News from the CCL or lack of it.

[SurreyLegend]

I agree. Also if anyone does appeal the decision it goes to the FA who have forced this on the CCL

[neutralbob]

Feltham have saved themselves from the threat of extinction by raising £12,000 to ensure they can carry on in the Combined Counties League next season and pay the cost of groundsharing with Ryman League Premier Division Hampton & Richmond Borough.

 

Feltham had been left in turmoil after losing their sponsors due to Hounslow Council taking three years to make a decision concerning their new ground.

 

But club chairman Brian Barry said: "We have raised £12,000 in seven weeks, thanks to donations from firms and individuals.

 

"This has enabled us to assure the Combined Counties League we can play next season and sign a one-year contract to share Hampton's ground for a second campaign, with the possibility of extending that agreement to a third season."

 

Things had looked bleak for Feltham when Seagrave Haulage decided to stop their £18,000-a-year sponsorship after becoming fed up of waiting for Hounslow Council to process the club's planning application.

 

"If we had not raised the £12,000 for our basic running costs we would have gone under," Barry admitted.

 

"This was the biggest threat to the club's existence in our 60-year history."

 

Only after Seagrave had pulled out following six years of sponsorship did the council take action.

 

Barry, 61, who has been chairman of Feltham for six years, said: "The council suddenly sent us a draft agreement for the site at Green Lane.

 

"We have agreed to the council's terms and, hopefully, we should get a 21-year lease on the ground soon.

 

"But it will take six months to secure a grant from the Sports Council and another year to develop it.

 

"The earliest we could possibly move to Green Lane would be in two seasons.

 

"It will cost about £250,000 to lay out a senior pitch and four youth team pitches, plus a stand and floodlights.

 

"Hopefully, the Sports Council will provide the majority of this sum and pledges from potential investors should cover the rest."

 

Barry adds: "Being without a ground since we left Feltham Arena at the end of the 2002/03 season has cost us between £6,000 and £7,000 as we had nothing coming in.

 

"We have only been able to carry on because the players have paid their own travelling expenses for the past eighteen months.

 

"But now the future is looking bright and we are in talks with a national supermarket about sponsorship.

 

"If we get it we will be able to pay the players' expenses and finally take the club forward."

[Oners_2_Fourers]

Nonleaguedaily.com

[neutralbob]

standard

[Gussy]

Good news for feltham!

[Oners_2_Fourers]

Not if they are in Div 1

[WackoJackoUK]

Quote:

OneClubDoCare said:
Not if they are in Div 1

Exactly......

The whole thing is a farce and it's going to upset someone.

Shame the FA couldn't have also "moved" Reading Town to the Hellenic League as that would have helped. - 7 teams is a bit of a joke really........

[niftynigel]

I agree, seven teams is a lot to take in, but that said, the league has lost Godalming Town, Mole Valley Predators and Southall (albeit they were lost towards the end of last season).

 

Reading Town were offered the opportunity to move, but turned it down, a decision which has to be respected. Maybe they thought that the Hellenic wouldn't be so lenient and would relegate them to Division One East, due to their poor ground facilities!?

 

The FAs remit was not to move clubs against their will at this stage. That will come when there is a reduction from 14 to 12 Step Five leagues. There could be about 20 clubs relegated to Step Six. But this will only happen if there is a consensus for it to happen. I.e. clubs, supporters and leagues agree.

 

Wembley - At first hand, I'm surprised that they opted for the CCL. They were asked to go to SSML, but held out for CCL. Obviously they like going to Merland Rise!

 

However, with the likelihood of the SSML and the ESL merging, the West London teams in the SSML/ESL will be out on a limb. This maybe what Wembley were thinking. Better to be in CCL (which could move slightly further North and West) if the Kent League and Sussex County League merge. To have enough clubs, those two leagues would pinch some south/eastern CCL clubs.

 

Back to the CCL. All the member clubs have known that they had to improve their grounds. This applies to both divisions. I feel sorry for clubs that can't upgrade for reasons out of their control, but changes are there to benefit the majority and the majority should not be held back.

 

I would be lenient towards Westfields as they do have a plan to improve their ground, but correct me if I'm wrong, that is not the case with Frimley Green.

 

I did visit Godalming Town after they had their ground passed. They had carried out some minor improvements, but in my opinion, the quality is not good enough to go up. Ironically, Merstham 'looks' like a Step Four ground now and were denied promotion for reasons out of their control. But that's all in the past.

 

Maybe someone at the meeting tonight will find out the constitution and put all our minds at rest!

[GazWembleyFC]

As far as I'm aware the main thinking behind us holding out for the CCL was that we would be more of an 'unknown quantity' so to speak. We've played most of the SSML in cups over last couple of years and after being stuck in a 'MarieCeleste division' for years (as Batesy put it) we needed some fresh action...

 

BTW league starts on 19 aug not 12 aug.