|
Post by spitfiresteve on May 22, 2022 16:44:11 GMT
Bitter sweet watching Coulson and Partington at Wembley for Bromley. Hope we give the Trophy a good go next season.
|
|
|
Post by hantslondoner on May 22, 2022 17:55:08 GMT
They were on the winning side, too.
When did we last give the Trophy a good go? 2013, when in our last year as a Conference south side, we reached the quarter-final?
|
|
|
Post by tenacres on May 22, 2022 19:12:20 GMT
Crowd of over 46,000 too which is pretty impressive.
Yup that was our best ever trophy season.
Funny enough I think it may have been a blessing in disguise that we lost the quarter final (1-0 at home to Cambridge). At the time we were quite a few points off Bromley (who were top) with games in hand. 2 big semi final games in March may have derailed our challenge to win the league.
|
|
|
Post by unknownquantity on May 22, 2022 20:37:46 GMT
This season was only the third time in the last eight seasons that we have not gone out of the competition at the first hurdle having reached the quarter final in 2013/14.
|
|
|
FA Trophy
May 24, 2022 4:49:40 GMT
via mobile
Post by blueandwhite on May 24, 2022 4:49:40 GMT
If we are in the middle of the table I would like to see us really go for the trophy
|
|
|
Post by back4more on May 24, 2022 9:12:48 GMT
With the top class pitch (and groundsman) we have and the excellent stadium facilities, the ambition must be Football League. As mentioned before, we also have an excellent location. Most of us probably don't like the relentless building we see on formerly green spaces but we are now getting closer to being part of a "Solent City" conurbation with a catchment of 100's of thousands of potential supporters within a half hour journey of the ground. As recently as three or four seasons ago, if you had said we would be getting an average attendance over 2000 whilst showing average to poor form in the National League, you would not have been believed. The potential for the club if it returns to being a promotion challenger would surely be regular home league gates exceeding 4000. The top priority for the club must therefore be promotion. The club must demonstrate that priority and ambition anyway in order to have any chance of attracting the best available players to play here. There is always mention on other threads of the wish to see Development Squad players progressing within the club. The Trophy is an ideal opportunity to give them that chance, by allowing them to demonstrate their capabilities in a truly competitive tournament. As a prize for the club to aim for though, the Trophy does not seem to offer too many long term benefits. The list of previous winners of the competition over many years does not indicate that winning the Trophy is likely to lead us on to greater glories. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_FA_Trophy_finals
|
|
|
FA Trophy
May 24, 2022 16:55:39 GMT
via mobile
Post by richgy on May 24, 2022 16:55:39 GMT
Find it crazy here how many decent level teams there is in such a close space - Eastleigh, Havant and W, Gosport Borough etc and then the bigger teams around to. A good example for all teams in the NL is Halifax Town haven't spent much but with a long term manager and plan had a great season hoping they beat Chesterfield tonight tbh.
|
|
|
Post by callumefc on May 24, 2022 19:03:50 GMT
With the top class pitch (and groundsman) we have and the excellent stadium facilities, the ambition must be Football League. As mentioned before, we also have an excellent location. Most of us probably don't like the relentless building we see on formerly green spaces but we are now getting closer to being part of a "Solent City" conurbation with a catchment of 100's of thousands of potential supporters within a half hour journey of the ground. As recently as three or four seasons ago, if you had said we would be getting an average attendance over 2000 whilst showing average to poor form in the National League, you would not have been believed. The potential for the club if it returns to being a promotion challenger would surely be regular home league gates exceeding 4000. The top priority for the club must therefore be promotion. The club must demonstrate that priority and ambition anyway in order to have any chance of attracting the best available players to play here. There is always mention on other threads of the wish to see Development Squad players progressing within the club. The Trophy is an ideal opportunity to give them that chance, by allowing them to demonstrate their capabilities in a truly competitive tournament. As a prize for the club to aim for though, the Trophy does not seem to offer too many long term benefits. The list of previous winners of the competition over many years does not indicate that winning the Trophy is likely to lead us on to greater glories. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_FA_Trophy_finalsSpot on. The stadium is situated in a great area for rail transport and road transport and is continuously visible from the motorway and road side. I saw a tweet about the crowds today, I think someone who never gets a mention is Gaz Davison who has done superb work in the community attracting new supporters, no football ground should have a spare seat available in my belief. Even if you give the tickets away they will produce a profit by matchday food/drink income, by Gaz attracting schools and sports/hobbie clubs down we do just that, and it will continue to grow.
|
|
|
Post by unknownquantity on May 29, 2022 19:22:45 GMT
With regards to the F A Trophy I think we put out reasonably good teams out in the competition this season, but were a bit unfortunate to be drawn to play Notts County away. However in previous years we have played weak teams and lost to lower league opposition.
In relation to the f A Trophy I am not sure how much of a distraction playing five or six games is. Of the four semi finalists in this years competition two were promoted and another finished second in their league. In addition Plymouth Parkway had to play six matches to reach the last 32, the last of which was a trip to Spennymoor at the other end of the country, but still were promoted from their league as champions.
|
|
|
Post by sattsy on May 31, 2022 10:35:12 GMT
I think we simply have to be play off contenders at the very least next season. Strevs did a great job last season when he was in charge, keeping us mid table on a low to mid table budget with good cup runs and sold 3-4 players into the FL for good money (assumably?) He was then dispensed with and we appeared to have got worse when LB came in. So for LB to be seen as a success, then we have to be in and around the play offs, otherwise he will only achieve what Strevs was comfortably achieving (a mid table finish), making his parting with the club seem a very strange decision. Im not judging LB too harshly on what happened at the back end of the season, as the squad were not his players. But by releasing 11 players, he now has the chance to build a squad that he wants, so there will be no room for excuses. The budget that he gets given will of course determine how good a squad he can feasibly build, so time will tell. I suspect he will bring in some experienced players and hopefully also unearth some decent young talent who will be released from Pro clubs and will mix that with what we have left and use the EDS lads to fill the gaps.
|
|
|
Post by spiritofeastleigh on Jun 1, 2022 5:38:51 GMT
Stockport has shown what a rich owner can do, they bought a striker from League One for six figures and then gave him £3k a week. He was not the only player they got from the football league to attain promotion either. They had a massive budget which I believe is being increased further this summer, aiming to bring in more league one players in the hope of storming to promotion from league two at the first attempt, aided by an impressive home support of 10,000+ behind them. All that said, the key thing they got right was getting the right manager. In 11 seasons as a manager he has won 7 promotions, and in the other 4 seasons he achieved getting his team to the play offs. LB talks a good game, he looks like a manager who demands 100% commitment from every player, every game. Massive clear out done, we wait to discover who he has lined up coming in. He needs to have a good start, otherwise there could be a knee jerk reaction, the last thing you want is another manager coming in and not liking the squad he's got, we've done that a few times, it does'nt work. The club felt LB is the right choice, so give the man time, unless we are in a relegation fight, he has to have a full season at least, and if he gets a PO spot, then he can say his first full season was a success and build on it. Time will tell as they say.
|
|
|
Post by callumefc on Jun 1, 2022 6:26:08 GMT
Wrexhams budget got them European Football after all, a place in the Scottish Challenge Cup where they could represent England and play away to Caernarfon
|
|