Northwich game can't go ahead on Saturday 1st

[Merv]

The FA Trophy game, due to be played at Northwich, can't go ahead on 1st February as the Conference side don't have a pitch. Incredible, but true. Northwich ground-share with Witton Albion and, guess what, they have a home game on that day. "But," I hear you say, "the Trophy takes precedence over Unibond Div.1 games!"

 

Not if it's not your ground.

 

My thoughts are that if you enter a competition and you don't have a pitch to play that competition on, get out of the competition. Or play somewhere where thers is a pitch - Park Lane.

 

Yeovil did the dirty on us last year. Northwich are trying to do it on us this year.

 

Anyone fancy writing this up as a story for the Non-League Paper? You can email your thoughts, as a supporter, by linking here

[CANV EFM]

well playing it on a friday night or sunday isnt going to help the travelling canvey fan.. i quite like the park lane option..;-) chances of it happening er zero i guess

[Wilf]

Couldn't agree more, Merv. If it's Friday night then the away fans don't have too much chance of coming home from work and then doing a 200-odd mile journey.Support would be very depleted, but then perhaps, that's what Northwich want? Sunday wouldn't be so bad, but you're absolutely right. WE have a pitch they could play on.

[cangull]

This situation is farcical, what powers do the the FA have they seem to use them as and when it suits them and their coffers. Surely the criteria when ground share agreements are made must be passed through the FA and major cup competions made a priority, seems to me that either someone has not done their job properly or a Conference favouritism as a sound like to me.

Yeovil(Conference) got away with it last year and now it looks like Northwich(Conference) this year.

 

[cangull]

For me, as it will be for many others, means a day off work, no sickness excuses for me! I'm self employed.

Its going to be a game that is going to cost me a lot of money:

Days money lost.

travel

a most probable overnight stay - wont fancy a round trip in one go!!

All just after the Xmas expense!

[The Great Eckscape]

www.isthmian.co.uk - this is the official site of the Ryman league.

 

Alan Turvey's email - chairman@isthmian.co.uk

 

Nick Robinson's e-mail - secretary@isthmain.co.uk

[The Great Eckscape]

Nick Robinson lives in Peckham acording to the website. I wonder if he lives in Nelson Mandela House with his older brother! YOU PLONKER!

[Exile]

As I understand it, Northwich left their home ground to share with Witton because their old ground could not be developed to meet Football League requirements (6000 capacity etc). Now that this requirement has recently been relaxed (i.e. dropped), Northwich have been left high and dry and without a ground. If the terms of their groundshare mean Witton always get first pick, then the FA Trophy game has to be moved - but (you would hope) both clubs would have to agree to a new date (and venue if necessary), and the competition masters (in this case the FA) have to approve the switch, or make a decision if the clubs cannot agree. I would have thought Sunday would be easier than Friday evening - can all Canvey's squad get the day off on Friday (or Sunday come to that) ? It all sounds a bit farcical really, so let's hope the boys do the business. A replay would do, maybe WE could then decide when we'd like to play it !!!

PS - NOTE TO RYMAN LEAGUE: IN THE EVENT THAT CANVEY PLAY NORTHWICH ON 31ST JAN OR 2ND FEB, THIS DOES NOT MEAN WE ARE FREE TO PLAY A RYMAN LEAGUE GAME ON 1ST FEB.

[cangull]

Having posted a couple of messages on the Vics Forum saying how we feel about the Friday night game, they are asking why we (the club) turned down the Sunday offer. Can anyone throw any light on this one. To me a Sunday would allow more supporters to attend!!

[CANV EFM]

i would guess that depends on player availability, which has to come first in this case..(or greggors refuses to miss his saturday night beer n curry session) i would be interested to know if switching the date means we have to mess with our squad ...

either way we shouldn't have to mess around at all.

i can see how Northwich got into this problem and they were only trying to do the best for their club and the future of potential league football in the town, cant blame em for that.!

but we shouldnt be affected by it..

if they cant get a ground to play it on, on the saturday then it should be switched..

[CANV EFM]

fortunatly our tuesday night away game is just a short hop up the A130

[Guest]

From what I heard after the game last night, three alternatives were given to Canvey, to play Friday, Sunday or the following Tuesday, when the replay was to be played I have no idea!

 

Although the FA were contacted they decided to take the tack of leaving it for the two clubs to decide! An obvious cop-out!

 

I think Friday was considered better as the pitch would be churned up after Wittons game on the Saturday! Also the Sunday game could be an early kick off meaning Canvey fans leaving before Dawn (not the first time I know!)

 

Having said all that I do believe that the home club has the priority over the ground for games irrespective of Cup or Trophy games.

 

I dont think NV are at fault here nor are Canvey. Its just we are victims of circumstance - Again!

 

 

[TACKLE1000]

THE MAIN REASON WAS THE POSSIBLE SUSPENSION OF PLAYERS BOOKED BETWEEN NOW AND THEN, COMBINED WITH OUR COMMITMENTS TO RE-ARRANGED GAMES THE NEXT WEEK. BEST WAY OF RESPONDING IS ALL OF US THAT CAN MAKE THE GAME GO,WITH BANNERS SAYING HOW WE FEEL.AND THEN STUFFING THEM!! IT IS WRONG SO LETS MAKE SURE THE CONFERENCE DO NOT GET AWAY WITH IT AGAIN! COME ON YOU YELLOOOOWWWWWSSSSS!!!!

[CANV EFM]

well it all makes for a bit of pre match tension.. ill give the vics their dues, apart from one or two posts on thier message board they seem pretty reasonable about it .. i still think the rules shud say its switched to the lane but, they dont, it wont be, and most of us wont be able to get there..

'such is life' (as people who cant speak french say)..

the gulls have overcome bigger obstacles, and we all know jeff can use this to get the best out of the players

[The Great Eckscape]

[The Great Eckscape]

Sorry, wrong button! I e-mailed Turvey and Robinson, and apparently they didn't find out about this until last Saturday. There was a Trophy Commitee meeting that this could have been raised to, but this was before they knew. As this decision was probably when the draw was, why weren't we informed in time by NV?

[thor]

My memory is not the greatest, but last season wasn't the Yeovil - Doncaster game delayed at least a week because the pitch was unplayable.

If this was indeed true, can our game at Northwich not be played the following Saturday.

[TACKLE1000]

RINGS A BELL.

[Merv]

When I spoke to Frances on Saturday she was obviously quite upset over the whole affair and I have known her long enough to know that both she and Keith Johnson (plus Wayne) would have worked their 'proverbials' off, trying to get some change out of Northwich and the FA. I understand that she had been trying since Thursday morning (when Canvey first got the news of the problem) to make contact with officials from the Ryman League. Frances is not the sort to criticise others, but I guessed from her reaction that she had not had any reply and she appeared both upset and angry about it.

 

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the Northwich/Witton groundshare agreement, I believe this is a disgusting way for the Ryman League to treat the club that has done more than most to raise the profile of this league over the past couple of seasons. How many times have we heard BBC or Sky refer to 'Canvey Island, from the Ryman Premier League...?' Our exploits at Port Vale, the humdinger at Southend, the upsets we caused against several Conference sides (especially Stevenage Borough and Chester), the FA Trophy victory at Villa Park, the great day at Wigan, the almost-as-great day at Burnley and then, finally, BBC Match of the Day against Northampton. Every game brought credit not just to the island, but to the Ryman League in general. If it's true that neither Mr Turvey nor Mr Robinson replied to Frances' various phone calls, I call that a disgrace. OK, if they were powerless to change things, so be it. But Frances is a true professional and she deserves every courtesy from ALL league officials.

 

Frances phoned me late on Saturday night and I beleive she had just heard from Mr Turvey - obviously too late by then to do anything about it. What a way to run a league! Not only Frances and the other officials at CIFC warrant an apology, but us fans as well.

 

Where was the help we wanted from Ryman when we had that ridiculous fixture pile-up two years ago? Where was the support from Ryman when Yeovil gave us the run-around last year?

 

I think we all deserve more from the officials of a league that we have represented well over the past seasons.

 

(Please note these are my personal thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of the club, nor any official at the club.)

[CANV EFM]

fk em.. the sooner we get into the new conf set up the better.. i can see why chelmsford are in no rush to leave the dr martins