Peterboro City No longer in League

[GAZZA]

Just been on PDFL and looked at our league table to see Sawtry at the top which seemed strange as i thought Manea were a few clear, it looks as though P.City are no longer in the league which is a massive pain in the :mnn: . So 2 1/2 months into the season we have only played 6 league games, very annoying.

[CoatesFC - Dave]

That's a shame, just proves how much respect Benwick should have from everyone though as they completed the whole season last year without winning!!!

As for league games, we always seem to be playing bloody catch up!! Last season we had about 8 games in hand on guyhirn towards the end!!
And this season we are already playing catch up having played only 5!!

This proved to be extremely tough going last year and am guessing it will be this year too!!

[2morrow]

at this rate we'll have finished our league programme by mid january!

[Teilo]

Would Peterborough City have held their own in the Combination Three? The standard of football was simply too high for them.

[Chris Judge]

This is one of the problems of having a seperate Reserve Division. In the good old days they would have come in at Division Five level and would have had a much more gentler introduction and would no doubt have survived.
Any new team now coming into Division Two are going to find it a struggle unless they had a group of pretty good players.
As I said at the time of the change it was not a very good move by the officials.

[Teilo]

The solution would be for new teams to have the opportunity to play in the bottom reserve division, with teams in that Division reviewed on an annual basis. For some people it is not about how high a standard you can play, it is just about playing football.

Peterborough City seemed really keen at the beginning and it is a shame. The Cambs League do not have these problems...

[Chris Judge]

Cambs do not have a Reserve league

[CAFC]

So are we actually saying that they have packed in because they were getting beat every week ?

Personally I have as many arguments for the reserve league set up as I'm sure Chris has against it.

What is it all about ? Players getting to play at the best standard they can achieve ? Teams developing onwards and upwards ? Enjoying your Sat afternoons ? Is anyone actually not enjoying their football because of the change in the league structure ? I'm sure we (Coates) have a few who are not getting a game in the firsts and fancy a change in scenery and think they can play at a higher level (yet to be proved wrong).

We lost Emneth as well this season. Teams sometimes don't make it. It's tough work running a football club and they fold for a number of reasons. Not enough commited players, not enough back stage support, no money, all of the above. But because we don't like getting beat every week is piffle, many of us have been there, it aint nice but someone has to lose. This year they were not good enough and the only way to find that out was to put em in. Next year (like Benwick and what about Wimblington) they may learn and improve, get a couple of new players, its called progress.

[Teilo]

There is enjoying football and losing, but no-one really enjoys getting hit by big scorelines week in, week out and it will have an impact on players especially the young ones Peterborough City had to continue to turn out. Maybe if they were playing the likes of Crowland A instead of Sawtry the scorelines would have been much closer.

The reasons as to why a team like Emneth would fold, as opposed to P'boro City are completely different. Emneth Res had the option of stepping up and playing the First teams fixtures, but decided to fold even though they had enough players and results in Combi Three.

My reference to the Cambs League Chris, is that teams often find their level a lot easier and those established teams that come in with real strength often skip a few leagues. e.g March Town Res, Park Rangers Wisbech Res etc

[Chris Judge]

Yes Teilo but teams you mention already had form in another league so it was not too difficult to put them at the right level.
But since the change in Peterborough league new clubs have to come in at Division Two which has proved difficult for new cluibs over last two seasons
At the moment unles yoiu havea useful squad of players ot start with then Saturdays couldbecome not so enjoyable as City found this year with heavy defeats each week

[bratts]

But what about Benwick then Chris? They had no ' form ' in the peterborough leagues and last season was there 1st season, getting spanked week in week out ( i think there biggest defeat was about 28 - 0 ), yet they stayed the season and are here again this season ( not getting spanked as much & have a couple of wins under there belt i believe? ). Yes its dis-heartening getting beat heavily week in week out, but if the team was full of youngsters what did they expect? Div 2 is probably the hardest league to start in and get out off, but i am sure if they had stuck at it they would have probably got a win or 2 under there belts and could have improved.

I agree the leagues re-structure probably hasn't worked out that well for some teams, as you have teams playing in res 1 that should be playing in the old div 1 league and vice versa, same with the other divisions, but hey they made a change and we just got to accept it and get on with it.

[Chris Judge]

I have not commented on whether it was right for City to quit or not I belive that is there is business or why Benwiick carried on.
My comment was that the new structure has not made it easy for new clubs to enter the league in Division Two
I am sure you can understand that Batts.
I am aware Benwick had no previous form and were a new club but Teilo was referring to Wisbech March and Park rangers joining the Cambs League.
Good luck to Benwick and i admire the way they have carried on.

[bratts]

Chris - i do understand what you are saying and like you i wasnt in total agreement with the new structure as i believe you have to many teams playing below there level and to many teams playing above there level.

[CoatesFC - Dave]

I'm all for the new league structure!!

Nothing more annoying that what used to happen.........we would be playing team x who everyone has been beating and the week we play them their 1st team do not have a game and hey presto we get beat!!! Not a fair scenario!!

This way movements between 1st and Reserve team are monitored and i believe limited etc and means we are far less likely to get the above situation!!

[bluestar]

Big advocate of the new league structure - based upon having witnessed it from both a position of weakness, i.e. struggling every week, and as now, a position of strength - so from a purely selfish point of view its been good for Whittlesey's two teams.

Dave, with regards to your second point - I understand, and I am sure Chris will confirm this - there is now no rule to stop any number of 1st team players from turning out for their reserve team, so dont believe this is monitored in the way you believe - that right Chris?

[CoatesFC - Dave]

Oh well, if so i stand corrected, but am still more than happy with the structure nowadays, seems to be working except that new clubs find life tough in Division 2.

[Slim Bratts]

It's a difficult one to call regarding the restructuring/changes in the league, after playing div2 last season then moving into div2 res this season, i dont see that much difference in the quality of football or teams.

In that respect who is to say City would have faired any better starting in a reserve league?

Just a shame they had to fold, think its probably more about getting the setup right and enough players turning up week in week out, as i know we and many other clubs still struggle with that.

[GAZZA]

I think that given time this league structure will work, it will eventually sort itself out and the worst teams will find their way to the basement and the best teams will rise steadily through the leagues. Without these better teams in the bottom league thrashing new teams, the new teams will have a more gentle introduction and will gain confidence and as a result start getting a couple of results, thus begin to justify turning up each week. Peterborough City were an exceptional case, I do not know how good the standard is in combi 3, however, i am confident that P. City would have been the worst team in that league aswell (but maybe the gulf in class between the top and bottom of that league would not have been so vast as it is in Div2).
There will always be a poor team in every league, it is just how well the players deal with it, the fact City were a bunch of young lads probably did'nt help, the other difference between them and Benwick (last year), was team spirit, Benwick scored against us last year and it was celebrated like a 90th minute cup winner, and throughout both games last year none of the Benwick players got on each others backs, something even the best and most experienced sides could learn from.

[Raph]

Well said.

[Chris Judge]

No monitoring Ist and res teams now and perhaps that was the rreal the structure was brought in to save the league all that checking.
But Coates you could be playing Sawtry and they could bring Paul Simpson from Soham in so that is just the same as a first team player dropping down to the res
So that problem still around
All that rubbish about res teams stopping clubs progressing well Wimblington, Wimblington Harriers, Outwell Swifts Emneth Long Sutton all moved up with little trouble

[carefree]

i ve got to giggle chris :lol: you still against the reserve league thing. would have thought you got over it by now :lol: even if you do have a point.

[Chris Judge]

Very true Carefree but perhaps some of the mistakes of the structure are coming home to roost now
We only have three real divisons as against six

[jb]

Very true Carefree but perhaps some of the mistakes of the structure are coming home to roost now
We only have three real divisons as against six


:stpd: 100%

[Teilo]

Benwick beat March St Marys Ressies pre season and lost to them in the cup. That is their level. Benwick have improved but looking at the teams they have beaten, Pboro City, Real March. That said they are probably enjoying the challenge. I can't agree more with what Chris Judge has said regarding there only being 3 divisions.

I also experienced first hand playing a team twice last season that had a first team in the Prem. First game a narrow win. Second game a 7-1 thrashing. Our team was almost identical, theirs completely different. So yes, the system has its pros and cons.

[Celtic 2, The Mighty Gers 4]

Lots of arguments for and against but at the end of the day if a player wants to play in a better league then its to the player themselves to do this and progress. No point blaming the league structure!! Now Chris put you dummy back in!! :bby: :bby: :lol:

[Chris Judge]

Sorry Harley you seem to have missed the point
you say if a player wants to play in a better league then its to the player themselves to do this and progress. No point blaming the league structure!!
Well we have not been talking about that but how hard it is for new clubs to start in the league at Division Two
I think you need to put your dummy in and keep it there

[CAFC]

Yes Chris, so Sawtry bring in a player from Soham. Not sure if we played against him or not ? We can all do it, the rules allow it. Daves point is still valid for me. Its about the football club. No one seems to be able to answer the fact that a 'first team' could be stopped from promotion by a 'reserve team' that could not be promoted. Not anymore. Bad argument about Outwell, Harriers and some others. It has taken them that long to get to the top that they fade away.

Teilo, now i'm with you. This is the downside. But i put that down to the football clubs involved. Surely it only happens at the end of the season if the first team have finished their fixtures. I don't see the point myself its got to really pi*s off the players they replace, a very dangerous game.