Fox Sports World is carrying this game in the US on Wed (11/19) at 2:45 EST (7:45 in UK), so I guess that it is live. I found web sites for these teams, but neither had a map. In my GB road atlas I found two towns on the North shore of the Thames, less than 10 miles apart. Are those the ones? Where are they relative to each other in the leagues? Is there a web site that lists all the smaller leagues? Dick.
Those are indeed the two teams. Southend are second last in Div 3 while Canvey Island are top of the Ryman Premier. If both stay in those positions then they'll both be playing against each other in the conference next season. I'd say a cup shock is highly likely and it should be a good tie - just don't expect silky flowing football or a stadium remotely resembling anything given such a name in the US.
Last week, FSW showed us the Yeovil Town / Wrexham game, which was certainly entertaining. And, the stadium was much like a small high school stadium in these parts, so I won't be expecting anything like Old Trafford. Where does the "Ryman League" (which also seems to be known as the Isthmian Football League) fit in to the global scheme. Is it below Nationwide Conference (which I assume is below Nationwide Div 3)? This would mean that the two teams are at least one whole conference apart? I assume we must cheer for Canvey Island, since they must be real underdogs. Dick.
Canvey Island won't be anything like Yeovil either! It's a typical non-league ground, which essentially is terracing on four sides, about half a dozen people deep, with a small stand on one side. There'll almost certainly be some cover down one side which will look like a slightly expanded bike shed. It's also very near the sea, so expect at least one shot picking out a boat in the distance. Inevitably there'll also be a shot of a small boy looking unhappy as his side is a goal down, and a very old man leaning on the fence. You'll be able to hear the comments of individual members of the crowd as well, many of which will be clearly heard turning the air bluer than the evening sky. The Rymans is one of 3 regional divisions below the Nationwide conference, which is indeed the division directly below Div 3.
Another interesting fact about Canvey's ground is that it's below sea level. There's a sea wall a few hundred yards behind one end of the ground. It's a very small ground that's barely up to Conference standard. Yeovil's ground, otoh, is actually pretty nice and holds about 10k.
Now that we see it, it's a better ground than I expected. Are the stands on each side of the roofed stand temporary ones, brought in for this game? Southend U's poor position in the Conference has been mentioned. What happens to the bottom (three?) teams? If they are relegated, to where? Where do the replacement teams come from? The first half was certainly entertaining. Dick.
Southend are in the 3rd division at the moment, currently sitting second from bottom, which as it stands is one of the two relegation positions to the Conference. The Conference champions together with the winner of the playoff between the sides ranked 2nd to 5th will be promoted. Incidentally, next season the Conference should be expanding to encompass two new regional 2nd divisions (north and south), Canvey are certainly in contention for winning the Ryman this year, which will see them into the existing Conference division below the League, but unless they collapse badly will be certain of making this second tier.
Right. I shouldn't have written during half time, while I was trying to listen to the commentators. But, what does happen at the bottom of the Conference? By chasing down web sites, I have found that the bottom 3 last year, moved as follows: Nuneaton -> Dr Martens League Southport -> Northern Premier League Kettering -> Ryman League Does the club have to find a League in which to play? Did the 3 teams promoted into the Conference come from the same 3 Leagues? They are: Accrington Stanley Aldershot Town Tamworth Dick.
Well it'll change at the end of this year, but up to now the situation has been the bottom three sides relegated to the feeders, with one promoted from each. Of course it doens't necessarily work out that easily. Firstly only the top two sides in each feeder are eligible for promotion, so if neither of them meet the Conference's criteria, then that division won't promoted anyone, meaning one Conference club will be saved. As for the divisions the relegated sides go into, that depends on their location. The Unibond covers northern areas, the Dr Martens the midlands/south west and the Rymans is based around the south east. The latter two league in particular do tend to overlap in their coverage. Sometimes it is easy to split the sides three ways, other times less so (say if three northern sides were to go down). There is also the possibilty of teams moving sideways, from one of these feeders to another, Burton being a recent example (Dr Martens to Unibond). These feeders also have to accept the relegated sides, although as a result of the Unibond refusing Barrow (expelled from the Conference), they were forced to accomodate them by the FA, as a result they now have 23 sides in their top division.
No, that's what their ground looks like. They made a number of improvements a couple of years ago to bring it up to Conference standard. Their aim is to move to a new ground, so they've only done the minimum they need to to gain admittance to the Conference.