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.
Denne historien er fra June 11, 2023-utgaven av The Non-League Football Paper.
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Denne historien er fra June 11, 2023-utgaven av The Non-League Football Paper.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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CUT ABOVE THE REST!
ALAN JULIAN is fully on board with Hampton & Richmond Borough's serious message Movember even if he can't stop laughing at his players!
JOE IS SPECIAL GUEST STAR!
YATE TOWN 1 Guest EVESHAM UTD 0
GOAL ACE ROSS HAS PLENTY OF SHELF LIFE
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TEN-man Alvechurch fought their way to a first league victory since mid-September to kick off the Tim Flowers era with a precious three points.
HORNETS HAVE THE BUZZ FOR VICTORY!
THE CLASH between Wingate & Finchley and Horsham was a tight and fiercely contested affair, with Horsham emerging as narrow victors thanks to a second-half strike.
MACCA'S THE HERO IN 'NICK' OF TIME!
SUBSTITUTE Nick McCoootie grabbed a stoppage-time winner as Weston-superMare battled back from 3-2 down with five minutes left to clinch victory in this top-of-the-table thriller at the Woodspring.
SHOTS LAUD HERO HENRY
FRUSTRATED Phil Parkinson bemoaned the rigours of life on the road as Altrincham were blown away by Storm Bert and a resurgent Aldershot Town in a fruitless tenhour round-trip though the wind and rain.
GRAHAM GIVES UNITED BOUNCE
NEW Boston United manager Graham Coughlan ended the Pilgrims’ 11-match winless run with his first attempt, at the expense of fellow survival fighters Braintree Town.
