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[louise1925]

Nobody is saying that Alty would be better off in BSN!!!  I just think that a regionalised top non league tier would be better for the club. Teams like York, Burton, Stafford, Vics and Halifax would certainly be involved, with the possibility of Kettering, Telford, Southport, Macc, Accy and Mansfield (depending on relegations and promotions). Throw in Droylsden, Farsley, Harrogate, Hyde, Stalybridge, Barrow, Nuneaton and Tamworth. Shoot me down if you will, but I don't think that would be such a bad league in terms of quality. Travel expenses would obviously be greatly reduced and with so many local games, attendances would hopefully remain fairly high. Yes, I know rose-coloured spectacles are involved here, but I personally get more excited when Alty play Vics and Southport than Cambridge and Weymouth. The atmosphere at Droylsden was awesome because so many Alty fans were able to travel to the game and I live for those sorts of occasions. Histon away just doesn't do it for me.

[Saughall Robin]

I think a better idea would be to regionalise Div2 and BSP into N and S as there are a majority of northern clubs in Div 2.

[louise1925]

Too true. And northern teams occupy the lower reaches of League 2 anyway, so in a couple of years time things may even up in the national league. In conclusion, I suspect the north-south imbalance in our league will be a temporary one.

[Longman]

The fact of the matter is a league system is a league system based on which teams accumulate the most points over a season, if at the moment 4/5th's of the league is southern then that's just the way it is, the Conference National should be just that - The National league comprised of the 24 best non league clubs who are there on merit (and reprieves of course,  )

[ManagementGuru]

In the first season of the APL there was a very sensible fixture scheme:

Saturdays early and late in the season: home and away "far away clubs" Gravesend on the last day, Weymouth on the first day.  These games would not be postponed as the weather was good (and Trophy weekends were avoided)

Mideweek games early in the season: quite near clubs: Telford United, Barrow

Saturday games in the winter: games which could be arranged for midweek at a pinch (if postponed): Nuneaton, Boston

I remember laughing at Orient fans who had back to back midweek away matches at Carlisle and Hartlepool (or similar stupidity).

"This would never happen in the APL - we're a progressive forward looking league"

And face it, even if every club was full time, the supporters would have jobs (and stuff) and therefore the APL approach mitigates to a large extent the national vs local debate.

The world was ready for a national part time league in 1979: nothing has changed (except nearly everyone is full time now) except the stupid scheduling of fixtures that makes midweek trips to Grays, Torquay etc a regular occurence.

National Conference for me!

[Hugh]

Let's bring back the Cheshire league, that will give plenty of local matches.

Those were my sentiments when the Isthmian people wanted to block the Conference South, and I can't help feeling regionalising would be a step backwards. (Of course rising petrol prices may force it eventually anyway, but til then...)

Remember how much better the Conference North was than the Unibond "village" league. Of course, if we could get all the best northern teams, we could have quite a strong northern division, but we probably wouldn't. And you can be sure that league clubs will be less willing to get relegated to the Conference if it is regional and they are playing the likes of Harrogate and Vauxhall on relegation. Never mind a third promotion place, we could be lucky to keep the two we've got.

[Saughall Robin]

What I was proposing was a Division 2 North and Div 2 South made up of the current Div 2 plus the BSP. In other words, we (ie BSP clubs) all get "promoted", we have less travelling, and we're one league nearer the Premiership. *







PS: The last point was tongue-in-cheek!

[Derek Stubbs]

I know plenty of League 2 fans & they are all for having League 2 north & south which
would mean BSP teams becoming split into League 2 north & south ofcourse which
makes more sense than what we have now. Bigger crowds , less cost etc etc, better for the envionrment.

Then you have your BS north & south below that with 2 up 2 down but with some
criteria to make sure teams could survive financially.