National League at risk

Quoted from GollyGTFC

Unless there is 100% certainty that crowds will be back in stadia by August and the NL will start their season then there is no way the EFL will be able to send 2 of it’s members into oblivion.

What ever you think about the bottom 2 clubs deserving to be relegated the EFL rules are clear that their has to be a league for the departing clubs to join. That is far from certain and given the civil war breaking out at that level I can’t see how the NL could be deemed to be a secure league.

In fact the NL is in such a mess I wouldn’t even want Stevenage sent there.

You’re so wrong. The EFL dont care. Finish bottom 2, you’ll go to the NL and deserve too. Simple

Well that’s not going to be us is it. 🤔

Quoted from Les Brechin

I don't really think they'll be "sending" us into The National League. If we finish in the bottom 2, we'll deserve to be relegated.

The frustrating question for me is who are “we” in this context? The ownership? The manager? The players? Absolutely, however the overwhelming majority of those most culpable won’t even be here when (or perhaps if) next season kicks off.

Who’s left to pick up the pieces? Once again, as it always is, it’s the fans. Do “we” deserve it?

It’s well documented what the fans did to drag this club back out of non-league, driven by the pain we had already endured in our multiple failed attempts.

Since arriving back in the EFL, we’ve consistently delivered top 10 average attendances. This in spite of the fact that the team has consistently delivered lower bottom half finishes, and that we typically receive below average away followings from other clubs due to our awkward geographical position.

As for the quantity and quality of our own away support, I need say nothing about that.

I, like many others, waived my right to a refund for the remainder of last season’s ticket. I paid for my season ticket again prior to the season in hope that I might get to see some live Town action, but with the understanding that I may very well get to witness fúck all in the flesh.

Why did I do that? I’d already shelled out £140 for iFollow, so I had nothing to gain on that front. Ultimately, in these uncertain times I wanted the club to have my money to survive, both in existential terms and in football league status.

Almost one and a half thousand others did the same. Many, I’m sure will have done so despite financially uncertain times for themselves. I would love to know how our percentage of season ticket revenue versus ‘normal’ times compares to others in League Two, but I am confident that it will be up there amongst the highest and absolutely certain it will be better than bottom two.

Ultimately, the money generated by the fans in tough times, and more importantly their trust, has been misspent. There are people responsible for the debacle this season has turned out to be who deserve absolutely everything coming their way, and boy is it coming for some.

But yet again, it is the fans that suffer. And I think there are, genuinely, few fan bases which pound for pound deserve what is happening to us yet again less than we do.

Quoted from MNH1972

Tonbridge Angels furloughed full squad and brought in a new team to play for free!!
Is this what is called elite sport ?
I’m sorry this is not right and football teams should not be furloughing players never mind a full squad
I’m sure somewhere down the line the words “Fair Competition” will be used

Tonbridge would argue without doing that they would be insolvent and all those players and staff would be made redundant.

The furlough scheme was designed to protect viable jobs for when we’re back to normal/the new normal.

I don’t think you can argue that Tonbridge are a viable business once crowds return. They have a long history to back that up.

Quoted from Poojah

The frustrating question for me is who are “we” in this context? The ownership? The manager? The players? Absolutely, however the overwhelming majority of those most culpable won’t even be here when (or perhaps if) next season kicks off.

Who’s left to pick up the pieces? Once again, as it always is, it’s the fans. Do “we” deserve it?

It’s well documented what the fans did to drag this club back out of non-league, driven by the pain we had already endured in our multiple failed attempts.

Since arriving back in the EFL, we’ve consistently delivered top 10 average attendances. This in spite of the fact that the team has consistently delivered lower bottom half finishes, and that we typically receive below average away followings from other clubs due to our awkward geographical position.

As for the quantity and quality of our own away support, I need say nothing about that.

I, like many others, waived my right to a refund for the remainder of last season’s ticket. I paid for my season ticket again prior to the season in hope that I might get to see some live Town action, but with the understanding that I may very well get to witness fúck all in the flesh.

Why did I do that? I’d already shelled out £140 for iFollow, so I had nothing to gain on that front. Ultimately, in these uncertain times I wanted the club to have my money to survive, both in existential terms and in football league status.

Almost one and a half thousand others did the same. Many, I’m sure will have done so despite financially uncertain times for themselves. I would love to know how our percentage of season ticket revenue versus ‘normal’ times compares to others in League Two, but I am confident that it will be up there amongst the highest and absolutely certain it will be better than bottom two.

Ultimately, the money generated by the fans in tough times, and more importantly their trust, has been misspent. There are people responsible for the debacle this season has turned out to be who deserve absolutely everything coming their way, and boy is it coming for some.

But yet again, it is the fans that suffer. And I think there are, genuinely, few fan bases which pound for pound deserve what is happening to us yet again less than we do.

This really struck a chord with me. My situation exactly the same, season tickets wanting to support the club. I have not looked at the league table in terror for months now, I watch virtually no otherfootball,When Saturday comes, I logon with some sort of deluded expectation and it is rubbish every week and has been for months.
My conclusion, as much as I have loved the Mariners over the years, is that this is a really toxic hobby.
Because I am unashamedly a Mariners addict I have had to distance myself from the whole shambles as pathetic as it sounds as it makes me bloody miserable
Once we are back in the National league, I am going to find it nearly impossible to generate enthusiasm unless the new owners somehow paint a picture that looks a lot different. I went to several of the away games in nonleague around the London area as that was where I was working at the time. Anybody who thought these were good awaydays is my hero as I thought that most of them were crap. I dragged myself to Wembley to watch the FA Trophy games with the same enthusiasm that you would watch the charity shield!
My point is that for me, and I suspect a lot of others We are getting close to throwing the towel in as we just live on past glories. Utm

Speak for yourself Z I had some cracking away days at those clubs in and around the London area . Better than a lot of league games .

Once was enough having said that .

Darlington refusing to play Boston tonight. Losing 50k a month and saying it is against the leagues rules to be playing while insolvent.

https://www.thenorthernecho.co.....led-national-league/

Quoted from Zmariner

This really struck a chord with me. My situation exactly the same, season tickets wanting to support the club. I have not looked at the league table in terror for months now, I watch virtually no otherfootball,When Saturday comes, I logon with some sort of deluded expectation and it is rubbish every week and has been for months.
My conclusion, as much as I have loved the Mariners over the years, is that this is a really toxic hobby.
Because I am unashamedly a Mariners addict I have had to distance myself from the whole shambles as pathetic as it sounds as it makes me bloody miserable
Once we are back in the National league, I am going to find it nearly impossible to generate enthusiasm unless the new owners somehow paint a picture that looks a lot different. I went to several of the away games in nonleague around the London area as that was where I was working at the time. Anybody who thought these were good awaydays is my hero as I thought that most of them were crap. I dragged myself to Wembley to watch the FA Trophy games with the same enthusiasm that you would watch the charity shield!
My point is that for me, and I suspect a lot of others We are getting close to throwing the towel in as we just live on past glories. Utm

So, there is an important point here because the world is pretty sh*tty at the moment and your mental health is really important.....

Supporting Grimsby Town is a choice we have all made and investing emotion in the club is also a choice. We may not have made that choice consciously but it is still a choice. Therefore, it is also a choice to not support Grimsby Town and not invest emotional capital in the club. Any one of us who says something like 'it really depresses me...' is demonstrating their emotional investment in the club.

We have to rationally step back and say to ourselves that being so involved in GTFC is not good for our mental health.

And there is a hugely important factor that you may find useful for someone to try to explain. We ,as fans, have absolutely no control over what happens at the club on or off the pitch. Therefore, we are investing our emotion into something that we have no control over and we are leaving our emotional state open to chance. Part of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy teaches us that we have to accept that there are things in life that we can control and things we can't. So what we have to do is take control of the things we can control and change them for the better. We also have to learn to 'step away' from the things we can't control and minimise their impact on us.

I did this some years ago with Town when my wife said to me that she dreaded the football results on a Saturday afternoon because my mood and behaviour for the rest of the weekend changed according to Town's result. I was aware of this but not the impact it made on others. I felt that this wasn't fair on her and the people close to me. I also knew that I was anxious about Town results and pretty low when they lost. For a number of years I had little or no interest in Town and Saturday afternoon stopped having a major impact on my emotions and my family. I made a conscious decision to 'take out' a factor that I had no control over.

If Town go down to the NL at the end of this season I will be disappointed but it will be for seconds. I have taught myself that I can't get emotional about Town because I can't control what they do. Another thing I tell myself regularly is that club is so poorly managed that it's failure is inevitable and I shouldn't worry about that.

I am not saying that we should stop supporting Town but I am saying that you should think about your mental health in relation to them.

Some of you will be reading this and thinking 'tree hugging sh*t' or 'I have no choice about supporting Town, it's not a choice it's a religion (or whatever)'. It isn't, it's a choice. Don't take my word for it, go ask a close family member what affect Town's result has on your mood for the rest of the day/weekend/week.

You can't control what Town does but you can control the impact it has on you.

Wealdstone vote no

https://nonleaguedaily.com/wealdstone-confirm-vote-to-end-season/

3 to play on.
3 to null & void.
1 abstention.

16 to declare.

First to 12 takes it.

9 votes from 16 remaining required.  

28th Feb deadline.