Alliance Prem 2014/15

With the season all done and dusted, what are everyone's views on who will be in the league next year. The only definites I am hearing are:

FC Azzurri
Star & Garter
Sparta Moshdock
GT

Promotion: Frolesworth, Leicester Foxes and Willowbrook?

Apparently Shoemakers, MDH and Thurmaston are all folding or dropping down divisions. That leaves us with 7 again, with the likelihood teams dropping out through the season. Is it time to merge the Prem and Division One?

Oadby owls as well good side.

Were looking at keeping both thurmaston sides, but will b no where near the side that got runners up in div1 couple of years ago, b a most of the ressis from this year and the ressis wnt b as good as this years side just hope the league dnt put thurmaston in the prem,

Oadby owls are a cracking young side but to jump them to the prem would be an unfair mistake (unless of course they requested a crack at it) For me they've done things "the right way" the way we tried to do it for our time in the league - by working with a bunch of lads and adding bits here and there, not simply by grabbing a new team each year.
I have the utmost respect for them there and they have earnt the right to play in div 1 where I think they can be competitive and may well earn promotion again that will make them a prem side but that will then be of their making.
The prem has been littered with teams dropping out feeling there "in over their heads" and in my honest opinion it would be unfair to send them up compulsorily could see a good young side damaged as whilst good I believe they may struggle.
Yes unfortunately the MDH trip has come to an end and I'd like to thank all teams, officials (well most) and league personnel for the trip. It's been a great laugh along the way and I hope we've played our part in the alliance over the last few years. We came a long way in a shortish time and I'd also like to thank all the lads that took part in the journey be it games, p*** ups or the yearly trip abroad. When we started we had an aim and the boys really made it possible.

Polingtons wrote:

Were looking at keeping both thurmaston sides, but will b no where near the side that got runners up in div1 couple of years ago, b a most of the ressis from this year and the ressis wnt b as good as this years side just hope the league dnt put thurmaston in the prem,

We are thurmaston poley the league dont like us so wont pay attention to this

Some great points GaryNev

Usual problem at this time of the year, small Prem (and this year division one) throws out the question how many would you put in the top two divisions and who would they be??

With potentially (and things can change) only 5 sides that finished the season in each division starting the forthcoming season we only have 10 sides in the top two divisions

Bear in mind this includes Thurmaston & North Kilworth neither who won a game and could be relegated two division each

Foxes and Willowbrook would expect to jump from 1 to the Prem
Frolesworth wouldn’t look out of place in the Prem in many people’s eyes and they were pushed close in the league and beaten in the final of the county cup by Oadby Owls could they also make the two division jump?
Monsell & Pheonix will no doubt expect to make the jump into division One after finishing 15 and 10 points clear of third placed AC Wigston
Oily has already suggested that he is planning for Webbys to be in Div One after finishing third in Div Two and how many other sides from Div Two may also be thinking the same

Can any of the new sides compete in either of the top two leagues?? There are two sides moving over from other established leagues that have played at this level before but does this mean they are good enough to join our Elite teams??
There are many rumours around brand new sides and if ALL of these are to be believed you could increase the numbers with a couple more – but we all know how reliable rumours are

Worth a good debate, not sure there is a perfect answer to the problem we face and I KNOW for sure there will be some unhappy clubs regardless of what is suggested or put in place.  However, I am certainly interested to know the thoughts of players/clubs

Barcabullona are coming over, believe they have just won the hinkley league? They are a good side and would definitely compete in our prem! Sileby from charnwood league were prem last season but they say they are losing players so not sure about them!

I know they won't thank me for this but I think fosse should come up, they are a well run team and reliable! Would be good for stability and the league Gould maybe try and look at building around teams like those, moshdock etc

I genuinely believe sometimes there is too much hype around our premier division and quite a few teams in lower divisions could hold there own for a first season then build afterwards!

An example of this are our games against lower division opposition this season like Phoenix, goscote and royal oak!! All three gave us good games when they probably didn't expect to and I don't mean that disrespectfully, Phoenix for me wouldn't be a bad shout at giving a crack in the prem, young and well run I think they would grasp it with both hands, monsell wmc have premiership ambitions so why not them??

I think a prem of:

Azzurri
Barcabullona
Star
GT
Moshdock
Frolesworth
Willowbrook
Foxes
Fosse
Oadby
Monsell
Phoenix

Off the top of my head! Sorry of I missed any teams out that feel they could do it also.

Good mixture there I think, competitive games for everyone

Dezza, (and others) what would your Division 1 look like then?

The committee have a difficult decision getting the balance right, as the Prem you propose (and I think its a good set of teams btw!) will mean the likes of Wigston Utd, Lutterworth who are mid table Division 2 sides been taken up to Division 1 and then in turn drags all teams "up" a division (whilst the standard may not change massively)

Is the time right to do this? i.e. one less league but with 10-14 teams in all and run risk of teams dropping out as we had last year days after the constitution

Or do we air towards a 6/7 team Prem with maybe people playing each other three times?

Just playing devils advocate as think it is a good debate and one the committee is already having!

Fewer leagues - more teams.... It's the only real logical choice. You can't have your top league fudged together by playing each other 3 times, besides the inevitable "who plays the 3rd game at home saga" would erupt by the end.

Teams should t fold if its explained whats happened that in essence their leagues have just been pushed up one. They'll seethe teams they expected to see in their division anyway and that should be what they're looking for really.

Ps so e probably will pull out by they're the same teams that will likely fold sometime in the season when the going gets a little rough anyway!

I agree L.K.F.C - Fewer Leagues, More teams. Most players want week in week out football, 4 or 5 divisions is enough, with perhaps the suggested 12 in the prem, 16 teams per division otherwise?

Azzurri
Barcabullona
Star
GT
Moshdock
Frolesworth
Willowbrook
Foxes
Fosse
Oadby
Monsell
Phoenix

16 teams doesn't work given pitch shares, county cup competitons and various other boring details that I won't bore you with.....I think 14 does at a push, although makes life diffcult for James when organising fixtures and dealing with pitch providers and teams is already enough work I am sure.

12 is the best number in a division

Looks like it will be 12 or 13 per division then. When is this likely to be decided?

PROVISIONAL constitution will be given to teams at the AGM on 4th June

We should aim for 12 teams in the Prem next year or at the very least 10. We need to take the mythology out of the Premier. The standard is nothing like it was 5 years ago, when you had Advance, Scrappy Garage and Prem Sports in contention and no one else would get a look in. I strongly believe that some of the sides in Div 1 or even the high flyers in Div 2 are capable of holding their own. We also need to realise that because of the very low numbers of teams in the top two divisions, that if you are one of the better Div 2 sides you won't be far away from being of Prem standard

10 is not enough for the prem. by the time a few drop out it becomes a farce

Now is the time for 12 in the Prem which effectively means combining Prem and Div 1, with the addition of new teams of that standard. Any less than 12 would mean the inevitable mid-season resignations would result in insufficient games and the status of the competition being reduced.

Other Divisions should have 12 teams with possibly 13 or 14 in the bottom two divisions. I am sure this would not be a problem for James.

Polska legend II is right. The Prem should no longer have the fear factor for those being promoted because the 'outstanding teams are no longer there.

Me and my lads are happy with whatever division we are put into. We just want to play football. I dont understand why teams do not want to compete in the prem. Isn't that the point of winning the lower divisions? To push for the very top.

In all honesty I think we'd lose a fair few games in the prem. But I believe we'd still have a full squad come the end of the season

Nice and refreshing to see a team(monsell) willing to move up to the prem. so many teams fold with the threat of top div. how many new teams will have ex prem players in them, yet still applying for lower divisions. Good on yer monsell, hope more take your principles

I don't see why teams take part in football if they aren't going to challenge themselves. If it's too easy it's not fun, obviously teams don't want to be beat week in week out but everyone loves a challenge so if youre stuck in the prem, then stick it out for the season, good on yah Monsell

Im not sure but I know Willowbrook were not happy with how the season ended and if they would be up for carrying on. Just the impression I got.
I agree with most. Prem and most of div 1 need to combine. Starting with just 10 teams in the Prem, your asking for trouble as at the very least 1 team will drop out. I'd say like most 12 in the prem, 12-13 in the other divisions & drop divison 7 if need be.
This will cause a lot of unrest with teams all shuffling up but in the long term the League usually get it spot on.
For ourselves, I'm expecting another 2 divison Jump but checking out who might be around next season division 2 might well look very tasty!

why not draw the prem out of a hat say any teams in top four positions in all divisions that way the pot hunters in each will think twice about it

Didn't humbo come in the top 4? Your team mates wouldn't thank you for that.

Prem....
Azzuri
Barcabullona
Star n Garter
GT
Moshdock
Frolesworth
Willowbrook
Foxes
Fosse
Oadby Owls.

Div 1
Thurmaston
Polska
Magna Town
Oakfield
Webbys
Seaton
Wigston utd
Monsell WMC
Phoenix
Royal Oak
North Kilworth
Moshdock Reserves

Div 2
Desford Ath
CSKA
Niffy
NPE
AC Wigston
East Goscote
LDA Spartans
Ennes
Huncote
Pochin
CPR
Union Inn

A triple promotion?? Giz us a break!!

monsellwmc wrote:

Prem....
Azzuri
Barcabullona
Star n Garter
GT
Moshdock
Frolesworth
Willowbrook
Foxes
Fosse
Oadby Owls.

Div 1
Thurmaston
Polska
Magna Town
Oakfield
Webbys
Seaton
Wigston utd
Monsell WMC
Phoenix
Royal Oak
North Kilworth
Moshdock Reserves

Div 2
Desford Ath
CSKA
Niffy
NPE
AC Wigston
East Goscote
LDA Spartans
Ennes
Huncote
Pochin
CPR
Union Inn

Dont agree with this

It wouldn't be a triple promotion as you can see the majority of division 1 is a mix of the top teams from divisions 2, 3 and 4. Most of division 1 would form a bigger premier division. What team are you with Bucko?

Royal oak will be in the same division as atleast 6 or 7 of those teams anyway!

Thurmaston! Why not division 1? Its the majority of what would be division 2. How many divisions do you want to drop?

We won the league by just three points from enness. Enness also beat us and same goes for Huncote twice! I think we should all be in the same division again to be honest.
It is a triple promotion and would be very harsh on any team to cope with that jump.

I hope more than just barcabullona out of the new teams will be up for the top two divisions? It will be very interesting to see how the league handle it

and here lies the problem...........hence my earlier post to try and generate opinion

Based on Adam's list I don't think Fosse or Oadby Owls should be in the Prem, I am hearing little wisphers that two of the other sides in Adam's list might not be here to kick a ball at the start of the season.

In Adam's Div 1 there are another two sides that might not make the start of next season.....plus Kilworth who didnt get a win at that standard last year and I think I probably agree that the jump is too much for Royal Oak (although I also believe they would do well against those sides above)

Take Adam's starting point and make my deductions you are down to 8 in the prem and 10 in div one so we need to promote a further 6 sides from the div 2 list, how do we do this????????

Every team out there just wants to be in a division they believe they can win. Thats the problem. We played royal oak in the cup final last year and they should of beat us. They are as good if not better than Monsell, so why shouldn't they be competing at the same level?
Where are all the prem players playing their football next season?

You cant base a cup final over a year ago on a draft constitution for next season. A lot has changed over the course of the last 14 months for both sides. You haven't seen us play in the last 14 months and vice versa.
All I can go on is, based on our division last season Enness + Huncote + Thurmaston and Ourselves should be in the same division. People moan about a 2 League jump, but a 3 League jump in a division we just shaded in the end would be harsh. I haven't seen a 3 League promotion for any team in my time in the Alliance League and wouldn't expect one now.

I see your point but we won division 5 by 1 point ahead of lda who beat us twice in the league. we were promoted 2 divisions and didn't make any new signings and still went on to win division 3. in all honesty, theres not a lot of difference between div 2,3,4 and 5

All I'm trying to say is that the prem and division 1 need to be made more competitive and to do that all the top teams from each division need to make a big jump.
Otherwise we'll end up with 6 teams in the prem and 8 teams in div 1.
They're season will be finished by january

We would not be good enough for the prem. We've lost a few players and the standard between Hinckley and Alliance is vast. No disrespect to Hinckley League as we have had 10 years there and enjoyed it but only Albion, Sporting Dynamo and us on a good day would beat any prem teams. Look at Hinckley sides record in the premier cup. Taking out Duke of Rutlands win a few years ago its awful. We have never even got to the quarters ourselves. However, we are very much looking forward to playing next season. We like going for a pint or two after and if you are in our league you will be well looked after with hot food after the game

Hairy Hebrew! wrote:

You cant base a cup final over a year ago on a draft constitution for next season. A lot has changed over the course of the last 14 months for both sides. You haven't seen us play in the last 14 months and vice versa.
All I can go on is, based on our division last season Enness + Huncote + Thurmaston and Ourselves should be in the same division. People moan about a 2 League jump, but a 3 League jump in a division we just shaded in the end would be harsh. I haven't seen a 3 League promotion for any team in my time in the Alliance League and wouldn't expect one now.

A 3 division jump? Absolutely no chance!

There are two options:

1. Restirct the prem to 7/8 teams. This should avoid the need to triple promote teams and keeps all but the prem teams happy. This however means that after one or two potential withdrawals the Prem would be at silly low numbers by February.

2. Go back to basics and just select the best 10/12 teams from Div 3 upwards for a large premier division. This would lead to more double and triple promotions all the way down the structure. There would be an awful lot of unrest from those who perceive themselves as going too high although in reality the jump in standard wouldn't be great (see the oak argument).

My inclination is that option 2 makes decisions for years to come a lot easier however it would cause massive friction between the league and a lot of clubs in the short term. In an idealistic world where nobody has a biased opinion this would be accepted by all.

Or just ask the lower teams who wants a shot at the prem Cus I'm sure a lot of teams actually do want it