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General Category => Altrincham FC First Team => Topic started by: One Foot in the Grave on September 10, 2018, 02:28:43 PM

Title: The North-South divide
Post by: One Foot in the Grave on September 10, 2018, 02:28:43 PM
If we stay in this division next season, it could need a little reshuffling on present evidence for the division above.

Only 10 of the 24 clubs in Vanarama National are "Northern", including 11th placed Solihull Moors - the only ones South of Birmingham. The most Northerly after that are Boreham Wood.

7 of these clubs are in the top 8 (Leyton Orient complete the top third).

The only ones in the bottom half are Barrow (15th) and Chesterfield (17th).

We could be faced with return visits to Gloucester City and Oxford City at this rate!
Title: Re: The North-South divide
Post by: roytonmike on September 10, 2018, 04:30:14 PM
I have felt for some time that a renaming of the Conference North & South was in order.
"Vanarama National League M25 and South" and "Vanarama National League North of the M25" spring to mind?
Title: Re: The North-South divide
Post by: JD on September 10, 2018, 10:23:14 PM
What is worrying is that, with longer travelling distances, it would be more difficult (imho) to get bigger gates and, therefore, more commercial investment.
Title: Re: The North-South divide
Post by: Sale Holmfield on September 10, 2018, 11:15:23 PM
Although the National League South has a lot of clubs around London, just as the north does, to a lesser degree, around Manchester, it also has the longest journeys. I know they share at Torquay now, but Truro to Chelmsford, for example, is a lot further than Blyth to Brackley. I certainly haven't tried to work it out, but we must have some of the least travelling in National North, as we are very central for the division, and have lots of local derbies. You can argue that there should perhaps be three divisions at this level, as there used to be, but many clubs have much more travelling than us at present.

Incidentally, Gloucester City no longer play at Cheltenham nowadays,  but at Evesham, which is north of Brackley, so they must be potential candidates for a switch, whatever happens.


Title: Re: The North-South divide
Post by: One Foot in the Grave on September 11, 2018, 11:36:34 AM
Gloucester City no longer play at Cheltenham nowadays,  but at Evesham, which is north of Brackley, so they must be potential candidates for a switch, whatever happens.


I didn't realise they'd switched to there. 25 miles from Gloucester, so the best part of an hour's drive for home-based fans. Didn't Worcester City play there for a short while?
Title: Re: The North-South divide
Post by: Sale Holmfield on September 11, 2018, 06:09:57 PM
Gloucester City no longer play at Cheltenham nowadays,  but at Evesham, which is north of Brackley, so they must be potential candidates for a switch, whatever happens.


I didn't realise they'd switched to there. 25 miles from Gloucester, so the best part of an hour's drive for home-based fans. Didn't Worcester City play there for a short while?

I don't think Worcester actually ever played there, but, IIRC, they considered Evesham for a groundshare along with Kidderminster and Bromsgrove, before deciding that it was too far to expect supporters to travel, and so chose Kiddy instead.
Title: Re: The North-South divide
Post by: One Foot in the Grave on September 11, 2018, 10:11:08 PM
Gloucester City no longer play at Cheltenham nowadays,  but at Evesham, which is north of Brackley, so they must be potential candidates for a switch, whatever happens.


I didn't realise they'd switched to there. 25 miles from Gloucester, so the best part of an hour's drive for home-based fans. Didn't Worcester City play there for a short while?

I don't think Worcester actually ever played there, but, IIRC, they considered Evesham for a groundshare along with Kidderminster and Bromsgrove, before deciding that it was too far to expect supporters to travel, and so chose Kiddy instead.

That rings a bell.