Ups and Downs - 2021/22 Edition

[Sean of the Shed]

Where exactly is Bonnyrigg?

Just outside Edinburgh.

[Gangster Octopus]

Ta.

[blameless]

Lothian. Used to be a coalmining town back when we did that sort of thing in Scotland.

[Artificial Hipster]

Following on from the Welsh ups and downs above, the FAW yesterday announced the clubs who'd been successful in obtaining a tier 3 licence, which makes the picture of who goes up from the fourth tier a little clearer. Strap in...

First off a division by division breakdown of the 3rd tier license application outcomes...

North East Wales Premier: Champions Greenfield have been refused a licence, but Halkyn & Flint Mountain (2nd), Hawarden Rangers (currently 3rd) and Llangollen Town (5th) all successful.

North Wales Coast East Premier: Champions Y Rhyl 1879 granted a licence

North Wales Coast West Premier: Likely champions Bodedern Athletic and likely runners-up Bangor 1876 both awarded a licence (as too have 11th place Glantraeth, which seems a very optimistic application).

Mid Wales League East: Current top two Builth Wells and Brecon Curries both awarded a licence.

Mid Wales League West: No licences granted

West Wales Premier: Champions Penlan refused a licence, but second placed Mumbles Rangers and third place Seven Sisters Onllwyn awarded one.

South Wales Alliance Premier: Four teams awarded a licence; Baglan Dragons (champions), Canton Liberal (2nd), Cefn Cribwr (3rd), Pencoed Athletic (5th)

Gwent County Premier: Three teams awarded a licence; Blaenavon Blues (1st), Lliswerry (2nd), RTB Ebbw Vale (3rd)


Apparently there’s an FAW ruling that only allows the teams finishing in the top two positions to be promoted from a 4th tier division to the Ardal Leagues, so with that in mind, you’ve got the following teams going up…

Halkyn & Flint Mountain
Y Rhyl 1879
Bodedern Athletic
Bangor 1876
Mumbles Rangers
Baglan Dragons
Canton Liberal or Cefn Cribwr

Plus two of Blaenavon Blues, Lliswerry or RTB Ebbw Vale (unless Pill YMCA get themselves into the top two in the remaining games, then it’ll only be one of these three)

And most likely both Builth Wells and Brecon Corries, but neither side is guaranteed a top two finish at the moment.

At the most that’s 11 teams going up to fill 12 spots so it’s likely someone will get a reprieve, and that reprieve is most likely to come in either the Ardal North West or North East so that Brecon Corries and/or Builth Wells can go in the south section. So at the moment neither St Asaph City or Carno are 100% sure they've been relegated.

Whatever happens there'll be some geographical shuffling at tier 3, as in the current layout, Halkyn & FM, Rhyl, Bangor and Bodedern would all be in the 'North West' division.

Fabulous work Uros. Am I right in assuming that because you didn't refer to FC Queens Park in the NEWP as having been granted a license they were either refused or didn't apply for one? I'm looking at their game at Lex XI as a possible for tomorrow evening and while it won't make any difference to whether I go or not they can as it stands still catch Hallkyn & FM (whose game at Coedpoeth I'd penciled in for last Thursday only to find it switched to this Wednesday instead).

[Uros Predic]

FC Queens Park seemingly didn't apply for a tier 3 licence, but you do raise a point I hadn't considered, that if they overhaul Halkyn & Flint Mountain (currently a 5 point gap with each side having three games left) to finish second then in theory no team from that division would be eligible for promotion.

[Nesta]

All well and good congratulating Bonnyrigg, but lets take a moment to remember the train driver

[Artificial Hipster]

FC Queens Park seemingly didn't apply for a tier 3 licence, but you do raise a point I hadn't considered, that if they overhaul Halkyn & Flint Mountain (currently a 5 point gap with each side having three games left) to finish second then in theory no team from that division would be eligible for promotion.

The Hotel California League.

[Southport Zeb]

FC Queens Park seemingly didn't apply for a tier 3 licence, but you do raise a point I hadn't considered, that if they overhaul Halkyn & Flint Mountain (currently a 5 point gap with each side having three games left) to finish second then in theory no team from that division would be eligible for promotion.

I think Queens Park may not be eligible for a tier 3 licence, as their ground is on the local recreation ground and can't be enclosed. When they played in the Cymru Alliance a few years ago, they got round this by sharing at Lex.

[jwdd27]

No Paris derby in Ligue 1 next season - Paris FC tonight managed to miss a penalty, take the lead, miss another penalty, then Moustapha Name (!), who missed penalty #1, got himself booked and then sent off before half time, by which time they'd conceded an equaliser, and then they conceded again in the 92nd minute.

Sochaux go through to play Auxerre (I think) for promotion.

[Ray de Galles]

Cefn Cribwr have been promoted to the Ardal South

Lovely celebrations too ;

https://twitter.com/cefncribwrfc/status/1525777338637639680?s=21&t=-YUb3eYyzAB3xho01N83xg

[ursus arctos]

Sochaux do play Auxerre, but the winner still has to play the club that finishes third from bottom in Ligue 1 over two legs.

[Uros Predic]

Ynyshir Albions earned promotion to the Cymru South last night by beating Abertillery Bluebirds 3-0 in the Ardal Southern Play-off (between the teams finishing second in the Ardal South West and Ardal South East leagues).

The Ardal Northern play-off between Porthmadog and Caersws (two former top flight sides) is a week on Saturday at Barmouth & Dyffryn.

[Forest Gump]

I assumed Walthamstow would go into the Isthmian North, but placing them in the Southern League Central actually makes a lot of sense as most of the teams are less than fifty miles away from here (the obvious exception being Cirencester). I've learnt the location of a few new teams as well - Thame, Kidlington, Highworth, Kempston and Barton Rovers. There's also a Biggleswade derby to look forward to, which must be a first for these two teams, given that Biggleswade FC are a nomadic new team only formed in 2016.

We're really happy to be in the Southern. Plenty of new places to visit, and hopefully a bit more fun for a day out than all the Isthmian North clubs along the Thames. It's actually less travelling overall for us in the Southern too.

The odd one is New Salamis - they're to the west of us, but have ended up in the Isthmian. Can only assume they stated a preference for there.

[Discordant Resonance]

Sochaux do play Auxerre, but the winner still has to play the club that finishes third from bottom in Ligue 1 over two legs.

And Auxerre now play St Etienne, after the latter leapfrogged Metz last night.

[Sporting]

Racing Santander and Andorra have been promoted to the Spanish second division.

[Gert from the Well]

In Serie C the following have won automatic promotion: Sudtirol, Modena and Bari, The play-off are still ongoing and the semi-finals are Catanzaro v Padova and FeralpiSalo v Palermo.

I'd like to root for Palermo but since they are now part of the City group I cannot - at least I now know 'how to feel when pink turns into blue'. As for FeralpiSalo they are from the town of Salo which was the seat of the fascist government of the Italian Social Republic so they can bog off.

[Sean of the Shed]

We're really happy to be in the Southern. Plenty of new places to visit, and hopefully a bit more fun for a day out than all the Isthmian North clubs along the Thames. It's actually less travelling overall for us in the Southern too.

The odd one is New Salamis - they're to the west of us, but have ended up in the Isthmian. Can only assume they stated a preference for there.

Clubs rarely get to have a preference, particularly around London as you would end up with divisions of thirty plus around the capital if they all got to choose. their placement. North and south is equally a factor, of course, but also road networks and placement of other clubs in the area is also considered. Already in the Southern Central 1 there is a cluster of teams in the area such as Ware, FC Romania, Waltham Abbey and more besides.
The only time I've known clubs get a preferred placement is when there is a club in the other division willing to swap or a team in the division they want to join has dropped out and it will not affect team numbers. One example I do know of a few seasons back was Cinderford and Didcot swapping between Southern League South and Central 1 as it suited Cinderford to be in the South with the M5 connection and Didcot the Central beacuse of the M40.

[ursus arctos]

https://twitter.com/rightbankwarsaw/status/1528355164058435584?s=21&t=fWedERNKA9pyBrbB3Gcytg

[Discordant Resonance]

In Serie C the following have won automatic promotion: Sudtirol, Modena and Bari, The play-off are still ongoing and the semi-finals are Catanzaro v Padova and FeralpiSalo v Palermo.

I'd like to root for Palermo but since they are now part of the City group I cannot - at least I now know 'how to feel when pink turns into blue'. As for FeralpiSalo they are from the town of Salo which was the seat of the fascist government of the Italian Social Republic so they can bog off.

Catanzaro is controversial locally, due to having been chosen as the regional capital of Calabria ahead of the obvious candidate of Reggio de Calabria.

[Nesta]

You wouldn't want your kid to be a matchday mascot at FeralpiSalo

[Gert from the Well]

A Pasolini reference?

[ursus arctos]

I hope so.

Though it is true that Salò stands out even among the general weirdness of Lake Garda.

Can you forgive Padova for Alexi Lalas?

[Discordant Resonance]

Sociedad B, Amorebieta, Fuenlabrada and Alcorcón are relegated from the Segunda to the snappily-titled Primera RFEF.

[slackster]

One of my foreign fancies, Kawkab of Marrakech (often abbreviated as KACM) has been relegated to the Moroccan 3rd tier. Only saw them in the Botola 1 top league about 4 seasons ago. Not sure what's gone on there, as they are one of the traditional big clubs in the country.

[ursus arctos]

The French Wiki (I don't read Arabic) indicates that they have struggled since the introduction of full professionalism and have been in particular financial and administrative turmoil recently, with multiple takeover attempts.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawkab...b_de_Marrakech