Stonesfan

Wealdstone fan here. Agree with everything that the Chesterfield fan has said. This league is brutal. The bigger ex Football League sides like yourself understandably hate being in this division. Totally get it. We once had to drop into level 5 of the non league pyramid. We're talking average crowds of 100. We thought we'd walk it but lo and behold every one man and his dog team raised their game against us. The following season our manager focused on stronger characters than gifted individuals and we won the league. This is exactly what happens in the NL. The plucky non league clubs like ourselves are absolutely desperate to stay here. Playing big ex league teams like yourselves is always going to be a motivator. You also have established and well funded non league clubs such as Solihull and Bromley going for the football league. They tend to be big, physical and organised sides who can grind out results against the genuine big boys. We've played you four times and have won two and drawn two. Something doesn't add up when a team of part timers can get those results against a professional club. What I saw in Oldham Athletic was a team of excellent individuals but little in the way genuine cohesion or team spirit. As was alluded to above you need to build a team with the right mindset. One that will go toe to toe with those teams just desperate to stay in the NL. When a team goes down on 52 points as Borehamwood did, that shows you how much competition there is just to stay here. See you next season.