Are we more northern than mickleover?

Stafford Rangers and Mickleover are further south than ourselves but they may work it out on Motorway corridors! I think somebody said a while ago that the Southern League would entail less travelling. I would obviously prefer the Northern Premier League as it will include a trip to Northumberland and Morpeth Town which will be a home game for some next season. 

As you can see from this table Ilkeston would have less travelling in the Southern League but most experts believe they will be in the Northern Premier

NORTHERN PREMIER                       SOUTHERN LEAGUE
                                        Miles  Mins                                      Miles  Mins
Ashton United                    75     99     A.F.C. Rushden & D     75     92
Atherton Collieries            115   116     Alvechurch                   63     68
Bamber Bridge                   77   121     Barwell                         34     48
Basford United                    7     16      Bromsgrove Sporting   66     70
F.C. United Manchester    107  116     Coalville Town              24     34
Gainsborough Trinity         64     95     Hednesford Town         45     61
Hyde United                       73     90    Hitchin Town                 98    110
Lancaster City                    97   149     Leiston                        178  183
Matlock Town                     23     37     Needham Market        151  149
Mickleover                         14     26     Nuneaton Borough       42     55
Morpeth Town                  152  178      Peterborugh Sports      68     85
Nantwich Town                  68     90     Redditch United            65     73
Radcliffe                            92    113     Royston Town              111   116
Scarborough Athletic       115   134      Rushall Olympic           44     60
South Shields                  159   151      St. Ives Town                94     99
Stafford Rangers               48     64      Stourbridge                   69   102
Stalybridge Celtic              73     87      Stratford Town              72     79
Warrington Town               86     95      Tamworth                      34     45
Whitby Town                    134   142                     
                                               
TOTAL                           1579   1919                                      1333  1529
AVERAGE                        83     101                                         74      85

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After two curtailed seasons it’s great to complete a season and to win the league and secure automatic promotion. At this time we don’t know which Step 3 league we will be playing in ie, Northern Premier or Southern League Premier Central.Whichever league we’re placed in, let’s hope we can continue on our upward journey. I don’t think we have anything to fear which ever league we’re in and I would be happy to finish next season mid table. Anything better than that would be a bonus. 

Really looking forward to visiting new grounds and re-visiting old grounds we’ve not been to for a while.

It will probably be a month before we know which league we're in then there will be a further two months wait for the fixture list.


 

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We now know the NPL Step 4 promoted teams ; 

East Div   :   Liversedge and Marske
West Div  :   Warrington Rylands and Marine
Mids Div  :   Ilkeston and Belper 

Ilkeston are the most Southerly of the six promoted teams so the other five have a better chance of going into the Northern Prem than us 

The current NPL Premier Division currently has just one team more Southerly than Ilkeston ie Stafford Rangers who could get laterally moved into the Southern League. 

I would prefer us to be in the Northern Prem but to me the Southern League Premier Central looks more likely 


 

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It will be interesting to see which of our players are retained to play at Step 3 next season.I’m sure there will be some fresh faces coming in but even if not I still think we would be good enough to finish mid-table.  Of course Dave and Andy will want to do better than that. 

We know that we have Montel Gibson, Jack Thomas and Dan Bradley. Not sure if Adam Chapman  and Charlie Jemson are contracted for next season. 

At present we are without a keeper as Saul Deeney was only on loan till the end of last season. We could do worse than sign him up from Coalville.

 Definitely gone is Joe Maguire and I don’t expect James Carvell to stay. A decent player but he had very little game time last season.  

So from last season’s squad we have: Kieran Fenton, Jared Bird, Charlie Wakefield, Stern Irvine, Billy Bennett, Adam Chapman, Zak Goodson, Ollie Brown-Hill, Alex Troke, Remaye Campbell, Charlie Jemson and possibly James Reid.  

So this looks like our current squad from which we can choose who we wish to retain 

1    No goalkeeper at present :  Saul Deeney (if possible)               
2    Jared Bird
3    Billy Bennett
4    Adam Chapman
5    Stern Irvine
6    Kieran Fenton
7    Zak Goodson 
8    Jack Thomas           contracted for next season
9    Remaye Campbell
10  Montel Gibson         contracted for next season
11  Charlie Wakefield
12  Ollie Brown-Hill
13  Dan Bradley             contracted for next season
14  Alex Troke
15  Charlie Jemson
16  James Reid
 
Hope I haven’t missed anyone.



 

Last edited by Matchman (02/5/2022 9:41 AM)

Alex wrote:

What about verma?

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Thanks Alex,  I thought I must have missed someone.  Sorry Aman.

I would say Verma is definitely worth keeping because he's played at National League level previously.



 

We look light on full backs perhaps. Adam Chapman's fitness may be an issue and the same could be said about Dan Bradley so maybe we need some more bruisers in the middle. Two keepers are needed Saul Deeney and possible one for the future. We look strong up top but we may need to strengthen in terms of numbers. In an ideal world I would like to see the return of Elliott Reeves. 

On the negative side I would suggest that possibly Alex Troke and James Reid might unfortunately be moving on and I don't know if Charlie Jemson will want to stay as a permanent bench warmer. As already mentioned James Carvell is going to want to play more games.

GK Saul Deeney? and/or AN Other
FB Billy Bennett, Ollie Brown-Hill and Aman Verma
CB Stern Irvine, Kieran Fenton and Charlie Jemson?
DMF Jared Bird, Dan Bradley and Adam Chapman.
AMF Jack Thomas, Charlie Wakefield, James Reid? and Jamie Carvell?
ATT Zak Goodson, Montel Gibson, Remaye Campbell and Alex Troke?.

We may need to replace those with a ? next to their names meaning we will be looking at one or two Goalkeepers, a Centre Back, A Midfield general and maybe an extra attacker. As I mentioned we only have one full back who is a normal full back and that is Billy Bennett. Ollie Brown-Hill and Aman Verma I would presume see themselves as wing backs.

However some players may have already decided they want to move on and the club may already have players lined up to add to the squad. Also most will be just wanting a break before they get to work in late June early July. There will be lots of players out there who fancy being part of the Ilkeston Town journey and I presume lots of text messages will be being read from budding future stars of the MNG.
 

Surprised at Stern Irvine being released! I can understand all the rest though.

This is traveling one way

Nortern league 1967 miles
Southern league 1403 miles

No brainer for us.

Longest trip

Northern league 175 morpeth
Southern league 119 chesham

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Re our rivalry with Basford
Now that Ilkeston are at Step 3 I think that it's fair to say that Basford's position above us in status is no longer after they narrowly avoided relegation. We may or may not be in the same league next season but I have a feeling that we will be because of our geographic closeness. I'm expecting Ilkeston to be in the Southern League and Basford  to join us.


Recently Chris Munroe tweeted :

Chris Munroe@chrismunroe52
I made a declaration many months ago that if @Basfordutdfc finished in the bottom 3 of the @NorthernPremLge Prem I would relinquish my 16 yrs. As a club we are Notts only Step 3, 5 promotions, competing v full timers/clubs with massive gates/expectations. 1/2 
My ultimate decision rests on what's best for my family,but just as important do I & our @Basfordutdfc Mgt feel we can rebuild & mount a serious assault 22/23.I will ponder this decision. Either way BUFC will remain heavily financially backed for 22/23 & have a superb future 2/2


Because of our superior ground and level of support we should always be a better option than Basford for players wanting to play at this level. Ilkeston is a football town and have always been well supported even in bad times, Basford on the other hand have never had a decent level of support even when they were doing well.

Ilkeston average gate 2021-22  :   998
Besford average gate 2021-22  :   345 


A change of league for Basford would probably mean a fall in gate income. Basford's NPL gates are lifted by away support from some of the big clubs like South Shields and FC United. There are no Clubs in the Southern League with the same amout of away support. 




 

Last edited by Matchman (05/5/2022 4:10 AM)

Surprised and disappointed that Stern Irvine is being released. What is he, 20? Looks a really good prospect to me. I would have taken a chance on Adam Chapman for another year as well.

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Ollie Bayliss   @Ollie_Bayliss 
The 2022/23 Southern League start dates:  Premier Division Central & Premier Division South - Sat 6th August The season will finish on Sat 22nd April 2023 with playoff semi-final matches on Wed 26th April 2023.  



So if we're in the Southern League Premier Central - our League campaign will start one week earlier than if we're in the Northern Premier League.



 

Last edited by Matchman (05/5/2022 3:57 AM)

Think I am ok that weekend 😉 Hednesford away anyone ???👍👍

Trowell Nicky wrote:

Surprised and disappointed that Stern Irvine is being released. What is he, 20? Looks a really good prospect to me. I would have taken a chance on Adam Chapman for another year as well.

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I was disappointed about Stern too. I heard that he had been offered a contract but it wasn't to his liking and he rejected it. I can't comment on Adam Chapman as I don't know anything.

Players come and go and I'm confident that the released players will be replaced by players capable of playing at Step 3 and higher as we aim for further promotions.


 

Last edited by Matchman (05/5/2022 9:01 AM)