Fascinated to read this post. The League set-up is a bit wierd in the Evo-stick divisions but Garsforth would appear to be three divisions below the Second Division and heading in the wrong direction! Fascinated to see that the Northern Premier League has two First Divisions which are split "North" and "South." To put this is context, I also like to watch Winchester City and they are in the equivalent league albeit a South-Western version of the Soutehrn premiership. The average attendance at the moment for Winchester seems to be around the 120 mark although the team has recently lost some of the better players and Guy Butters (frequently the subject of many an amusing article in the old "Ugly Inside" fanzine) left as manager to join Eastleigh's set up.
Having done to a few matches at the Den Plan, I would have to say that I have a huge amount of admiration for the staff involved with football at this level. The Winchester set up is financed by one local businessman who saved the club from extinction about five years ago as I understand things. When you work out the likely income on a match day then it is clear that backing a team like Winchester City (who were, incidently founded one year before Saints) it is clear that something like this is a labour of love. Therefore, I wouldn't be too critical of Rupert Lowe in this respect although to suggest that he is capable of bringing professional football within 20 years to a team like Garsforth is pure fantasy. For me, Lowe was capable of good things but I think his failings were well in excess of his achievements. I can't see the Garsforth saga as being a long one for Lowe but at that level of football I think it is good that the game is capable of being sustained. His inability to really understand football will always be fatal to any undertaking he has within the sport.