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Post by johnnie1 on May 8, 2014 19:50:38 GMT
Dear Mr Dyke, I read about your proposals to insert B teams of Premiership clubs into the Football Conference with interest. With interest and horror ! I started watching Sutton United when I was nine. For almost a quarter of a century I went to just about every game, home and away, with my dad. I watched them at Wembley, followed them in Italy and have trekked from Spennymoor to Truro and from Barrow to Dover, and a multitude of places in between. The club’s star centre-forward has become a good friend for thirty years and my boyhood hero was a guest at my wedding. I have sold programmes, been a steward, painted railings and pulled down an old wooden terrace. I have done just about every job at the club you can think of. Why? Because I had dreams. And I’m not alone, there are many like me at Sutton and the same picture is repeated at non-League clubs up and down the country. Oh, by the way, I am now chairman of the board and that’s something my dad and I couldn’t have dreamt about when I was nine years old. But football is all about dreaming. It’s about cold, wet nights in the middle of Essex or the prospect of a six hour journey home after being thrashed somewhere in Yorkshire, It’s about the days when those memories become all the more special because your team has just won the league or, dare I say it, knocked a top flight club out of the FA Cup. As the great Danny Blanchflower famously said “The game is about glory.” Your proposal gnaws away at that glory. It makes it all the harder for the smaller clubs to have those special, unforgettable days. Sutton United has just missed out on promotion to the Football Conference but we will go again next season, and the season after that until, one day, we get there again. And when we do get there we want to take our chances against all the other clubs who share the same dreams. Not Everton B. Injecting B teams from Premiership clubs into the Conference, or creating a new division between us and the Football League would make it harder for the multitude of non-League clubs to realise their dreams. As Chairman of the FA you represent every one of these clubs just as much as you represent the giants of the Premiership or the national team but your plan betrays them. We can’t compete with Arsenal B in terms of the quality of player, their wages, their coaching or their fitness levels. These teams will dominate at this level. Will they be promoted if they win the league ? Surely yes, because the alternative is worse. That takes away the promotion dreams from the clubs who aspire to reach as high as they can. And, although it’s almost unimaginable, if Chelsea B finished bottom of the Conference would they really want to play in Conference South, or even the Ryman League? What happens to the pyramid system when this experiment eventually runs its course ? I beg you Mr Dyke, kill this ill-conceived plan now or be remembered as the man who killed the dreams. Yours Faithfully, Dave Farebrother Chairman, Board of Directors Wow it's really taking off on twitter, 91 retweets already!
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Post by exiledsufc on May 8, 2014 20:43:22 GMT
Have signed and shared. If everyone shares this on twitter/facebook it could make a difference. Imagine how sh*t football, our game, would be if 'League 3' was introduced Have signed the petition,and urge everyone to,if you support non-league football
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Millsy
1st team skipper
Posts: 2,246
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Post by Millsy on May 8, 2014 21:06:25 GMT
Had over 200 retweets in the first hour and the link itself is now being tweeted but without the RT so it has definitely gone viral, this thread is approaching 3,000 views. The good thing with the RTs is that they include the @ mention for www.twitter.com/FA
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Post by markn on May 8, 2014 21:41:56 GMT
The fantastic letter from Dave F really showed up this pigs ear of a proposal for what it is.
If we have a positive so far it is the wave of outrage on social media and in the media generally about this. We need to keep this going.
The only vocal support I have heard so far is from Danny Mills and Howard Wilkinsom (quelle surprise). If there is a real football family then now is the time to stand up.
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Post by Meadow on May 8, 2014 23:23:33 GMT
A wonderful from the heart post from your chairman. I may have had a part in its spread across the social media as I picked it up from your twitter feed and retweeted and posted it on numerous football forums and numerous people picked it up.
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Post by os on May 9, 2014 0:44:23 GMT
Really good to see footy fans getting together for a common cause. The Against League 3 movement setup by 2 supporters who have never met, they support different teams seems to be gaining support. Website: www.againstleague3.co.uk/Twitter: @againstleague3
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garethl
Top Performer
Posts: 3,967
Member is Online
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Post by garethl on May 9, 2014 8:43:26 GMT
This must go down as one of the worst ideas in the history of sport. The FA as an organisation is being shown up for what it is.
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Post by Andy K on May 9, 2014 8:53:42 GMT
One of the best quotes I've seen on twitter about it comes from our very own Mr Miller
"Wouldn't be surprised if thousands of volunteers walk away from football if this goes ahead #saynotoleague3 #whatsthepoint"
He's right on the money. Threatening tens of thousands of fans enjoyment, not to mention those whose lives revolve around the club in a more substantial way too. And basically snuffing out any chance of players rising through the ranks. Add to that the loss of income that will inevitably happen. Semi pro standard will effectively be wiped out because clubs won't be able to afford a wage to allow semi pro standard to exist.
All of this on a chance that "the national side will get stronger" when actually it's more just for the benefit of the 20 PL clubs. Idiotic beyond belief.
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Post by Stewart on May 9, 2014 9:10:33 GMT
Don’t panic!
If this proposal goes ahead I will eat my running shoes.
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Post by davef on May 9, 2014 9:33:09 GMT
Thank you to everyone who has supported our position, including several ex-Us who have already e-mailed me to express their support. There does appear to be a massive national groundswell of opinion that will hopefully kick this idea into touch but we need to make sure that the FA get the message by ensuring the numbers who protest are so vast they cannot be ignored.
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Post by sallycat on May 9, 2014 13:11:37 GMT
One of the best quotes I've seen on twitter about it comes from our very own Mr Miller "Wouldn't be surprised if thousands of volunteers walk away from football if this goes ahead #saynotoleague3 #whatsthepoint" He's right on the money. Threatening tens of thousands of fans enjoyment, not to mention those whose lives revolve around the club in a more substantial way too. And basically snuffing out any chance of players rising through the ranks. Add to that the loss of income that will inevitably happen. Semi pro standard will effectively be wiped out because clubs won't be able to afford a wage to allow semi pro standard to exist. All of this on a chance that "the national side will get stronger" when actually it's more just for the benefit of the 20 PL clubs. Idiotic beyond belief. I've noticed over the years that people who crow about the PL being "the best league in the world" tend to be the same people who whinge about the "underperformance" of the England team. You can't have both. Either you bring in the world's best talent at the expense of home-grown, or you make an effort to nurture young footballers in a competitive environment. The FA is trying to do both. It won't work. Those B players still won't get into the first team, so what's the point? There are already teams at that level. Make them more attractive to youngsters instead.
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Post by Stewart on May 9, 2014 14:03:54 GMT
Germany's B teams have damaged lower-league clubs English FA considering their introduction 7 May ~ Today the FA will be considering proposals for the introduction of a new competition for Premier League and Championship clubs' B teams. The plans form part of FA chairman Greg Dyke's commission looking at ways to improve the fortunes of England's national team. Ideas include fitting the competition between League Two and the Conference or merging the lower divisions to create regional leagues. Full report here: www.wsc.co.uk/wsc-daily/1177-may-2014/11441-germany-s-b-teams-have-damaged-lower-league-clubsForgive me if this has been posted elsewhere.
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Post by markn on May 9, 2014 14:20:38 GMT
Just read a very good piece by the Dons trust on the AFC Wimbledon website.
Famously, Wimbledon were crapped on from a very great height by the FA in the past so it is not surprising that they are so concerned that the FA are now about to wilfully cause harm to all lower and non league clubs.
Real football seems to be mobilising itself on all sorts of social media etc and lets just hope and pray that all our voices are heard.
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Post by exiledsufc on May 9, 2014 17:34:40 GMT
20 thousand plus have signed the petition so far,according to reports
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Post by usspitfire on May 10, 2014 0:01:18 GMT
Excellent letter that sums up the views of not only of non league fan but of true football fans everywhere. Even if it goes ahead it won't make any difference because the England manager will still continue to pick a bunch of dinosaurs that have failed over & over again rather than the quality young players.
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