If you want to cheer yourself up go have a butcher`s at the poolie bunker ;D

The grief they gave us last year prior to season kick off about us being there feeder club etc tsk tsk tsk it`s a hard league is the national league boys.  8)

I'm sure they must have just been children Micky. Anyone older than 21 would know the natural order of their relationship with us.

Yeah, I wonder where that couple of Poolie fans who registered on here to wind us up after they won 3-0 here last season are?

Maybe someone should pop onto their forum to say hello.  ;D

Very well done to Workington Reds for a magnificent Trophy win over  old rivals HARTLEPOOLS UNITED from their league days.

It's so refreshing from a Darlo POV to see how much they are struggling. Pre-Season they give it they big en about storming the league hahahahah.

Long may this run continue. Craig Harrison IN.

Funny AF reading their forum and seeing posts along the lines of "we should be rolling over every team in this league" and " we should have put 3 or 4 past Workington". Then there's the classic " i didn't think we could get any lower, and then this". Now where have i heard all those before?

Non league is a great leveller. I can see them being there for a long time.

Tranmere are finding it hard another one that thought it would be a doddle lol

Sorry to differ but after 6 lonely years in the conference I can't wish it on any established league club. I wish for the days teams like Wrexham Stockport Darlington Hartlepool etc return hopefully at the expense of forest green fleetwood Crawley and the like

Quoted from crusty ole pie

Sorry to differ but after 6 lonely years in the conference I can't wish it on any established league club. I wish for the days teams like Wrexham Stockport Darlington Hartlepool etc return hopefully at the expense of forest green fleetwood Crawley and the like

I can only agree, four good away days in four good drinking towns.

I'm with 'crusty'. Whilst hoping that the braggarts will eat some humble 'old pie', I wouldn't wish non-league on anyone, especially the proper fans that all clubs have at this level. Merry Christmas all.

I'd wish non-league on those 2 Hartlepool trolls who were winding us up and taking the urine  last season.

Karma is the word I think.

I don't wish ill will on any team particularly, but someone has to get relegated and we've done our stint. Yes, it's hard to see old established clubs like the ones mentioned struggling in the lower reaches but that's what a league system is all about. They were not good enough to stay in the league and the Crawley's and FGR's of this world were good enough to replace them. We may think it goes against the established order, but that's the way it goes.

Quoted from ginnywings

I don't wish ill will on any team particularly, but someone has to get relegated and we've done our stint. Yes, it's hard to see old established clubs like the ones mentioned struggling in the lower reaches but that's what a league system is all about. They were not good enough to stay in the league and the Crawley's and FGR's of this world were good enough to replace them. We may think it goes against the established order, but that's the way it goes.

Personally it's the plastic clubs that I resent taking the place of proper teams with history, tradition and fans. Yes Village Green are/were good enough to have been promoted to the league (struggling as I'm glad they are now they're here) but it was literally on the Stale Mince investment and nothing else. Take that away and they're a poncey bunch of over priveliged southern nancies who ought to have stuck to watching rugger.

Fleetwood on the other hand undoubted having been bankrolled are fantastically well run community outfit from an unfashionable working class northern (fishing) town who without having a pop at anyone show what could/can be accomplished by a 'small' club - I'm coming over all nostalgic again!

The sooner we get 3 up 3 down the better. The Conference is virtually full time, it deserves to be fully connected to the Football League on the basis of another division in all but name.

The sooner FGR get relegated the better. The 72 league places should be for well-supported teams from towns and cities. They earned their place legitimately but they don't have the fanbase and never will to ever survive at this level without the backing they receive.

Quoted from Misterton Mariner

Very well done to Workington Reds for a magnificent Trophy win over  old rivals HARTLEPOOLS UNITED from their league days.

Sorry to be a nit picker but there hasn't been a team called "HARTLEPOOLS UNITED" since 1968 when they dropped the s!

Quoted from GrimRob

Sorry to be a nit picker but there hasn't been a team called "HARTLEPOOLS UNITED" since 1968 when they dropped the s!

Yeah, when Workington were a league team, hence old rivals from their league days.

FGR are averaging 2,500, better than some L2 Clubs  -  is there some jealousy amongst us? Every other post on the fishy lately has been having a pop at our owner and the lack of investment. Good luck to them.

I don't like Fgr for many reasons and hope they go down, not sure who I'd like to go with them as long as it's not a team that bring a half decent away following or a South West club :)

I'm all for equal opportunities. I dislike Hartlepool and FGR.

I don't think you can claim FGR aren't a 'proper' club as they were members of the Conference for donkey's years before Vince took them on as his vanity project.

The moneybags aspect of things and recent crappy treatment of opposition fans makes them unlikeable but I prefer to think that's pretty much all down to Vince who strikes me as being an almighty helmet.

FGR whilst much maligned had been in the 5th tier for a long time so the law of averages suggested one year they probably would make League 2. The investment they have had is out of sync to the size of the Club most probably but they seem to think they can build up the fanbase over time? Like mentioned above I would sooner have the traditional Clubs back on the basis it`s still raw how much it hurt being non league for us. Those Pools/Tranmere fans who came on here taking the pish though trying to lord it over us and calling us tinpot I reckon they deserve a good few more years suffering ;D

Quoted from Maringer

The moneybags aspect of things and recent crappy treatment of opposition fans makes them unlikeable but I prefer to think that's pretty much all down to Vince who strikes me as being an almighty helmet.

Think I met him at the bar in a pub in Stroud once. I thought he was a helmet, also thought he was a tramp and needed a wash. I'd had a few mind, it may have been a tramp who needed a wash.

Quoted from ginnywings

I don't wish ill will on any team particularly, but someone has to get relegated and we've done our stint. Yes, it's hard to see old established clubs like the ones mentioned struggling in the lower reaches but that's what a league system is all about. They were not good enough to stay in the league and the Crawley's and FGR's of this world were good RICH enough to replace them. We may think it goes against the established order, but that's the way it goes.

Got that one for you mate

Quoted from Jarmo.Is.God

Got that one for you mate

Many clubs have bought their way to success over the years. It's not a new thing and i think the animosity we have toward FGR is for different reasons. Before we dropped into non league, i knew nothing about it and the teams it contained.

Quoted from ginnywings

Many clubs have bought their way to success over the years. It's not a new thing and i think the animosity we have toward FGR is for different reasons. Before we dropped into non league, i knew nothing about it and the teams it contained.

I really don`t want FGR on our wavelength for a rival :-/

I’m with grimrob on this one, as much as I’d hate to go back down to that level, it only takes a couple more established league clubs to drop down there and the likes of Darlington, York and Stockport to get promoted and you’ve got one hell of a league! I think it should be made a full time league and become the fifth tier of the football league.

Every traditional or established club was new once.

For me it’s not the history of a club I have issues with, it’s how welcoming or not they make us, and how they  play their football.  Apart from MK Dons of course.

Every traditional or established club was new once.

For me it’s not the history of a club I have issues with, it’s how welcoming or not they make us, and how they  play their football.  Apart from MK Dons of course.

Quoted from jaygy

I’m with grimrob on this one, as much as I’d hate to go back down to that level, it only takes a couple more established league clubs to drop down there and the likes of Darlington, York and Stockport to get promoted and you’ve got one hell of a league! I think it should be made a full time league and become the fifth tier of the football league.

If only it was that easy to become full-time. Sadly, unless you’ve got a financial backer ploughing millions into the club, you won’t go full-time.

Look at Stockport, crowds in excess of 3k per week and still can’t afford to go FT. Shame to see so many ‘traditional’ clubs fall down the pecking order but that’s football. As I’ve said for the last 5/6 seasons, we will be back somehow. Don’t know when, don’t know how. But we will.

Hopefully pass Hartlepool on their way down.

Quoted from Maringer

I don't think you can claim FGR aren't a 'proper' club as they were members of the Conference for donkey's years before Vince took them on as his vanity project.

The moneybags aspect of things and recent crappy treatment of opposition fans makes them unlikeable but I prefer to think that's pretty much all down to Vince who strikes me as being an almighty helmet.

Indeed. They had a good few seasons before the pony-tailed one took over. And they are a long-standing club going back to the 19th century.

However, I disagree with Mickey's comment that it might have been a matter of time before they were promoted to the League. They were perennial bottom feeders before Dale and only survived in latter years through other clubs being penalised for falling foul of financial regulations.

There was a few FGR fans in the Trust bar pre kick off the other week. Didn’t speak to them because I’m a football xenophobe but they looked like proper non-league football anoraks. I don’t mean that in a bad way - I bet they’re in absolute dreamland at the minute being in the league playing away at your Ricohs and Meadow Lanes while also competing in the Checkatrade and League Cup.

It’s great for them, just not that girl private Vince.

Quoted from jaygy

I’m with grimrob on this one, as much as I’d hate to go back down to that level, it only takes a couple more established league clubs to drop down there and the likes of Darlington, York and Stockport to get promoted and you’ve got one hell of a league! I think it should be made a full time league and become the fifth tier of the football league.

It's already one helluva league, in that it's incredibly difficult to get out of, as we found out to our cost, despite having a relatively huge budget compared to clubs like Solihull, bath Hayes etc. Look at the teams struggling against relegation with the likes of orient and Torquay in real trouble.

There's no reason why it needs to be a full time league, although as a fifth division it would probably attract more sponsorship and tv money allowing more clubs to go full time. It would be interesting to see a graph of full time clubs in the conference over the years. I'm sure you would see an upwards curve. Thinking about it I'm pretty sure that there was a part time club which survived in division 4 a few years ago

The other point to make is how difficult the leagues below have come,look at conference north, it's stuffed full of former stalwarts of the league and conference. I think I'm right in saying that several of these clubs are full time which is almost unheard of at that level

Not looking good for Hartlepools:

https://www.hartlepoolunited.co.uk/news/2017/december/221217-hartlepool-united-issue-club-statement-regarding-ownership-and-investment-opportunity/

http://www.itv.com/news/tyne-tees/2017-12-22/hartlepool-united-goes-up-for-sale/

Another good result for them today I see.  ;)

Hoping Wrecsam and Macc come up, bit of a gap forming at the relegation end of the table

Yes, they should have kept quiet. Don't joke about the Conference. Many prouder clubs than Hartlepool have dropped down and it is not easy to get back. Luton have been there and it took them a while to get back. I remember Nick Owen -he was beside himself with grief. The end of the world. I have a friend who has been an Alex fan for 60 years and he's a very worried guy at the moment. Don't mess with the Conference!