England managed by Graham Taylor? Some lovely lump it football for twenty-five minutes but then they forgot to hoof and started playing football. Tsk. Tsk.
I am really beginning to hate the Dutch!
Probably best to leave it on the General Football thread....a special thread would get so few posts that it would keep slipping out of sight.. and people would forget there was a special thread and carry on as before.Given the discussion of Women's football, is there an appetite for a Southampton Women's football thread on here? The Lionesses relative sucess & Southampton Women's FC have persuaded me to follow them this season (or to be precise a few tweets and this podcast persuaded me: https://sfcdellivery.podbean.com/e/...look-at-the-southampton-womens-football-club/ ).
They seem very on the ball, professional, did the double last year, getting promoted to the Women's Premier league SW Division 1 (the equivalent of League 2 in the men's pyramid) and are aiming for promotion again this year and eventually to the WSL (crazy, seemingly unachievable dreams of a lower league club sound familiar to anyone?); they're also 8 times Women's FA cup winners, only Arsenal have won it more times... The city also has Southampton Saints G&L FC in the same league, along with Pompey Ladies in the league above, so there's local derbies to be had in the cup as well as the league.
I think you should go for it. Though just (another) warning. If Southampton (either side) wins the WPL South (the division Portsmouth are in), they'll be forced to compete in the footballing equivalent of the hunger games by taking part in a play-off against the winner of the WPL North, because if you win you get glory and fame and recognition and money. If you lose, your best players will be taken from you and your team will become relegation fodder: see Portsmouth, West Brom, and no doubt Blackburn next year (apparently three of their key players from their title winning squad have been signed by Man City already).
That's why I was asking - to see how many people would be likely to postProbably best to leave it on the General Football thread....a special thread would get so few posts that it would keep slipping out of sight.. and people would forget there was a special thread and carry on as before.
Sounds like the Championship\EFL play-offs...
That's why I was asking - to see how many people would be likely to post. Perhaps We should wait until one\both clubs get to the WSL.
SorryI can't bear to lose another semi (stop sniggering at the back).
That's part of the reasoning I used to pick between SotonWFC & SaintsG&L - call me a glory hunter, but judging from their onle presence, SotonWFC seem to be better run & more sustainable as well as having recent success. I'll certainly be down at Testwood Stadium* to support them this season. But unless anyone else wants to talk about it, we're probably better off keeping it on this thread so it stays on this page!Or strike while the iron's hot. To get into the WSL you'd need to win two leagues plus a play-off. Surely that would generate some interest as it's happening? Furthermore, you guys talk about how the journey from League 1 to the Premiership was very enjoyable and some of the best years in recent Southampton history... why would you therefore miss the women's equivalent of the same journey?
In (un)fairness, Southampton probably has an advantage - the Men's club runs the FA Tier 1 regional talent club** - the local elite players are already playing there, waiting to be picked up by the big clubs. Once SotonWFC\SaintsG&L are good enough to push for the WSL, I suspect calibre players won't be hard to find, they'll probably even get them 'on loan'.Oh and the Championship/EF play-offs aren't quite so bad because the gulf in finance and coverage, while big, isn't nearly as big as the gulf between the WSL and WPL. Therefore while losing the play-offs in the Championship is bad and can potentially have a negative impact, the consequences are not nearly as dire as losing the WPL play-offs. Hence why some teams can be in the Championship play-offs one year, and auto-promotion the next.
I think you should go for it. Though just (another) warning. If Southampton (either side) wins the WPL South (the division Portsmouth are in), they'll be forced to compete in the footballing equivalent of the hunger games by taking part in a play-off against the winner of the WPL North, because if you win you get glory and fame and recognition and money. If you lose, your best players will be taken from you and your team will become relegation fodder: see Portsmouth, West Brom, and no doubt Blackburn next year (apparently three of their key players from their title winning squad have been signed by Man City already).