Fleetwood in League 2. Good or bad for us?

[winstanley asfc]

How do you feel about it? They seem to have a fair bit of money, will they do a Crawley,will we be the underdogs when we play them, and will Radio Lancashire relegate us to third behind Morecambe and Fleetwood when it comes to the League 2 pecking order?

[carpon]

Another " derby " although I think it'll mean we have somebody other than Morecambe around boxing day...Fleetwood being nearer to Morecambe .

They've got money for sure...If they can turn down seven figure bids for Vardy they must have, but as a cautionary note for Fleetwood, you only have to look at Crawley.

I think that Evans must have got a bit browned off with losing his top players (ala Barnett and Tubbs ) and maybe there's more than meets the eye at Crawley, hence the reason that obnoxious manager did a bunk to the Millers.

Plus I don't rate our ex-players amongst their ranks bar one.Anthony Barry (If he's still there) was one lad who I was disappointed to see leave. Mangan was a fairly good non league striker, Cav was solid at non-league level, but I think we've had better since he left under his cloud and Charnock is average at League Two level at best.

Living in the shadow of Blackpool won't help attendance wise, especially if Blackpool manage to get promoted via the play offs (if they make them ).

Can't see Radio Lancs relegating Stanley behind the Shrimps and the Cod Botherers, they'll probably treat all three the same, meaning they'll have to start paying somebody full time to cover the Fleetwood games ( if they already don't).

I think it's a bit early to predict who will finish where next year..... let's just see who we all sign in the summer first and who leaves.

[Pendle Red]

I look forward to Fleetwood coming up, it gives us two more local derbies and a good chance for the Club to make some good money from the away support likewise if Wrexham were to come up as well.

I think they will do okay League position wise next season they play football the right way, as Carpon says it will be an interesting Summer seeing who signs for who?

Strange it's only six years ago we were the new kids on the block League wise now we may be seen as the elder more established League Club between our Lancashire Neighbours.

[cashman]

The more local derbies the better fer me.

[maccawozzagod]

I reckon we will be the underdogs, yet again!

But I do think they'll struggle more than they think with the promotion. We came up with Roberts, Mullin, Craney being touted as amongst the best that non-league had to offer and with solid players like Cavanagh, Procter and Williams being eyed by others around us, yet we still struggled with the new found pace and strength in the League.

The quality of football is little different but FL players are generally stronger and fitter and that is where (for me) new clubs can struggle. Evans and Crawley, and Westley and Stevenage before them had physically strong players as the core of their ranks, from what little I know of Fleetwood they have footballers as the core of their side.

I hope they do struggle, as I hate nouveau riche type clubs, but I hope they stay up as we need more games within an hours reach

[lancsdave]

It's a no-brainer really. I still think they should revert back to the old Northern divisions for the lower 2 leagues. Stanley must have forked out some major exepnse this season for travelling and not recouped it by the away fans having too far to travel. Keep it local

[smudgie]

Agreed with others posts.

Nice to have another local away game, along with Rochdale and Chesterfield the league looks ALOT better next season already

Will be disappointed to lose Morecambe on Boxing Day though.

Must admit a section of their fans are not the most welcoming, but sod em !

[cashman]

Its n old chestnut of mine, but could never understand why they did away wi the Third Division North n South, Twas much more beneficial to the small club, Better Gates, No overnight stays etc.

[Exile on Spencer St]

I'd be boog***d if they did go back to a (Third) Division North.
Being exiled amongst the heathen, it's mainly southern games I can get to. However, I'd much rather Stanley had to play Fleetwood than the likes of Gillingham/Southend/Crawley.....etc.
Next year I hope Southport get back in the League, although let's hope by then Stanley themselves are moving onto to higher things.

But, even regional leagues can't guarantee reduced travel costs and local derbies - just check out where Bishop's Stortford have to play every other week, and they aren't even in the Conference.

[Chimer]

Originally Posted by Exile on Spencer St

I'd be boog***d if they did go back to a (Third) Division North.
Being exiled amongst the heathen, it's mainly southern games I can get to.

Me too! But it would obviously be better financially for the club (not to mention Plymouth!!).

One potential drawback of regionalisation is the greater number of hugely mismatched games - e.g. today Sheffield (Either) v Macc, Charlton v Barnet. But I can't remember if this was an argument for de-regionalisation back in the fifties.

Incidentally this year 23 teams would clearly be in the North Divsion, with the 24th probably being Hereford or Northampton.

[lancsdave]

Originally Posted by Chimer

Incidentally this year 23 teams would clearly be in the North Divsion, with the 24th probably being Hereford or Northampton.

Thats easy to resolve, put Hereford in their national league... Of Wales

[shakermaker]

I suspect we'll have to be more savvy in the transfer market and cast our net wider than usual as they will have the resources to take players in that we would normally target. That said, Cook and Richardson already seem to have a network which is more comprehensive than our previous routine.

Other than that, it's just another local game as far as I'm concerned. No opinion on them.

[nige b]

my in(out)laws live in Knott End so will be a footballing first ...going to a match on a ferry! consequently bring it on purely for the quirk factor

[Wynonie Harris]

A 27,000 population town in the shadow of a championship club in the football league? Sounds even more unlikely than us! Still similar situations have happened before...Gretna and Rushden & Diamonds for instance. I just hope the guy who's backing them doesn't get fed up.

I don't know what their fans are like these days, but I hope they've changed somewhat in the last 20 years, otherwise I don't think our matches against them will be particularly pleasant occasions.

[MikeA]

More to the point, will they have any programmes when we go there?