agamemnon3

I haven't heard anything, although I notice that on FullTime even though there are U25 games scheduled for as late as May 12th, a lot of outstanding games remain unscheduled. Apart from that, I know that one Spartan Premier club is definitely pulling out, and will be playing a reserve side in the Herts County next season.

Monday August 7th: Haringey Borough U-23 v Hadley 2-3

Thursday August 3rd: Wingate & Finchley U-23 v Oxhey Jets 3-2

I've just returned from the Old Elizabethans Ground, a beautiful place to watch football on a warm evening, where Hadley were taking on their new friends AFC Southgate. My first sight of Hadley this season, and they looked in good shape --- they appear to have held on to the bulk of last season's squad, and the guys looked fit and keen. My feeling is that last year's relegation battle may have been an aberration, and that this season they should be comfortably mid-table, or better. My first-ever sight of Southgate, who included in their line-up a couple of players who have made the odd appearance for Hadley in recent seasons. They are a mixed bunch, as one might expect of a team making its first venture into senior football. They have a lively attack, which may catch out a few teams, but I think they may struggle defensively. Three of their back four, and two of their midfield, were at least half a stone overweight, and all were visibly wheezing as early as the third minute, when the first goal went in. They stuck at it enthusiastically, to be fair to them, but further goals followed on 30, 49, 75 and 77. Without wishing to be unkind, pub footballers will get found out fairly quickly in the Spartan, even in Division Two...

I've just watched Cockfosters huff and puff their way to a glorious 3-0 victory... Only four Cockfosters names recognisable from the top thirty or so names in last season's pecking order --- and with a combined total of ten first-team starts between the lot of them. The opponents ? Albanian FC --- who play in the third tier of the Amateur Football Combination --- which, depending on how you wish to quantify it, puts them some six or seven divisions below 'Fosters. Albanian are basically Finchley Catholic High School Old Boys, and normally find themselves taking on the likes of Old Whitgiftians Thirds and Old Radlettians Fourths, and yet despite this, more than held their own for over an hour, and should perhaps have even been in the lead. 'Fosters scored a fine goal in the 65th minute, and then two more on 84 and 90, when tiredness was clearly taking its toll on Albanian. A win is a win, and it's early days yet, but if Cockfosters finish anywhere outside of the bottom three I will be truly amazed...

Seriously belated reply, I know, but something has just surfaced. Barker was indeed messed about, having been promised a manager's job by a chairman in February. But it wasn't at Northwood.

Why ? Surely winning the league that you are in is always worth it, purely for its own sake... Before all this silly pyramid nonsense, that's exactly what teams did --- strive to win the league that they were in, and then next year, strive to win it again... Sometimes, a club with ambition, (and a couple of wealthy directors), would apply to join a higher league, but most other clubs didn't bother --- and it was a system that worked perfectly well for seventy years or more...

Oh, I don't know --- there are those who, looking at the bigger picture, might argue that being the manager of the development squad at a step 3 side is a much better place to be than overall manager of a step 5 side that has no possible chance of promotion... For what it's worth, my own view is that Barker has taken the plunge a year too early. With Hertford gone, and Colney imploding, there was a very real chance of the side that Barker had put together at Cockfosters winning the league in 17/18. Given that at least one of the 16/17 step 5 league winners had a player wage bill of over £100.000, to win a step 5 league on a zero-budget would really be something worth having on one's cv...

Dean Barker yesterday agreed to become the manager of the U-23 Development Squad at Wingate & Finchley.

There is a post (today) on the Non League Matters website that says Southall will be playing this season's home matches at Amersham Town --- no confirmation yet on Southall's website or twitter feed...

'issues with the league committee' --- yes, the issues being assaults on referees... I also don't think that 'there are worse clubs in the other divisions' is much of a recommendation... To be fair to Park View, in the Amateur Football Combination they have won the division they were in for the last three seasons, so even if they were only facing the likes of Clapham Old Xaverians and Fulham Compton Old Boys, they can clearly play a bit. However, interestingly, the Amateur Football Combination has assessors who mark each club throughout the season on their overall 'persona', and last season, a season in which they were league champions, Park View were placed 5th of 88 on 'facilities'; 19th of 88 on 'hospitality'; 44th of 88 on 'organisation'; and 73rd of 88 on 'spirit of football', which suggests that things may not have changed all that much from their Middlesex County League days.. A cynic might suggest that the SSML are likely to be far more concerned with facilities and hospitality than the 'spirit of football', but we shall see soon enough...

'not touch them with a bargepole' --- absolutely ! Park View also --- a bunch of Ghanaians who were thrown out of the Middlesex County League a while ago for assaults on referees --- oh great, just what the SSML needs...

Barker insists he had no conversations with anyone at Northwood.

Barker is currently in Marbella at a friend's wedding --- football on the back burner at present...