Thetownend.com

Anyone know why L2 to L1 there is 4 teams promoted and 4, obviously, relegated when the other leagues are all 3 up and down

to give the scum false hope, i think   ;)

Yes that was my understanding too, its to give as many dross, dregs, waste of time teams as possible the illusion they are involved in the promotion race. Non league fodder like the pox for instance can get all excited every year that they're competing with the big boys in divvy four, and maybe just maybe this could be the year all their dreams come true and they get to mix it in the rarified air  of the promised land of division three... when in reality everyone knows they'll be right back where they started the next season. That being a horrible little club in a three sided shit heap ina hotel carpark. In Swindon's shadow. Forever.

*spit*

I assume it has something to do with when the lower division where geographically split?

I always thought it was because the bottom two divisions were bigger than the top two.

They were until the Premier was shrunk in size now the 3 leagues are all 24 teams with the Premier League at 20.

Just seems a tad unfair on L1 teams being the only league with 4 getting relegated.

And I can't see any particular reason for it

When Div 3 was formed in 20/21 after the Great War, there was only the one league. The following year, 21/22, Div 3 North and South were formed. There was only 1 up from each league, but bottom 2 had to apply for re-election...bottom 2 from Div 2 going down, into either n or s depending on geography.

Speak to any Argyle fan and they will tell you how they finished runner up in Div 3 S 6 years in a row in the early 20's, without going up until winning the league in 1930.

So when Div 3 and 4 were formed after the 57/58 season...the idea of 4 clubs at the bottom was carried over, both into Div 3 relegation and Div 4 re-election.

3 up 3 down from Div 1 and Div 2, wasn't introduced until 73/74, happily it made no difference to us as we finished bottom of Div 2 anyway..

Swindon Town have been so bad in our most recent League One relegations we've not had to bemoan that extra place.

1994-95 in the (new money) Championship however? Grrrr.

Yep, certainly the most obvious example of how we got the wrong side of a league re-jig.

I'm still grateful though of how we managed to get a decent finish in 57/58 and so avoid starting 58/59 in Div 4. We had to apply for re-election the 2 previous seasons.

Alright Reg keep it friendly.

 ;)

I do remember my dad saying that it was almost a miracle that season that we finished so high when it mattered, and that we finished above Torquay who had finished well above us for the preceding 4 or 5 seasons. We actually pretty much swapped places in the league in the south/noth split season.

Torquay are a side he always considered as a rival right up until he died because of this I think! Ironically his last game at the County Ground (before he got buried there of course) was Swindon 2-1 Torquay under Sturrock in 2007 when Jutkiewicz scored a cracker from outside the box seconds after Torquay equalized.

Great Youtube clip of that moment, from the Torquay fans perspective. I smile whenever I watch it.

That is one of the best videos on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd8quF6epSM

Sums up football: a short moment of ecstasy/relief/jubilation, followed by crushing disappointment.

I love the end.

After that game a youngish Torquay fan walked past me and Si Pie crying. We obviously pointed and laughed and she said, "Fuck off you cunts, you've relegated us!" Cue much enjoyment.

I like seeing other teams supporters crying. Is that wrong?

Nope. Not wrong.. It's football not the special Olympics.

Anyone who cries at football should be shot, same goes for the lame arses who sit with their heads in their hands, long after every sane person is back in the pub.

I can't imagine any scenario at game that would cause me to shed a tear and I'm a modern man in touch with my feelings  :gay:

I cried when we lost to Wrexham 4-3 in 1995. But I was about 6 and that was the first time I'd ever seen us lose!

Pretty sure I shed a tear when we got relegated at Ashton Gate.. But I was smashed so it doesn't count. Besides, I've been drinking bear, shagging birds, eating hot curries, changing car tyres and doing DIY every single day since then so I'm still a man or whatever the code is these days.

I cried when Oxford got relegated to the Conference.

I didn't realise how much laughing was needed before it turned to tears

Yeah, that bear is strong stuff!!

Was it Hofmeister?

The way the Hoffmiester bear walks is how I imagine Steve Evans walks. Smug.

I never thought I'd see football being compared so accurately to DMR's sex life.

Tears are entirely the wrong emotion for football, resignation with perhaps a dash of short lived anger is what's required, when the shit hits the fan.

It's the sort of thing which distinguishes us from this

(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/Reg__Smeeton/scummer.jpg) (http://s5.photobucket.com/user/Reg__Smeeton/media/scummer.jpg.html)

That was deliberate. Real men drink bears.

I defy any Town fan not to roll around with laughter watching those Scummers in tears when they went back to their natural position after a brief flirt with the league. The fact there were Town connections - Ling, Alexander, easton made it even better. 
Thats what football is all about. Its not only about your own team - its about finding joy in the ineptness of your rivals.

A little known fact :If you cried every time we lost, there are seasons where you'd be dead from dehydration by Christmas.

I must admit that Charlie Henry's goal against the Pikeys in the PO Final second leg at the CG brought  a tear to my eye.

I think it was the sheer relief/joy of the fact that it was one of those games where it looked like we were never going to score, and that despite finishing the season well clear in third that we would fuck up in the (first ever) play-offs.

Never been close to crying at defeat/relegation, it happens with us far too often & usually is fairly obvious it's going to happen

I got a bit of moisture in my eyes when we played swansea 6 or 7 years ago, played with ten men for about 70 minutes. Swansea scored after about 75 minutes, and the whole ground got up and urged the team on, Simon Cox ended up scoring a 98th minute penalty.

I put it down to a hangover

I cried after we lost to 3-0 at home to Bristol City in 94/95.  We made Junior Bent look like a World beater for fuck sake.  Even as a young lad though I had the good sense to wait until I was well away from the ground.  Still not right though, someone should have slapped me.

You did. On me. Heh heh heh...

Junior Bent scored the first goal I ever saw at a competitive football match (STFC vs Bristol City, Sept 1990).  Little runt.  He used to have one good game a season, and it was always against us.

Not usually a depressive drinker, I must admit to having had a mawkishly sentimental spell on the night we had achieved promotion to the Premiership.  I felt unworthy to be about to see Swindon in the elite of English football, knowing that generation after generation of loyal fans would have died without having seen, or for the most part even having dreamt of such a chapter in the club's history.

The only time I actually cried was with tears of laughter that afternoon the goals wouldn't stop going in as 1-4 transformed to 6-4 and St Andrews seemed to empty as quickly and casually as a muddy bath