Non League Football



Lo Ursem said:
Looking forward to Heed final. Will not be at playoff final if they make it - that will be massive - remember Cambridge game and how close at the end if was with Hatch on and route one 'tactics'. It is a genuinely remarkable achievement for Heed to be in contention again, after nearly going bust and having to accept Hebburn's kind offer of training facilities.
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Re the Cambridge game, Curtis had a header for 2-2 with a few mins left and Cambridge had used all their subs (think it was 3 back then) and had both their centre half's struggling with cramp. Had that header gone in I am convinced they would have won it in extra time.

As its stands I am going to the trophy final and will just drive down and find a campsite somewhere close, which is what I did last season. If they get to the play off final as well I am seriously considering booking the week off, doing both and flying to Europe on a cheap flight from one of the London airports in between the two finals. :lol:
 
tynevalleyblackcat said:
Re the Cambridge game, Curtis had a header for 2-2 with a few mins left and Cambridge had used all their subs (think it was 3 back then) and had both their centre half's struggling with cramp. Had that header gone in I am convinced they would have won it in extra time.

As its stands I am going to the trophy final and will just drive down and find a campsite somewhere close, which is what I did last season. If they get to the play off final as well I am seriously considering booking the week off, doing both and flying to Europe on a cheap flight from one of the London airports in between the two finals. :lol:
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Yes, Cambridge were on the ropes.
10 out of 10 for your initiative ... if ...
 
GordonMuchallNo1Fan said:
Piss poor from Gateshead, utterly pathetic. They were asked numerous times about it on social media and made no reference to game in doubt. Appalling to first tweet at 6.04pm.
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Just spoke to a mate of mine up there & he said it was never going to be on, been Pissing down most of the day , yet Gateshead never uttered a word all day 🤔
 
Not good.

The have massive issues now with still 5 league games that have to be played by next Saturday.

I assume tonights game will be slotted into next Thurday as that is now the only half resonable date left, meaning this is what they now have left;

Thursday 11th - AFC Fylde A
Saturday 13th - Maidenhead United A
Tuesday 16th - Chesterfield H
Thursday 18th - Aldershot Town H
Saturday 20th - Bromley H

The pitch at the GIS is never the best in poor weather and I doubt they could play 3 games on it in 5 days if we get more rain. The play offs start Tue/Wed 23rd and 24th and the semi finals are on Sun 28th with the final on Sunday May 5th. Surely they cannot start the play offs with the format they have until they know where in the league Gateshead have finished.

Quite what the league will do if Gateshead cannot get their games played by the 20th and are in the mix for the play offs which start 3 days later. Be interesting to see what happens.

No gaurantee the Fylde game will go ahead either given the amount of rain.
 
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Dodger41 said:
Load of Bollocks mate, the Referee makes the decisions on a playable pitch, not Aldershot, & after no communication all day, saying there is an inspection at 6-45pm 🙄😳.....Fuck them.
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I just find it odd that Gateshead have given a daily timeline in their statement tonight but never at any point kept fans up to date on social media about what was going on.
 
Dodger41 said:
Load of Bollocks mate, the Referee makes the decisions on a playable pitch, not Aldershot, & after no communication all day, saying there is an inspection at 6-45pm 🙄😳.....Fuck them.
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I agree, the away team have no say in wether a game goes ahead or not and Gatesheads lack of information is very poor considering the distance the away team and fans were travelling. The club has next to no paid staff behind the scenes and info flow has been an issue for a long time now (sound familiar?)

To be fair it hugely benefits Aldershot that it wasn't played as it becomes their single midweek match next week while Gateshead could have 2, 3 or even 4 at this rate.

Halifax game tomorrow is off and their pitch is dire and they also have 3 home games left. They are also still in the play off hunt. The National league are rapidly facing the point of no return re the last round of games. I could see them all getting shunted to midweek and the play offs condensed into 10 days (at best). Its all a bit of a mess.

If either Gateshead or Halifax cannot get to 45 games played by next Friday, then what happens given both are potentially in the play off mix? Gateshead for e.g. could lose their next three and have two left and still be well placed to make the play offs. Do you then allow the Heed to play a game after the last round of matches? If you don't allow that then how do you decide who plays who in the play offs? Worse case scenario for the league is the game carried over is the one v Aldershot who could also still make the play offs. That would mean nobody would know who they were playing in the quarter finals on Wednesday 23rd until that match is played which presumably would have to be Monday the 21st. As I said its a right mess potentially.

This matters less in the lower leagues when the play off dates can be adjusted slightly and games are played at one of the teams home grounds. I cannot see the National League wanting to delay or move their showcase Wembley final but to be honest the schedule for the play offs offers no slack and that's a planning problem by the league.

PS - And I have not even looked to see if any of this affects the relegation battle.
 
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tynevalleyblackcat said:
I agree, the away team have no say in wether a game goes ahead or not and Gatesheads lack of information is very poor considering the distance the away team and fans were travelling. The club has next to no paid staff behind the scenes and info flow has been an issue for a long time now (sound familiar?)
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It only takes seconds to put a tweet up which seemingly judging by the statement by Gateshead tonight, plenty was happening during the day and they haven't bothered to tell anyone about it which is appalling.
 
GordonMuchallNo1Fan said:
It only takes seconds to put a tweet up which seemingly judging by the statement by Gateshead tonight, plenty was happening during the day and they haven't bothered to tell anyone about it which is appalling.
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I agree. Its not acceptable. I was in the office at Doxford park and the rain was torrential at times and I checked a few times to see if there was an update or a pitch inspection and there was zilch.

I would be amazed if the club have not let Aldershot know mind and that could be a phone call or a text. Its very similar to the AFC Fylde situation last week when Gateshead travelled in vane and again there was no info from the clubs. Games do get called off late when rain like that hits but it was pretty clear by mid afternoon that there was going to be an issue.
 
tynevalleyblackcat said:
I agree. Its not acceptable. I was in the office at Doxford park and the rain was torrential at times and I checked a few times to see if there was an update or a pitch inspection and there was zilch.

I would be amazed if the club have not let Aldershot know mind and that could be a phone call or a text. Its very similar to the AFC Fylde situation last week when Gateshead travelled in vane and again there was no info from the clubs. Games do get called off late when rain like that hits but it was pretty clear by mid afternoon that there was going to be an issue.
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I was amazed it was "going ahead" espeically as Spennymoor called their game off at 11am, having notified fans last night of a morning pitch inspection.

A lot of questions will be asked about this, as the blame game is well underway but one thing nobody can dispute is Gateshead have communicated with fans very poorly here.
 

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