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Post by harryhaddock on Feb 22, 2014 21:30:17 GMT
With Mr Rooney having such a good game today and everyone saying he'll soon be off, it got me to thinking about why he wouldn't stay here. At the minute the simple answer is we can't offer him full time football. I know that with the work they do for the Academy both Jay and Jack are bona fide full time now, but that's it on the playing/coaching front for us.
If we are both good enough and lucky enough to get promoted we'll enter a division where recently some of the most successful teams have been full time. Over the last two years we've played full time teams from the Conference South in Salisbury and Eastleigh both of whom have significantly less coming through the gate than we do. If we want to keep players like Rooney, plus some of our younger up and coming players who don't yet have other jobs, should the playing staff become full time professionals if we get promoted?
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Post by lowfatcustard on Feb 23, 2014 0:13:04 GMT
For what it's worth, my thought on this is "no, not yet, not in Conf-S". First priority for the club should be financial stability and while it looks great that we're getting so many through the turnstiles (and spending on burgers/beer/pies/etc) we should remember that we're a long way off paying back the money that was invested in the ground in the first place. We can be comfortable in the Conf-S with the current budget (maybe even playoffs) but should not extend ourselves too much at this stage.
Conf-P would involve lots more travelling and makes it much harder for players to fit around other work commitments (yes, I know that was one of the reasons several players gave when they moved from Conf-S to come to us was football-work balance but for most players conf-S is okay to fit in). There are a lot of good players out there in decent paid jobs where it would mean a reduction in salary for them to go full time, so I'd be against it until it becomes a struggle to recruit.
FWIW
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Post by jdl on Feb 23, 2014 0:34:22 GMT
Did we go fully pro when we went into the FL?
I can't remember (assuming I ever knew), but I do remember people saying that the Stones players got so much in terms of 'expenses', etc and time off from friendly employers (i.e. friends of Jim Thompson's), that we were practically pro already, even in the old Conference days.
It was a different world then, of course - there was even talk of fourth division teams following the example of successful NL sides and going partly or fully semi-pro. When the first 4D side got relegated (Lincoln, I think), they stayed fully pro and fought their way straight back up. But after that I don't think it was so clear-cut, with some relegated teams having to go at least partly semi-pro to make ends meet and some promoted teams trying to stay semi-pro.
I suspect it must have been one of major factors in our going bust, so it's not a step the club should take lightly - certainly not at Conference South level. But the Conference Premier is such a different league these days, with so many ex-FL clubs (who are presumably mostly still pro), that maybe it's a step we have to take when we get to that level.
Although how we would pay for it is another question altogether!
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Post by ssstone on Feb 26, 2014 10:31:40 GMT
Slightly off topic, although think it was Lincoln first relegated from D4, but without looking it up can anyone else remember who was first promoted to D4 from non league automatically to replace them and what year? And who there manager was? And was it the Gola League then? pretty sure about the first two....
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2014 10:41:23 GMT
I believe - due to my Panini '88 sticker album, that it was Scarborough?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2014 11:06:01 GMT
Defo Scarborough (replaced Lincoln City), and it was the GM Vauxhall Conference.
complete list: 1986–87 Scarborough 1987–88 Lincoln City 1988–89 Maidstone United 1989–90 Darlington 1990–91 Barnet 1991–92 Colchester United 1992–93 Wycombe Wanderers 1993–94 Kidderminster Harriers 1994–95 Macclesfield Town 1995–96 Stevenage Borough 1996–97 Macclesfield Town 1997–98 Halifax Town 1998–99 Cheltenham Town 1999–00 Kidderminster Harriers 2000–01 Rushden & Diamonds 2001–02 Boston United 2002–03 Yeovil Town / Doncaster Rovers 2003–04 Chester City / Shrewsbury Town 2004–05 Barnet / Carlisle United 2005–06 Accrington Stanley / Hereford United 2006–07 Dagenham & Redbridge / Morecambe 2007–08 Aldershot Town / Exeter City 2008–09 Burton Albion / Torquay United 2009–10 Stevenage Borough / Oxford United 2010–11 Crawley Town / AFC Wimbledon 2011–12 Fleetwood Town / York City 2012–13 Mansfield Town / Newport County
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Post by ssstone on Feb 26, 2014 11:29:00 GMT
re the above anyone know the name of the well jewelled team that were in a rush to merge?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2014 12:02:10 GMT
Don't start a career writing cryptic crosswords will you
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Post by islandstone on Feb 26, 2014 13:12:19 GMT
Don't start a career writing cryptic crosswords will you You write what you want Mr ssstone. Ant is 15 and struggles with tough questions.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2014 13:14:52 GMT
Bully
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Post by headstone on Feb 26, 2014 14:15:06 GMT
Defo Scarborough (replaced Lincoln City), and it was the GM Vauxhall Conference. complete list: 1986–87 Scarborough 1987–88 Lincoln City 1988–89 Maidstone United1989–90 Darlington 1990–91 Barnet 1991–92 Colchester United 1992–93 Wycombe Wanderers 1993–94 Kidderminster Harriers 1994–95 Macclesfield Town 1995–96 Stevenage Borough 1996–97 Macclesfield Town 1997–98 Halifax Town 1998–99 Cheltenham Town 1999–00 Kidderminster Harriers 2000–01 Rushden & Diamonds 2001–02 Boston United 2002–03 Yeovil Town / Doncaster Rovers 2003–04 Chester City / Shrewsbury Town 2004–05 Barnet / Carlisle United 2005–06 Accrington Stanley / Hereford United 2006–07 Dagenham & Redbridge / Morecambe 2007–08 Aldershot Town / Exeter City 2008–09 Burton Albion / Torquay United 2009–10 Stevenage Borough / Oxford United 2010–11 Crawley Town / AFC Wimbledon 2011–12 Fleetwood Town / York City 2012–13 Mansfield Town / Newport County And how long did that take you, Bryan? So why can't you research the last time we scored eleven goals in two games, or if you prefer, nineteen goals in four consecutive home games?
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Post by ipswichstoneden on Feb 26, 2014 14:34:45 GMT
I would say that we should not go full time until reaching the situation where there is a realistic chance of winning promotion to the Conference Premier. Yes, attendances are higher than other clubs mentioned but we should also consider that a lot more money will need to be spent on the ground to bring it up to the required capacity (3,000 for Conference South and 4,000 for Conference Premier) It is a case of weighing up what needs to be done and when. Dont think we should run before we can walk!
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Post by tim on Feb 26, 2014 14:50:34 GMT
Might I suggest it may be prudent to win our pitch battle with the conference before talking about going pro?
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Post by ipswichstoneden on Feb 26, 2014 14:56:34 GMT
Might I suggest it may be prudent to win our pitch battle with the conference before talking about going pro? Agree! There are so many things to take into consideration and first things first!
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Post by pat1969 on Feb 26, 2014 20:37:18 GMT
Stevenage did not come up in 95/96, denied due to insufficient ground I believe.
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