Interesting Team Names

One thing I have enjoyed as I have travelled around the leagues (on the internet) is seeing interesting or unusual team names. I have been researching the South West Peninsula League before my visit to Elmore this afternoon and I came across a lovely couple of names that I must publish before they are no longer in the same league/division.

SWPL Division One West has a Mousehole at the top and a Foxhole at the bottom. How about that?

Carlsberg South West Peninsula League Division 1 West Table

P W D L F A Diff Pts MOUSEHOLE 26 22 0 4 65 31 34 66 CALLINGTON TOWN 25 20 1 4 66 37 29 61 HELSTON ATHLETIC 27 18 1 8 92 47 45 55 STICKER 29 17 4 8 84 45 39 55 PENRYN ATHLETIC 28 14 6 8 64 42 22 48 DOBWALLS 29 15 2 12 61 51 10 47 WADEBRIDGE TOWN 27 14 4 9 70 45 25 46 TRURO CITY 27 15 1 11 68 53 15 46 ST DENNIS 28 12 3 13 65 60 5 39 VOSPERS OAK VILLA 26 10 6 10 48 54 -6 36 PORTHLEVEN 29 8 7 14 53 67 -14 31 BUDE TOWN 28 6 5 17 42 73 -31 23 PERRANPORTH 29 6 4 19 44 68 -24 22 HOLSWORTHY 27 7 0 20 37 94 -57 21 PENZANCE 27 5 5 17 36 77 -41 20 FOXHOLE STARS 28 6 1 21 25 76 -51 19

SWPL Division One East is almost the Premiership with Stoke, Villa and Spurs all represented.

Carlsberg South West Peninsula League Division 1 East Table

P W D L F A Diff Pts STOKE GABRIEL 28 21 5 2 96 20 76 68 GALMPTON UNITED 30 19 5 6 78 50 28 62 TEIGNMOUTH 28 18 7 3 77 33 44 61 EXWICK VILLA 28 16 6 6 75 45 30 54 TOTNES & DARTINGTON 30 13 6 11 71 65 6 45 CREDITON UNITED 30 12 6 12 60 59 1 42 BUDLEIGH SALTERTON 29 11 5 13 62 58 4 38 ALPHINGTON 29 10 7 12 58 69 -11 37 EXETER UNIVERSITY 28 10 5 13 49 52 -3 35 APPLEDORE 26 10 4 12 50 44 6 34 NEWTON ABBOT SPURS 28 9 5 14 48 52 -4 32 OKEHAMPTON ARGYLE 28 7 7 14 45 67 -22 28 SIDMOUTH TOWN 27 7 6 14 38 53 -15 27 AXMINSTER TOWN 28 7 6 15 45 63 -18 27 PLYMSTOCK UNITED 26 5 6 15 33 78 -45 21 LIVERTON UNITED 27 6 2 19 39 116 -77 20

My lads, the Elmore Eagles, are in the Premier division alongside such famous names as Bovey Tracey.

Carlsberg South West Peninsula League Premier Division Table

P W D L F A Diff Pts PLYMOUTH PARKWAY 35 27 2 6 113 33 80 83 EXMOUTH TOWN 36 25 7 4 82 27 55 82 IVYBRIDGE TOWN 36 24 5 7 94 52 42 77 SALTASH UNITED 33 23 4 6 92 30 62 73 BODMIN TOWN 35 21 7 7 68 36 32 70 GODOLPHIN ATLANTIC 35 21 6 8 68 45 23 69 WITHERIDGE 35 21 4 10 79 45 34 67 LAUNCESTON 36 20 5 11 85 59 26 65 ST AUSTELL 35 19 6 10 88 49 39 63 TORPOINT ATHLETIC 35 17 6 12 67 50 17 57 ELBURTON VILLA 38 14 6 18 64 92 -28 48 ST.BLAZEY 36 13 4 19 69 70 -1 43 NEWQUAY 34 13 4 17 73 82 -9 43 CAMELFORD 36 13 4 19 53 76 -23 43 BOVEY TRACEY 37 12 7 18 58 92 -34 43 FALMOUTH TOWN 36 8 4 24 44 78 -34 28 ELMORE 36 6 8 22 58 102 -44 26 CULLOMPTON RANGERS 36 4 5 27 39 108 -69 17 TAVISTOCK 35 2 5 28 33 94 -61 11 LISKEARD ATHLETIC 37 1 5 31 29 136 -107 8

So Elmore have not had a good season. That was clear from the results that I have mentioned.

Still, it is their (notice I did not say "our") first season in a new league and that is always a challenge.

Roll on 2014-15 as I hope to be in a better personal position financially and I would like to take a more active role somewhere in the footballing community. I do have to be aware, though, that those who do the most for the game are usually the ones that receive the greatest criticism.

Thr Final Countdown

So the Football Conference has reached the end of its "regular season" and the play-offs have begun with Halifax leading Cambridge 1-0 before they head south and Grimsby drawing 1-1 with Gateshead before they head north.

I have started reading the various non-league forums and I read on one of them that the North may be split East to West instead of North to South. This is clearly to provide a formal progression from the North West Counties League and the Northern Counties East League and I am keeping an open mind on that, because once the split occurs at Conference North and South level there are always going to be mid-table teams switching in order that the split can be made at a logical point.

I intend to return later today to the start of my dreaming. Elmore Eagles are at home to Godolphin Atlantic and I want to see this "Do Golfing" Atlantic and see if they are masters of the long ball game. I am always happy to watch football at the lower levels but I am not sure that there is anybody else like me as I know how hard it is to keep in touch with a single team and all its news, so following 10 teams is clearly an improbable task. This season I checked in on Yeovil and Brentford via facebook and kept in touch with Exeter via my friends at work.

Tamworth proved elusive but they are outside of my area and I have not visited my cousin as I thought I would. Weston-super-Mare improved dramatically during the season and I may keep them on now but early in the season I was all set to drop them for another team next season. I may have two new Conference teams to watch next season.

The Southern League has been represented by Bideford and Tiverton, two Devon teams, and I kept getting snippets of information in the local press. I hear that the Tiverton manager is thinking of leaving after a good season because of all the criticism he is getting. Does he not know that the criticism grows exponentially with the positive performances? I watched vitriolic cyber-bullying of Arsene Wenger when Arsenal were top of the table but that has all died down now that we have settled for fourth place.

The Western League as I have stated covers level 9 and 10. There are the F.A.Vase clubs. Buckland Athletic proved impossible to get information about. When I say impossible I mean I could not be bothered to put the effort in. They are likely to be dropped if I can find anyone else to support next season. Barnstaple was always an attraction as it is at the far end of a branch line and would be a lovely train ride away. I did not make it this season but I may keep them on for next year.

There is a possibility that I may drop Barnstaple as Elmore Eagles are also at Level 10 and they were my first contact club. They elected to move from the Western League to the South West Peninsula League and I certainly agree with them that travelling around Cornwall and Devon each week should I choose to follow them away is going to be far more pleasant than heading for Bristol every other week. I could, of course, follow both as I tried to do this season.

I shall be watching the promotion and relegation situation with interest as last season I was slightly shocked by the number of clubs switching divisions and even switching leagues. This is going to be more important in the coming years as the F.A. aims to formalise the promotion and relegation steps between leagues from level 8 down. New leagues are going to form and some leagues will be regraded to make this happen. Just keep in mind how the Northern League has dropped in status because it refused to join in with the national changes.

That is all for today.

Non League Matters

Welcome to all those who have come visiting following my post on the Non League Matters forum.

I hope you enjoy your time here and if you have any ideas on how I can improve things without spending lots of money please let me know.

I also want to read your website if you have one so please leave your links as well.

Enjoy!

Barnstaple (kids)

Buckland Athletic (Reserves)

Tiverton Triumph

Southern League Standard

Skrill South Standard

Town Down

I think that is the name of the song,

Winning the important one

Brentford Promoted

This takes me back to my roots (hall).

Blackburn Rovers Away

Looks like relegation is inevitable.

Wonderful Start to the season

You can see in this compilation why Giroud used that left foot flick against West Ham.



It has been successful before.

Brentford Promoted

I have just been watching the scenes of celebration as the Brentford fans and players celebrate their return to the Football League Championship. Brentford are one of my chosen teams so I know that they will be leaving League One. That will necessitate a change in my picks for next season as this pyramid competition involves selecting one team from each of the top ten levels of the Football Pyramid.

I should now check on all my other picks to see how they are doing. It has been a very busy winter for me with extra work resulting in lots of overtime, most of which went on paying the debts that had accumulated. I have not been to any live football at all this season but finances have to come first. Hopefully next year I will apply my own rule of getting to see all my selections at least once.

Arsenal are easy. They are my main team and always finish in the top four of the premiership. Thankfully they are back there after the scare when Everton overtook us. I have to thank Crystal Palace for beating the toffees on their own patch. Tony Pulis, you can work wonders with players of minimal talent. I do know that it is all comparative as many of the Palace players would be superstars in teams lower down the pyramid.

Yeovil I chose in the Championship as they are closest to my home base of Devon. They sit firmly at the bottom of this particular level, and that actually works out quite well for me as I do not now have to select a different team. Brentford and Yeovil can swap places in my pyramid but both remain part of it.

Exeter, my League Two pick, flirted briefly with the idea of promotion early in the season but have now dropped all the way down to try and challenge Torquay for relegation. I do expect them to survive as they drew today but they are living close to the edge (and it is a steep drop).

Tamworth are interesting as I chose them because my cousin lives there and we used to drop in at least twice a year but finances have prevented that this year. They have been confirmed as relegated from the Conference Premier and they must drop out of my pyramid because I expect them to be in the Conference North and my pyramid flows into the Conference South. I will, therefore, have at least one new team to follow next season.

The Conference South proved most educational for me this year as I found that Weston-super-Mare hid their results better than some of the teams lower down the pyramid. I was not happy with their website and almost gave up on them but then I clicked "Like" on their facebook page and I found that all the missing information was sent to me on a regular basis. You live and learn so I lived and learned. Weston are firmly mid-table so will probably remain in my pyramid next season.

My Southern League Premier Division pick was Bideford who are based in Devon so should be easy to get to next season. This is the likely situation as although they flirted with promotion they have tailed off and are looking certain to stay put just behind the leaders.

The Southern League South & West pick was Tiverton Town and they are firmly in the play-off places with a chance of taking the title and that automatic promotion spot. They could rise to the Premier Division in which case I will have to choose another team at this level but my expectation is that they will lose in one of the playoff matches.

My Western League pick was Buckland Athletic. This is because I have met two people who both played for this team. I spoke to one again recently and he no longer plays. The other I have not seen for many months and as a result I may well choose another team for next season. They are firmly mid-table and are expected to play at this level again next year.

At the bottom of my pyramid are Barnstaple Town who are currently third in the first division. With the top two being promoted they remain in a position where they will play at this same level next season. They are capable, however, of putting together an end of season boost that will see them in the Premier Division. Time will tell but there are not many other times in this division that I would be prepared to follow. I may have to do the decent thing and go straight to the South West Peninsula League Premier Division as that League is also classed as a Level 10 League.

Complete Madness

I have spent the last few weeks compiling a list of websites that contain the football league tables of all the leagues in the football pyramid.

Some leagues are easier to find than others and some websites are easier to use than others but I am now happy that within an hour I can copy all the leagues from the Premiership down to Level 13 into a spreadsheet in less than an hour. It may be boring but it can be done.

"Why?" I hear you ask. It is a long story but it satisfies my OCD requirement. It may even prove useful one day. I continue to work on Levels 14 to 16 but it gets harder the lower down the pyramid you go.

TheFA website has a lot of useful information but the best site is undoubtedly NonLeagueMatters which is very easy to use and requires a single rather than a two stage copy that the FA site requires.

I was going to tell you how many leagues and how many teams I have now compiled but the job is not complete yet and (the real reason) my cat has just sat right beside me so I cannot reach the drawer where the widget drive with the data on is housed.

I love some of the names I have come across but my favourite team name so far is "Joker (Saturday)".

There is plenty of inconsistency with Premier and Senior Leagues swapping places alongside Premier and Senior divisions. My personal preference is for "Premier" with "Senior" being used for "Veteran Leagues".

Intermediate is also used, it seems, randomly. I like the phrase where there are reserve teams competing that may be better than first teams lower down the league, but then again I prefer reserve teams to play in different leagues so that they can find their natural level rather than being forced into a false position.

If anyone out is interested in what I have done please make yourself known.