conference div II - fact not fiction

[jl]

from this mornings daily telegraph

 

the nationwide conference have announced plans to expand from 22 to 66 teams NEXT SEASON. the nine man conference board have passed a rule change allowing the competition to be expanded from next season, claiming they have been forced into the move by the fa s failure to reorganise the game.

 

The 69 clubs from the dr matens , unibond, and ryman leagues - the feeder leagues for the conference - have been invited to help extend the conference to 2 or 3 divisions depending on how many agree to join. should an extra 22 apply, for example, there would simply be a secondary conference division. if 44 show an interest there could be subsidiary north and south divisions.

 

There will ineveitably be concerns that the conference are expanding their empire at the expense of the three feeder leagues. but the conference chief exec. john moules denied this yesterday claiming "we re doing this for the good of football. the fa have failed to reorganise the game as promised. now we re offering our solutions"

 

 

As i imagine everyone will vote to join the conference it surely is now double crucial that we make sure we finish in the top 7 of our league as only that would guarantee us a place in any conf div II (7 from ryman 7 from dr martens 7 from unibond)

 

 

equally importantly are u still ok to give me a lift to scummy island on boxing day simon my old mucker??

[Simon BTFC]

Assuming 44 teams all apply and are accepted, my understanding is the conference will go to a div 1 north/south format, meaning we will have to finish top 14 (by no means a formality @ mo!).

 

Any restructuring has to be approved by the FA who would most probably ask for to delay until start of 2004/5 as they did when the Ryman went to North/South divisions.

 

This would mean we'd lose trips to the likes of Boretree, Hampton, Enfield and Ford (sob sniff) who all take points off us with alarming regularity and instead end up travelling to places like Dover, Welling, Crawley, Chelmsford and (uh oh) Havant.

[Guest]

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wavey.gif" alt="" /> M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S T O Y O U A L L <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wavey.gif" alt="" />

 

So nice of you to write of Braintree Town (The true B.T.F.C.) so early in the season. Now that we have a proper manager at the helm, you can rest assured that we shall soon start to climb up the table and away from any relegation worries. Indeed with 14th spot just 10 points above our current position there is no reason why we can't reach those heady height's.

After all, we've still got the three league points to come from OUR next encounter.

Also, I can't see the F.A. sanctioning any change HALF WAY THROUGH THE SEASON as this would be unfair on the sides who didn't invest for a promotion place they didn't expect or know about!!!

 

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smilie_switch.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smilie_switch.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smilie_switch.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smilie_switch.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smilie_switch.gif" alt="" />

[Simon BTFC]

Wasn't writing anybody off, just pointing out that as things stand you are in one of the bottom 4 places (approx 1/2 way through the season) and as such would not be included in any new division/league.

[Guest]

Does anybody no our position regards the new conference league if given go ahead?

[Simon BTFC]

I believe we've applied.

 

Looking around our division, most clubs are saying the same thing - they want to be involved in a regionalised 2nd tier of the conference but not a national league. Everybody seems to be of the opinion that it won't go ahead this season as there isn't enough time to get everything sorted out.