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I think we should really come to a heartaching decision and be honest with our expectations of Alty.
The Conference was formed with the hope of a pyramid filtering to promotion to the Football League
Situation in 1980 was :-
All Conference Clubs were Part-Time
Alty were top Non-League Club and Part-Time
No automatic promotion the Football League
We were solvent and considerd a wealthy club
We were better on the pitch than most 3rd and 4th Division Clubs
We intended going into the Football League and remain Part Time - This is what scared most 4th Division clubs as we were confident that we could compete and run on a part time budget. Clubs like Stockport, Crewe, Rochdale, Halifax, Hartlepool feared we would sound their death knell and the 4th Division would go part time.
Situation in 2008 :-
Nearly all Conference Clubs are Full time
Remainly Part time and surviving in the Conference for more than a season is unlikely.
The Football League is a dream away even for wealthy full time conference Clubs.

So what are our ambitions for Alty ?
Remain part time with the best ambition to be a struggling Conference Club ?.
Go Full Time - taking a massive financial risk - but with the hope of replacing Macc as a League Two Club?.

Am I really missing the point or are my maths that bad
Halifax run up £2M debts and can have them wiped out by paying 2.5% which is £50,000
Then they can start from scratch again as if nothing happened ?
So they have money to build a new team but not pay existing debts ?
Also is there not a way that Crawley can be made to pay their debts - in particular my heart goes out to that Coach owner whose business is at risk because Crawley expect to be given services and not pay ?
What would the receiver of revenue say if I asked to have my income tax reduced to 2.5%
There seams to be a massive difference between what is morally wrong and what is legally wrong

Not many clubs have players as loyal as Colin
In reply to a previous post, Colin is a local lad - born and bred in Wythenshawe.

I cant agree more. We need to get behind the team now. 3 wins is expecting too much - but so was the 3 wins away from home when we got promoted against all the odds.
I challenge all Alty supporters to try and bring an extra 2 or 3 mates each to these games as it would swell our numbers immencely and give the team a great lift.
I am trying to do that for both Ebbsfleet and Weymouth
I remember that great day in 1980 at Gravesend and the scenes afterwards.

I am sure most of us independent travellers will hit Weymouth before lunch on the Saturday and probably have a night out in Weymouth on the P*** now that its a 5.15 kick off. Really, Kicking off at that time is asking for trouble, considering both Ebbsfleet and Crawley were forced to kick off their home games with Aldershot at 1200 noon on Police instructions.
I dont think the Weymouth people will be too pleased if we relegate them.
Also hopfully Leeds will lose at Yeoville and miss the Playoffs

Am I correct that the last wekend of the Conference season has been brought forward a week ?
The Fixture list shows the Weymouth match on 03MAY
Our match against Histon was due on 26APRIL but we played this in December, I assumed because we were both out of the FA Cup and it was brought forward to avaoid a possible end of season fixture pile up.
I am aware that there is a possibility of the last game of the season Kick-Off's 1715 due to Setanta. I just hope that Setanta dont demand the last games all being transfered to the Thursday night

This is very sad news

Freddie Pie was certainly the Manager that pulled Altrincham from obscurity and put us on the Football Map.
He built the team of the Jackie Swindells era.
He was Manager when I first watched Alty and there was a real buzz aroung Moss Lane
I remember helping a mate of mine out with his Newsround and delivering to Freddie's house which was in that Cul De Sac next to what was the Moss Hotel in Hale.

R.I.P. Freddie and God Bless