Way Of The Park

Local football at it's very best.

Plymouth Civil Service used to put out very strong sides (think that they used to have dockyard workers in their ranks), great pitches and sports club as well. It's a housing estate now. One that came to me was the Co-op Dairy side that used to play in the Devon Wednesday League, read that this was where Mike Bickle (a milkman) caught the eye of St Austell and then Plymouth Argyle. Told they used to play at Unity Park in the Efford area of Plymouth, a really nice ground with a bowling green alongside it. Now also a housing estate,

Can remember a bygone era when factory teams used to play in the Plymouth area Sunday leagues. Companies such as Clark's, Toshiba, Wrigleys and Gleesons used to put out strong sides, and many had their own pitches and facilities. Were there factories in Cornwall that used to do this, the two I can think of were Holmans (who are still going) and J&F Pool, but how many others? Would also be really interesting to hear of any name South Western and Western League players who would have played alongside work colleagues, both in the Plymouth and Cornwall competitions.

Think that the PR people behind Newcastle and Tottenham need firing immediately, this move has completely thrown the players and the bus and made them public enemy number 1 (and an easy target for government distraction tactics). Sure that many players are already very active in what they are doing in the current crisis , Marcus Rashford being one that was prominent recently, not to mention the gestures made by the Neville brothers. The charity my wife works for has a very notable international footballer of African descent as a supporter and substantial donor (which he does anonymously and without any wish for publicity) and, this coming from a woman who has no interest in or time for football and previously subscribed to the thick and selfish footballers school of thought, says that he is one of the most intelligent,eloquent and engaging people she has met. Regarding funding of the NHS and other essential services, perhaps we should be looking at the likes of Uber, Amazon, Starbucks,Google and others (Duchy Of Cornwall?)who use our infrastructure,people and emergency services, but do not want to pay for it. Premier League footballers are just sports people who are at the top of a very precarious and small summit, and get paid handsomely for their dedication, sacrifices,professionalism and skills. Same as actors and musicians .They are not role models, heroes or even villains. As a final thought,to quote the German stand up comedian and social commentator Henning Wehn ,"in Germany we applaud our health service by funding it correctly."

That is a real possibility, it would be an acceleration of what has been happening over the past few years anyway. Of more immediate concern is the likelihood that some clubs could go under. If the economy takes anything like the hit that is being forecast, then sponsorship will be even more difficult to get hold and the amount of spare cash that could be spent in the clubhouse or on various lotteries and raffles will take a hit.

New season. Play the cups left over from 2019/20 as pre-season tournaments, but begin the new 2020/21 league season as soon as possible. As I said before, just don't see how the pro game can resume, or season completed, while international travel restrictions are in place (according to some medical professionals and academics,it could be a year to 18 months that these exist to varying degrees).

Was listening to Celtic manager Neil Lennon on the radio yesterday evening, he mentioned that most of their foreign players have gone back to their home countries. Would be very difficult to resume the pro game if restrictions on international travel are still in place, not to mention non availability of flights due to airlines grounding their fleets. Hopefully the non league game can start again in August/September, but struggling to see how the professional game can resume this year. Being positive, could be a boom time for non league attendances as football starved folk pack into grounds (within whatever measures are still in place though).

Really interesting interview. Sounds almost like it will be a director of football/head coach style relationship between Lee Hobbs and Matt Cusack. Heard it said before that Lee has an encyclopedic knowledge of the players on the local scene (certainly looked like the Bodmin's quality of player recruitment dropped off when he left), and that Matt was the best coach on the SWPL scene. This new managerial structure at Parkway should play to both their strengths.

Big appointment by Parkway, must have been quite a decision for Matt becoming number 2 to Lee Hobbs after being a successful manager at Saltash. Big move for Dane Banney as well, his previous record as manager at other clubs has been mixed.

So, if season 2019/20 is expunged, would any suspensions hanging over from season 2018/19 that were served at the beginning of this (expunged) season, now be reinstated? Similarly, are any suspensions that are still pending (or yellow cards that have been accumulated, but have not yet reached this point) wiped from the record?

Lot of people on here 100% Cornish who wish you well. When local football eventually starts again, we want you and Smokie to be regular sights at the grounds.

No problem with either Helston or Steve Massey. Got a lot of time for his thoughts.ambition,vision, and the direction he is intent on taking the club in. Was aimed at club (s) who have probably spent equally large sums of money over the last decade or so to no clear purpose.

I know, difficult to fathom a team spending alleged fortunes and not being able to take promotion.

The correct decision.

Great read Keith, The head of games at my school (Liskeard Comprehensive) was no fan of football, as rugby and athletics were his passions. Being a very tall child, and not necessarily quick across rthe ground and not a great ball handler, I was stuck in the scrum immediately as either a flanker or number 8. This miserable experience embedded my dislike of rugby union (which I still maintain to this day), and being the natural born contrarite that I am (this applies to all areas of my life, specifically music, politics,film and underdogs in general), decided that I would develop a deep love of football to counter act this. The more obscure the football the better, hence my love of the non league game.