Yes, DRC, I raised this exact point in some thread somewhere here recently - asking @glasshalffull for his opinion, given that he campaigned on national radio for us to be the replacement. We didn’t, so precedent says neither would Plymouth replace Bury if the same scenario arose.
I just had a look back through the flow of the leagues in the early 90s, and didn't realise that in 90/91 that only 20 teams were in the top flight. Then it actually went back up to 22 for 3 years, before 94/95 being back down to 20 - which I'd remembered the knock on effect down the leagues - and us being squeezed out of the play off places.
What I didn't realise/remember, was that the 4th tier was 22 teams for a good few years, including when we were first there.
91/92 was a weird season. 22 teams finished, Aldershot going bust before the season was it? And Maidstone had to crumble after the season finished?
But why were there 23 teams in the mix in the first place? Anyone know?
Am i right in thinking the year we finished sixth and didn't make the D2 play-offs was also the year Alan Smith's Palace were the highest PL team ever relegated. Leading to him losing that job and then...
Highest as in 4th from bottom, but clearly that was still 19th in a 22 strong division, whereas these days as "high" as 18th goes down in a 20 division league.
It's a strange coincidence that both us and Smith's team were scuppered by the restructure.
And looking back quite an odd move career move by Smith to us, as it wasn't like we were a particularly wealthy 3rd tier team, and he'd just come out of the Premier league.
Quite the coup for us...on paper!
Only just caught up with this thread and the question about the season we finished runners up to Colchester in the Conference. Long time ago but I do recall Maidstone United being declared bankrupt at the end of that season, leaving an odd number of clubs in the 4th Division as it was known at the time.
The Wycombe board discussed the idea of applying to fill the vacancy as we had finished on the same number of points as Colchester (94) and I was tasked with contacting people within the game to canvass their support.
Somewhere in the loft at home I have copies of all the letters and faxes we received from FL clubs agreeing that we had a strong case and pledging their support.
Sadly, the FL did not agree and we had to wait another 12 months to celebrate promotion.
I have seen our campaign to take Maidstone’s place described as ‘embarrassing’ but I don’t agree. There was a vacancy and we were the club best qualified to fill it, so although it was always going to be a long shot, why not give it a try?
Fortunately, we got there in the end.
@eric_plant said:
Funny how the memory plays tricks. Could have sworn it was Aldershot
I'm hindsight, I'm glad the league blocked it. Wouldn't swap the memories of that last season in the conference for anything
Funny how the bad stuff gives us the best stuff. Without that rejection, we'd never have had our wonderful title winning season. Without that appalling run of results at the end of the 93-4 season we'd never have had that day at Wembley and without the wretched result against Bristol Rovers we'd never have had Torquay.
Eric, if I remember correctly Aldershot also went bust, but that was during the season and their playing record was duly expunged. I believe Maidstone went bankrupt after the season had ended.
@glasshalffull said:
Eric, if I remember correctly Aldershot also went bust, but that was during the season and their playing record was duly expunged. I believe Maidstone went bankrupt after the season had ended.
Probably ridiculous to ask this many years on, but do you remember how deep into the season Aldershot's results were binned? Was it a gamechanging time of season?
As although the big picture is the almost disaster (in football terms) of losing a club, you would still be annoyed at potentially losing 2 wins against them...
@Malone on a similar theme, weren’t we denied 6 pts and 10 goals when Newport’s results were expunged at the business end of that Conference season where there were no runaway leaders and we were in the mix?
@glasshalffull said:
Eric, if I remember correctly Aldershot also went bust, but that was during the season and their playing record was duly expunged. I believe Maidstone went bankrupt after the season had ended.
Probably ridiculous to ask this many years on, but do you remember how deep into the season Aldershot's results were binned? Was it a gamechanging time of season?
As although the big picture is the almost disaster (in football terms) of losing a club, you would still be annoyed at potentially losing 2 wins against them...
@Malone it was fairly late - 26 March 1992 when Aldershot folded. They’d played 36 games.
And with regard to your second point. We were on the receiving end of losing points when Newport County went bust on 27 Feb 1989 (we played the last game at their old ground I’m pretty sure - a 5-3 thriller to us). So we lost the 3 points from that and 3 more (and a 5-0 goal difference) from the home match as well. In my memory it mattered as we were building a head of steam towards the top of the conference and it sort of stalled our momentum.
For anyone on Twitter, theres an interestig thread by @priceoffootball about Bristol Rovers' accounts, which have just been published.
The gist: Rovers losing 65k A WEEK through day to day operations and apparently have losses totalling 20 MILLION and are paying 9k a week in interest. £97 of every £100 income goes on wages. They're technically insolvent and are relying on money from a parent company based in tax haven Jersey. Gate receipts have gone done 12%, while losses have gone up 12%.
Dread to think what will happen to them if this isn't addressed and makes me appareciate what this club has done to live within its means.
@Jonny_King Those are truly eye-watering losses, I dread to think what inflated wages Rovers are paying out to be losing that much on 8,000 crowds.
WWFC living within our means might not be popular, but with teams around us going into administration and seemingly teetering on the edge, it surely has to be the right course of action.
Comments
Aldershot
That’s it, thanks.
Yes, DRC, I raised this exact point in some thread somewhere here recently - asking @glasshalffull for his opinion, given that he campaigned on national radio for us to be the replacement. We didn’t, so precedent says neither would Plymouth replace Bury if the same scenario arose.
An exception should be made here though @LeedsBlue, as Plymouth only got relegated due to our cheating and timewasting when they played us!
I just had a look back through the flow of the leagues in the early 90s, and didn't realise that in 90/91 that only 20 teams were in the top flight. Then it actually went back up to 22 for 3 years, before 94/95 being back down to 20 - which I'd remembered the knock on effect down the leagues - and us being squeezed out of the play off places.
What I didn't realise/remember, was that the 4th tier was 22 teams for a good few years, including when we were first there.
91/92 was a weird season. 22 teams finished, Aldershot going bust before the season was it? And Maidstone had to crumble after the season finished?
But why were there 23 teams in the mix in the first place? Anyone know?
Am i right in thinking the year we finished sixth and didn't make the D2 play-offs was also the year Alan Smith's Palace were the highest PL team ever relegated. Leading to him losing that job and then...
Highest as in 4th from bottom, but clearly that was still 19th in a 22 strong division, whereas these days as "high" as 18th goes down in a 20 division league.
But that was the only time a teams finished 4th from bottom of the PL and been relegated?
Sounds a good chance yes.
It's a strange coincidence that both us and Smith's team were scuppered by the restructure.
And looking back quite an odd move career move by Smith to us, as it wasn't like we were a particularly wealthy 3rd tier team, and he'd just come out of the Premier league.
Quite the coup for us...on paper!
Only just caught up with this thread and the question about the season we finished runners up to Colchester in the Conference. Long time ago but I do recall Maidstone United being declared bankrupt at the end of that season, leaving an odd number of clubs in the 4th Division as it was known at the time.
The Wycombe board discussed the idea of applying to fill the vacancy as we had finished on the same number of points as Colchester (94) and I was tasked with contacting people within the game to canvass their support.
Somewhere in the loft at home I have copies of all the letters and faxes we received from FL clubs agreeing that we had a strong case and pledging their support.
Sadly, the FL did not agree and we had to wait another 12 months to celebrate promotion.
I have seen our campaign to take Maidstone’s place described as ‘embarrassing’ but I don’t agree. There was a vacancy and we were the club best qualified to fill it, so although it was always going to be a long shot, why not give it a try?
Fortunately, we got there in the end.
Who on earth described it as "embarrassing?"
That's embarrassing in itself!
But hey, when all is said and done, who wouldn't have taken that glorious promotion the next season!
I think someone in the Gas room thought it was embarrassing. Can’t remember who.
Funny how the memory plays tricks. Could have sworn it was Aldershot
I'm hindsight, I'm glad the league blocked it. Wouldn't swap the memories of that last season in the conference for anything
Funny how the bad stuff gives us the best stuff. Without that rejection, we'd never have had our wonderful title winning season. Without that appalling run of results at the end of the 93-4 season we'd never have had that day at Wembley and without the wretched result against Bristol Rovers we'd never have had Torquay.
And without the poor start to the season under Sanchez we’d never have had the pleasure of being managed by Tony Adams.
But in a way Adams is the gift that keeps giving.
Let’s not forget Jimmy Hill’s role in denying us that promotion.
Eric, if I remember correctly Aldershot also went bust, but that was during the season and their playing record was duly expunged. I believe Maidstone went bankrupt after the season had ended.
Aaah. Not around here then but I feel I am reliving it with you all. I do recall the sainted MON constantly turning down the forest hotseat!
I have forgotten what he did/said. Can you remind me?
Probably ridiculous to ask this many years on, but do you remember how deep into the season Aldershot's results were binned? Was it a gamechanging time of season?
As although the big picture is the almost disaster (in football terms) of losing a club, you would still be annoyed at potentially losing 2 wins against them...
I believe he ran the opposite campaign to yours.
@Malone on a similar theme, weren’t we denied 6 pts and 10 goals when Newport’s results were expunged at the business end of that Conference season where there were no runaway leaders and we were in the mix?
They ‘resigned’ from the FL in March, 1992.
@Malone it was fairly late - 26 March 1992 when Aldershot folded. They’d played 36 games.
And with regard to your second point. We were on the receiving end of losing points when Newport County went bust on 27 Feb 1989 (we played the last game at their old ground I’m pretty sure - a 5-3 thriller to us). So we lost the 3 points from that and 3 more (and a 5-0 goal difference) from the home match as well. In my memory it mattered as we were building a head of steam towards the top of the conference and it sort of stalled our momentum.
John Granville was playing for Aldershot when they went out of business.
For anyone on Twitter, theres an interestig thread by @priceoffootball about Bristol Rovers' accounts, which have just been published.
The gist: Rovers losing 65k A WEEK through day to day operations and apparently have losses totalling 20 MILLION and are paying 9k a week in interest. £97 of every £100 income goes on wages. They're technically insolvent and are relying on money from a parent company based in tax haven Jersey. Gate receipts have gone done 12%, while losses have gone up 12%.
Dread to think what will happen to them if this isn't addressed and makes me appareciate what this club has done to live within its means.
People have been saying the bubble will burst for years, but it certainly looks like we're on the verge of a massive meltdown.
Is that the sound of the FA and EFL springing into action?
No, didn't think so.
@Jonny_King Those are truly eye-watering losses, I dread to think what inflated wages Rovers are paying out to be losing that much on 8,000 crowds.
WWFC living within our means might not be popular, but with teams around us going into administration and seemingly teetering on the edge, it surely has to be the right course of action.