http://www.oddschecker.com/football/english/non-league/conference-north/winner For those of you that have a vested interest in our village neighbors, they've been entered at a pretty tasty 40/1 to win the league, of which I have just partaken. If Ryan Kendall can repeat his goalscoring, then they'll be up there. They also just signed former Grimsby forward Nathan Jarman. I actually think they'll finish in the playoffs this year, they won the NPL without getting out of second gear last year, although Hednesford ran them very close. Hoping to get to a few more games this year, as I doubt I'll be able to afford to go to some of the further City away games like Southampton and Swansea/Cardiff.
Didn't the owner publicly state that they didn't want to go any higher than Conference North as it wouldn't be sustainable? If so I can't see them competing up there really.
If they do go up, they're in bother, as their ground doesn't meet the standard for Conference football and they haven't really got any room to expand.
The people on the non league forum are a right bunch of ****s! Leave poor Ferriby alone! http://www.barrowafc.net/conf/viewtopic.php?id=33524&p=4 Incidentally, the plan for expansion is to build a temporary stand just to the left of the turnstiles next to the food hut. This would take the capacity up to 3000 and would meet the criteria for the time being. Beyond that, it's been mooted that the club would offer to buy the allotments from their owners (which probably wouldn't work), or that if the Allams would invest more (they're known to want to help the club out) build a new stadium somewhere. Somebody put forward the idea of playing at Brantingham Park and putting in temporary seating around the outside of the pitches when football would be played.
This is where if City are clever they could join up with Ferriby and develop a training facility at Melton for both clubs with a stadium for Ferriby and City Reserves. A 3,500 capacity ground which both teams can use, along with the local community (function suite etc) would be a perfect fit. This could be done with a main stand with seating and a covered terrace oposite with open air standing like Ferriby has now behind the goals. Imagine a smaller version of Burton's Pirelli Stadium or Morecambe's ground. I'm sure funding from Sport England, The FA and East Riding FA would be available to some degree. Good luck to Ferriby for the next season though. I'm sure they will do well with the team they are pulling together.
That's not actually a bad idea, I know the Allams are keen for Ferriby to progress so I suppose it's not unfeasable. Something like Dartford's Princes Park would be alright. On the link up front, we should be sending youngsters there on loan, it's not like it's a million miles away. Bradley and Emerton had to go all the way to Sweden to get loan time and when the latter came back, he was sat on his arse/forgotten about. The Conference North is a lot more competitive that it used to be and it'd be great for some of the first year professionals (Cracknell, McCaffery, McElroy et al) to get some game time there. Maybe somebody could pose the question at the next meeting (when there's a club official there)?
I wondered if this was why Assem was interested in getting involved with Ionians, it's a fairly big site and already has a large function suite, gym etc... please log in to view this image
It'd certainly be better than where they are now. I used to work on the bar there and the facilities aren't too bad.
This league has an interesting definition of "North". Oxford, Worcester, Histon: all well known Northern towns or cities. Still, I will trundle along the road to see them at Histon if it doesn't clash with a City game.
Yeah, it's a bit screwed up. Scarborough have been put in the NLD1 South for this season, which means they'll have to travel as far south as South Leicestershire, which on their budget is ridiculous.
Yes they have but some re-build would have to be done. Doubt they have the funds for the work like. For now they need to consolidate in the Cement North. By taking FC Chester's top goal scorer last season ex. Barnsley and Grimsby Nathan Jarman they have some firepower even for that league. We should maybe think about lending 2 or 3 of our top kids to Ferriby as that league surely will be better than the league they will play in. It maybe worth having a dabble on Aluko as a top 5 PL goal scorer should he stay fit. Could well be next seasons Michu.
He'd be off his rocker if he didn't want the club to progress up the leagues; they wouldn't bother entering the league if they didn't want to go up. He said that it was a case of literally not being able to because of ground requirements and current funding, which plays a much bigger part these days. The money the club would get from gates, sponsorship etc would help balance the books. I'd expect getting promoted would pique the Allams interest, if it hasn't already. There'll be a much greater away presence this year, especially when Stockport come to town. Actually looking forward to going to Edgeley Park this year, can't believe Ferriby will be playing there in a league match, choked up with pride!!
Yes he did, the ground is nowhere near the standard required. I think we should loan them players to get experience, it would be mutually beneficial. Players get a better standard than the reserves and Ferriby hopefully save on wages etc.
Great idea, but shouldn't North Ferriby play in North Ferriby? I know it's convenient as there is space and facilities, but to me it's simply not right.
You're absolutely right, they should. Let's say they (somehow) win the league next year. The Conference would say to them "well, your ground isn't good enough, can you improve it?" The chance to play a league below the football league would represent the proudest moment in the clubs history, I wouldn't like to be the one to stand between that and everybody who worked to get there. I think they'd go out on a limb to find investment. They could move the alottments and re-plant the potatoes and other veg somewhere else, then put another stand in on the South Side. If they didn't and the chairman decided to remain in the Conference North, they'd lose revenue and playing staff and would probably never get that chance again.
