Thursday night felt like the start of a new season, and it is good to be back.
There is a full month left yet before the Welsh Premier League season, with the other leagues starting a week before that. I don't get the logic of it either.
But with a month to go, we began our previews in the run up to the start of the season on Thursday with The New Saints striker Greg Draper and Rhyl stopper Alex Ramsay on Robins Radio
Ramsay returned to the show for a second time, and will be expecting a Soccer AM style hat-trick ball on his next appearance.
But it was good to be back and discuss the goings on in the league since we last went on air.
Draper gave his reaction to the Champions League exit was good, and we discussed a number of goings on in the league.
The biggest talking point was Cefn Druids and the amount of signings Chris Herbert and John Keegan have made at The Rock.
Al and Greg believe it could be a bit of a disaster down there, but that remains to be seen.
However it now feels like the season is kicking off again.
After trialing the show every week at the back end of the season, I have decided to now go with every two weeks, which gives us plenty to talk about when the season kicks off.
Next week, August 7, we have Nicky Ward on the show making his debut, and Matt Cook returning for a second appearance.
What has been pleasing has been the reaction to the show coming back. A three figure amount of views already and that is still rising.
It is nice to see that people are looking forward to tuning in.
However in the coming weeks after that we hope to have two high profile guests.
Chris Coleman is set to appear on the show on August 28 at Latham Park. Chris was ill for his last appearance, but he is set to come on to talk all things Wales and Welsh Premier in a few weeks time.
And after agreeing to come on the show, Wales and Celtic legend John Hartson will join me in the coming months.
A date should be finalised with John on Wednesday and myself and the club are extremely excited about the prospect of having him on the show.
And if you missed last weeks show, you can catch a listen by following this link - https://audioboo.fm/boos/2349620-new-season-robins-radio-opening-show
Monday 28 July 2014
Wednesday 16 July 2014
Too many clubs for the town?
Below the ground of professional and semi-professional football are the forgotten reaches of amateur Saturday football.
It has been well publicised in lower working football circles that the Sunday game is dying, and along with that so is Saturday adult football. There are a number of reasons, but in Oswestry one sticks out to me. There are simply TOO MANY teams.
This isn't something you hear in many towns that are the size of Oswestry but here that is the case. I was counting up and I come up with a considerable amount of teams in the area. And it is concerning:
The New Saints - PROFESSIONAL
Ellesmere Rangers
St Martins
Morda United
FC Oswestry Town
Weston Rhyn
St Martins Village
Lynclys
Gobowen Celtic
Llanymynech
Four Crosses
Four Crosses Reserves
Llansanffraid
Chirk AAA
14 sides there, in and around the Oswestry area, and I have probably missed one or two. Granted no one from Oswestry really plays for TNS, however the other 13 sides will be out to attract similar players.
Last season we had Oswestry Villa and Oswestry Villa Reserves which I feel is great, bringing back names such as them and old names such as Gobowen Celtic is great for tradition and it takes Oswestry back to old times.
However I think in this day and age it might be killing off local football, or making a mockery of it. It can be argued that these teams that come and go will sustain the amount of sides there are.
But wouldn't people rather have four or five teams in the English leagues, and the traditional ones over the border like Ffraid and Crosses who will raise good sides and compete, rather than have 13 sides battling for players and struggling to stay afloat.
It seems there is a merry-go-round of players and clubs, but I wish the new clubs well and admire their ambition to get teams going. I hope they will be sustained.
Another reason could be the lack of commitment by players. In my view, the commitment of players is lower than it used to be when I watched Morda as a child.
And it is a million miles away from the commitment showed in the 70's and 80's so I am told. But there are other forms of football people concentrate on like six a side league's. That could be another factor clawing down Saturday football.
At the end of the day, at any level of football, it comes down to one thing and one thing only. Money.
At amatuer level money is everything. Unless there is a big financial backer then clubs will struggle. They do there own fundraising things, sponsors, and run little ideas here and there to stay afloat and that shows the commitment that still runs through the committee's.
Some clubs have everything done for players, such as nets up, kits washed, fees paid. But most don't and I think some players get tired of paying 'subs' every week. Again that boils down to the fact the English FA don't look at grass roots football, even though at times it is one of the most important aspects of the game.
That is where the Welsh FA towers above them, with the grants they give out every year. Maybe that is another thing that needs to be addressed.
And finally, a point that not too many people seem to grasp is the fact that junior football is hurting adult amatuer football.
Children now play in competitive leagues from say the age of nine. Most teams have a manager and an assistant from under 9's to under 18's. That is nine years of training once a week, ringing players, washing kits, turning up to a sloping pitch with no lines in the pouring rain every week to give kids the chance to play.
By the time that is over and adult football comes along, most players will step up, but the majority of managers won't.
It is a shame but you can't blame them, as they have had nine years of it already.
All these points I think add up to explain why adult football sometimes suffers in Oswestry, and is definately suffering all over England.
Maybe someone with some power might read this, but I doubt they will.
However I think it is pretty obvious to most involved with local Oswestry football, that big problems need to be addressed.
It has been well publicised in lower working football circles that the Sunday game is dying, and along with that so is Saturday adult football. There are a number of reasons, but in Oswestry one sticks out to me. There are simply TOO MANY teams.
This isn't something you hear in many towns that are the size of Oswestry but here that is the case. I was counting up and I come up with a considerable amount of teams in the area. And it is concerning:
The New Saints - PROFESSIONAL
Ellesmere Rangers
St Martins
Morda United
FC Oswestry Town
Weston Rhyn
St Martins Village
Lynclys
Gobowen Celtic
Llanymynech
Four Crosses
Four Crosses Reserves
Llansanffraid
Chirk AAA
14 sides there, in and around the Oswestry area, and I have probably missed one or two. Granted no one from Oswestry really plays for TNS, however the other 13 sides will be out to attract similar players.
Last season we had Oswestry Villa and Oswestry Villa Reserves which I feel is great, bringing back names such as them and old names such as Gobowen Celtic is great for tradition and it takes Oswestry back to old times.
However I think in this day and age it might be killing off local football, or making a mockery of it. It can be argued that these teams that come and go will sustain the amount of sides there are.
But wouldn't people rather have four or five teams in the English leagues, and the traditional ones over the border like Ffraid and Crosses who will raise good sides and compete, rather than have 13 sides battling for players and struggling to stay afloat.
It seems there is a merry-go-round of players and clubs, but I wish the new clubs well and admire their ambition to get teams going. I hope they will be sustained.
Another reason could be the lack of commitment by players. In my view, the commitment of players is lower than it used to be when I watched Morda as a child.
And it is a million miles away from the commitment showed in the 70's and 80's so I am told. But there are other forms of football people concentrate on like six a side league's. That could be another factor clawing down Saturday football.
At the end of the day, at any level of football, it comes down to one thing and one thing only. Money.
At amatuer level money is everything. Unless there is a big financial backer then clubs will struggle. They do there own fundraising things, sponsors, and run little ideas here and there to stay afloat and that shows the commitment that still runs through the committee's.
Some clubs have everything done for players, such as nets up, kits washed, fees paid. But most don't and I think some players get tired of paying 'subs' every week. Again that boils down to the fact the English FA don't look at grass roots football, even though at times it is one of the most important aspects of the game.
That is where the Welsh FA towers above them, with the grants they give out every year. Maybe that is another thing that needs to be addressed.
And finally, a point that not too many people seem to grasp is the fact that junior football is hurting adult amatuer football.
Children now play in competitive leagues from say the age of nine. Most teams have a manager and an assistant from under 9's to under 18's. That is nine years of training once a week, ringing players, washing kits, turning up to a sloping pitch with no lines in the pouring rain every week to give kids the chance to play.
By the time that is over and adult football comes along, most players will step up, but the majority of managers won't.
It is a shame but you can't blame them, as they have had nine years of it already.
All these points I think add up to explain why adult football sometimes suffers in Oswestry, and is definately suffering all over England.
Maybe someone with some power might read this, but I doubt they will.
However I think it is pretty obvious to most involved with local Oswestry football, that big problems need to be addressed.
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