Conference Torquay United

[Marked Ox]

I remember Lee Steele scoring twice there in a 3-2 win.

 

[bashamwonderland]

A purely empirical exercise, I’ve devised the ultimate fourth division. Clubs that just give the vibes of being in the EFL but nearly always in the lowest division of it. If you told me that any two of these sides were playing each other this weekend, it would so feel like a fourth-division fixture.

In no particular order:

1. Torquay
2. York
3. Carlisle
4. Bury
5. Macclesfield
6. Rochdale
7. Northampton
8. Exeter
9. Leyton Orient
10. Shrewsbury
11. Wrexham
12. Grimsby
13. Scunthorpe
14. Hartlepool
15. Mansfield
16. Crewe
17. Walsall
18. Cambridge
19. Cheltenham
20. Doncaster
21. Newport County
22. Stockport
23. Hereford
24. Darlington

Honourable mentions:

• Hull City but only before the move to the KC Stadium. Boothferry Park was so fourth tier. Likewise Swansea at the Vetch Field who could fly through the divisions and then fall back just as quickly.
• Barnet could well qualify for yo-yo status between the fourth tier and NL.
• Wycombe’s recent history has seen them steer clear of the list. I ummed and ahhed whether they should be there. Colchester and Lincoln also have too many non-league vibes.

Honourable mention for Dagenham and Redbridge.

I also agree that Hull City are a League 2 club.

 

[holdsteady]

I have always disliked Torquay, not sure why, but can't stand them

But sad to see, but this is going to be happening to lots of clubs down the leagues.

Celtic, Reading and Torquay is a strange list of clubs to hate.

 

[Steve Gilbert]

Celtic, Reading and Torquay is a strange list of clubs to hate.

Tbf my list of clubs I can’t stand is Swindon, Reading, Luton and Lincoln.

 

[MarkG]

That’s a bloody good list.

I wonder what percentage of football supporters would put us in the Championship version, given some here think that’s our “natural” level.

I expect 0% outside an OX postcode.

I'd like to think we could become a top 41 club but would struggle to be much more than a top 42 to top 44 club.
Staying in the Championship seems to rely on there being either very poor teams and/or clubs with severe financial problems.
However a new stadium bounce would hopefully boost crowds and team performance.

 

[windmill]

Rochdale in trouble also. Torquay playing Aveley tomorrow. Population 9000. Just shows how quickly it can happen.

 

[swolley]

I would add Colchester to that list, probably relegate Hereford or Macclesfield to the conference, maybe a play off to settle it

 

[Marston Road yellow]

Tbf my list of clubs I can’t stand is Swindon, Reading, Luton and Lincoln.

Totally agree on Swindon Reading and Luton.
For me it’s also Birmingham and Wycombe.

But Wycombe in more of an annoying little brat kind of way.

 

[m]

A purely empirical exercise, I’ve devised the ultimate fourth division. Clubs that just give the vibes of being in the EFL but nearly always in the lowest division of it. If you told me that any two of these sides were playing each other this weekend, it would so feel like a fourth-division fixture.

In no particular order:

1. Torquay
2. York
3. Carlisle
4. Bury
5. Macclesfield
6. Rochdale
7. Northampton
8. Exeter
9. Leyton Orient
10. Shrewsbury
11. Wrexham
12. Grimsby
13. Scunthorpe
14. Hartlepool
15. Mansfield
16. Crewe
17. Walsall
18. Cambridge
19. Cheltenham
20. Doncaster
21. Newport County
22. Stockport
23. Hereford
24. Darlington

Honourable mentions:

• Hull City but only before the move to the KC Stadium. Boothferry Park was so fourth tier. Likewise Swansea at the Vetch Field who could fly through the divisions and then fall back just as quickly.
• Barnet could well qualify for yo-yo status between the fourth tier and NL.
• Wycombe’s recent history has seen them steer clear of the list. I ummed and ahhed whether they should be there. Colchester and Lincoln also have too many non-league vibes.

Hali-faax

(Delivered in a 'Grim up North' stylee)

 

[holdsteady]

A purely empirical exercise, I’ve devised the ultimate fourth division. Clubs that just give the vibes of being in the EFL but nearly always in the lowest division of it. If you told me that any two of these sides were playing each other this weekend, it would so feel like a fourth-division fixture.

In no particular order:

1. Torquay
2. York
3. Carlisle
4. Bury
5. Macclesfield
6. Rochdale
7. Northampton
8. Exeter
9. Leyton Orient
10. Shrewsbury
11. Wrexham
12. Grimsby
13. Scunthorpe
14. Hartlepool
15. Mansfield
16. Crewe
17. Walsall
18. Cambridge
19. Cheltenham
20. Doncaster
21. Newport County
22. Stockport
23. Hereford
24. Darlington

Honourable mentions:

• Hull City but only before the move to the KC Stadium. Boothferry Park was so fourth tier. Likewise Swansea at the Vetch Field who could fly through the divisions and then fall back just as quickly.
• Barnet could well qualify for yo-yo status between the fourth tier and NL.
• Wycombe’s recent history has seen them steer clear of the list. I ummed and ahhed whether they should be there. Colchester and Lincoln also have too many non-league vibes.

Quite a lot of clubs not currently in the fourth division, 2 up and down from the conference has ruined it for you a bit, if that hadn’t of changed I reckon a good chunk of these teams would still be battling to finish 16th in the fourth division.

 

[unification]

That’s a bloody good list.

I wonder what percentage of football supporters would put us in the Championship version, given some here think that’s our “natural” level.

I expect 0% outside an OX postcode.

Oh, we're prime third tier. Obviously we've had our ups and downs but I suspect if you drew an average league position over all FL seasons we'd end up somewhere in the third tier.

The ultimate third tier to me looks like this. The first 18 or so were easy to reel off but the last six were a lot trickier. Hull and Wigan, for example, have history in the lower leagues but with jazzy new stadiums rise up a few notches. Brentford and Bournemouth need to be pushed back down here to their 'natural' level. I had to put MK Dons in somewhere and there they are ...

I'd be cool with a league that looked like that. And I put Swindon last for the lols.

1. Oxford
2. Peterborough
3. Bristol Rovers
4. Port Vale
5. Southend
6. Plymouth
7. Blackpool
8. Rotherham
9. Gillingham
10. Brentford
11. Bournemouth
12. Millwall
13. Chesterfield
14. Wycombe
15. Huddersfield
16. MK Dons
17. Bradford
18. Wigan
19. Portsmouth
20. Barnsley
21. Luton
22. Hull
23. Reading
24. Swindon

 

[unification]

Honourable mention for Dagenham and Redbridge.

I also agree that Hull City are a League 2 club.

Waaaay too non-league for me, Clive.

I would add Colchester to that list, probably relegate Hereford or Macclesfield to the conference, maybe a play off to settle it

Colchester, Hereford and Macclesfield would be a in a forever three way battle to avoid the drop. Up pop Lincoln and Barnet again and then they're replaced with one of the three I just mentioned.

Hali-faax

(Delivered in a 'Grim up North' stylee)

I think an absence of 24 years from the EFL makes them kind of forgettable. Looking into their history, they're prime fourth tier fodder.

Quite a lot of clubs not currently in the fourth division, 2 up and down from the conference has ruined it for you a bit, if that hadn’t of changed I reckon a good chunk of these teams would still be battling to finish 16th in the fourth division.

Yep. It's very much built on vibes. One up and one down would mean a lot of these sides being s**t for years but still in no real danger.

Oh, and a mainstay of 'fourth division' vibes is a team staying up because the winner of the 'Vauxhall Conference' didn't have their ground up to FL standards *chefs kiss *.

 

[SteMerritt]

I'd be cool with a league that looked like that. And I put Swindon last for the lols.

1. Oxford
2. Peterborough
3. Bristol Rovers
4. Port Vale
5. Southend
6. Plymouth
7. Blackpool
8. Rotherham
9. Gillingham
10. Brentford
11. Bournemouth
12. Millwall
13. Chesterfield
14. Wycombe
15. Huddersfield
16. MK Dons
17. Bradford
18. Wigan
19. Portsmouth
20. Barnsley
21. Luton
22. Hull
23. Reading
24. Swindon

I'd probably swap Huddersfield Town for Swansea City, and MK Dons for Walsall, if you are looking for 'typically third tier'

 

[bashamwonderland]

Oh, we're prime third tier. Obviously we've had our ups and downs but I suspect if you drew an average league position over all FL seasons we'd end up somewhere in the third tier.

The ultimate third tier to me looks like this. The first 18 or so were easy to reel off but the last six were a lot trickier. Hull and Wigan, for example, have history in the lower leagues but with jazzy new stadiums rise up a few notches. Brentford and Bournemouth need to be pushed back down here to their 'natural' level. I had to put MK Dons in somewhere and there they are ...

I'd be cool with a league that looked like that. And I put Swindon last for the lols.

1. Oxford
2. Peterborough
3. Bristol Rovers
4. Port Vale
5. Southend
6. Plymouth
7. Blackpool
8. Rotherham
9. Gillingham
10. Brentford
11. Bournemouth
12. Millwall
13. Chesterfield
14. Wycombe
15. Huddersfield
16. MK Dons
17. Bradford
18. Wigan
19. Portsmouth
20. Barnsley
21. Luton
22. Hull
23. Reading
24. Swindon

Sir, please may I enter the following name for your consideration:

Scunthorpe United

Division 2, or 3?

 

[Wandering Yellow]

A purely empirical exercise, I’ve devised the ultimate fourth division. Clubs that just give the vibes of being in the EFL but nearly always in the lowest division of it. If you told me that any two of these sides were playing each other this weekend, it would so feel like a fourth-division fixture.

In no particular order:

1. Torquay
2. York
3. Carlisle
4. Bury
5. Macclesfield
6. Rochdale
7. Northampton
8. Exeter
9. Leyton Orient
10. Shrewsbury
11. Wrexham
12. Grimsby
13. Scunthorpe
14. Hartlepool
15. Mansfield
16. Crewe
17. Walsall
18. Cambridge
19. Cheltenham
20. Doncaster
21. Newport County
22. Stockport
23. Hereford
24. Darlington

Honourable mentions:

• Hull City but only before the move to the KC Stadium. Boothferry Park was so fourth tier. Likewise Swansea at the Vetch Field who could fly through the divisions and then fall back just as quickly.
• Barnet could well qualify for yo-yo status between the fourth tier and NL.
• Wycombe’s recent history has seen them steer clear of the list. I ummed and ahhed whether they should be there. Colchester and Lincoln also have too many non-league vibes.

Agree fully but harsh on Lincoln, only 5 seasons in non-league since 1920. They're a bigger club than Wycombe.

 

[holdsteady]

Agree fully but harsh on Lincoln, only 5 seasons in non-league since 1920. They're a bigger club than Wycombe.

If we are going to start listing clubs that are bigger than Wycombe then Yellows forum is going to need a new server and twenty more kids to keep up.

 

[Thomas/Brock/Jones]

Barrow ,Tranmere Rovers and Aldershot for the 4th tier also for me

 

[Marked Ox]

Where do the Wimbledon sit in this? Are they a new club or do they replace MK Dongs in the lists?

 

[holdsteady]

Who was in the fourth division in the first Football Manager game on the spectrum? That’s the ultimate 4th division for me.

 

[SteMerritt]

Who was in the fourth division in the first Football Manager game on the spectrum? That’s the ultimate 4th division for me.

Ah, Kevin Toms - programming legend. Good Call. Here's a screenshot...



(I had to pick Man City to start the game, so replace them with Reading).

You can play the Spectrum version of Football Manager online here: https://torinak.com/qaop/play/manager