Well we've now won four of our last six. As I've said before, you can afford to lose if you also grab some wins. Four more wins would give us 54 points and a reasonable goal difference. Havant would have to win 6 and draw 2 of their last ten to overtake that, which is fairly unlikely. Aldershot would need 7 wins and and a draw from 11. Maidstone would need an implausible 9 wins and 2 draws from their last 11 to overtake us! So four more wins please. (I'd like to think we could start against Eastleigh, but their away record is miles better than our home efforts and they'd be second on current form .......)
What I am noticing is how strong next season's National League could be were we lucky enough to survive. What if Solihull keep going and win it? Play-offs are often a lottery - what if Fylde join them? Coming down it could well be Notts County and Port Vale, two of the country's oldest clubs. Coming up looks like Stockport on current form who got over 6,000 to watch them play Spennymoor on Saturday and Jake Beesley's goals might yet see Bradford Park Avenue join them through the play-offs. In the South Bristol City Development or Torquay United as they are officially known are looking to win through.
So that would mean next season we might face:-
Wrexham
Leyton Orient
Gateshead
Barrow
Hartlepool
Dagenham & Redbridge
FC Halifax
Barnet
Notts County
Port Vale
Stockport
Bradford PA
Torquay
all former established Football League clubs, together with the new money of:-
Salford City
Harrogate
On paper that doesn't look appreciably worse than Division 2 does it?
The other thing coming to my attention and probably that of other saddos is if our league stays as it is, then the four clubs going down will all be southern. That means next season at least two currently southern National League South Teams will have to play in the Northern Section and none of them is any near the north. By my reckoning Gloucester, if they stay up, is probably most northerly and its a very tight battle between Hemel Hempstead, St Albans and Oxford City for the other unwanted spot if they judge by longitude alone.
What I am noticing is how strong next season's National League could be were we lucky enough to survive. What if Solihull keep going and win it? Play-offs are often a lottery - what if Fylde join them? Coming down it could well be Notts County and Port Vale, two of the country's oldest clubs. Coming up looks like Stockport on current form who got over 6,000 to watch them play Spennymoor on Saturday and Jake Beesley's goals might yet see Bradford Park Avenue join them through the play-offs. In the South Bristol City Development or Torquay United as they are officially known are looking to win through.
So that would mean next season we might face:-
Wrexham
Leyton Orient
Gateshead
Barrow
Hartlepool
Dagenham & Redbridge
FC Halifax
Barnet
Notts County
Port Vale
Stockport
Bradford PA
Torquay
all former established Football League clubs, together with the new money of:-
Salford City
Harrogate
On paper that doesn't look appreciably worse than Division 2 does it?
The other thing coming to my attention and probably that of other saddos is if our league stays as it is, then the four clubs going down will all be southern. That means next season at least two currently southern National League South Teams will have to play in the Northern Section and none of them is any near the north. By my reckoning Gloucester, if they stay up, is probably most northerly and its a very tight battle between Hemel Hempstead, St Albans and Oxford City for the other unwanted spot if they judge by longitude alone.