Just scouring around at the bottom of the Football League pan and wondering how many ex non league teams we will be playing next season? I know the changing face of the game has given teams like this the opportunity to reach the league levels where once they were shut off by owners shutting the door to them at season's end by voting the last team back in each time. The opportunity for these teams to reach a higher level is what the game should be about rather than re-electing the same bad teams back in year after year. The thought of us having to play some of these teams in the league next year is somewhat strange to me particularly such a short time after our season in the second flight came to an end, and the probability that it will almost certainly be in the lowest level of the Football League is even more daunting. On the day of yet another most important game of the season it would be interesting to determine how many of our potential opponents next season, assuming we drop down again, were playing non-league football in the season we went to Wembley. I have done some preliminary investigation and got quite depressed because all it did was highlight our fall from grace in an even worse light and made me see what next season will bring to our great supporters. Please win today City and at least give me some hope that my concern for our future is all wrong.
I remember the old days when teams like Barrow and Workington seemed to prop up the league for years. First team I remember coming up was Hereford, after the Ronnie Radford goal and then Wimbledon- Wigan were a non league side until around 1978. We already have Crawley and Stevenage in our league and Yeovil above. Locally, I have witnessed both Torquay and Exeter being relegated to the Conference and regain their places again. When you look at the conference table, its one which I feel is a very difficult league to get out of. Several of those sides could easily survive at league level. Interesting to see that the top 2 are Luton and Cambridge, who are both ex league sides. There follows a further 11 teams who I recall playing league football previously.
I don't think we'll be in the same league as those giants Simon. We'll have the mighty Accrington, Cheltenham, Dagenham, Luton etc
