Todays games

[SKIPPER]

Bromley lose 0-1 at Stockport and their freefall continues.
Notts County held at home by Woking with the ironically named Denis getting the equaliser.

[HenneysKnee]

Good side now Stockport, one to watch if they make the play offs

[whitty1969]

Worst team in the league Ebbsfleet now above AFC Fylde

[GTBLUE]

And the Fylde obsession goes on . Very strange.

[behind the goals]

Barnet v Harrogate Town now Tuesday night.

[SKIPPER]

Good side now Stockport, one to watch if they make the play offs

Recently completed a protracted takeover and have been throwing a few quid about.Outside chance of play-offs this season but if they don't will definitely be a major force next term.

[Suffolk Blue]

Am not sure I'll be losing any sleep over Stockport. Todays win over Bromley was their first since 28th December since when they've drawn four and lost four without a victory. They are a very strange outfit. Some good wins against top seven teams interspersed with absolute dross. They've also played at least one game more than any of their rivals. First season back in the NL they've done as well as most would expect and remind me a bit of us last season. They are really like a bunch of other teams in the top half of this division - consistently inconsistent.

Even Notts County chucked away another two points today. We usually see a team building momentum towards the end of an NL season. But to be honest it really doesn't look like the threat is going to come from outside Halifax, Harrogate, Borehamwood and increasingly less likely Yeovil.

[boyliegladbach]

Only one team for us to have a slight concern about and that's Harrogate.

[Desmond2-2]

Totally agree,reckon it’s between us and Harrogate now, can they actually go up ? Ground/ pitch wise.

[Paul]

Totally agree,reckon it’s between us and Harrogate now, can they actually go up ? Ground/ pitch wise.

Somebody mentioned to me that they thought they had an artificial pitch, so would have to rip it up for grass if they got promoted

[whitty1969]

Totally agree,reckon it’s between us and Harrogate now, can they actually go up ? Ground/ pitch wise.

Yes they can go up but they will need to change the plastic pitch to a grass one.
It's one of the entry requirements.

[whitty1969]

And the Fylde obsession goes on . Very strange.

Local rivals GT. Happens all over England

[Suffolk Blue]

Totally agree,reckon it’s between us and Harrogate now, can they actually go up ? Ground/ pitch wise.

Yes they can go up but they will need to change the plastic pitch to a grass one.
It's one of the entry requirements.

The plastic pitch is very advantageous to a club until of course they enter the EFL. The one at Sutton is widely credited with keeping the club afloat over the years. We had a discussion recently regarding the one at Bhamwood which I have to say looked really good as it is a mixture of grass and plastic fibre. At some point the EFL/Premiership will adapt its rules (and actually this is already happening by default) and improving technology will inevitably claim the day. However at it stands I believe Harrogate would have to rip up their pitch to play in League 2 next season. They'd have to do this in the close season I suspect because I dont believe there are concessions.

So Harrogate would have 2 issues. Firstly cost/revenue. I'm not sure what the cost would be to take the pitch up and re-lay with grass (£50k?). Whatever it would cost would probably rise significantly when the loss of community income was taken into account. Secondly the quality of the playing surface. One of the reasons both Harrogate and Sutton both when for the plastic option was the dire quality of their previous pitches. I can remember both having drainage problems.

Harrogate are owned, run and managed by the Weaver family who's dedication to the Harrogate cause has been admirable. Like some other clubs however their gates are not great and they retain like us a small but good quality squad. So they are not as liquid as some might think. In short their future is very much bound up in the longevity of the patronage they currently enjoy.

[Suffolk Blue]

On the subject of pitches and promotion rivals - keep an eye on Halifax. The Shay is notorious for its poor condition at this time of year and the club shares it with Halifax RL. They are due to play Dewsbury today at the Shay and as far as I can tell the game is still on. So who knows what state the pitch will be in by this evening. Egg chasers of course do not need nice playing surfaces - for anyone wanting to raise the "shall we ground share with the Rugby question?"

Apart from the pitch this could also limit when Halifax FC can play any re-arranged fixtures should this become a problem. This not what you want when you are pushing for promotion.

[Moribund]

Yes they can go up but they will need to change the plastic pitch to a grass one.
It's one of the entry requirements.

The plastic pitch is very advantageous to a club until of course they enter the EFL. The one at Sutton is widely credited with keeping the club afloat over the years. We had a discussion recently regarding the one at Bhamwood which I have to say looked really good as it is a mixture of grass and plastic fibre. At some point the EFL/Premiership will adapt its rules (and actually this is already happening by default) and improving technology will inevitably claim the day. However at it stands I believe Harrogate would have to rip up their pitch to play in League 2 next season. They'd have to do this in the close season I suspect because I dont believe there are concessions.

So Harrogate would have 2 issues. Firstly cost/revenue. I'm not sure what the cost would be to take the pitch up and re-lay with grass (£50k?). Whatever it would cost would probably rise significantly when the loss of community income was taken into account. Secondly the quality of the playing surface. One of the reasons both Harrogate and Sutton both when for the plastic option was the dire quality of their previous pitches. I can remember both having drainage problems.

Harrogate are owned, run and managed by the Weaver family who's dedication to the Harrogate cause has been admirable. Like some other clubs however their gates are not great and they retain like us a small but good quality squad. So they are not as liquid as some might think. In short their future is very much bound up in the longevity of the patronage they currently enjoy.

There was some speculation that Sutton took their foot off the gas a couple of seasons ago when it looked like they could go up - all to avoid promotion and ripping up their new artificial pitch.
Let's see if Harrogate take similar action...

You'll find that a lot of Harrogate fans really dislike the Weavers - the owner has built up a huge amount of debt in loans to himself, so if he ever leaves/does, they're knackered. He also persisted with his son as manager for years when they were underperforming and any other manager would've been sacked a dozen times over. It seems to be going okay for them for now though.