Conference Anybody getting faintly nostalgic for the National League

[Lost Marbles]

I think the reason I look back on our non-league days more fondly than other people is that I hardly went to any matches! Looking at Futbology, I went to two away games in the North West (where I was living at the time) towards the end of our relegation season out of the league. In 2007: only a 1-0 win away at Southport. 2008: No Oxford games. 2009: The aforementioned Northwich game, the "missed penalty" home win against Luton (one of my favourite games ever) and a 1-0 home win over Yeovil. 2010: A 1-0 win away at Altrincham, the away play off semi-final at Rushden & Diamonds and of course Wembley.

So a grand total of seven Conference games. This wasn't because I didn't want to attend non-league games (I also went to quite a few FC United games at the time with a friend who supported them), more that I was not living the most sensible life at the time and was usually completely skint!

I also had a Setanta subscription but my only memory of that is being 3-0 up against Torquay and my friend turning to me with 20 minutes to go and saying, "if they don't score in the next minute, you've won this". 30 seconds later they scored and we drew 3-3!

 

[Stranger]

I think I'll make myself watch this every time I feel like moaning about GW.

Gawwy Wowett?

 

[Emilio]

I remember the odd good game against the likes of Crawley, Dagenham, and Stevenage.

Probably easier to remember as we have also played them all in the Leagues One/Two.

 

[Steve McAvoy]

No

 

[Londox]

Quite incredible the teams we once shared a league with!

Histon are in the United Counties League Premier Division South (Step 5/Tier 9) . They average 164 fans at home games.

Farsley Celtic FC do not exist.

Rushden & Diamonds do not exist.

Droylsden are in the the North West Counties League Division One North (Step 5/tier 9). There is no available information on their attendances.

Northwich Victoria still exist but their club effectively split in two. They play in the midland League premier division (Step 5/tier 9) No information available on their attendances.

Lewes play in Isthmian Premier Division (step 3/ tier 7). Nice stadium. 760 fans averaged at home games.

Grays Athletic play in Isthmian League north division (Step 4/tier 8). They groundshare with neighbours Tilbury. They average 184 supporters at home games.

Stafford Rangers play in the Northern Premier League West DIvision (step 4/tier 8). They average 581 spectators at home games.

Weymouth are in the Southern League Premier South (step 3/tier 7) average attendance 761

Hayes and Yeading United play in the Isthmian League South Central (Step 4/tier 8) Their ground is in Southall really. Average of 222 spectators at home games.

Shout outs to Eastbourne Borough (Step 2) and Kettering (Step 3)



Not sure what possessed me to look into that. Please drop a like and subscribe.

I apologise if anyone had a PTSD reaction to this post. Please talk to your loved ones.

 

[Royalstandard74]

The YouTube algorithm threw this up for me the other day. No, I do not want to watch that again.

When we were in Leagues 1 and 2, drawing a Conference or lower side in the FA Cup first or second rounds was always fun. Having to do that every week became a chore in the Conference. The second season in particular (2007-08) was particularly drab as we went nowhere.

Never again, thanks.

Deary me, that was a hard watch! What was the importance of this result for Droylsdon? They were celebrating like it was a cup final?

 

[Mateo Corbo's Tackle]

Gawwy Wowett?

Or the poor guy still thinks Gary Waddock is our manager. Imagine that…

 

[TheDukeOfBanburyshire]

Gawwy Wowett?

Whoops!

Yes he insists on being referred to like that since the lion riding incident.

 

[m]

Deary me, that was a hard watch! What was the importance of this result for Droylsdon? They were celebrating like it was a cup final?

First ever win at that level!

(I didn't know, but subjected myself to the full thing with sound on)

 

[Emilio]

Or the poor guy still thinks Gary Waddock is our manager. Imagine that…

Ah yes, the 7 defeats and 2-0 win away at Plymouth. What a memorable 8 games.

 

[Peterdev]

The game I enjoyed most was against Luton Town in the Conference. Big crowd and great match entertainment.
Would rather play them in the championship or higher…the only team we have played in all five divisions

 

[Marked Ox]

Quite incredible the teams we once shared a league with!

Histon are in the United Counties League Premier Division South (Step 5/Tier 9) . They average 164 fans at home games.

Farsley Celtic FC do not exist.

Rushden & Diamonds do not exist.

Droylsden are in the the North West Counties League Division One North (Step 5/tier 9). There is no available information on their attendances.

Northwich Victoria still exist but their club effectively split in two. They play in the midland League premier division (Step 5/tier 9) No information available on their attendances.

Lewes play in Isthmian Premier Division (step 3/ tier 7). Nice stadium. 760 fans averaged at home games.

Grays Athletic play in Isthmian League north division (Step 4/tier 8). They groundshare with neighbours Tilbury. They average 184 supporters at home games.

Stafford Rangers play in the Northern Premier League West DIvision (step 4/tier 8). They average 581 spectators at home games.

Weymouth are in the Southern League Premier South (step 3/tier 7) average attendance 761

Hayes and Yeading United play in the Isthmian League South Central (Step 4/tier 8) Their ground is in Southall really. Average of 222 spectators at home games.

Shout outs to Eastbourne Borough (Step 2) and Kettering (Step 3)



Not sure what possessed me to look into that. Please drop a like and subscribe.

I apologise if anyone had a PTSD reaction to this post. Please talk to your loved ones.

Slight update:

Farsley are starting up next season I think after they finally got rid of their awful last owner. Albeit they will start at a lower level.

AFC R&D (the phoenix club) are in the NPL regional (Midlands) League. They fantastically play at a ground called the Dog and Duck in a groundshare with Wellingborough Town who are in the same league.

Grays are moving into their own ground as they have got the expunged Thurrock Utd's ground now after the ground was empty for a fair while.

Edit: Droyslden are still owned by Dave Pace who is currently their manager and they have a home average crowd of 476. Their biggest crowd so far was 624 vs AFC Blackpool and their lowest was 354 vs Fulwood Amateurs. The info is from the North West Counties Lg Website.

 

[WuTang]

Quite incredible the teams we once shared a league with!

Histon are in the United Counties League Premier Division South (Step 5/Tier 9) . They average 164 fans at home games.

Farsley Celtic FC do not exist.

Rushden & Diamonds do not exist.

Droylsden are in the the North West Counties League Division One North (Step 5/tier 9). There is no available information on their attendances.

Northwich Victoria still exist but their club effectively split in two. They play in the midland League premier division (Step 5/tier 9) No information available on their attendances.

Lewes play in Isthmian Premier Division (step 3/ tier 7). Nice stadium. 760 fans averaged at home games.

Grays Athletic play in Isthmian League north division (Step 4/tier 8). They groundshare with neighbours Tilbury. They average 184 supporters at home games.

Stafford Rangers play in the Northern Premier League West DIvision (step 4/tier 8). They average 581 spectators at home games.

Weymouth are in the Southern League Premier South (step 3/tier 7) average attendance 761

Hayes and Yeading United play in the Isthmian League South Central (Step 4/tier 8) Their ground is in Southall really. Average of 222 spectators at home games.

Shout outs to Eastbourne Borough (Step 2) and Kettering (Step 3)



Not sure what possessed me to look into that. Please drop a like and subscribe.

I apologise if anyone had a PTSD reaction to this post. Please talk to your loved ones.

I notice you went this "shared a league with" when you probably could have opted for "once lost a league game to"

 

[Londox]

I notice you went this "shared a league with" when you probably could have opted for "once lost a league game to"

I'm trying not to ruin people's Friday.

Histon finished above us and Grays finished one point below us.

Would have been fun if our time in the conference coincided with Oxford city.

 

[WuTang]

I'm trying not to ruin people's Friday.

Histon finished above us and Grays finished one point below us.

Would have been fun if our time in the conference coincided with Oxford city.

Shudder!

 

[Londox]

Shudder!

The ultras were great in the conference era. Used to love the boys coming out to a wall of yellow smoke and Tele wavers.

 

[Marked Ox]

I think the reason I look back on our non-league days more fondly than other people is that I hardly went to any matches! Looking at Futbology, I went to two away games in the North West (where I was living at the time) towards the end of our relegation season out of the league. In 2007: only a 1-0 win away at Southport. 2008: No Oxford games. 2009: The aforementioned Northwich game, the "missed penalty" home win against Luton (one of my favourite games ever) and a 1-0 home win over Yeovil. 2010: A 1-0 win away at Altrincham, the away play off semi-final at Rushden & Diamonds and of course Wembley.

So a grand total of seven Conference games. This wasn't because I didn't want to attend non-league games (I also went to quite a few FC United games at the time with a friend who supported them), more that I was not living the most sensible life at the time and was usually completely skint!

I also had a Setanta subscription but my only memory of that is being 3-0 up against Torquay and my friend turning to me with 20 minutes to go and saying, "if they don't score in the next minute, you've won this". 30 seconds later they scored and we drew 3-3!

This always warrants another look:

 

[WuTang]

The ultras were great in the conference era. Used to love the boys coming out to a wall of yellow smoke and Tele wavers.

I've compiled as many photos as I could from that era, here's some good ones, these are all 09-10 season.

Barrow



Crawley


Grays





Kidderminster





Salisbury



And 100s more where they came from!

 

[Canterburyexile]

No

 

[MarkG]

In 2006 I’d moved to Guildford for work and didn’t know anyone so needed something to do on saturdays other than watch the racing.

Not sure if it was the first or second conference season but we had a lot of teams in the south east or accessible from London . Woking , Aldershot, Gravesend and Northfleet (Ebbsfleet), Grays , Crawley , Stevenage , St Albans , Lewes , Eastbourne , Histon, Tonbridge Angels.

 

[OnlyOneUnited]

The YouTube algorithm threw this up for me the other day. No, I do not want to watch that again.

When we were in Leagues 1 and 2, drawing a Conference or lower side in the FA Cup first or second rounds was always fun. Having to do that every week became a chore in the Conference. The second season in particular (2007-08) was particularly drab as we went nowhere.

Never again, thanks.

Just watched all of this for some reason. Main questions, who was Roy Hodgson scouting at 3:40? And why did Jody Banim never play for England?

 

[SamLongSlidingTackle]

Quite incredible the teams we once shared a league with!

Histon are in the United Counties League Premier Division South (Step 5/Tier 9) . They average 164 fans at home games.

Farsley Celtic FC do not exist.

Rushden & Diamonds do not exist.

Droylsden are in the the North West Counties League Division One North (Step 5/tier 9). There is no available information on their attendances.

Northwich Victoria still exist but their club effectively split in two. They play in the midland League premier division (Step 5/tier 9) No information available on their attendances.

Lewes play in Isthmian Premier Division (step 3/ tier 7). Nice stadium. 760 fans averaged at home games.

Grays Athletic play in Isthmian League north division (Step 4/tier 8). They groundshare with neighbours Tilbury. They average 184 supporters at home games.

Stafford Rangers play in the Northern Premier League West DIvision (step 4/tier 8). They average 581 spectators at home games.

Weymouth are in the Southern League Premier South (step 3/tier 7) average attendance 761

Hayes and Yeading United play in the Isthmian League South Central (Step 4/tier 8) Their ground is in Southall really. Average of 222 spectators at home games.

Shout outs to Eastbourne Borough (Step 2) and Kettering (Step 3)



Not sure what possessed me to look into that. Please drop a like and subscribe.

I apologise if anyone had a PTSD reaction to this post. Please talk to your loved ones.

Always had a soft spot for Rushden. I remember playing champ manager and Turley always doing well for them and signed him a few times. Said to my dad we should sign him. So I was happy to see him sign for us when he did.

 

[WuTang]

Always had a soft spot for Rushden. I remember playing champ manager and Turley always doing well for them and signed him a few times. Said to my dad we should sign him. So I was happy to see him sign for us when he did.

Remember standing on the away end terrace (slope) at Rockingham Road against Kettering. Alfie Potter ripped us apart and I remember walking away with my dad agreeing that if we sign anyone in the summer it has to be that little winger. Couldn't believe it when we he joined us the following summer, even more satisfying when he turned out so well for us. Maybe should have taken up scouting full time!

 

[Essexyellows]

Ah yes that run at the start of the first season............... big fish, small pond.

Then the wheels fell off and it got rather painful until.........

"Oxford United are back in the Football League", still gives me goosebumps that!

 

[holdsteady]

If we had gone up in the first season then I would probably say I look back on it fondly, I enjoyed the start when we were flying and the end when we were promoted, think the 3 years in between was a bit overkill though.

Some fond memories, but then you should have over 4 years, so can’t just forget about it, enjoyed the first trip to Forest Green for example, probably don’t need to visit Nailsworth twice in your life though, nothing against the place but if you have been in the local pub once on a Friday then you have seen its bright lights. Same with a lot of the places, have been in that pub near Crawleys ground more than some near my house.

That’s another problem, Crawley, Stevenage, FGR etc followed us up, they were supposed to be a one and done, not be in nodding terms with the landlord of the pub next door.

 

[tonyw]

I've compiled as many photos as I could from that era, here's some good ones, these are all 09-10 season.

Well I'm going to say it - 2009/10 was more fun than not.
For starters, we played 54 games that season and won 31 of them, scoring twice as many goals as we conceded.
We often outnumbered home fans at their garden sheds, and sometimes (as WuTang's photos show) we worked up a good atmosphere
And it was capped off by one of the best days I can remembers at the Kasstad (playoff semi vs. R&D) and then the best football day I can ever remember watching the Wembley win.

There were some low points (from March 2nd to April 2nd, we only managed to win one out of eight games including losing twice to Hayes & Yeading and getting schooled by Stevenage; also the Luton away game......or at least injury time in it). And obviously the football was dreadful. But I enjoyed it on the whole, even if I was desperately ready to get back into the Football League.

I was, however, fortunate enough to be living in another country for the 2007/08 and 2008/09 seasons, so I didn't have to endure those in person (and there was no OUTV back then!)


I'm not going to try and claim it was better than the Championship......but man, there's days where I miss winning. Only 19 of them (from 71 games) in all competitions since the beginning of last season........

 

[holdsteady]

I think a better question, rather than the conference days as a whole which include our second ever visit to and a win at Wembley leading to a promotion, is does anyone ever get nostalgic for the Patterson era?

The true low point of being an Oxford fan, Trainer, Ledgister etc, for me, lowest crowds, a nothing season against tiny opposition some of whom barely exist now, losing fairly often to that level of opponent, the novelty had worn off and the stark realisation that we were not walking straight back out of the league.

 

[JerryL]

I think a better question, rather than the conference days as a whole which include our second ever visit to and a win at Wembley leading to a promotion, is does anyone ever get nostalgic for the Patterson era?

The true low point of being an Oxford fan, Trainer, Ledgister etc, for me, lowest crowds, a nothing season against tiny opposition some of whom barely exist now, losing fairly often to that level of opponent, the novelty had worn off and the stark realisation that we were not walking straight back out of the league.

Sorta nostalgic but only cause i was 17-18 at the time and that was the first time (and only time) where I had disposable income and turned up to a few games, its coloured my perception of a lot of things up to now cause i kinda came in at a low point and stuck around, that kinda in the trenches gallows humour feeling with the people that were showing up at that level regardless and literally everything else has been miles better since
There was that sorta simplicity to everything that i like about football lower down that you lose a bit when youre an absolutely massive huge footballing behemoth club like we are

The team sheet from back then makes me shudder a bit, mind

 

[SamLongSlidingTackle]

"Oxford United are back in the Football League", still gives me goosebumps that!

I sometimes watch that part of the video just to hear this. MAGIC.

 

[SamLongSlidingTackle]

Remember standing on the away end terrace (slope) at Rockingham Road against Kettering. Alfie Potter ripped us apart and I remember walking away with my dad agreeing that if we sign anyone in the summer it has to be that little winger. Couldn't believe it when we he joined us the following summer, even more satisfying when he turned out so well for us. Maybe should have taken up scouting full time!