The Non League Newspaper

[Horace]

I thought that HTFCew's post was entirely relevant, and extremely concise.

[Rhodes]

Horace - Well I wasn't knocking HTFCew's post which was logical but I'm a strong believer in the saying 'where there's a will there's a way' and compared the fiasco at London APSA with an identical situation we had at Wembley FC a few weeks back when the problem was eventually sorted.

[Lato]

Wembley FC is a self contained football club. I guess that they had the line marking machinery on site at the ground. London APSA though would appear to simply rent a pitch each week from the council which might imply a different situation...not totally identical, similar yes. However I agree with you its possible that more could have been done to stage the London APSA game especially as it was an F.A competition.

[Rhodes]

Lato - Well that's a first isn't it you agreeing with me, are you feeling okay. The Wembley situation was strange as there was a line machine at the ground the whole time despite the Chairman saying there wasn't, I don't think they really wanted the game to go ahead as it had been raining quite heavily before kick off but common sense prevailed in the end. With the London ASPA game I assume the non markings were noticed around 12.45 which would have surely given plenty of time to find a line machine from somewhere even without kick off having to be delayed half an hour or so, the whole business doesn't make sense and the Referee seems to have acted somewhat hastily and without using his head.

[HTFCew]

If the pitch hadn't been marked out at all since last season it may have been the case that the placement of the markings would have had to be measured out which takes quite a while. Also, there were no nets up.

[Rhodes]

Yes good point but I'm still convinced that the groundsman or someone else from Newham Council's Recreation Services department could have been woken up to come down at short notice and get it all sorted. There seems to be more to it than meets the eye as I can't believe London ASPA didn't think to inform the Council that there was a big FA Vase game taking place, the arrangement must be somewhat of a headache for them if they have to rely on the Council to mark the pitch and put up the nets before every home match.

[coupwotcoup]

..must be plenty of lime in the nearby houses round there too... <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/whistling.gif" alt="" />

[Rhodes]

For those of you who didn't get Non League yesterday or didn't want to part with your £1.40 here is the SSML report:

After another thoroughly entertaining round of Premier Division fixtures, 35 goals were scored and the morning's league leaders find themselves fourth after an eight goal thriller. Hertford Town started the day top of the pile and entertained Aylesbury Vale however it was Vale who stunned the league leaders by taking a three goal lead at half time thanks to fine efforts from Ross Taylor and two from Luke Mellisi, Paul Talbot then extended the visitors lead on the hour mark before Town showed a limpse of their excellent early season form and staged a comeback that saw them score three times in fifteen minutes through Ryan Redford, Scott Nicholson and Leo Turner. However it was Talbot and Vale who had the last laugh as he was on hand to turn in their fifth late on. Hertford's defeat paved the way for Harefield United to top the table and they didn't disappoint despite conceding their first goal of the season on the way to a 2-1 win at Chalfont St Peter. It was Bradley Bubb who achieved the honour of being the first player to pierce the Hares defence when he was on target as early as the seventh minute. However they were not in the ascendancy for long as United fought back to steal the points thanks to strikes from Danny Jordan and Ben Herring. Langford continue to surprise people in the early weeks of the season and their 3-1 success at St Margaretsbury moves them up to second. It was an even first half that saw Lee Pateman give Langford the lead on 16 minutes before Matt Maskell hauled Saints level just before the interval. However it was to be all Langford in the second period and their class shone through as two goals from Wesley Byrne earned them maximum points. Leverstock moved into third place as their outstanding striker James armstrong led the way in a 4-2 win at home to early season pace setters Edgware Town. Green were another side to enjoy a purple patch in the opening half as they raced into a three goal lead thanks to strikes from Dale Sears, Matt Plaskett and Armstrong. Town showed more character after the break and closed the deficit through goals Stuart Blackburne and Adam Wallace though the days scoring was to be finished by that man Armstrong as he made it four for Green. Elsewhere Danny McCafferty wrapped up the points for London Colney in their 3-1 win over Biggleswade United and Welwyn Garden City continue to put the pressure on the top four with a 3-1 victory at Haringey Borough. In the days other game Colney Heath and Roystion Town remain in the bottom three after they played out a 1-1 draw.

[Rhodes]

The following is from yesterday's Non League paper covering the midweek games:

Edgware Town returned to the top of the Premier Division on Tuesday with a home victory over Ruislip Manor. Chris Henry fired Manor into a seventh minute lead but Stewart Blackburne and Phil Kane scored as Town went into the break ahead. Richard Morton put Town 3-1 up but a Mick Swaysland penalty tem minutes from time reduced the deficit to a single goal. It was not enough to stop Town returning to the top of the table. Royston Town dropped to second bottom following a 3-2 home defeat by Tring Athletic, Kofi Ofor equalised an early Danny Gray goal for Athletic as the teams shared a goal apiece in the first half. Carl Edwards then put the home side in front only for Tring to claim all three points with goals from Liam McNee and Andy Humphreys. Two goals in five minutes at the start of the second half earned St Margaretsbury a home win over Haringey Borough, Matt Maskell and Jack Knight the goal scorers. In the Premier Division Cup first round a Dale Sears double gave Leverstock Green victory at Aylesbury Vale. Broxbourne Borough came from behind to win by the odd goal in three at Holmer Green, Craig Henney gave the home side the early advantage but Danny Ward and Emiel Aikin responded for Borough. Bradley Bubb hit a first half double as Chalfont St Peter led 2-0 at half time at Kingsbury London Tigers. Tigers drew level through Ivan Forbes and Kye Davis and then completed the fightback with an extra time winner from Hardy Moreitz. Robbie O'Dell, Peter Lawrence and Keith Thomas scored a goal apiece as Biggleswade United won 3-1 in extra time at Welwyn Garden City. The home side had scored through Alex Kinsey.

[Football Man]

The trouble with these reports is that, unless Phil Rolt has been to a game (which I don't think happens often), all he is doing is converting the score and goalscorers into a sentence/statement and isn't adding any new angle.

 

Therefore, as you have already posted the score and scorers on here earlier in the week, you aren't actually telling anybody on here anything they didn't already know by posting Phil's bit from the NLP.

[Rhodes]

Potters Bar Town - Yes I agree and thought twice about posting it however it is still all information about the SSML at the end of the day which is publicity for our league and that shouldn't be sniffed at. I also think that Phil Rolt does a great job and probably can't get to as many games as he would like to because he's so busy.

[HTFCew]

I don't really think you need to publicise our league on here.

 

Try putting it on another's forum. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

[Spidermanor]

Quote:

Rhodes said:
Potters Bar Town - Yes I agree and thought twice about posting it however it is still all information about the SSML at the end of the day which is publicity for our league and that shouldn't be sniffed at. I also think that Phil Rolt does a great job and probably can't get to as many games as he would like to because he's so busy.

Phil Rolt does a good job!! What a bizarre statement, if Phil Rolt was doing a good job we'd have fixtures for the whole season like every other league in the country.

[GRS67]

As I have posted already in another thread (not making a new one rhodes <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />) whoever heard the message I left on the answerphone on Tuesday mistook 18 mins for 80th, thus the whole of the above report is screwed up. I did email Phil Rolt and he said these things happen, no problem.

 

As I said any goals that happen between the 13th and the 19th min I will spell out the times in future. They do seem to have a problem with any numbers in their teens ie 18th 80th and HTFC Crew said she had a problem with 14th and 40th.

[Rhodes]

Quote:

Spidermanor said:
Phil Rolt does a good job!! What a bizarre statement, if Phil Rolt was doing a good job we'd have fixtures for the whole season like every other league in the country.

I think you are being a little unfair on Phil who is over worked and under paid, actually I'm very much in favour of getting fixtures through in dribs and drabs, it adds to the excitement of finding out a couple of weeks beforehand that you are going to Biggleswade or Langford on a freezing cold Tuesday night in mid February rather than finding out in early August.

[Spidermanor]

No I'm not, he's lazy and humourless to boot. Fixtures for the whole season would actually lighten his workload, and if he can't work that out for himself you can add stupid to list as well.

[Rhodes]

Spidermanor - I have to say that I'm extremely shocked by those comments, Phil is held in very high regard and, I repeat, does a superb job in juggling fixtures to help Club's out of tight spots, it doesn't help him when so many Club's are involved in County Cup competitions and this is one of the prime reasons why we don't get all the fixtures in one hit. As for being humourless, that's probably the best one I've heard since one of your mate Lato's gems.

[Horace]

As someone who's long experience of football admistration has largely been with Southern League or Ryman clubs, it came as a shock to find that SSMFL fixtures were monthly. As a club, it is far better to know the whole season's fixtures in advance, for lots of practical reasons. Rhodes may enjoy the frisson of not knowing when he will be visiting a particular club, but I don't.

 

I know nothing of Phil Rolt, being a newcomer to SSMFL, but I do know that when it comes to the FA carving up step 5, quality of league administration will be high on their list when the decide which step 5 leagues will survive.

 

HTFCew and I have tried to help the league's case, by setting up the website, and by helping to make better use of the existing capabilities of Football Mitoo. Although our plan was to remain in the SSMFL for the one season, winning the league is a long shot for any club, so the odds say that our stay will be longer than one season. So we want to see the league survive the carve up, and prosper. To this end, I believe that the league at least should have a plan in place to provide a full season's fixtures. The Southern and Ryman Leagues have the luxury of full time officers, and no clubs below level 4. This makes annual fixtures easier, but I take Rhodes' point (now there's a first!) that the various County Cups etc make life difficult. But, it's not impossible to make the Premier Div fixtures for the whole season, at the start. I personally would leave Div 1 and 2, and the Reserve Divs as monthly though.

[Lato]

Are there any other step 5 leagues who do monthly fixtures only? Okay the SSML has a number of counties to cover so county cups complicate matters. However most of the senior ones are played midweek and dates are known before hand. Surely with FA dates for Cup and vase also known it wouldn't be beyond the bounds of reason to be able to produce a list of fixtures provisionally for the Premier Division for the whole season. These would then be subject to amendment due to the Challenge Trophy where ties might have to be played away to teams with no lights and teams progressing in the FA Competitions.

 

I disagree unsurprisingly with Rhodes's claptrap about the excitement of knowing you are set for a freezing Tuesday in Biggleswade two weeks before it occurs ..that is complete Tosh. But on the plus side doing it this way does mean Phil if he is sensible and where possible can 'manufacture' a title or relegation decider at the end of the season.

[AWK]

Quote:

Horace said:
But, it's not impossible to make the Premier Div fixtures for the whole season, at the start. I personally would leave Div 1 and 2, and the Reserve Divs as monthly though.

There are only 16 teams in Division One and 18 in Division 2, the dates for County Cups are already known so I personally can't see why fixtures for the season cant be worked out. Give the provisional fixtures for the season and re-evaluate them as the Cups progress, after all thats got to be easier than arranging ALL the fixtures on the back of the Cup matches.