Division 3 North, Division 3 South...

[Proggs]

Would anybody be interested is seeing a return to this system that finished in about 1958? Do Carlisle fans fancy another Plymouth away on a Tuesday, do Exeter fans want to visit Grimsby on a Tuesday night etc etc.

Pros, less travelling, more derbies, better crowds.
Cons, local games may become the norm, thus sterile and boring, crowds may tail off after an initial bump.

What interests me, and maybe somebody much more intelligent than Proggs can answer this, when this system was operational, how did relegation from division 2 work, say the bottom four were all southern, say the bottom 8 were all northern, how did they get two teams to drop into the south and north divisions, keep changing the boundaries to make a fit each season?

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

Every year, without fail.

 

[Murphy]

how did they get two teams to drop into the south and north divisions, keep changing the boundaries to make a fit each season?

If only there was a division below that could answer this tricky question.

 

[Richard Cranium]

I can't remember it

 

[ProfessorGreen]

With the exception of a few teams I don't believe the difference in standard between L1 and L2 is very big at all, as such I wouldn't be opposed to the idea as we have to travel ages anyway! Never happen though.

 

[rudebwoyben]

Nope, bad idea. I like the fact that we play in a national league. Reducing the number of available promotion and relegation spots would reduce any extra interest generated by more local matches. Also the fact that the difference between the top and bottom of a Division 3S will be much greater than in a national Division 4 would make it less competitive too.

 

[AdamStag]

I would be happy with either.

Would be great if we had sides like Sheff Wed, Chesterfield, Oldham, Rochdale, Bury, Scunthorpe rather than the likes of Crawley, Newport etc.

I dare say others wouldn't be thrilled of places up north either.

It's a good system in general though. Same old each season though - not going to change

 

[joethegill]

I would be happy with either.

Would be great if we had sides like Sheff Wed, Chesterfield, Oldham, Rochdale, Bury, Scunthorpe rather than the likes of Crawley, Newport etc.

I dare say others wouldn't be thrilled of places up north either.

It's a good system in general though. Same old each season though - not going to change

Trouble is you could easily have been placed in the Southern section if this year's League One is anything to go by! You midlands lot would forever be switching between North and South!

 

[Laker]

I'd be against it because I think the disparity of ability between the top and bottom would be greater (the likes of Wigan would have been playing York this season) and that can't be a good thing for football.

 

[AdamStag]

Trouble is you could easily have been placed in the Southern section if this year's League One is anything to go by! You midlands lot would forever be switching between North and South!

We frequently did, which was deeply frustrating (well for those alive at the time), so which is why i'm quite happy not to

 

[AtaturkOzgutson]

There really is no need. It causes enough problems at a level where there is a more pressing need (e.g. part time players/the difference travelling makes). Last year Barrow were in the same division as Lowestoft, for example, so ended up doing a trip just shy of Carlisle/Plymouth. Although those miles get easily lost in the greater difficulty of the journey.

I don't really see the benefit, as with the high turnover between L1/L2 the geography can radically change in a few seasons. Compare last years L2 to the L2 of 4 years earlier for example!

 

[northstandexile]

Prior to 1958, only two of the very old division two teams of 22 not 24 were relegated, so there were only two promotion spots, one in div3N and one in div3S.

I think there would be uproar if a division only had one promotion spot nowadays.

 

[Flaxman's Alibi]

Trouble is you could easily have been placed in the Southern section if this year's League One is anything to go by! You midlands lot would forever be switching between North and South!

You're right to a large degree - although we're a bit of an oddity as we are kinda neither Midlands nor North (proper midlanders call us northerners and proper northerners call us all sorts of much worse names)

As it stands at the moment we would be quite comfortably in the Northern section; however the risk of dropping in to the Southern section (of which this season has had a huge feel about it) would be too big. Our heart and our rivalries are all with our northern neighbours; to lose that would be a big artificial blow.

 

[shoddycollins]

For us it would cut travelling but really make no odds as far as derbies are concerned. We have mild rivalries with teams in the north-east and northern Lancashire such as Hartlepool and Morecambe... outside that there is really no difference between us playing a team from Yorkshire or playing a team from Devon.

However I think the fans who travelled to Plymouth on that Tuesday night are rather proud of the fact they made it, and they got to be on telly, and Sky Sports reimbursed their travel costs, there will always be people who would miss those super-long away treks, and then there will be a majority for whom it makes no difference as they weren't gonna go anyway.

 

[Habbinalan]

Back in the day, it was more about the costs and practicality of the lower level teams (especially those not based in cities) travelling and having o'nights as the impact on fans.

I still remember (60's) starting at the crack of dawn and shuffling around the nether regions of Manchester on a football special just to get to Stockport from Barrow for an FA Cup tie and the hike by coach to Alfreton for another FA Cup match. Trains would have been the only way of doing many of the games - no motorways, few bypasses, A6 as the main North South connection for the NW. Plenty of the Barrow lads did Lowestoft in the day last season. By road, two days would have been barely adequate for a 3 p.m. kick off in the 1950's.

Especially for those of us sitting on the N/S borders, who enjoy the away trips, I'd have hated to miss the range of opposition and days out that the Conference offered - and I see no reason to mess with the quality of opposition and range of away days to save a few quid on travel costs at this level.

 

[Camborne Gills]

We were playing in almost a D3N this season!! At least it will be a little more balanced next season with the addition of Charlton, MK Franchise, Northampton, Brizzle R, Oxford and hopefully Plymouth

 

[Glasshalffullpools]

Div 3 N for us Poolies may see our away end a bit fuller more often ....no offence intended to anyone , we have a train stain and next to no trains stopping and are miles from a motorway , so I don't blame southerners for giving a 5 to 6 hour journey a miss