Ks make us look really well run!

Ah thanks d4d4 - I wonder what state the flats are in these days.

CW - I’m off to find that tiny violin I got in a cracker at Christmas… 🎻

Given the rumours of our poor and deteriorating relationship with RPV, it is seems likely we will be on the move again next season. Nice to see we are starting early. We cannot keep burning our bridges with our landlords (this isn’t the first time, Casuals anyone?). We are running out of local Clubs (or even, like Tooting, not so local) with a suitable ground who will let us ground share, which puts us in a weak negotiating position when we look to negotiate a deal. Although relegation may mean we have more wider choice of Clubs with a suitable ground grading. And with no evidence of any progress on our own new ground, we will be groundshare sharing for a few years yet (at least until the Wombles money runs out).

Had an aunty and cousin living in Hayesend Trigs, my grandmother moved in with them and eventually passed away in there. At the time it was quite a step up from the state of their housing on Tooting High Street and Selkirk Road respectively.

Thanks Sparty - those towers are key visual memory of my early years at Plough Lane. Always used to think life in them must have been just like Only Fools & Horses.

England U19 lose five wickets for fewer runs and in 30 more balls than the 14year old Indian opening batter in the U19 ODI final. Look likely to lose by 200 runs!

There is no way we will go back to playing in NLS longterm with our stadium, we are too big to prosper there. There is however an argument that L1 is not great for us, given the significantly increased costs that outstrip the financial benefits.

The finances may have looked good at the time - as Wednesdays meeting revealed, what was a small wage gap between us and other team the last time we were in league one has now grown to a chasm. Wage growth could have outpaced the potential revenue PL would bring during the time it has been constructed. But for all we know that gap could be much greater. We aren’t told the full finances for the main stand facilities so it’s difficult to really put a pin in it one way or another, but certainly the finances for a League One club now are much different to what they were ten years ago.

How crazy is this ,[Link]

Ni increase didn't help the clubs coffers.

On the viability point- I agree that we supporters have limited information on our fixed costs, but the fact that the INCREASE in our business rates this year is going to be £40k (per the meeting this week) does suggest that they are substantial and likely to be hard to cover on the proceeds from NLS crowds - as you say, you would hope that the statement that we would not be viable at that level was made on some basis

$6m man- it’s obviously each to their own as to whether we would want to go back to watching us in Conference South or lower. To me there may be a difference between watching non league as a journey (as we had from 2002) vs as a destination where we had no real ability to progress. As I say, though, that is just my thought

Spartan [Link]

Boring fact of the day re OTD, we were drawn at home to Bromsgrove or St Blazey(from Cornwall)who had 2 two all draws before a 2nd replay was won 3-2 by Bromsgrove so we could have played a rare competitive game against a Cornish side, not sure we ever have

I do remember, probably about 40 years ago, that there was a fire in one of those two tower blocks.

Trigger - I would say a definite yes on the tower block in the background of OtD.

Would = wouldn't

OTD - My first ever game as an eager six year old. I am pretty sure my Dad took me because I had been naughty or my mum just needed me out of the way. Whatever the reason, it has been a heady mix of magic carpet ride and head on car crash, but I would have missed it for the world

We were accused of under declaring the crowd at the St Albans Trophy game once, Erik asked Papers(who in those days counted the crowd and provided figures for all 4 sides of the ground)to supply his figures so we could refute the claims

FWIW I reckon we'll have been in admin and have new owners way before we would ever reach National League South again

TF - oh yeah, forgot about him too

Rob - does Terry Eames count?

When we were in the Premier League, I remember thinking to myself when we drew a lower level team in a cup game that I could never go back to watching football at a lower level. When 2002 happened and it was either watch somebody else, non-league or give up completely, I felt different when I had no choice (the who moved my cheese scenario). I enjoyed going through non-league as much as the 1980s. Maybe now I'm 25 years older I'd feel differently and really don't want to have to find out.

One of the Bromsgrove players appears to be wearing a dark coat in contrast to his green shirted colleagues