Thetownend.com

Super early for all this, but I notice the odds for League Two Champions in 2023/4 are up and the top two are... Wrexham and Notts County. Which will be a fair bit because of the hype around Wrexham, but gives an idea of how up against it we are for next year.

Wrexham 7/2
Notts County 6/1
Gillingham 10/1
Franchise 12/1
Mansfield 14/1

All others 20/1 or lower, we're 25/1 with Morecambe, Walsall and Newport, which is depressing as fuck.

Still, the bookies don't know everything. I guess this thread is mostly to look at other clubs ahead of next season!

I am convinced that Wrexham and Notts County will have a first season similar to Salford and Stockport - everyone tipping them for the title and to go up again only to find that the reality is different.  However the difference this time around (in Wrexhams case in particular) is that when they realise that going up again is more difficult than expected, they will throw a ton of cash at it, because they can.

I expect Wrexham to be in or around the play offs next season but then learn from their mistakes and have a real go the following season.  I also reckon Phil Parkinson will lose his job by the January Window.

If we do things right, I think there is a real chance to get Autos this season, I think the next season is going to be the tougher ask.

This is all just my opinion of course.

Thing is who has a sodding clue at this point in time considering that the model for most clubs at this level is now a massive churn of players each summer with them being barely recognisable at the end of August... As a case in point the fans survey thing in WSC last summer had us down as favourites for the title based on what other fans were thinking.

Of those noted, Notts County did very well, but they started looking vulnerable the end of the season and play offs, plus I suspect the lad who got all the goals (and possibly others) will be tempted up a level, the ways its going Morecambe at best look like being Swindon 2021-22 next season as their ownership issues show no sign of being sorted either way.

Its little better than sticking a pin in at this stage.

But you can see that the Gills and Wrexham have decent backing. OK that's not a guarantee, but I can see why the bookies have the top 6 as they are.

Was talking to a few other TEF'ers about this very thing.

Obviously the teams that are coming up Wrexham and Notts County will have a large backing financially, both had budgets way bigger than ours was this season in a division lower.

Mansfield, Gillingham, Salford/Stockport/Bradford (delete 1 if they get promotion) all large budgets.

MKD will also have a fair whack financially.

Crawley have a large budget too for Lindsey to waste, probably still far more than our budget will be.

Add to this the relegated FGR who always have a large playing budget, Morecambe are in the process of being sold so could benefit from new owners in the Summer.

I would think that we wouldnt even feature in the top 8 playing budgets for the coming season so I can see why we don't figure in the top odds.

Next season will not be a walk over for Wrexham as the over all standard in the Conference is a fair bit lower than L2 with only probably the top 6 teams being able to compete at L2 level I would think.

But you need way more than a hefty financial backing to do well, you need team spirit and togetherness, a good level of fitness, lack of long term injuries and a lot of luck.

Do both Wrexham and Notts County have the advantage of not having to adhere to FPP rules for 3 seasons?

Financially is where it looks most rough IMO. However that’s not to say that finance = success, the issue will be clubs with bigger budgets fishing in the same pool of players as us and our business being effected because we have to potentially settle for our 3rd/4th options in some positions as our top targets got better offers elsewhere.

Wrexham can probably be taken out of that as they’ll be aiming for players probably a level up from everyone else.

That leaves Franchise, Stockport, Gillingham, Mansfield, Salford, FGR and Bradford (minus 1 for promotion) as clubs with higher budgets shopping in the same area as us. We’re at that level where a difference of a few hundred a week can make all the difference to a player and just being a big club in this division isn’t enough of a pull.

As others have mentioned though, that doesn’t mean that I think all these clubs with big budgets will walk the league (Wrexham will have a bit of a shock I think), I can just see it having an effect on our season in a sense that our 1st choice targets will probably have better financial offers elsewhere.

Fair point..

I'll take a top budget and risk failing on it any day :)

Also think Wrexham have a feeling of momentum that may appeal to players.

Worst case scenario it'll be phenomenal value on the after dinner circuit, right?

And to their bank balance.

Any relegation odds?

Morecambe unable to offer contracts currently, if you look at their retained list under 'offered new terms' it says 'none' with the likes of Cole Stockton walking away on a free. Think they're under an embargo due to a potential takeover. Quite fancy a dabble on them to fall straight through to non league.

Gonna be a teeth grinding season, I'm not talking about the football, but the whole Wrexham love in bollocks being around our league. Fuck off.

How much are Chester City shirts?  :hmmm:

The scarf will do  ;D

https://www.chesterfcretail.com/collections/casualwear/products/i-am-a-chester-fan-scarf

Do you get your money back if they don't make the start of the season.

I'm sure when push comes to shove the takeover will go through and they will re-sign players that haven't been poached.

Presently 6 contracted players for next season, don't think they are under embargo just no one really wants to spend money, as I have noted above I suspect their summer will be similar to ours in 21-22.

Here is a bit on Morecambe

https://www.morecambefc.com/news/2023/may/club-update-from-co-chairmen/

Barrow investing in the ground, albeit they do seem to be suing The Manor as a template.... https://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/23523198.images-barrow-afcs-renovated-holker-street-stadium/

Still training at FC United of Manchester ground though

Yeah I saw that, and the place they have moved from where they trained this year was also in Salford. I assume they have concluded that training over 100 miles from Barrow (2+ hours drive) makes it easier to attract players.

Yeah i think thats what the reason is

The sandwich run volunteer is going to have to be committed though

In a similar way to my local team Yeovil back in 97 who due to relegation were forced to play in the London centric Isthmian League. So the club decided to have all their training at a London base and signed players who lived in and around London. It worked and they won the league.

Indeed, albeit I suspect in Barrows case there is also a heavy dollop of realisation that attracting players to settle at the end of the country's longest cull-de-sac will be tricky.

TBF teams in the south west often suffer similarly, despite Somerset/Devon (ignoring Cornwall due to lack of teams) being a lovely place to live players rarely want to move down this way.

Yeovil is in the middle of nowhere an hour each way to any civilization pretty much and Exeter, Torquay and more so Plymouth have always suffered from players not wanting to relocate to the arse end of nowhere.

When do the fixtures come out?

June 22nd I think.

There’s always one who ruins my day!

 :nerner:

Aren't the odds generally set by punter trends? More people betting = shorter odds?

I can imagine both promoted clubs will have a disproportionate number of people betting on them to get promoted twice, especially Wrexham who do have the Hollywood "fairytale" to get extra interest (and extra bets).

Not to say that the budget for others in the division won't make it bloody tough to get out in the right direction next year, just that bookies' odds indicate only what people are betting on.

Tomorrow 9am, looking forward to it.

Are you that bored that you are answering your own questions now?

Yes

Remember years ago they used to give out pocket size fixture list as you entered the Townend turnstiles

I’ve got my colonoscopy tomorrow. Might be a tad more exciting then finding out when we play Barrow away.

Hey, not a bit of it.
The prospect of Barrow away on a Tuesday night in December or January is enthralling.

 :wtf:

First game

Mansfield away

Accrington home😆

Tought day for mansfield that, got Newport and Walsall at the same time if you saw what ive just seen

One of these years the fixtures will get leaked!

Amazes me how they don't as the club have had them over a week now

That's what I was thinking considering everything else in the world seems to get leaked.

A fake list gets leaked every year mind. Maybe the EFL stop it by purposely leaking a load of bollocks.

They make it so only a few members of staff can have access to them early and they have to sign NDAs. Seem to take that seriously

I’m surprised the regular know it all’s don’t know it.
I expect once the fixtures are announced they can tell us that they knew.

Club are giving away 2 free tickets if you quote tweet the correct first home game choice.

Do it quick if you want to enter. I've gone for Morecambe.

haha! Boom! edit - or not! We end at home to Morecambe. So technically I was the most wrong I could have been!!

Morecambe on the final day, you literally could not have been more wrong.

Yeah I misread the notification.

Colchester away first game of the season. Was told this was the case a few weeks ago.

Wrexham at home on Boxing Day has Sky Sports written all over it in big letters.

October looks shitty.

6 games, 4 away to Bradford, Notts County, Salford and Franchise

April contains a few relegation 6 pointers.

Not an easy first month by any stretch of the imagination!

That October is very rough

 :D

I knew so far in advance I bought my tickets a month ago.

I was looking over it thinking a lot of these look tough. I guess that's just the sad state of mind i'm in with our relative spending power/squad and a lot of this league.

Away at Colchester should be fun for a bit of Garner baiting at least. FGR and Wrexham away in the first 4 is pretty tough to start with.

Also, why we playing on Friday 29th December? Assume they have got the dates wrong and that should be the 30th?

If they have fucked up its the FL not the club as everyone is playing on the 29th.

I would assume due to the need to fit a game between boxing day and new years its equidistant between the two.

Wrexham away is much too early.
We have a habit of going unbeaten till Wrexham away (by habit I mean twice that I can remember)

Should be Sat 30th though right? Or its Friday evening which seems mad.

Both Gillingham games are midweek

We often play on the 29th, it's my birthday so often plan my evening around it.

But its half way between the Boxing Day and News years game which I assume is the thinking, if it were the Saturday they would be playing twice in 3 days?

Feck knows, I assume if it were an issue it would have been raised by now if the clubs (And the ITK'ers  ;) ) have known these fixtures for a few weeks.

Not with a game on 1st Jan as well.
Evening kick off on the Friday.

Didn’t know where to put this so will whack it in here.

Each of the last three championship season - the team who are Huddersfield first home opponent have gone up as Champions.

This season the privilege goes to Leicester City

Lump on

Wrexham fans moaning about having to travel a "big distance" on Boxing Day  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick: Non league attitude.

They'll have more to moan about when they're stood on the Bank when it's pissing down & freezing :)

You'd have to say that if you were storyboarding a Netflix documentary, freezing to death on the bank on Boxing Day as your team stagnate in midtable would be a good mid-season dip before the inevitable rise to promotion. Fingers crossed we manage the middle bit at least...

No they won't cos most will be waiting for bits of it to be shown on Netflix in their warm American home.

In the calendar as 3pm KO at present.

7.45 according to the BBC, as are all those on that date.

Fair enough. The clubs synced calendar is wrong then.

Bloody hell Accrington, Tuesday night back end of November  ::)

Difficult start with 3 of the 1st 4 games being away, could be 4 out of the first 5 if we get drawn away in the 1st round of the League Cup too.

I forgot that was today

(2:30, Sky Sports)

Could be a god send, we have been gash at home in recent years.

Not sure, took us 6 games to get a win away last season and only 3 to get a home win.

Colchester have been a right dodgy team for us over recent years right, 1 win for us in the last 3 seasons, and haven't beaten them at their place since 2016. Maybe that will change with Garner there. It will certainly be interesting to see how any 'new' style we have fairs against how we know Garner's team will play.

Any surprise Salford v Wrexham is the fixture for the international weekend. And they reckon it’s random.

Someone raised the point on Twitter that since 2017, we’ve only spent one season above League Two level and that was behind closed doors (minus a couple games).

So home fans have only watched in person, League Two football since 2017. Compare that to us previously going down into League Two and more or less coming straight back up, the overall negative atmosphere is put in context a little bit more in my opinion.

Surely both teams will have too many players away on international duty causing it to be postponed😀

And that particular League One season was an enormous train wreck from shortly after the start until the finish.

Wouldn't sky force them to play it like when we played FGR two seasons back?

This sums up why I feel the way I do. A gnawing base level of depression and resentment at what is an historically poor decade in the long history of the club. That's where the "get behind the club! we are lucky to have one!" schtick gets wearing. I am still here, still hoping, still behind the team on matchday. But it still hurts like hell.

So bored of hearing about fucking Wrexham already. Long season ahead, hope we're good!

I'm not sure how it works I thought if you had 3 away on international duty the club could call the game off but I may be wrong.

Rather like Macbeth is “The Scottish Play” I think we should refer to them as “The Welsh Club”.

I know there’s Newport but whatever. Bored of reading the word Wrexham!

They may just surprise the media circus and struggle😀

Maybe the Mickey Mouse club?

Genuinely had three people who are casual Prem team followers asking when Swindon are playing them like im meant to give a shit more than when we play any other league 2 club. Urgh.

Phew, at least they aren't real fans  :)
Strange lot in this country, have to tag onto anything with publicity/put up on a plinth.

The 51st State?

Bah, they have Deadpool but we have THE FLASH.
No contest if it came to some ass kicking.

Lets have it!

Getting bored about hearing about Wrexham starts at home guys..  They are literally doing nothing and we are still talking about them..

As a new ST holder, what’s my chances of getting tickets for FGR?

Fairly good I think as I believe the points system starts afresh.