UCL Review 2012-13_9a2d718c

EDITORIAL

Welcome to the 2013 ChromaSport & Trophies United Counties League Review . For the second time we are producing the publication in electronic form after twenty nine years in print. The change will make the Review more accessible to all. It has been another interesting year on and off the field. Football Association decisions made last summer saw five new clubs allocated to us and these all proved to be good assets to the league. North Leicestershire pair Quorn and Shepshed Dynamo were placed with us after their relegations from the Northern Premier League while new trio in Division One AFC Rushden & Diamonds, Oadby Town and Harrowby United all proved their worth by finishing in the top six of the section. The arrival of Diamonds proved a big boost to their fellow clubs as they enjoyed spectacular support wherever they travelled, and an early season derby at Rushden & Higham drew the second tier’s highest attendance in over sixty years. In one or two cases clubs had more than half of their season’s attendance in the one match against Diamonds! The Premier Division race wasn’t quite so close with Holbeach’s relentless consistency winning the day with a bit to spare. The Tigers did not seek promotion though so there was also a thrilling race within a race going on for second between St Ives and Spalding. This one went to the closing minutes of the season until a late goal gave the Saints the win required at Shepshed to pip the Tulips. St Ives will play in the Central Division of the Southern League next season and will be hoping to follow the success enjoyed by fellow recent promotees Daventry, St Neots and Kings Lynn. At the other end of the Premier Division the relegation battle was fascinating. Irchester were well adrift but with the season drawing to a close seven other clubs remained at risk of the drop. A dismal finish saw Blackstones occupy the next to bottom place as their 25 year stay in the top flight came to a sad end. The 2013-14 season will see a number of further changes in membership with four clubs departing and five more joining us. Increasing numbers of constitutional changes look set to be with us for the long term as a consequence of the FA’s review of steps 5 and 6 in 2012. A happy departure is St Ives moving to step 4, while Quorn and Shepshed have been shuffled sideways to the Midland Football Alliance after just one season with us. Saddest departure is Wootton Blue Cross after 58 years with the league. After struggling for a couple of years they hve opted to drop into the step 7 Bedfordshire County League. Joining us are Woodford United who return after seven years in the Southern League and Peterborough Sports, promoted from the Peterborough League. The requests of Wisbech Town and Lutterworth Athletic to switch from the Eastern Counties and East Midlands Counties Leagues respectively were supported by the Football Association which also allocated St Neots Saints to Division One after interviewing club representatives. The lower grade produced an unforgettable promotion race with Sileby and Diamonds eventually going up, although fellow contenders Eynesbury and Oadby would also have made worthy additions to the top flight.

The new campaign will see a milestone achieved in Division One which will become all floodlit for the first time. Progress indeed.

Generally the league remains in good health but one area of concern is that of reserve football. Five of last season’s second strings have withdrawn with just two clubs returning from brief absences. With just twenty clubs it was decided, after consultation with clubs, to revert to a single reserve section for the first time in three decades. It is hoped that numbers will increase in years to come and if this does happen we may have to revisit the prospect of regionalisation of reserve football.

Jeremy Biggs – Review Editor

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