Whats the point ??????????

[NEVER GIVE IN]

I dont wish to cause a row, but.............. can or would somone explain to me why Bodmin Town wiil not take promotion.Am not taking anything away from them.really good football team,but when they keep winning the league,signing good players from around the county,have a nice set up etc,why wouldnt they want to play higher ? I understand about the financial side of things,but if the team is good enough why not move on and up ? how you can play in a league and be there abouts every season and not to go up defeats me. Plus there finishing league position prevents other teams who wish to go on will stop them ? SIMPLE ANSWER IS, finish above them,i know that,but i just find it strange.They just seem quite happy stopping other teams from moving up. I then have to question the ambition of the players,If they are happy with just playing in that league,couldnt the County F A step in and say "come on BODMIN,isnt it time you applied and took promotion" or could the F A bring in a rule that you cant keep avoiding it ? As i said i dont want a row,just an explanation. To me if you dont want to play at a higher level,when they obviously can.........Whats the point ?????????????

[Football person]

geography, finances. next question

[NEVER GIVE IN]

would that not be the same for ........... Falmouth Town ???????????

[quiksilver]

Finance is a poor excuse when Bodmin pay out the amount they do on player 'expenses'

[Dave Deacon]

The relaunch of "Massey's Mutterings" this week features a "no holds barred" spin on the SWPL promotion hopefuls, or not!

[Football person]

would that not be the same for ........... Falmouth Town ???????????

just because you say you want to go up, doesnt mean youd take it.........Falmouth to north of Bristol on a wet and windy tuesday night?????

all will be revealed by may

[razzer]

Quote;

Finance is a poor excuse when Bodmin pay out the amount they do on player 'expenses'

What do Bodmin pay out in expenses then??? Would love to know where you get your information from because it's massively flawed!!! Trust me everyone of the lads at Bodmin could go to another club on their doorstep and earn ALOT more "expenses" but have stayed together because we all get on and have a great team spirit, the finance is a massive issue for promotion especially with today's economy sponsors are hard to come by, the best way to make money in local football as a club is a good cup run!!! As for the players not wanting to play higher it's about being realistic work commitments family etc the younger talent I agree with you where they have no real commitments they should strive to play the highest level possible, but looking at the Bodmin squad gilby would all but have to rebuild a new squad with probably 4/5 lads that don't have any real commitments.

Hope this clears the Bodmin issue up a little bit

[NEVER GIVE IN]

Thanks razzor, iam happy with that.

[Quiet Man]

Falmouth have been there and done it before long before there were good roads to the Bristol area, so I don't think that that would be an issue, however, for the likes of Bodmin Town, let's not be too harsh on them for not taking promotion. Remember, they play on what I believe is a council owned ground therefore making it very difficult to bring their facilites up to that required by the Western League Premier Division. However, the likes of Buckland Athletic who are a lot nearer to the bulk of Western League clubs, would find it easier and less financially taxing than most other clubs.

[hoppit]

Quote;

Finance is a poor excuse when Bodmin pay out the amount they do on player 'expenses'

What do Bodmin pay out in expenses then??? Would love to know where you get your information from because it's massively flawed!!! Trust me everyone of the lads at Bodmin could go to another club on their doorstep and earn ALOT more "expenses" but have stayed together because we all get on and have a great team spirit, the finance is a massive issue for promotion especially with today's economy sponsors are hard to come by, the best way to make money in local football as a club is a good cup run!!! As for the players not wanting to play higher it's about being realistic work commitments family etc the younger talent I agree with you where they have no real commitments they should strive to play the highest level possible, but looking at the Bodmin squad gilby would all but have to rebuild a new squad with probably 4/5 lads that don't have any real commitments.

Hope this clears the Bodmin issue up a little bit

So why play in the pyramid system? When a team continually finish in a promotion spot and doesn't take promotion it stagnates the league. As for travelling, Bristol is only 3 hours away so thats not too disruptive, womens teams travel much further than that, so do hockey, rugby, darts, bowls, snooker, teams etc, so why does football have to be different? As for finance, pay the 16 or so squad members a tenner a week less and there's the travelling expenses sorted at no extra cost. If the players are as commited to Bodmin as you say, they should not have a problem with this. I think promotion in the pyramid should be compulsary, if a team doesn't take it they should be deducted 10 points the following season or relegated, this would give more ambitious clubs a chance to put Cornish football on the map.

[Nemesis]

It may come to a point where clubs continue to do well in SWPL Premier, could actually hold up a club who have the ambition and facilities to make the step up to the Western League.

Failure to take automatic promotion to the next step should mean automatic relegation of 3 Divisions. Clubs at Step 6 and above play in National Cup comps, if players want to play with their mates for fun, they can do so in the Duchy / Trelawny Leagues.

[Ian Pethick]

It may come to a point where clubs continue to do well in SWPL Premier, could actually hold up a club who have the ambition and facilities to make the step up to the Western League.

Failure to take automatic promotion to the next step should mean automatic relegation of 3 Divisions. Clubs at Step 6 and above play in National Cup comps, if players want to play with their mates for fun, they can do so in the Duchy / Trelawny Leagues.

This happens in rugby union , perhaps it's about time this was brought in by the FA .

Bodmin Town just seem to be happy being big fish in a small pond .

[razzer]

Quote;

Finance is a poor excuse when Bodmin pay out the amount they do on player 'expenses'

What do Bodmin pay out in expenses then??? Would love to know where you get your information from because it's massively flawed!!! Trust me everyone of the lads at Bodmin could go to another club on their doorstep and earn ALOT more "expenses" but have stayed together because we all get on and have a great team spirit, the finance is a massive issue for promotion especially with today's economy sponsors are hard to come by, the best way to make money in local football as a club is a good cup run!!! As for the players not wanting to play higher it's about being realistic work commitments family etc the younger talent I agree with you where they have no real commitments they should strive to play the highest level possible, but looking at the Bodmin squad gilby would all but have to rebuild a new squad with probably 4/5 lads that don't have any real commitments.

Hope this clears the Bodmin issue up a little bit

So why play in the pyramid system? When a team continually finish in a promotion spot and doesn't take promotion it stagnates the league, as for travelling, Bristol is only 3 hours away so thats not too disruptive, womens teams travel much further than that , so do hockey, rugby, darts, bowls, snooker, teams etc, so why does football have to be different? As for finance pay the 16 or so squad members a tenner a week less and theres the travelling expenses sorted at no extra cost. If the players are as commited to Bodmin as you say they should not have a problem with this. I think promotion in the pyramid should be compolsury, if a team doesn,t take it they should be deducted 10 points the following season or relagated, this would give more ambitious clubs a chance to put Cornish football on the map.

I agree I think it should be compulsory then this wouldn't keep coming up but as it stands it isn't so if clubs feel they can't afford to they don't have to, this is the reality of it. As for Bristol only being 3hrs let's take a Tuesday night game in Bristol for example 7.45 ko most clubs like to arrive at least an hr before, your gonna hit rush hr in Bristol plus your travel your looking at leaving work at 3ish so you've lost 2 hrs pay plus fuel to get there because your expenses have been lowered to nearly nothing to help the club fund promotion then your arriving home at midnight to get up at 6 to for work the following day!!! Then you could look at Saturdays away games a lot of the lads have children that play football Saturday mornings which they would miss, you wouldn't get home until late so not seen your children all day, For me as a self employed person with a young family it's just not realistic as I know it would be the same for most of the other lads, I think you would find most of the clubs losing a lot of players as they would just move to another club in swpl, and coming straight back down in financial ruins which would put the league in an even worse position!!! In my opinion anyway

[Team Rep]

Quote;

Finance is a poor excuse when Bodmin pay out the amount they do on player 'expenses'

What do Bodmin pay out in expenses then??? Would love to know where you get your information from because it's massively flawed!!! Trust me everyone of the lads at Bodmin could go to another club on their doorstep and earn ALOT more "expenses" but have stayed together because we all get on and have a great team spirit, the finance is a massive issue for promotion especially with today's economy sponsors are hard to come by, the best way to make money in local football as a club is a good cup run!!! As for the players not wanting to play higher it's about being realistic work commitments family etc the younger talent I agree with you where they have no real commitments they should strive to play the highest level possible, but looking at the Bodmin squad gilby would all but have to rebuild a new squad with probably 4/5 lads that don't have any real commitments.

Hope this clears the Bodmin issue up a little bit

So why play in the pyramid system? When a team continually finish in a promotion spot and doesn't take promotion it stagnates the league, as for travelling, Bristol is only 3 hours away so thats not too disruptive, womens teams travel much further than that , so do hockey, rugby, darts, bowls, snooker, teams etc, so why does football have to be different? As for finance pay the 16 or so squad members a tenner a week less and theres the travelling expenses sorted at no extra cost. If the players are as commited to Bodmin as you say they should not have a problem with this. I think promotion in the pyramid should be compolsury, if a team doesn,t take it they should be deducted 10 points the following season or relagated, this would give more ambitious clubs a chance to put Cornish football on the map.

I agree I think it should be compulsory then this wouldn't keep coming up but as it stands it isn't so if clubs feel they can't afford to they don't have to, this is the reality of it. As for Bristol only being 3hrs let's take a Tuesday night game in Bristol for example 7.45 ko most clubs like to arrive at least an hr before, your gonna hit rush hr in Bristol plus your travel your looking at leaving work at 3ish so you've lost 2 hrs pay plus fuel to get there because your expenses have been lowered to nearly nothing to help the club fund promotion then your arriving home at midnight to get up at 6 to for work the following day!!! Then you could look at Saturdays away games a lot of the lads have children that play football Saturday mornings which they would miss, you wouldn't get home until late so not seen your children all day, For me as a self employed person with a young family it's just not realistic as I know it would be the same for most of the other lads, I think you would find most of the clubs losing a lot of players as they would just move to another club in swpl, and coming straight back down in financial ruins which would put the league in an even worse position!!! In my opinion anyway

One simple answer - DON'T PLAY IN THE PYRAMID SYSTEM THEN!

[Richard Rundle]

One simple answer - DON'T PLAY IN THE PYRAMID SYSTEM THEN!

So where else is there for these clubs to play?

The pyramid has two central tenets

a ) to allow clubs to move up and down through promotion & relegation

b ) to allow clubs to find their natural level.

If a club has reached b ) and they'd be overstretching themselves to go any higher, that's fine by me.

[Quiet Man]

Well, why don't the FA, instead of pushing the boundary of the Western League further north, create a step 5 league that encompasses Cornwall, Devon and Somerset/Dorset west of a line roughly from Weymouth to Weston-super-Mare. That way it would be quite feasable to take promotion with the long distance games arranged for weekends and the closer games played midweek. As Alexsandr Orlov would say, "Simples"

[Richard Rundle]

Well, why don't the FA, instead of pushing the boundary of the Western League further north, create a step 5 league that encompasses Cornwall, Devon and Somerset/Dorset west of a line roughly from Weymouth to Weston-super-Mare. That way it would be quite feasable to take promotion with the long distance games arranged for weekends and the closer games played midweek. As Alexsandr Orlov would say, "Simples"

That would be the sensible way of doing it, but with the restructure having the one aim of reducing the Step 5 leauges from 14 in number to 12, it's inevitable that those leagues that survive the cull (including the Western League) will have expanded borders, probably including most of Gloucestershire.

[hoppit]

One simple answer - DON'T PLAY IN THE PYRAMID SYSTEM THEN!

So where else is there for these clubs to play?

The pyramid has two central tenets

a ) to allow clubs to move up and down through promotion & relegation

b ) to allow clubs to find their natural level.

If a club has reached b ) and they'd be overstretching themselves to go any higher, that's fine by me.

If this is the way it is going to be we might aswell have a Cornish Senior League as level 7. Then of course there would be no FA cup or FA vase but tne local derbies might be interesting. As is traditional in local leagues the teams with the most money will win the league with ease, apart from Bodmin is that what we really want? Maybe it is. Nobody has retorted to my point that teams from other sports don't seem to have problems with distance or finance, maybe somebody could enlighten me as to why they can manage it year in year out often much further than Bristol. On the work and family issue if you want to compete at higher levels you have to make sacrifices, take a days holiday to get time off for long journey evening matches which would probably only be a couple of times a season. Surely your family would back you up if you are trying to better your career.I made sacrifices for years total pain i agree but it doesn't last forever or even all year. Come on lets get cornish football on the map.

[Dave Deacon]

But that's just it - our counterparts in rugby, who are better supported than our football teams, are struggling - Launceston (All Blacks) went bust, or pretty much did so! Only yesterday on Radio Cornwall Redruth RFC were confirming that they hadn't paid their players for January yet, this coming on the back of problems last year (see below).

No getting away from things, although we would have no problem competing, at least initially, on the pitch, because it will inevitably cost our clubs more in going up a step, the question really has to be whether any could sustain playing at a higher level with their present infrastructures?

Looking at most of the clubs, there isn't the manpower to maintain them. That's not a criticism, but reality. Go around the different clubs and you'll find in general it's the same people at the hub of them now that have been there for years. New, fresh, blood is needed to climb the pyramid.

At the end of the day we are at a geographical disadvantage, but with obviously nothing we can do about it, it would be great as suggested earlier for the FA to somehow support clubs in the outer regions when it comes to travelling etc.

As for the players being able to get away, presumably that would to some extent be a fine balance between how committed they are and also how much a club could afford to entice them to travel. Midweek too much is a heck of a commitment, and even more so if you're not vying for a championship!

.

"Cash-strapped Redruth pay team some of their wages"

Redruth have paid their players some of the money owed to them.

The club announced last month that it was struggling to pay the squad's match fees after registering a £40,000 loss.

Redruth has set up a players' fund which has so far raised £28,000, about a third of what is needed to pay off the money the squad is owed.

"We've settled up with the players for September and a proportion of their October match fees," director of rugby Dave Penberthy told BBC Radio Cornwall."

[hoppit]

Thats 2 rugby teams who probably pay their players too much for the standard they play, the likes of Wadebridge Camels have made good progress on virtually no budget but travel long distances. It's all about financial management. Strive for the best you can achieve if that means you go up a couple of leagues and then are not good enough to compete then you get relegated. What you don't do is chuck more money at a bad situation. It's like playing poker if you lose a grand don't borrow another to carry on earn some more and then have another go.

[Richard Rundle]

Wadebridge Camels will only play 13 away games in the league, this means that midweek matches are nigh-on non-existent

[hoppit]

Wadebridge Camels will only play 13 away games in the league, this means that midweek matches are nigh-on non-existent

Whats that got to do with it ?

[Lucky 13]

Why not create a Devon/Cornwall league with no promotion,and call it something like......South Western League ?

[Dave Deacon]

Wadebridge Camels will only play 13 away games in the league, this means that midweek matches are nigh-on non-existent

Whats that got to do with it ?

Perhaps possibly easier on the finances and the time commitment required for everyone involved in the club. Knowing that you haven't got to travel away during the week surely has to be comforting

[mad ferret]

Surely it is simple enough to tell potential players that the club have no ambition, this would give the players a choice whether they sign for a club like Bodmin....... or the chance to go to Falmouth, Bucks or whoever fancies a crack in the Western League.

[hoppit]

Why not create a Devon/Cornwall league with no promotion,and call it something like......South Western League ?

Last time we had South Western League clubs complained that too many teams had nothing to play for after xmas, the SWPL gives teams a chance to win promotion or avoid being relegated,which should be much more interesting or so you might think. But if top teams have a choice of taking promotion and choose not to, it totally defeats the objective of the pyramid. I think a cornish senior league is the only option incorporating all senior clubs in 4 or 5 divisions. No point including Devon teams in any league, I mean god forbid anyone from Cornwall having to travel to Holsworthy on a wet January evening, much too far, after all there's only a rough track and two crocodile infested rivers to cross, and then the master won't let me off work until 7 o clock. Sorry but it's just pathetic!

[hoppit]

Wadebridge Camels will only play 13 away games in the league, this means that midweek matches are nigh-on non-existent

Whats that got to do with it ?

Perhaps possibly easier on the finances and the time commitment required for everyone involved in the club. Knowing that you haven't got to travel away during the week surely has to be comforting

Comforting? Surely when you get to a certain standard your sport becomes a career as well as a hobby, it needs money commitment and sacrifice, for goodness sake no wonder the majority of Cornish sport is stagnant, a word I seem to use all too often. Lets either get up and get on or stay in our own little world, one or the other, but not wollowing somewhere in between.