Remember, this is a division painstakingly designed to keep its members safe. The two-up, two-down system means every team starts the season – theoretically at least – with a 16.6 per cent chance of winning promotion versus an 8.3 per cent chance of going down. To beat odds like that, something has to go very wrong.
Oldham and Scunthorpe offer recent examples of just how wrong things can go, but there is a long and infamous lineage stretching from Leyton Orient and Darlington all the way back to Doncaster in 1997.
Rochdale buck the trend. There’s nothing chaotic about the team from Spotland. No behind the scenes strife, at least beyond the usual stresses of trying to keep a provincial club off the breadline.
Habitat
They didn’t overstretch, rack up debt or flog their stadium. The owners never lost interest. They were simply overtaken by the dismal economic climate and the rise of newly-monied rivals.
April’s relegation was just the eighth time the Lancastrians have changed division in their 116-year history, the majority of which was spent uneventfully chugging along in the fourth tier.
Esta historia es de la edición June 11, 2023 de The Non-League Football Paper.
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Esta historia es de la edición June 11, 2023 de The Non-League Football Paper.
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SHAKERS REVEL IN MAKING HISTORY
DAVE McNabb says Bury's FA Cup heroes are proud to be writing their own chapters in club history.
WILCOX: WE FEEL COMPLETE WITH WIN
RUSS WILCOX'S verdict after watching his Gainsborough Trinity side outmuscle and outplay their hosts was that it was \"probably our most complete performance\".
CRACKER BY KABIA TOPPLES TUDORS!
ASSISTANT boss Stewart Yetton said his Truro City side were good value for their win over table-toppers Hemel Hempstead Town.
BRAKES PUT STOP ON BORO BATTLERS
SEPARATED only by goal difference before kick-off, these sides remain neck and neck in the embryonic table after playing out 90 minutes in the October sunshine that was a great advert for the division.
BOSS COTT'S GOT A REALLY GOOD THING WITH ROVERS
STEVE Cotterill hailed Forest Green Rovers’ first class performance as they produced a spirited comeback to topple fellow high-flyers Eastleigh at the Silverlake Stadium.
SKIPS STEER HEED'S SHIP
GATESHEAD captains of the past and present are playing a lead role in helping the National League club move on from the departure of FA Trophy-winning manager Rob Elliot.
FA CUP PREVIEW: SWEET! 'DREAM' DRAW IS CHANCE OF OUR LIFETIME
DAVE NORTHFIELD says minnows Biggleswade FC were like 'kids in a sweet shop' when they drew out York City in what he describes as the 'draw of a lifetime'.
PARKER'S HEART IS STILL AT HOME
FORMER England right-back Paul Parker has revealed he would never completely rule out a return to management – but says he would only do so for one of his beloved local clubs.
LOCALS RALLY TO REBUILD BRIDGE
WHEN committee members at Bamber Bridge set out to raise £30,000 to protect the club's future, they were apprehensive about the response they'd get.
RUTHLESS BEES FIND THEIR FEET
ASTERLING second-half performance resulted in league leaders Barnet brushing aside a Boston United outfit that led at the interval through Keaton Ward’s early strike.