Travelling distances in Southern Premier

[dansilk]

See here: http://www.mikeavery.co.uk/Archive%202009-10/2010-2011%20mileage%20charts.htm

 

Only non-league division that's worse off is the full Conference.

We're about midway in the SPL - everyone does over 3000 miles, we do over 4K but there are plenty above us. Including of course Truro who travel nearly 10K miles each year. Cambridge to Truro is over 700 miles round-trip...

 

And the total travelling in the Isthmian Premier is about half that in the Southern.

I'd estimate if we were in there we'd be travelling about 1000 miles less in the season than we will be in the SPL (judging by the nearest teams, about 10 miles further into London). However given how much of it would be around the M25 and then outward, I'm not sure we'd actually save so much time, Tuesday nights would be a 'mare for the team either way.

[Woody SUFC]

Is it any wonder then why the Conference South is more London based. They have far less to spend on travelling and players are far more likely to move to them than a southern league club because of that.

 

The whole system needs a shake up with perhaps a midlands league to go alongside the southern,ryman and Evo-stick to help make the leagues slightly more local. Whilst the quality of football might suffer slightly it'll stop clubs having to over reach themselves. 4 or 5 clubs have dropped levels this summer due to money issues and i can only see that getting worse next year.

[Fuzzy Royal]

I couldn't agree more, the structure right down to the level we played at last year involves far too much travelling and expense for the clubs involved. Be a tough job to sort it out though, cos at some point you would have to start funneling clubs to the Conf North/South and of course back out of it. But at our level, and i am thinking of the South here as i don't really know the teams up North, maybe a London league, then divide the remaining teams in a more sensible manner, having more than just a couple of leagues why not four. As you say a few weaker teams will get involved but ultimately this would be better for them and lead to more local games which can lead to a bit more rivalry and ultimately bigger gates and more money for all. If we had had last season games against Slough, Beaconsfield, Burnham, Chesham and Marlow for instance, there could have been some cracking local games that may have attracted a few more casual fans.

 

Ah well, we shall see some new grounds next year, and they won't be in some grotty part of London with no parking and a dodgy group of hoodies hanging around waiting for you to leave your car.

 

Roll on the new season and whatever it may bring......

[southwestred]

Is it any wonder then why the Conference South is more London based. They have far less to spend on travelling and players are far more likely to move to them than a southern league club because of that.

 

The whole system needs a shake up with perhaps a midlands league to go alongside the southern,ryman and Evo-stick to help make the leagues slightly more local. Whilst the quality of football might suffer slightly it'll stop clubs having to over reach themselves. 4 or 5 clubs have dropped levels this summer due to money issues and i can only see that getting worse next year.

 

Id say the Conf South is more London based because there better than southern western & south midland clubs! Theres far more teams in that area than anywhere else, probably why the gates are crap compared to others. Too many clubs & not enough fans to go round!

 

As for the structure of the pyramid, thats a debate thats gone on for years & will go on for years. Promotion issues are thrown into dissaray each year because the stucture is not even. Conf S / conf N promoted to conf nat. no problem there. Southern & Ishtmian into conf S, no problem there, Northern Prem & ?????? The system desperately needs that missing link. unfortunately, ridiculous inter league bickering means that still hasnt happened. What should be in place is a Northern League that goes no further south than a set point, and a Midland league which would BOTH feed the conf N. The southern half can then be slpit by an east/west devide &' as now, feed the conf S. Until this happens, then each year more & more clubs will be shifted between leagues as the southern bias grows & grows. They'll always be a few issues but with that 4th step 3 league the there wont be as many problems as the leagues are currently faced with.

 

It winds me up when some clubs whinge about having to travel to the likes of truro, or say, durham. those whinging clubs seen to forget that those far outpost clubs have to make those long haul trips every other week!! Another thing that ALL clubs sometimes need reminding about is that if the club are actively looking for promotion then when that promotion comes & you climb up the pyramid then your travelling WILL be more than that of the previous (more regional) season.

[dansilk]

...

As for the structure of the pyramid, thats a debate thats gone on for years & will go on for years. Promotion issues are thrown into dissaray each year because the stucture is not even. Conf S / conf N promoted to conf nat. no problem there. Southern & Ishtmian into conf S, no problem there, Northern Prem & ?????? The system desperately needs that missing link. unfortunately, ridiculous inter league bickering means that still hasnt happened. What should be in place is a Northern League that goes no further south than a set point, and a Midland league which would BOTH feed the conf N. The southern half can then be slpit by an east/west devide &' as now, feed the conf S. Until this happens, then each year more & more clubs will be shifted between leagues as the southern bias grows & grows. They'll always be a few issues but with that 4th step 3 league the there wont be as many problems as the leagues are currently faced with.

...

 

Good points, I was hoping when the FA announced a restructure for 1-4 they might be doing just that. 3 > 2 > 1 is fine, but only if the 3 are evenly spread.

 

when that promotion comes & you climb up the pyramid then your travelling WILL be more than that of the previous (more regional) season.

Not if we go up to the Conference South, look at our 4K compared with Maidenhead's 2.5K... there's a target