Heartlands League

Slightly off topic, and I apologise in advance . Regarding local derbies - Penzance and Newlyn were separate clubs until 1945 (amalgamated partly as so many men were lost in the war). So the local derby before that was PZ v Newlyn. The games were pretty brutal and riots ensued on occasion! When the clubs amalgamated The Pirates were slightly left out on a limb for derby games. The nearest clubs were Hayle and St Ives, who play each other. Camborne play Redruth, so we ended up with the Boxing Day derby being against Truro - which is 28 miles away. When we began our ascent up the leagues Launceston were pretty successful and were in the same league as us for a few seasons, so that was the derby game - Launceston is right on the Devon border (70 miles from PZ). Then it was Plymouth Albion (80 miles from PZ). Then Bristol. Now the nearest club as the crow flies is probably Jersey, and then Hartpury in Gloucestershire!

Stalwart wrote: CJB1 wrote: Capt Sparrow wrote: cheshire exile wrote: Spare a thought for us in Penzance!  We used to have some tasty local rivalries but unfortunately two (Bristol & Exeter) got promoted and two (Launceton & Plymouth Albion) got relegated. Most inconsiderate of them Bristol?  Local to Penzance?  In which universe? It's as local as it gets, a mere 3 hours from PZ.

Capt Sparrow wrote: cheshire exile wrote: Spare a thought for us in Penzance!  We used to have some tasty local rivalries but unfortunately two (Bristol & Exeter) got promoted and two (Launceton & Plymouth Albion) got relegated. Most inconsiderate of them

Bristol?  Local to Penzance?  In which universe?

Spare a thought for us in Penzance! 

kempstonblue wrote: Cambridge and Bishops Stortford?

Richard Lowther wrote: kempstonblue wrote: Richard Lowther wrote: The (normal- pandemic excepted) club season (excluding pre season friendlies) is 35 weeks, from the beginning of September to the last week of April. You then have a window for County games in the five weeks of May.  The proposed idea is only 16 of these 35 weeks will be used.  If you accept one weekend a month as a 'rest/bad weather/Christmas/Easter off/watch the internationals at HQ' then you lose another 8 weeks, leaving 27 potential game weekends. 11 of these are still going to be spare.  As a club treasurer I would be asking what we do about those 11 weeks - potentially 5 or 6 home games without a first team fixture and there the bulk of club income.  What solutions spring to mind? One is games against local rivals who aren't in the new league; these are usually good for increasing the gate. But that idea only works if your rivals are in a league where there are also spare weekends which match up with your spare weekends - easier said than done.  A similar idea would be to go back to the 'Easter' tours of old and have something different for your players and supporters.  Second would be a form of cup competition - either within the league or outside it, such as a return to competing in County Cups for some teams.  However the traditional cup formats do not guarantee above one fixture - and no guarantee that will be at home. So you bring in a convoluted pool system and defeat the original point - However, if the consensus is 'less is better quality', why schedule any other games - just book the club treasurer a hospital bed now to recover from the shock.  Are you suggesting Christmas off? Boxing Day home matches at Bedford are often the highest attendance of the season. Last two years we had Ampthill in friendly and league. Although I appreciate at lower levels it is time off, and if the league is amateur then raising teams might be a problem. But even in the 1980s Bedford, Boxing Day was Old Paulines matches. Personally no, I'm putting forward reasons for the lack of fixtures under this bananas of an idea.

Take Worcester for example. In the fully completed 2018/19 season they played 3 preseason friendlies, 22 Premiership games, 7 European games and 5 Premiership Cup games. 

Richard Lowther wrote: The (normal- pandemic excepted) club season (excluding pre season friendlies) is 35 weeks, from the beginning of September to the last week of April. You then have a window for County games in the five weeks of May.  The proposed idea is only 16 of these 35 weeks will be used.  If you accept one weekend a month as a 'rest/bad weather/Christmas/Easter off/watch the internationals at HQ' then you lose another 8 weeks, leaving 27 potential game weekends. 11 of these are still going to be spare.  As a club treasurer I would be asking what we do about those 11 weeks - potentially 5 or 6 home games without a first team fixture and there the bulk of club income.  What solutions spring to mind? One is games against local rivals who aren't in the new league; these are usually good for increasing the gate. But that idea only works if your rivals are in a league where there are also spare weekends which match up with your spare weekends - easier said than done.  A similar idea would be to go back to the 'Easter' tours of old and have something different for your players and supporters.  Second would be a form of cup competition - either within the league or outside it, such as a return to competing in County Cups for some teams.  However the traditional cup formats do not guarantee above one fixture - and no guarantee that will be at home. So you bring in a convoluted pool system and defeat the original point - However, if the consensus is 'less is better quality', why schedule any other games - just book the club treasurer a hospital bed now to recover from the shock.

billesleyexile wrote: The Joy of (Level) 7 wrote: billesleyexile wrote: Halliford wrote: I think the Championship should take heed of both of those lines and go to a 14 team League with minimum standards, including seating for 500+ and other facilities, particularly widely-spaced urinals! To be honest, I think that goes for National 1 too - that and floodlights. No team should be in a national league without a grandstand*, catering, and the ability to light their pitch *I say this as someone who chooses/prefers to stand Tonbridge Juddians will be an experience for you then! No more so than some who are already up here. TBH I've got no issues with the teams who have totally properly come up the leagues under the rules as they stand. I've got more of an issue with the rules... It's not TJ's fault they haven't been forced to do more lower down - looking forward to going down there in due course.

There used to be a minimum standard in 2008 when we moved to Lady Bay we had to have lighting up to certain level stand for 500 and various other improvements . It wasa right pain so presumably they have been forgotten since