2016/17 Reserves Proposed Constitution

[Karen Browne]

The clubs that voted for this should be ashamed.

 

That would be the clubs playing in the Development Division then

[Jonno]

Yes and they should be ashamed

[Whitley Bay]

Yes and they should be ashamed

Agreed. One of the clubs should take the League to Court on the basis of 'age discrimination'.

[LordBrackley]

Agreed. One of the clubs should take the League to Court on the basis of 'age discrimination'.

 

The rules state that a team can play five players over 25 years old. 

[Jonno]

It's an unnecessary nonsense at step 5. Leave it to step 4 and up.

[patrick]

London colney reserves have joined the suburban league,not what they wanted to do but because they did not subscribe to "development"nonsense there was not an alternative , after more than 20years playing in the res league they are reluctantly moving to another league!!

[Munchkin]

I don't think any club that was in the reserve division wanted to leave, but faced with only 9 clubs and the league agm later than other leagues had no choice but to have a back up in place. Based on what others clubs did it seems that was sensible to secure a position in other leagues.

[Jonno]

To lose a club like London Colney is a travesty.

[Whitley Bay]

Some new school Coach has obviously got in someone's ear and convinced the league that what they have been doing well for the last 30 years is out of date and not conducive to providing the England team with better players, so let's set adrift a ton of loyal Spartan reserve teams just so we can be seen as on trend.

This sums it all up and is 'spot on'. First Mick Ewen goes - because he's not seen as 'politically correct' - and now the SSMFL is trying to modernise by converting a very successful Reserve League to a Development Division!!

 

I seem to recall St Albans Reserves pulling out of Division Two last season because it wasn't the sort of football to develop their youngsters!! Will they be back - not a chance!!

Edited June 21, 2016 by Whitley Bay

[Adie Haynes]

In my eyes the way the league should have approached this development league was reach out to the clubs and state they were running the reserve leagues as normal this season. Any clubs who were interested in a development league could try following the DL within their club for this season, this would give them a guide to any issues that could occur and that whether moving to an actual DL for the following season. This would also give the league a chance to come up with a suitable plan for clubs who do not wish to join the DL to ensure they have a a competitive league with a minimum of 12 clubs. 

 

A DL can look an attracting proposition on paper but in practice most clubs will struggle to stay within the rules. What if a first team manager leaves taking the team and the DL team has to fulfill/move up to the first team not only will you have to find a whole new team but one with the correct quota of players. (This happens a lot at this level as players play for managers rather than clubs) It is my belief a lot of clubs who have signed up for the DL will not wish to continue under the same guidelines after one season. What does the league do then ??? Lose more clubs to other leagues ? Admit they were wrong ?

 

To many people running these leagues seem to be all for the clubs that have money and can afford to keep upgrading their facilities and sod the little village/small town clubs that have kept the league going for years

[LoucasX]

Most people commenting have a lot more experience of reserve football than me as Hertford have only had a reserve team in one of the years since I have been there so I value your opinions.

 

But seems like the majority of clubs thought the development division is a good idea as that is the preference they expressed for their team. From my experience of youth football when kids finish U18s too many of them stop playing Saturday's as they don't want to get kicked about by bigger men. It is also the first time they don't move up as a whole team to the next age group so for many is a step too far outside of their comfort zone.

 

For me it sounds like a development division mainly for youngsters but with a few older heads from first team squad to guide them seems like a great solution. When they are over 21, if they are not good enough to move to first team squad they probably never will be so no need to maintain a squad for them.

 

But this is all theoretical to me because I have not seen close up how reserve teams work in a club so keen to hear your response.

[Munchkin]

We actually were interested, but they made it a Step 6 requirement league, so that automatically excluded all Division 2 reserve sides.

[Whitley Bay]

That would be the clubs playing in the Development Division then

Not necessarily. Some may have decided to join (based on location) after voting against.