The Non - League thread

[Royal Rother]

The toilets at Windsor are a disgrace.

[Green]

The toilets at Windsor are a disgrace.

What are we talking? Poos and wees all over the floor?

[Sutekh]

The toilets at Windsor are a disgrace.

What are we talking? Poos and wees all over the floor?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiA8IZDerGo

[Green]

I'm not normally one to complain about the state of public toilets, but the worst I've seen was at the George by London Bridge. (You know the one, the old galleried coaching inn that has divided opinion on here before, FWIW I like the place)

Someone had done a sh!t right in the middle of the floor of the gents. And not that it really makes a difference but I was there in the mid afternoon. Can only assume all the cubicles were taken. Could've maybe gone in the sink or something, or at least in the corner where people wouldn't have to walk through.

[Royal Rother]

The toilets at Windsor are a disgrace.

What are we talking? Poos and wees all over the floor?

Not quite. The outdoor one is an old fashioned piss up against a wall into a shallow trench / channel kind of thing which, because there is no door protecting it from the elements often gets debris and leaves blown in during the week which then causes blockages. Plus the trough / channel is so old, when the dribble of a flush comes out of the auto flush system it splashes onto your shoes, and up your trouser legs which of course, (charmingly) makes it look like you’ve pissed all over the place when you come out into the light.

The 2 traps are dark, tiny and usually blocked.

The indoor gents has a leek in the roof and the urinal is one of those noisy aluminium things that makes a helluva drumming sound when your piss hits it. And it steams back at you even though it’s indoors. The washbasin is tiny and inaccessible if someone is having a slash on the right hand side of the trough.

There you have it.

[Green]

very comprehensive, thank you.

[Royal Rother]

An important contribution to the thread I feel.

[From Despair To Where?]

I remember going to Plymouth in the late 80s and the urinal (roofless of course) was up against a chain link fence so you could wave to the dog walkers in the park whilst pissing on your feet because the trough was inevitably blocked with rotting vegetation.

Made you pine for the South Bank toilets.

[Sutekh]

Not sure I've seen it anywhere in this thread but I believe Bracknell Town do have plans to move as part of the "partnership" they're building with the council and Ranelagh School to develop a complete sports and education academy (across all sports not just football). Part of this will see a compete redevelopment of the available spaces and a new ground as part of it.

No idea on timescales or on the full plans themselves and as usual with these things it bound to drag on and be many changes to come but believe the initial plans have been agreed.

Does anyone else have a clearer understanding of what is intended?

[Old Man Andrews]

Not sure I've seen it anywhere in this thread but I believe Bracknell Town do have plans to move as part of the "partnership" they're building with the council and Ranelagh School to develop a complete sports and education academy (across all sports not just football). Part of this will see a compete redevelopment of the available spaces and a new ground as part of it.

No idea on timescales or on the full plans themselves and as usual with these things it bound to drag on and be many changes to come but believe the initial plans have been agreed.

Does anyone else have a clearer understanding of what is intended?

Seen all the plans and timescales first hand from the chairman. Very impressive IF they can pull it all off. Huge money to be made from selling the land at Larges Lane, roughly £4million last I heard.

[Royal Rother]

Not sure I've seen it anywhere in this thread but I believe Bracknell Town do have plans to move as part of the "partnership" they're building with the council and Ranelagh School to develop a complete sports and education academy (across all sports not just football). Part of this will see a compete redevelopment of the available spaces and a new ground as part of it.

No idea on timescales or on the full plans themselves and as usual with these things it bound to drag on and be many changes to come but believe the initial plans have been agreed.

Does anyone else have a clearer understanding of what is intended?

We talked about it a couple of months ago....

Best team we’ve played in the league by far but that should be the case there is any truth in the rumour that Bracknell are paying around £150pw for players.

My little knowledge of ex Windsor & Eton players now at Bracknell suggests that may well be the case.

Promotion is not guaranteed. I have no problem with chairmen putting their money where their mouth is and it seems the guy has a plan and clear vision of where he wants to go but do you think this level of spending is sustainable, particularly if promotion is not achieved?

I heard a couple of Bracknell supporters outside the ground (well, they weren’t Windsor anyway) discussing what they felt was the madness of spending all this money on Larges Lane only to upsticks soon after... is that a shared concern?

(Windsor have zero playing Budget by the way.)

Yes. Many, if not most share that concern. I think promotion this year is absolutely vital for the vision he has is to succeed. Players are being paid, but I have no idea how much. I am sure TJ didn't leave submarine and burden himself with an 80 mile round trip to home games just because he missed the lads for instance!!
If they fail, I can assure you that "What will happen?" will be being asked by everyone!!

Upsticks soon after? Don't think that's likely.

Larges Lane needed to have something done to it so that more income could be made from hiring it out and the bar and stop games being regularly postponed just because of a heavy dew forming. So the money spent makes sense and, hopefully, should give the team a base on which to build for promotion back to the Southern/Isthmian Leagues.

Yes they would probably need to move if they were considering promotion beyond the Southern/Isthmian but when you consider the state of York Road even that might not be necessary and will be many years off yet anyway.

The chap running the club wants to get them back to the SL and ideally and see what happens from there but I haven't heard of any proverbial "x year plans" to get them to there or beyond.

[Green]

Something rather depressing about grossly inflated players wages and the concept of buying your way to promotion deep in the non-leagues.

Of course it happens, but all the same.

[Hoop Blah]

Something rather depressing about grossly inflated players wages and the concept of buying your way to promotion deep in the non-leagues.

Of course it happens, but all the same.

Always has, and always will, at every level of the game.

Even Sunday League and kids football (rare cases, but I've seen it) see's teams trying to get success by paying players more than others in one way or another

[Sutekh]

And the ********* about in non-league at Steps 3 & 4 continues.

Out of nowhere Shaw Lane have resigned from the Evostik Northern League due to a failure to find investment. So rather than just deciding to play that league with one team less and deal with the gap next year the leagues have decided on further reshuffles causing Hednesford Town, Fleet Town and Banbury United to be shifted and for those clubs to then appeal due to increased travel costs plus the fact they’ve already been recruiting management and players based on the divisions they were put in 5 weeks ago.

In Fleet’s case the switch to Southern League West would cause a 300% increase in budget and, according to their chairman, force the club out of business.

However all this may well set alarm bells ringing at Bracknell and Marlow as I presume the SL/IL wouldn’t want to force a club out of business unless there is absolutely no other alternative and if Fleet do get put back in the IL then one of Bracknell or Marlow may well be seen as the next alternative to be shunted into the SL

The only two clubs gaining out of it are Wimborne Town who will move up to Step 3 and, oddly, Essex club F.C. Romania who have moved up to Isthmian North at Step 4 despite the fact that Sholing had a better playing record in the Wessex League (91 points from 42 games compared to Romania’s 88 points from 42 games in the Essex Senior). I presume that Sholing turned down promotion which is a shame as they would geographically have been a straight replacement for Wimborne and all the tinkering involving Fleet at least could have been avoided.

And there were we all thinking creating a new Central League would sort all this out - seems to be a lot more moaning and complaining by clubs than ever and in this case it really does seem justified.

Elsewhere Sutton United and Boreham Wood will be playing in the Irn-Bru Cup next season. Looks like this is the Scottish League equivalent of the Checkatrade/Associate Members Cup but that has been extended to also include invites to clubs from N.Ireland, RoI, Wales and now, for the first time, England.

Apparently the appeals on the reshuffle caused by Shaw Lane’s demise are to be heard on Monday. All strikes me as being a bit late in the day, aren’t the Step 1-4 fixtures usually due out in the first week of July?

By the way, when is the equivalent “Rothmans” yearbook for the non league game usually out?

[Hoop Blah]

Any interesting transfer news for our local sides?

Quite interested in what Binfield and Highmoor, sorry, Reading City, do this summer with some local talent presumably available after Thatcham and Bracknell’s promotions.

[Sutekh]

Any interesting transfer news for our local sides?

Quite interested in what Binfield and Highmoor, sorry, Reading City, do this summer with some local talent presumably available after Thatcham and Bracknell’s promotions.

Bracknell have lost TJ Bohane due to the travelling he’d incur with the new league (he’s based over Swindon way and Bracknell are now London focussed). Shame as he could make the step up and has bagged 77 goals in 2 seasons (why can’t Reading find a striker with that sort of hit rate ).

[Royal Rother]

Any interesting transfer news for our local sides?

Quite interested in what Binfield and Highmoor, sorry, Reading City, do this summer with some local talent presumably available after Thatcham and Bracknell’s promotions.

In the lower Steps, and particularly those who don’t have a playing budget and therefore unlikely to have contracts as such, I would imagine most clubs are, like Windsor, very reticent about making any announcements until virtually the day before the season starts.

[Hoop Blah]

Any interesting transfer news for our local sides?

Quite interested in what Binfield and Highmoor, sorry, Reading City, do this summer with some local talent presumably available after Thatcham and Bracknell’s promotions.

In the lower Steps, and particularly those who don’t have a playing budget and therefore unlikely to have contracts as such, I would imagine most clubs are, like Windsor, very reticent about making any announcements until virtually the day before the season starts.

Yeah, that’s true I suppose, although as the forms go in and friendlies start it becomes a bit harder to avoid announcing them.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Reading on the front cover of the NL Paper today

Decent unbiased write-up inside too.

Look how far that we have come

[Sutekh]

And the ********* about in non-league at Steps 3 & 4 continues.

Out of nowhere Shaw Lane have resigned from the Evostik Northern League due to a failure to find investment. So rather than just deciding to play that league with one team less and deal with the gap next year the leagues have decided on further reshuffles causing Hednesford Town, Fleet Town and Banbury United to be shifted and for those clubs to then appeal due to increased travel costs plus the fact they’ve already been recruiting management and players based on the divisions they were put in 5 weeks ago.

In Fleet’s case the switch to Southern League West would cause a 300% increase in budget and, according to their chairman, force the club out of business.

However all this may well set alarm bells ringing at Bracknell and Marlow as I presume the SL/IL wouldn’t want to force a club out of business unless there is absolutely no other alternative and if Fleet do get put back in the IL then one of Bracknell or Marlow may well be seen as the next alternative to be shunted into the SL

The only two clubs gaining out of it are Wimborne Town who will move up to Step 3 and, oddly, Essex club F.C. Romania who have moved up to Isthmian North at Step 4 despite the fact that Sholing had a better playing record in the Wessex League (91 points from 42 games compared to Romania’s 88 points from 42 games in the Essex Senior). I presume that Sholing turned down promotion which is a shame as they would geographically have been a straight replacement for Wimborne and all the tinkering involving Fleet at least could have been avoided.

And there were we all thinking creating a new Central League would sort all this out - seems to be a lot more moaning and complaining by clubs than ever and in this case it really does seem justified.

Elsewhere Sutton United and Boreham Wood will be playing in the Irn-Bru Cup next season. Looks like this is the Scottish League equivalent of the Checkatrade/Associate Members Cup but that has been extended to also include invites to clubs from N.Ireland, RoI, Wales and now, for the first time, England.

Apparently the appeals on the reshuffle caused by Shaw Lane’s demise are to be heard on Monday. All strikes me as being a bit late in the day, aren’t the Step 1-4 fixtures usually due out in the first week of July?

By the way, when is the equivalent “Rothmans” yearbook for the non league game usually out?

Surprise, surprise, appeals rejected. Fleet now join the Southern League West.