in the future. What the JPL does in my opinion is make amatuer clubs think they are Premier League clubs, the league their club plays in has the words "Premier League" in it so therefore the coaches feel they too are Premier League coaches and in a couple of first hand experiences completely change as people which should not happen at all imo. The main reason my son didn't want to play for the JPL team is the coach who turned into the most arrogant man I have ever met. He wouldn't even speak to the kids or greet them on arrival, refused to speak to any parents unless it was via the club email and was extremely rude to the coaches of my sons existing team.

The games were all over the place. One week in Portsmouth, the next in Kent etc and it would mean basically losing the whole day to travel and the match. My son played in a couple of friendly games against JPL opposition in the preseason to see if he enjoyed it and I found the opposition to be surprisingly weak. We played games against Portsmouth and Southampton academies and won both games comfortably. I wasn't impressed by it at all and it was no higher standard than the top Surrey Youth League division on a Sunday.

My opinion is until a certain age kids need to be able to enjoy football as well as be worked hard and the JPL seems to be full of try hard coaches working at amatuer clubs who have delusions of grandeur. This might be different at other JPL clubs but from what I have been told by someone who used to coach for a team in the JPL it is not. The parents of the kids who are in the JPL side are still quite close with a lot of us parents in the clubs Sunday team and they don't like it, too much too soon.

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Re: The Non - League thread

by paultheroyal » 08 Sep 2020 12:13

Old Man Andrews
paultheroyal Has anyone got any experience of the JPL League? Good setup? Good standard? Parents numpties?

Yes.

My son plays on Sunday for a team who set up a Saturday JPL side at the start of last season. They first approached the better players from the Sunday side to join and presented the league as a pathway into professional football. My son was offered a place in the team so I researched the league in great detail and what was involved in terms of travel, costs etc. To me it seemed like a fairly standard league other than the fact you have to travel a lot more and there is a lot more pressure on the kids at a young age. That is the sort of pressure and demand I would expect from a professional clubs academy (had experience of that too) and there were extra training sessions that the players had to attend each week at an extra cost to the parent on top of their normal season fee. The coaches were also completely moronic and the training was massively overly demanding on what were 10 year old kids at the time. The players didn't enjoy it and many complaints were made about how the coaches spoke to the kids and to the parents. Again if a child is with a professional teams academy you expect this, the players are mini professional footballers and need to get used to the demands they will face in the future. What the JPL does in my opinion is make amatuer clubs think they are Premier League clubs, the league their club plays in has the words "Premier League" in it so therefore the coaches feel they too are Premier League coaches and in a couple of first hand experiences completely change as people which should not happen at all imo. The main reason my son didn't want to play for the JPL team is the coach who turned into the most arrogant man I have ever met. He wouldn't even speak to the kids or greet them on arrival, refused to speak to any parents unless it was via the club email and was extremely rude to the coaches of my sons existing team.

The games were all over the place. One week in Portsmouth, the next in Kent etc and it would mean basically losing the whole day to travel and the match. My son played in a couple of friendly games against JPL opposition in the preseason to see if he enjoyed it and I found the opposition to be surprisingly weak. We played games against Portsmouth and Southampton academies and won both games comfortably. I wasn't impressed by it at all and it was no higher standard than the top Surrey Youth League division on a Sunday.

My opinion is until a certain age kids need to be able to enjoy football as well as be worked hard and the JPL seems to be full of try hard coaches working at amatuer clubs who have delusions of grandeur. This might be different at other JPL clubs but from what I have been told by someone who used to coach for a team in the JPL it is not. The parents of the kids who are in the JPL side are still quite close with a lot of us parents in the clubs Sunday team and they don't like it, too much too soon.


Really useful thank you. I am not surprised with what you have written there. I totally get that about the coaches etc - saw that in evidence on Sunday in a friendly where the owner of a private academy was refereeing and coaching / encouraging their own kids. He was one of those blokes who clearly has every single qualification going but a right bellend to match. Parents from this new team my son is with were getting very animated.

I am told that the south coast region standard is very high so we shall see and keep you posted. Alot of Conference teams have their academies in their and funnily enough some Premier League teams girl teams but playing down a year.

Kicks off this weekend so will let you know.

Old Man Andrews

Re: The Non - League thread

by Old Man Andrews » 08 Sep 2020 12:18

paultheroyal
Old Man Andrews
paultheroyal Has anyone got any experience of the JPL League? Good setup? Good standard? Parents numpties?

Yes.

My son plays on Sunday for a team who set up a Saturday JPL side at the start of last season. They first approached the better players from the Sunday side to join and presented the league as a pathway into professional football. My son was offered a place in the team so I researched the league in great detail and what was involved in terms of travel, costs etc. To me it seemed like a fairly standard league other than the fact you have to travel a lot more and there is a lot more pressure on the kids at a young age. That is the sort of pressure and demand I would expect from a professional clubs academy (had experience of that too) and there were extra training sessions that the players had to attend each week at an extra cost to the parent on top of their normal season fee. The coaches were also completely moronic and the training was massively overly demanding on what were 10 year old kids at the time. The players didn't enjoy it and many complaints were made about how the coaches spoke to the kids and to the parents. Again if a child is with a professional teams academy you expect this, the players are mini professional footballers and need to get used to the demands they will face in the future. What the JPL does in my opinion is make amatuer clubs think they are Premier League clubs, the league their club plays in has the words "Premier League" in it so therefore the coaches feel they too are Premier League coaches and in a couple of first hand experiences completely change as people which should not happen at all imo. The main reason my son didn't want to play for the JPL team is the coach who turned into the most arrogant man I have ever met. He wouldn't even speak to the kids or greet them on arrival, refused to speak to any parents unless it was via the club email and was extremely rude to the coaches of my sons existing team.

The games were all over the place. One week in Portsmouth, the next in Kent etc and it would mean basically losing the whole day to travel and the match. My son played in a couple of friendly games against JPL opposition in the preseason to see if he enjoyed it and I found the opposition to be surprisingly weak. We played games against Portsmouth and Southampton academies and won both games comfortably. I wasn't impressed by it at all and it was no higher standard than the top Surrey Youth League division on a Sunday.

My opinion is until a certain age kids need to be able to enjoy football as well as be worked hard and the JPL seems to be full of try hard coaches working at amatuer clubs who have delusions of grandeur. This might be different at other JPL clubs but from what I have been told by someone who used to coach for a team in the JPL it is not. The parents of the kids who are in the JPL side are still quite close with a lot of us parents in the clubs Sunday team and they don't like it, too much too soon.


Really useful thank you. I am not surprised with what you have written there. I totally get that about the coaches etc - saw that in evidence on Sunday in a friendly where the owner of a private academy was refereeing and coaching / encouraging their own kids. He was one of those blokes who clearly has every single qualification going but a right bellend to match. Parents from this new team my son is with were getting very animated.

I am told that the south coast region standard is very high so we shall see and keep you posted. Alot of Conference teams have their academies in their and funnily enough some Premier League teams girl teams but playing down a year.

Kicks off this weekend so will let you know.

My son played against Southampton's girls team last season, they were a year up too. They are all great technically but have absolutely zero aggression and rely so much on their coaches telling them exactly what to do. We ended up hammering them, it was all down to the aggression 11 year old boys have in them, it is just a natural thing I guess.

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