Welling v Slough. 11th Nov

[Reading Rebel]

23 minutes ago, Ian g f said:

What was wrong with the floodlights I couldn't see the ball when it was down Slough's end?

Nothing to do with not having your glasses on 😅

Floodlight are just like the ground and facilities, crap 😏

Edited November 12, 2023 by Reading Rebel

[Nathan]

2 hours ago, Scott Davies said:

If you compare us to Yeovil then god help us all!

I don't see how being in awe of any team in the league really helps us. I know Yeovil are one of the divisions "big boys", and had it been them and not Welling we were beaten by yesterday I might not have said the result was calamitous. Nonetheless they're here for a reason and need to earn the right to go back up (so far they're doing that well). We've found that out the hard way over the years!

Like it or not, these are the teams we're going to need to emulate if we're ever to challenge for promotion to the NL Premier. Looking at the table now, the teams struggling and likely to end up in the NL South should they be relegated include Ebbsfleet United, Maidenhead United, Dorking Wanderers, Boreham Wood, Southend United (albeit they'd be 6th if not for a 10-point deduction), Dagenham & Redbridge and Woking (it's tight in the National League Premier, even 9th placed Rochdale are only 6 points above the drop zone!). Assuming that we stay up, I don't want to spend next season thinking that we can't compete with half of the league.

I only say this because I don't want us to develop a "small club" mentality. I don't believe we as a club are too small for this level, nor a village club punching far above our weight.

[Guest Wycombe Rebel]

For the size of the Town, we should see ourselves as one of the big boys in this league but we’re not due to a lack of investment which again I find baffling given the businesses that operate in the Town

[Sir Rebel1965]

Population of Slough 158,000

Population of Yeovil 50,000

Says it all!

[Curtis]

Yeovil 16 years in the Football League 2003-2019 (including one season in the Championship)

Slough, never been in the Football League

That’s why Yeovil have the much bigger fan base & are the bigger club

[Scott Davies]

6 hours ago, Nathan said:

I don't see how being in awe of any team in the league really helps us. I know Yeovil are one of the divisions "big boys", and had it been them and not Welling we were beaten by yesterday I might not have said the result was calamitous. Nonetheless they're here for a reason and need to earn the right to go back up (so far they're doing that well). We've found that out the hard way over the years!

Like it or not, these are the teams we're going to need to emulate if we're ever to challenge for promotion to the NL Premier. Looking at the table now, the teams struggling and likely to end up in the NL South should they be relegated include Ebbsfleet United, Maidenhead United, Dorking Wanderers, Boreham Wood, Southend United (albeit they'd be 6th if not for a 10-point deduction), Dagenham & Redbridge and Woking (it's tight in the National League Premier, even 9th placed Rochdale are only 6 points above the drop zone!). Assuming that we stay up, I don't want to spend next season thinking that we can't compete with half of the league.

I only say this because I don't want us to develop a "small club" mentality. I don't believe we as a club are too small for this level, nor a village club punching far above our weight.

I’ve never been in awe of yeovil and never will be! I played there on loan 12 years ago and hated it! We could’ve been in awe of Grimsby but I think it’s fair to say that we weren’t! It’s just that over the course of a season their resources will be evident.

[sdelaney2308]

4 hours ago, Sir Rebel1965 said:

Population of Slough 158,000

Population of Yeovil 50,000

Says it all!

Yeovil out in the sticks .

Slough Hall an hour away from Reading Brentford Chelsea Fulham etc etc

[Rebellier]

Also QPR,  Watford and unfortunately Wycombe. 

[Sir Rebel1965]

6 hours ago, sdelane2308 said:

Yeovil out in the sticks .

Slough Hall an hour away from Reading Brentford Chelsea Fulham etc etc

With a quick look at League 1, taking the teams in the South East for comparison here are their populations:

 

Slough – 158k (NLS)

Oxford United – 162k (the “big” team in the town with Oxford City in the NL as well)

Wycombe – 83k

Stevenage – 89k

Cambridge – 146k

Reading – 174k

Portsmouth – 208k

Charlton Athletic – unable to establish population

Leyton Orient 13k

 

All the above teams are having to compete with the Premier league teams (and a few Championship teams) in the region you mention and have populations similar or a lot smaller than Slough but are playing 3 levels above.

So, Slough are far off from playing at a level that represents its population size, and Slough have been in existence for long enough to have had the opportunity to climb up leagues.

And unless relegation is avoided, the gap will be even greater and even harder to attract a large gate.

[Reading Rebel]

I'm sure there are a few reasons why a club like Slough, with such a large population, has never been in the football league.

Being so close to London cannot help but the obvious major one is financial backing.

I'm sure all the clubs mentioned above have had major financial backers to get them where they are today.

As they say size isn't everything.

[Kaiser Gibbs Batman (KGB)]

1 hour ago, Reading Rebel said:

I'm sure there are a few reasons why a club like Slough, with such a large population, has never been in the football league.

Being so close to London cannot help but the obvious major one is financial backing.

I'm sure all the clubs mentioned above have had major financial backers to get them where they are today.

As they say size isn't everything.

I imagine that the closest that came to happening was during Alan Thorne's tenure when a very good/experienced squad was developed under Brian McDermott. But whether that would have been sustained for long, even if the difficult issues concerning expansion of the ground could have been solved, seems perhaps unlikely, given what happened when he fell ill.

[Curtis]

It is almost laughable when some seem to think we are or should be a big club when:-

10 years ago we were at level 8 with attendances averaging 250

we haven’t been as high as level 5 for 25 years

and in the last 50 years we have only been at level 5 for 12 seasons

 

The club had 5 great seasons recently when we progressed and were promoted twice, but the last 5 seasons it hasn’t progressed further.

With the new owners and manager, good marketing of the club to attract more fans & youth structures being developed, I can see club moving forward now, but I think it could take another 5 years before we get another promotion (unless something extraordinary happens that generates significant funds or interest in the club… like an FA Cup tie against a Premier League club or an FA Trophy Final).

[Reading Rebel]

The people who think we are a big club at this level are living in dream land and the ones who think we should be a big club are basing it purely on size of population and not as they should be on financial backing and attendances.

We've made it to this level solely on the back of Steve Easterbrook being our Chairman and the astute hiring of two excellent managers.

Once a club gets to National League level it becomes a whole new ball game where the money needed to reach the play-offs and get promoted gets ramped up to a whole new level and as Curtis says it'll probably take something exceptional to happen for us to achieve promotion.

Of course there's always the exception to the rule where under good owners and a good manager a club can reach the play-offs and get promoted and I suppose you could put Oxford City in that bracket of not being a big club but with some decent backing that achieved promotion but are currently finding it very tough going against the big clubs in the NL top division. 

[Bernie Gogan]

On 12/11/2023 at 14:09, Reading Rebel said:

Nothing to do with not having your glasses on 😅

Floodlight are just like the ground and facilities, crap 😏

They have strong potential of a rebuild to their stadium, check their website. Agreed the current ground is poor and arguably now the worst in the league. No programmes on Saturday indicating poor admin or lack of finances or both. I also notice that the Erith & Belvedere stand is being used for changing facilities, but why it's spectator facilities (other than the seating) aren't being utilised is not apparent.