Not Andy Naylor
Well-known member
At one point the team I played in were bottom of division 13, but we rallied in the end to finish third from bottom.
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Sussex Sunday League all time low?
- Thread starter Return of the Rev
- Start date
At one point the team I played in were bottom of division 13, but we rallied in the end to finish third from bottom.
Football facilities in Brighton are atrocious. Both for the casual game - lack of astro & 3g in particular. & for the serious game - from a lack of youth football teams (as in not enough for the numbers who wasn't to play) & crap pitches & facilities for the men.
darkwolf666
Well-known member
Talking of crap pitches, I remember playing on the pitches at Hollingbury off the Ditchling Road, seemed at the time we were playing on a 45 degree sideways slope. I am sure the ball spent more time in the allotments at the bottom of the hill than on the pitch! The pitches in Stanmer Park weren't much better with sideways and end to end slopes, it was like playing football on a roller-coaster.
It's the same in the mid Sussex league on a sat - only 9 leagues now and our league only has 9 in now due to 2 teams pulling out.
I personally think there are 2 issues:
Firstly: companies don't have teams anymore
Secondly: too many new teams in the same area that fold after a couple of seasons. - the league should block new teams in areas where there are a certain amount of teams and encourage any new teams to join with an existing team.
I personally think there are 2 issues:
Firstly: companies don't have teams anymore
Secondly: too many new teams in the same area that fold after a couple of seasons. - the league should block new teams in areas where there are a certain amount of teams and encourage any new teams to join with an existing team.
Dirk Lehmann's Python
New member
Agreed. And you're now paying a small fortune for the privilege.
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Return of the Rev
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #27
Not tried playing fifa with my son then
That made me laugh - full marks sir.
turienzo's lovechild
New member
- Oct 25, 2003
- 23,964
I manage a team in the Brighton & Worthing league (which is a Saturday league) which now has 3 divisions (1 premier and then two equal regional divisions below it). This is our second season and shit loads of teams dropped out from last season. The amount of bloody admin involved in running a football team is ridiculous- you'd think they'd make it easy for you in order to retain and attract clubs but considering we're all doing it voluntarily it's no surprise teams drop out left, right and centre. As for the pitches/refs you can't expect a particularly good standard but when you're being charged a lot for the privilege it does smart a bit- this is a council problem though. If I was a forward thinking council I'd consider biting the bullet and replacing grass pitches with 4G. It's no surprise really that people are turning to 5-a-side as it's so much easier to organise, cheaper, and with better facilities- if it wasn't for the fact that 11-a-side in essence is more enjoyable it would be an absolute no brainer
Started in 78, when I believe there were 14 divisions, as a new team and we worked our way up to Div 8 in 5 seasons before I quit through injury. There were crap facilities then. One season our home pitch was at Hollingbury on one of the pitches next to Ditchling Rd. Bloody nightmare.
Easy to say but I believe I read somewhere that a 3/4g pitch costs about £500k to put in. That said, you get more rental because they're used more often.
turienzo's lovechild
New member
- Oct 25, 2003
- 23,964
yep, big initial outlay but you can get money in through pitch hire (for longer periods that grass as you can hire it out at night, in all weather etc.) and surely once its in it has lower maintenance costs than grass?
it would take a lot of forward thinking and a bit of a gamble and for that reason I can't see it happening any time soon
Return of the Rev
Well-known member
- Thread starter
- #33
That's the cost to lay one on a previous grass pitch,to build one from scratch can cost up to 1 million pounds! This includes all the leveling of surfaces fences etc. Income can be over 100k with profit of around 60k. Would be a good idea if councils worked with local football sides and in return for support the clubs would have to open the pitches to the wider community and a fair cost. Worthing and Lancing are providing loads of match time for other sides.
- Jul 10, 2003
- 27,766
LamieRobertson
Not awoke
Back seat of car? Luxury ...changed in shoe box in middle of road
SIMMO SAYS
Well-known member
Scored my first goal for The Co op at Hollingbury.
Second one was on the banana pitch at Stanmer.
LamieRobertson
Not awoke
Scored my first goal for The Co op at Hollingbury.
Second one was on the banana pitch at Stanmer.
But when was your first goal in the opposition net?
This is exactly what they did in Hong Kong . That way pitches are used all day and night . League games do not all kick off at the same time and pitches get constant use of which the authorities get their money back . Big gamble in Brighton , but i think would benefit the city
I think there are several mitigating factors in this. The main of it is that 11 a side Sunday football was the only option back in the day, now it’s up against the various weeknight 5/6 a side leagues.
In terms of facilities they are pretty awful in Sunday football, I won’t be the only one who has changed in the back of a car or outside in the rain because someone forgot keys, but when you are paying a higher amount in subs it does get tedious. Contrast that with the weeknight leagues where even if the weather is bad the artificial surface is decent and showers/changing isn't an issue. Then there are the pitches, which in some cases are near unplayable.
Then there’s the actual experience, in weeknight football you are guaranteed more touches and more involvement. Again compare this to 11-a-side where you might not have much involvement. Then there are the idiot players/teams, I played in the Hounslow league, so I’m not bothered by a kick but in the last few seasons I played in Brighton I noticed a growing number of, well, utter imbeciles who only seemed to be on the pitch to start a fight or deal with a week’s worth of frustrations. I remember one game where we only had 10 men (including a 50 year old, a father of one of the players who kindly stepped in). Several challenges on him were knee high and greeted with whoops, we were losing 6-0 at the time the game was over as a competition. I’d be embarrassed/horrified if one of my team mates were doing this, let alone it being encouraged.
Then of course you have the dodgy linesman factor in the Sunday leagues, this can really make a game less enjoyable if they are flagging every time their mates are telling them to. So you can have a really dire experience and have lost half a day in the process, and paid for the unpleasure. I’m not saying it should be roses and sweet meadows, but towards then end of my playing days I noted these were becoming the increasing norm, rather than the exception.
The weeknight leagues have given the player an option, I’d always play 11 a side, it’s not perfect but it strips out a lot of the annoying 11-a-side factors mentioned above. I can see why a lot of players prefer it.
In terms of facilities they are pretty awful in Sunday football, I won’t be the only one who has changed in the back of a car or outside in the rain because someone forgot keys, but when you are paying a higher amount in subs it does get tedious. Contrast that with the weeknight leagues where even if the weather is bad the artificial surface is decent and showers/changing isn't an issue. Then there are the pitches, which in some cases are near unplayable.
Then there’s the actual experience, in weeknight football you are guaranteed more touches and more involvement. Again compare this to 11-a-side where you might not have much involvement. Then there are the idiot players/teams, I played in the Hounslow league, so I’m not bothered by a kick but in the last few seasons I played in Brighton I noticed a growing number of, well, utter imbeciles who only seemed to be on the pitch to start a fight or deal with a week’s worth of frustrations. I remember one game where we only had 10 men (including a 50 year old, a father of one of the players who kindly stepped in). Several challenges on him were knee high and greeted with whoops, we were losing 6-0 at the time the game was over as a competition. I’d be embarrassed/horrified if one of my team mates were doing this, let alone it being encouraged.
Then of course you have the dodgy linesman factor in the Sunday leagues, this can really make a game less enjoyable if they are flagging every time their mates are telling them to. So you can have a really dire experience and have lost half a day in the process, and paid for the unpleasure. I’m not saying it should be roses and sweet meadows, but towards then end of my playing days I noted these were becoming the increasing norm, rather than the exception.
The weeknight leagues have given the player an option, I’d always play 11 a side, it’s not perfect but it strips out a lot of the annoying 11-a-side factors mentioned above. I can see why a lot of players prefer it.
