Which of our non league teams could you see making the football league?

Stockton have good support but surely would have to relocate again to go higher due to location of ground and plastic pitch? Not sure of rules regarding ground capacity and how high you can go with artificial surface.
 
caravan club said:
Stockton have good support but surely would have to relocate again to go higher due to location of ground and plastic pitch? Not sure of rules regarding ground capacity and how high you can go with artificial surface.
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Sutton made it to league two with a plastic pitch.
 
Otto42 said:
Can only ever see the ex football league teams making it back, none of them will ever be capable of sustaining anything above lower third division as history has shown. Bournemouth and Brentford have only been able to break out of this cycle because of location and foreign investment. More likely we'll see clubs like Bromley and Boraham Wood in the league.
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Milton Keynes Dons took the place of Wimbledon.

Wimbledon went through the leagues from 8th or 9th tier.

Salford have done it as well.

I think stockton could attract 2k crowds if a stadium is found.
 
Redwurzel said:
Hartlepool, Darlington, York, Gateshead and Scarborough are all ex League teams. I think York has a bigger population than Middlesbrough, but its a middle class City without a significant football tradition.
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I had to look this up as I was so amazed by this.....
and it's not even nearly right.😂
York 220,000
Middlesbrough 390,000

Edit-I may have got this slightly wrong....🤦
 
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The Card Cheat said:
I had to look this up as I was so amazed by this.....
and it's not even nearly right.😂
York 220,000
Middlesbrough 390,000
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Middlesbrough is nowhere near that.

The population is about 150,000.

The population of the entirety of Teesside is about 400,000.
 
TeaCider said:
Middlesbrough is nowhere near that.

The population is about 150,000.
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Yeah I've had a mare here. If you put Middlesbrough population into Google it brings up the population of the entire Middlesbrough area, basically all of Teesside...
I thought it was a lot!🫣
 
The Card Cheat said:
Yeah I've had a mare here. If you put Middlesbrough population into Google it brings up the population of the entire Middlesbrough area, basically all of Teesside...
I thought it was a lot!🫣
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In terms of potential supporters though the population of Teesside is worth factoring in. Boro is Teesside's team, despite what gibbo said. York City isn't even York's team let alone any surrounding areas.
 
The population of stockton is 82.73K.

Stockton Town could sustain a 6th or 5th tier team with that.
 
Think I read before that Stocktons ground wouldn't be suitable if they got two more promotions, something to do with health and safety, number of exits etc. If they want to make it up the leagues they defo need a new ground, perhaps they could go back and play at Thornaby's ground
 
Moon said:
Think I read before that Stocktons ground wouldn't be suitable if they got two more promotions, something to do with health and safety, number of exits etc. If they want to make it up the leagues they defo need a new ground, perhaps they could go back and play at Thornaby's ground
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Synthonia must have had one of the biggest stands for the level that they played at. Shame things ended up as they did.

Durham worked their way up the Pyramind but then stalled due to their artificial pitch and main sponsor pulling out of the club. They finished the season with zero points!

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Davey_C said:
Synthonia must have had one of the biggest stands for the level that they played at. Shame things ended up as they did.

Durham worked their way up the Pyramind but then stalled due to their artificial pitch and that was that
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Synners had the longest cantilever stand in the country at one point, and floodlights before quite a few league clubs.

Once ICI sold up the ground must have cost a fortune to maintain.

A lost facility, possibly soon to be replaced but it will be nowhere near the size of Central Avenue.

Durham are absolutely knackered now, bit off too much.
 
in 1951 (the old) Stockton FC won the North Eastern league and applied to join the Third Division North. They were rejected and the League selected Workington instead (who had finished 5th and never won the league before) to replace New Brighton.
Following a strong FA Cup run the next year, Tommy Lowton's Notts County beat them in the 3rd round, Stockton applied again. Again they were rejected.
 
Davey_C said:
Did MFC not help out at any point? Would have made sense for the youth/U21 teams to play out of Synthonia rather than Bishop Auckland
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They did, Gibbo bought the ground I think, and our reserves played home games on Teesside. Boro juniors were using Billingham Town's ground around the same time.
 
Teams, none league or not, supporting themselves through attendances and fanbase is largely irrelevant now. Some "big" teams recently in none league and some tiny ones by comparison in leagues 1 and 2. The overriding factor is having owners being able to fund and plug the gap.

We are a prime example of that!
 
MickaelDebevePhenomenal said:
Teams, none league or not, supporting themselves through attendances and fanbase is largely irrelevant now. Some "big" teams recently in none league and some tiny ones by comparison in leagues 1 and 2. The overriding factor is having owners being able to fund and plug the gap.

We are a prime example of that!
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Its all about having a stadium that can generate income all year round and not just on matchdays

For every Cheltenham, Fleetwood, Burton, Stevenage, AFC Wimbledon, Barrow, Sutton, Crawley, Accrington, Morecambe, Salford, Forest Green Rovers and Harrogate there has to be a ..

Darlington, Hartlepool, York, Scarborough, Southend, Chesterfield, Halifax, Oldham, Rochdale, Scunthorpe Boston, Chester, Hereford, Torquay, Yeovil (some of which have played in the Championship and even one Premier League)

Look how long it took Wrexham to regain football league status. Some teams bounce back others just go backwards and maywell never see a return up the pyramid
 
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