(05 Sep 2013, 7:24 pm)fozzovmurton wrote Yes, it is sad the Northern League wont take the chance and that will not change anytime soon. The fact is, at least half the Northern League would be more than able to hold there own in the Evo Stik, but we cant forget a lot of teams had there day at the next level and failed, most recently Durham, lost there sponsors a few years ago and ended up voluntarily relegated, Newcastle Blue Star went into liquidation, Spennymoor United went bust, Bishop returned, as did Whitley Bay, and North Shields went tits up in the 90's. The only successful teams to come from the Northern League is Blyth and Whitby and to a certain extent Gretna, who are battling it out in the Evo-Stik and in 10 years time we will probably be added to that list.
The Northern Leagues main concern i think is not getting getting relegated teams in return for teams going up because no team in the Evo Stik falls within the Northern League Footprint.
It is quite possibly the strongest Step 5(Level 9) League in England and there is a perfectly valid reason for that, when the Pyramid was formed in 1979 they wanted no part of it, they were offered the chance to feed the Alliance Premier(Conference) but dug there heels in and stubbornly rejected the chance, by the time they were forced to join in, things like ground criteria meant they had no chance of feeding the Conference, and I believe that is why there massive Southern Bias at Step 2 and this is why teams like Bishops Stortford, Histon, Oxford City, Worcester, Gloucester have played in Conference North at some point.
My solution would be to make promotion mandatory on condition that your ground meets the relevant criteria, and can only refuse promotion if it can be proved that it would be massively detrimental to finances, I would also bar any step 5 team who refuses promotion from the FA Vase the following season and put them in the FA Trophy instead as that is the competition they should be in.
I think the only way Northern League teams right now would take promotion would be if a load of teams were taken en masse, but Blyth and Whitby have proved it can be sustained other teams should lool to them to see what can happen when you try for better things
Using Histon as an example, it wasn't long ago that the were up there, near the top of the Conference.
I went to the game at Eppleton where they played Durham in the final FA Cup qualifier and Durham more than held their own.
If Durham had won that game, they would have ended up playing Swindon Town - probably securing their future, with or without a sponsor.
It is a shame Durham and their pitch caused so many problems - especially as they were on an up at the time, having ex-Newcastle and Sunderland youth team players, probably playing below their level.
Totally agree, the promotion should be compulsory.
Imagine if Blyth Spartans had taken the opportunity to get promotion at their peak of the late 70's/early 80's?
Spennymoor are always there or there abouts and the likes of Whitley Bay and Bedlington Terriers have wasted away in the division - they're only half the teams they used to be.
Hebburn Town almost qualified for the FA Cup First Round Proper a year or two back and they're nowt special compared to the other teams in that league.
All it needs is for one or two teams to take the promotion, steady themselves in the Evo Stick and it should hopefully inspire a few more.
I have had family play for teams in the Northern League as well as a couple of mates and although they might not have been good enough to play league football, there are some who are.
Michael McKay was banging in the goals for in the Northern League before Hartlepool picked him up.