Mick's Musings
Wed 6th August 2014 | Rick Bailey Blog | By Mick Storey
LEAGUE TABLES IN WEEK ONE - FUN, FACT OR FARCE?
When I offered to write some articles for this website, one of the things I set out to do was to try and concentrate on the positive aspects of non-league football, and if at all possible avoid having a moan.
But with only a few days elapsed in the new season, permit me if you will to share a little bugbear of mine with you.
It's not like it's a new problem, in fact it has existed for as long as I have followed football, and it's unlikely to go away either.
Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you - league tables in week one of the season, and even worse, people who take them seriously.
Let's face it - league tables in the first couple of weeks of any season in any league are as much use to anyone as a chocolate fireguard. But still, media outlets the length and breadth of the country publish them for consumption by an audience who appear to demand them.
That's bad enough, but worse still are the players and supporters who take the publication of these as an excuse to celebrate being "top of the table". And, if they happen to be meeting someone who has also managed to win a game in the opening week, we are regaled with the allegedly tantalising prospect that we are about witness a "Top of the Table Clash!". Do me a favour.
If it was down to me I would outlaw the publication of so called league tables until at least four or five fixtures have been fulfilled by the majority of clubs in a league.
But even then, it could be pretty meaningless. If you take the North West Counties as an example, it only takes for one or more of the clubs to have a good run in the early rounds of the FA Cup and FA Vase and they are miles behind on their league fixtures by the middle of September.
The fact they are being successful is good news, but it doesn't half make a mockery of the league tables. It could be that the form team in the league, a team that has won mroe games than anyone else, might actually be down near the bottom of the table, because they will have played more cup games than league games.
So forgive me if I don't take any notice of "good early league form" or "sitting in the top three" for now - I'll leave those who find that interesting at this stage of the season to work themselves up into an unrealistic and pointless state of excitement.
In the meantime, I'll start looking at the league tables at some point near the end of September - when it might just start to mean something.
Until the next time.........
Mick
The views expressed by Mick Storey in this column are his own, and do not represent the views of the North West Counties Football League Management Committee or League officers.
Mick's Musings
Wed 6th August 2014 | Rick Bailey Blog
By Mick Storey
LEAGUE TABLES IN WEEK ONE - FUN, FACT OR FARCE?
When I offered to write some articles for this website, one of the things I set out to do was to try and concentrate on the positive aspects of non-league football, and if at all possible avoid having a moan.
But with only a few days elapsed in the new season, permit me if you will to share a little bugbear of mine with you.
It's not like it's a new problem, in fact it has existed for as long as I have followed football, and it's unlikely to go away either.
Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you - league tables in week one of the season, and even worse, people who take them seriously.
Let's face it - league tables in the first couple of weeks of any season in any league are as much use to anyone as a chocolate fireguard. But still, media outlets the length and breadth of the country publish them for consumption by an audience who appear to demand them.
That's bad enough, but worse still are the players and supporters who take the publication of these as an excuse to celebrate being "top of the table". And, if they happen to be meeting someone who has also managed to win a game in the opening week, we are regaled with the allegedly tantalising prospect that we are about witness a "Top of the Table Clash!". Do me a favour.
If it was down to me I would outlaw the publication of so called league tables until at least four or five fixtures have been fulfilled by the majority of clubs in a league.
But even then, it could be pretty meaningless. If you take the North West Counties as an example, it only takes for one or more of the clubs to have a good run in the early rounds of the FA Cup and FA Vase and they are miles behind on their league fixtures by the middle of September.
The fact they are being successful is good news, but it doesn't half make a mockery of the league tables. It could be that the form team in the league, a team that has won mroe games than anyone else, might actually be down near the bottom of the table, because they will have played more cup games than league games.
So forgive me if I don't take any notice of "good early league form" or "sitting in the top three" for now - I'll leave those who find that interesting at this stage of the season to work themselves up into an unrealistic and pointless state of excitement.
In the meantime, I'll start looking at the league tables at some point near the end of September - when it might just start to mean something.
Until the next time.........
Mick
The views expressed by Mick Storey in this column are his own, and do not represent the views of the North West Counties Football League Management Committee or League officers.
