Pilgrims' Patter
The Forum => The B-Ark => Topic started by: Tash on May 04, 2019, 10:32:52 PM
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https://www.bostonstandard.co.uk/sport/football/ranked-boston-united-named-a-staggering-49-players-in-their-squad-this-season-how-does-that-compare-to-recent-campaigns-1-8911050.
Well well not too dissimilar who’d have thought hey👋 :police:
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On this occasion, the stats say everything.
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Real eyeopener , More is less !
50 players = dour mid-table season .
42 players = play -offs , Golden boot awards , England C caps , various players named in CN Team of Year . Players that were sold by fees , and the majority moved on to play at a higher level .
Lets stick to 40 players !
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Here's something to ponder. Going further back, one of Boston United's best ever seasons was in 1966/7 in the West Midlands League. Only one substitute allowed in those days and Boston completed their fixtures using a grand total of just 17 players.
This season three Boston players played more than 40 games: George Willis (42+1); Andi Thanoj (42+2); Ryan Qualter (44).
In 66/7 nine players turned out more than 40 times: Don Donovan (45+1); Peter Thompson(46); Billy Howells(48); John Lakin(48); Ken Oxford(48); Geoff Barrowcliffe(50); Brian Clifton(51); Jimmy Rayner(51); David Robinson(51).
All the team sheets: http://www.bufc.drfox.org.uk/seas66.html (http://www.bufc.drfox.org.uk/seas66.html)
The player statistics: http://www.bufc.drfox.org.uk/stats66.html (http://www.bufc.drfox.org.uk/stats66.html)
The squad: http://www.bufc.drfox.org.uk/squad66.html (http://www.bufc.drfox.org.uk/squad66.html)
The final table: http://www.bufc.drfox.org.uk/tab66.html (http://www.bufc.drfox.org.uk/tab66.html)
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Oh dear, Ken, you make me feel old. I think that was the season I started watching United (it might have been the one before), and remember all those players very well (rather better than some more recent ones). I particularly remember beating Bromsgrove 9-1 that season. I was a youngster and standing right behind the goal on the slag heap that was the Town End, with not many people immediately around me, as I recall. Ken Oxford let a fairly tame Bromsgrove shot through his legs early on, and I could hear his irritated mutterings. I don't think he had much to do in the rest of the game...... With even an 8-year-old's grasp of Geography, I could never understand why we were playing in the West Midlands League - as I knew how long it took in those days to visit my grandma in Wolverhampton!
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PS Billy Howells was always a great favourite. It was a great thrill to meet him and have a chat and a photo at a supporters' meeting a few years ago.
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Here's something to ponder. Going further back, one of Boston United's best ever seasons was in 1966/7 in the West Midlands League. Only one substitute allowed in those days and Boston completed their fixtures using a grand total of just 17 players.
This season three Boston players played more than 40 games: George Willis (42+1); Andi Thanoj (42+2); Ryan Qualter (44).
In 66/7 nine players turned out more than 40 times: Don Donovan (45+1); Peter Thompson(46); Billy Howells(48); John Lakin(48); Ken Oxford(48); Geoff Barrowcliffe(50); Brian Clifton(51); Jimmy Rayner(51); David Robinson(51).
All the team sheets: http://www.bufc.drfox.org.uk/seas66.html (http://www.bufc.drfox.org.uk/seas66.html)
The player statistics: http://www.bufc.drfox.org.uk/stats66.html (http://www.bufc.drfox.org.uk/stats66.html)
The squad: http://www.bufc.drfox.org.uk/squad66.html (http://www.bufc.drfox.org.uk/squad66.html)
The final table: http://www.bufc.drfox.org.uk/tab66.html (http://www.bufc.drfox.org.uk/tab66.html)
I'm a firm believer that a settled side ultimately gets better results, it's got to consist of players with enough quality to at least hold their own. I'd much prefer to watch Ken's mentioned squad as above.
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Oh dear, Ken, you make me feel old. I think that was the season I started watching United (it might have been the one before), and remember all those players very well (rather better than some more recent ones). I particularly remember beating Bromsgrove 9-1 that season. I was a youngster and standing right behind the goal on the slag heap that was the Town End, with not many people immediately around me, as I recall. Ken Oxford let a fairly tame Bromsgrove shot through his legs early on, and I could hear his irritated mutterings. I don't think he had much to do in the rest of the game...... With even an 8-year-old's grasp of Geography, I could never understand why we were playing in the West Midlands League - as I knew how long it took in those days to visit my grandma in Wolverhampton!
That was my first season too OP - just reading those names had the memories come flooding back. Two of my early 'heroes' were left back Geoff Barrowcliffe (deadly penalty taker) and left winger Jimmy Fell.
As a youngster I adopted Everton as my favourite top-flight team - and they have remained as 'my' Premier League to this day. I mention this because on my very first visit to Goodison Park as a 11yr or 12yr old I was given a tour of the ground. Along the corridors were photos of the Toffees teams through the years and in the 1960/61/62 photos was none other than....Jimmy Fell. I remember making it very well and loudly known to the guide taking us round that Jimmy Fell had later been a Boston United player!!
And, on the subject of the number of players used in a season, what about this ?
https://www.footballwhispers.com/blog/how-aston-villa-won-the-league-with-14-players
Incredible by today's football, but I doubt many clubs used anymore than 19 or 20 players in that era - and probably only then because of injuries rather than any 'squad rotation'. Clubs played their 'usual' team in the Cup competitions too - so if a lower league club drew a First Division (Premier League for the younger fans) club in the FA Cup / League Cup, then you come up against the players that actually played in the First Division (as we did v Derby County in 1974), rather their reserve/fringe/younger players (as we did at Sheffield United in our Football League days).
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...and my first season! It looks like the England success left it's mark...and once I'd sampled the brilliance of that team, I was hooked!
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A settled team is a successful team.... which is why I'm surprised so many are so negative about tying down players ahead of next season early. While I have sympathy with the argument that they've contributed to a very poor season, I think it would be better to build on what we have with a modest number of sensible acquisitions than to rip the whole team up and start - yet again - from scratch.
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Agree there Pete. Having watched King's Lynn a few times recently, they seem to have a very settled squad. No loan players. No world beaters but work well together as a team - counts for a lot. 15 new signings will be dangerous - a big gamble.
TEP
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Agree there Pete. Having watched King's Lynn a few times recently, they seem to have a very settled squad. No loan players. No world beaters but work well together as a team - counts for a lot. 15 new signings will be dangerous - a big gamble.
TEP
I think a lot of people just want to bin off all the entire squad and sign a load of world beaters (relatively speaking). We can't even compete with Brackley's finances, so where they think we're getting the money to buy our way out the league is anyone's guess.
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Agree there Pete. Having watched King's Lynn a few times recently, they seem to have a very settled squad. No loan players. No world beaters but work well together as a team - counts for a lot. 15 new signings will be dangerous - a big gamble.
TEP
I think a lot of people just want to bin off all the entire squad and sign a load of world beaters (relatively speaking). We can't even compete with Brackley's finances, so where they think we're getting the money to buy our way out the league is anyone's guess.
So what is Brackleys budget and ours, so much is said about our budget but no one states a figure.
I would of thought that information is only available to the board, manager and of course the HM Customs etc.
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Brackley are considered to have the second biggest budget in the league. I'm guessing we're not number one.
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Brackley are considered to have the second biggest budget in the league. I'm guessing we're not number one.
Brackley always makes the play-offs , but never get promotion , canny manager I reckon !
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Brackley are considered to have the second biggest budget in the league. I'm guessing we're not number one.
Brackley always makes the play-offs , but never get promotion , canny manager I reckon !
Kevin Wilkin is someone l have admired for sometime, yes a very canny manager.
Yes they always fall at the last hurdle, but he will get there in the end.
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Brackley are considered to have the second biggest budget in the league. I'm guessing we're not number one.
Brackley always makes the play-offs , but never get promotion , canny manager I reckon !
Kevin Wilkin is someone l have admired for sometime, yes a very canny manager.
Yes they always fall at the last hurdle, but he will get there in the end.
I have a sort of conspiracy theory about serial runner ups.....Chairmen obviusly love the money gained in the push for playoffs and indeed the extra revenue the playoffs themselves bring. But I bet there's some who've breathed a private sigh of relief when an honourable defeat comes along, rather than the expense incurred going a division higher. I'm not tarring every club with the same brush by any means, but could some sides really afford to play in the higher division with their average gates and assumed much reduced revenue? I am suggesting however that possibly some chairman might well prefer to stay where they are. (And I'm not insinuating anything about ours)
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Brackley are considered to have the second biggest budget in the league. I'm guessing we're not number one.
Brackley always makes the play-offs , but never get promotion , canny manager I reckon !
Kevin Wilkin is someone l have admired for sometime, yes a very canny manager.
Yes they always fall at the last hurdle, but he will get there in the end.
I have a sort of conspiracy theory about serial runner ups.....Chairmen obviusly love the money gained in the push for playoffs and indeed the extra revenue the playoffs themselves bring. But I bet there's some who've breathed a private sigh of relief when an honourable defeat comes along, rather than the expense incurred going a division higher. I'm not tarring every club with the same brush by any means, but could some sides really afford to play in the higher division with their average gates and assumed much reduced revenue? I am suggesting however that possibly some chairman might well prefer to stay where they are. (And I'm not insinuating anything about ours)
I was thinking along different lines to that TTT .
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Wasn't that the accusation chucked at the Malkinson back in the 90s, that he was perfectly content with the club being a solid Unibond side but didn't want promotion? Leading into that grand conspiracy theory that did the rounds when John Blackwell "forgot" to send the form off applying for promotion that season (1995?).
I seem to recall Boston Town were considered similarly reluctant to win their league in the mid-90s! Andy Sandall might have been able to tell us if there was any truth in that if he were still around these forums.
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I thought with Boston Town it was because they didn't want to spend £1000s on doing up Tatt Road in order to be eligible for promotion. Since they have improved the ground, they've not had the team to get promoted!
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I thought with Boston Town it was because they didn't want to spend £1000s on doing up Tatt Road in order to be eligible for promotion. Since they have improved the ground, they've not had the team to get promoted!
That might be it. Am I right in thinking they actually won the league but didn't apply for promotion then?
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I thought with Boston Town it was because they didn't want to spend £1000s on doing up Tatt Road in order to be eligible for promotion. Since they have improved the ground, they've not had the team to get promoted!
That might be it. Am I right in thinking they actually won the league but didn't apply for promotion then?
1994/95 and 2000/01. We finished 2nd in the UniBond in 1995/96.