Had a terrible first half but played good second, was 4 nil half timeOriginally Posted by Kicktheball
Had a terrible first half but played good second, was 4 nil half time
Uni v Swansea
3rds 6-0
Res 1-1
1st 3-1
Looking forward to the write up from the Debt Collector
What is happening at Azzurri?
Dudley vs Westlakes
3rds 9-1
Res 9-0
1st 3-1
the only time i will offer an excuse. down a shitload of players on the weekend, simple as that and were not good enough.
Bare 11 in every grade, 4 blokes suited up in 3rds who could hardly walk and should not have played at all, better than forfeiting though.
Reggies went alright considering.
1st started well, then had a horror final 20 in the 1st half, regrouped in the 2nd half but damage was already done.
That?s a carbon copy of the Cats on the weekend. 7 players played both Thirds and Ressies since we didn?t want to forfeit Thirds.
1st were then bare 11 but Dudley got 3 in front before we started to get into our groove.
I am once again advocating for the removal of 3rd Grade. It is especially pointless if/when the new Northern League re-structure goes ahead.
I heard that is what will be happening.
Make 3rd grade an all age woman?s comp, a great inclusion for clubs plus they?ll always turn up, thoughts
clubs need and want 3rds, our situation is not the normal for us.
Go and watch a NPL2 game, 1st and reggies only, its like a ghost town. Not sure what NPL1 is like as i havent been to a game this year.
the removal of 3rds is, in my opinion would be a backward step.
I've coached the women's Red, never again.
Removing third grade would have a negative affect on our club. By doing that you really cut down the potential longevity of good club people.
You lose the opportunity to blood young kids and introduce them to senior football.
I don’t want to go on with the cons, because I feel like there are way too many.
Yes clubs are noticeably struggling this year with numbers, but I feel like there are a few reasons for that. Eg. clubs that are further away from town, the fact that ZPL is now a 12 team comp and lastly, clubs are bloody hard to run. There’s very little in the next generation wanting to roll their sleeves up. At our club it’s just the same few guys year in, year out. No young guys are prepared to help out. That’s the reason why Bero folded and it’s likely a reason as to why many clubs are struggling this year. No idea what will happen if those few people at our club decide to take a step back.
Being apart of ZPL should be a privilege and being sorry for being blunt, maybe if you can’t get a squad of 40-50 players, then another division might be more suitable.
But removing third grade for the benefit of a few clubs is certainly not the answer.
Just on your point about no young players stepping up - it got me thinking, where do ZPL get their players from?
On the surface, it doesn’t appear like many of these clubs have juniors, some affiliated with other clubs sure, but for the most part they are all “senior” football clubs. While this is the case, and there’s no steady stream of players coming through, there will be ups and downs with numbers and quality across all of the clubs.
At the moment, it seems clubs are just waiting for that golden group of mates to come together and play for the same club.
The junior to teen age groups have changed significantly and now the “elite” system is attracting more players than it did say 15 years ago. Then there was only Macquarie, NPS and HV representative teams - so maybe 60 of the best in each age group. The rest all played for interdistrict clubs.
With this came some opportunities to have a crack at “seniors” when they needed players. Remember playing for an IDs team in under 15s and I never knew it even existed until somebody from the club “selected” me. Does this still happen? Without junior it’s a bit hard to make it happen I would assume. That’s where clubs like Warners Bay could potentially benefit - they can encourage and introduce their younger players to the idea of ZPL.
Now, most of the pathways are set up from an early age. Most NPL and NL1 clubs have their JDL to Youth and there’s a bit of a closed system - bit of club jumping etc, but not many in, not many out.
What’s left is the rest who are playing socially, or don’t know the other side of things exists. (We are pretty privellaged anybody reading this forum to have an interest and therefore an understanding of different competitions).
Then there’s crossroads for these players - to play socially in all age, quit, pursue it competitively in NPL/NL1 or play ZPL/ZL. I would guess that playing ZPL/ZL1 is probably the least popular option.
I’m curious how ZPL/Zl clubs see the future. Atm it seems a lot of the first grade teams are people who have played NPL lower grades or NL1. Is this the model? And it’s fine if it is. I’m legitimately just spitballing why there aren’t many “young players” stepping up to ZPL.
Are clubs trying to convert All age players to ZL players?
On Third grade, I agree, I think it’s very important to have an avenue to keep clubmen involved. Some
Of the most knowledgeable, nicest and encouraging guys I’ve played with were in reserve grade at NPL clubs. I get why NPL had to lose them (kind of not really) but half these guys may be past their prime on the pitch, but worth a whole bunch more off it (or moving slowly across it).
This is stupidity. 3rd grade is the joke. A place for exwannabes alcoholics to be pests. Better for the majority to have 2 teams. Smaller clubs will have a better chance to go higher.
As for juniors if you cant play ressie zpl you shouldnt leave all age. ffs get a life.
Last edited by JustMe; 15-05-2023 at 07:58 PM.
Mate I went and had a look at that game and you blokes weren?t embarrassed at all. Dudley were very slick but you lads showed plenty of intent going forward and some steel at the back. A penalty was saved, & nobody looked like they were there just there to make up the numbers.
Gutsy effort against a high quality team
May as well have had the the day off in the other grades. Embarrassing.
Gee whiz who upset you? 3rds is awesome, club culture, bringing young guys through, older guys who can still help the club. Lofty nailed it, and a few of us have commented a few weeks back about the value of 3rds.
Probably upset a ex wannabe alcoholic has taken his 3rd grade spot
Zone with 3rds is nothing but a glorified pub comp.
"This is stupidity", thank you for prefacing your comments.
Alcoholics? Says you who is obviously blind drunk on a Monday night typing this nonsense. Maybe you are involved with the wrong club/s.
We have 13 boys in our squad this year born in 2004 and 2005 (I'll let you try do the maths on that one). They're certainly not alcoholics.
Zone Premier League isn't here to make it easy for clubs. There are 32 clubs in the Zone Leagues. Maybe if you want something easier, then slide on down the ranks. I don't see how "fair" it is to even out the competition in reducing clubs to two teams.
I don't know who you are trying to vouch for, but I don't think anyone is forcing any club to stay in ZPL.
I do have a life thank you. It's a great one.
Wish you all the best, pal.
Correct. And it's the most enjoyable and entertaining league to be part of in Newcastle.
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