Steps 3-6 2022-23

[Giggler]

I saw him score a peach of a chip from distance for Prestwich Heys against Wythenshawe last season. He's a lazy git, according to some Prestwich fans I was chatting to that night, but capable of moments of genius. Seems a strange move though, he's only been with Wythenshawe a month.

You probably don’t have as fond memories of Mark Carter as I do given his short spell at Dale after he left Bury, but there was a man whose warm-up consisted of doing the Daily Mirror crossword until 2.45pm and who looked exhausted at 3.06pm. He too was capable of moments of genius, like this at 1m 28s against the Class of 92 in 1994:

If he’s half as good as Carter in his pomp I’ll be delighted.

[Artificial Hipster]

I recall him playing for us but as for memories I don't have any I'm afraid. Always happy to have a lazy git capable of flashes of brilliance in my team though.

[Ray de Galles]

I think I've mentioned this story on here before but nice to see it get national attention ;

Their average league gate last season was 296 - yet they have more followers on TikTok than six Premier League clubs and their owners are younger than most of the players they sign.

Welcome to Walton & Hersham, "home of the world's youngest football club owners".

School friends Jack Newton, Calogero Scannella, Sartej Tucker, Thomas Bradbury, Ben Madelin, Stephan Karidi and Reme Edetanlen were 19 years old when they scraped together their student loans to buy the Surrey non-league club in 2019.

Three years and two promotions later, the Swans are cashing in on a rapidly growing social media presence, which has resulted in shirt sales "to places you have never heard of".

[Discordant Resonance]

Good to see they're more realistic about their ambitions than some investors, *cough* Fylde *cough*, two further promotions in five seasons would appear attainable.

[Fearful Symmetry]

Forget your Tuchel/Conte contretemps, at Church Road on Saturday Hallam's 'keeper was sent off for apparently telling an 8 year old boy in the crowd that he'd "break his fucking neck" after some issues with his water bottle.

[Jobi1]

Forget your Tuchel/Conte contretemps, at Church Road on Saturday Hallam's 'keeper was sent off for apparently telling an 8 year old boy in the crowd that he'd "break his fucking neck" after some issues with his water bottle.

Scenes that nobody* wants to see.



*everybody

[Fearful Symmetry]

When I read the tweet detailing the initial incident, I immediately thought a friend of mine who is a regular wind up merchant at Ferriby games was involved.

[Nesta]

Bloody hell, to wind a keeper up so bad he threatens you within earshot of the ref- i predict a bright future for that kid.

Assuming nobody, you know, breaks his neck

[Antepli Ejderha]

Issues with the water bottle? Santiago Cañizares style perhaps.

[JM Footzee]

West Didsbury & Chorlton will play Saturday-midweek (mostly Tues, a couple of Mon/Wed in there) for eight consecutive weeks from the start of the season on 30 July, taking them through to the end of September*. If you include their six-game pre-season it's eleven weeks. Not an especially original thought, but the early non-league schedule is intense!

Then they've only got two mid-weeks in the remainder of the season (25 Oct/9 Nov), excluding Boxing Day/Easter, although postponements will no doubt bring more.

*Assuming they get through in the FA Vase and play in the second qualifying round on Sat 24 September in the final week of the run.

[Satchmo Distel]

Isn't that the only sensible option though? If you leave yourself vulnerable to bad weather you're going to get a bigger pile-up in April, when players are already knackered.

[JM Footzee]

Oh yeah, I think it's quite common, albeit perhaps not quite to this level for everyone? I just had a look at the Oxhey Jets schedule (same level, different division) and while they're playing quite a few midweeks in Aug/Sep, it's not every week.

I think the NWCL is possibly more cautious than most about a late season pile-up - the league season was finished by the end of March this year.

[longeared]

The NCEL is doing the same - masses of midweek football through August and September to get games played before the weather turns with a scheduled regular season finish on April 8th. It makes sense in terms of having space to move into should it be a disruptive winter or if Covid escalates again. At some point clubs will start complaining their season is over too early - you can get situations where by Poppy Weekend they're out of all their cups, played half their league games and aren't going to go up or down - and the league will start spreading games a bit more again. Then there'll be a bad winter, a huge fixture pile up in spring and back we'll go to frontloading the programme, it all runs in a predictable cycle over several years.

The NWCL had a season a little while back where they really struggled to get finished thanks to a very wet March, so they're particularly cautious about all this.

[Satchmo Distel]

Do any of the leagues have playoffs, which they have to squeeze into April?

[Fearful Symmetry]

Yeah, Ferriby won the NCEL D1 final on April 23rd, off the back of a hectic couple of months which saw them play home games on 4 consecutive Tuesday nights, as well as Saturdays. Ferriby's fixtures this season at the moment sees no midweek football after October, until the inevitable postponements kick in of course.

[irony towers]

I think I've mentioned this story on here before but nice to see it get national attention ;

Their average league gate last season was 296 - yet they have more followers on TikTok than six Premier League clubs and their owners are younger than most of the players they sign.

Welcome to Walton & Hersham, "home of the world's youngest football club owners".

School friends Jack Newton, Calogero Scannella, Sartej Tucker, Thomas Bradbury, Ben Madelin, Stephan Karidi and Reme Edetanlen were 19 years old when they scraped together their student loans to buy the Surrey non-league club in 2019.

Three years and two promotions later, the Swans are cashing in on a rapidly growing social media presence, which has resulted in shirt sales "to places you have never heard of".

W&H v Chatham Town in FAC2Q is this weekend's featured match on the BBC red button / iPlayer / website, kick-off 12:45 pm.

Prepare your bingo card: youngest owners, TikTok, Brian Clough's Brighton, Amateur Cup, Dave Bassett, Stompond Lane, Nathan Ellington, Stanley Matthews (was President of the club in the 80s).

[Ray de Galles]

I didn't know that Ellington broke through at W&H.

My mate's son Flynn Bolton, should be on the bench for the Cup tie as he's on some kind of dual registration/loan from Aldershot.

His dad sits with us at Wimbledon and he and his brother came through the Dons academy with the latter on the fringes of the first team right now.

[irony towers]

He came off the bench in tonight's Trophy tie four minutes ago!

Ellington was with W&H for half a season before moving to Bristol Rovers.

[Ray de Galles]

https://twitter.com/isthmianleague/status/1639969215384895488?s=61&t=AGYaHxwtRU_HNs0TqPMaJg

[cantagalo]

Hornchurch had this goal disallowed yesterday. It would have put them 3-1 up. Instead Horsham scored two late goals to win 3-2.

They now trail Bishop's Stortford by a point at the top of the Isthmian Premier. Only one team is automatically promoted.

https://twitter.com/fattomdaley/status/1642287708155387907?s=61&t=SBUFCkhRZweBpJWJwCBVGQ

[DCI Harry Batt]

Wowzers.

Are Hornchurch still bent?

[Ray de Galles]

https://twitter.com/isthmianleague/status/1639969215384895488?s=61&t=AGYaHxwtRU_HNs0TqPMaJg

Scored 5 of W&H's 6 against Merstham today too.

That's 27 goals in his last 12 games.

[Botswana Meat Commission]

In light of the above about Hornchurch, they drew at Carshalton today and Stortford could win the title on Saturday, depending on results.

I hope they do, it’s a good club and while the intrigue and perversity of it was good for me, completely unattached from the running of the club, I hope they don’t end up in the North again.

[Botswana Meat Commission]

And now, Stortford are promoted as Champions following Canvey Island drawing 2-2 with Aveley. I think* that it depends on Oxford City’s play-off performance as to whether they’ll be a National League North or South team come August.

* I think purely because that was the discussion on Saturday at Stortford and I haven’t checked for myself.

[Simon G]

With Walton Casuals going, Cinderford Town have been reprieved.

Cinderford made the most of their reprieve by being immediately relegated again