Ludgvan Withdraw

[Steve Carpenter]

Due to a combination of circumstances Ludgvan have today advised the League that they are withdrawing from the West Division with immediate effect.
As a result of this withdrawal only one team will be relegated from the West Division at the end of the 2022-23 season as per Rule 22f(iv) and Gunnislake will receive a 'bye' in the first round of the League Cup.

[THEMAGPIE]

Reserves gone as well? 

[Steve Carpenter]

11 hours ago, THEMAGPIE said:

Reserves gone as well? 

I believe that the reserves, now first team, are continuing in the Trelawny League.

[kevin richards]

This is so sad. Cornish football is falling apart. 😱

[John Mead]

The player "pool" is getting more and more shallow and it's getting more and more difficult to replace those who retire or who seek pastures new!

The loyalty shown by many Club officials is rarely found in players. I don't see how things can get better - but unless something changes, the number of Cornish Teams and players will continue to shrink.

[Mitchy]

Cost of living and more and more opportunities to work Saturdays, Sundays and earn a bit extra is becoming essential rather than a choice. Too many teams from little places and too many leagues don’t really help the matter.. 

[6times]

50 minutes ago, Lee Mitchell said:

Cost of living and more and more opportunities to work Saturdays, Sundays and earn a bit extra is becoming essential rather than a choice. Too many teams from little places and too many leagues don’t really help the matter.. 

yep nailed it random teams appearing in places where there’s already clubs , unless clubs have land /facilities I believe there should be no place for them , not pointing fingers but use drop ship as an example sure there’s countless more around . 
but agree with Kev Richards it’s in some state Cornish football .

[THEMAGPIE]

And Clubs then forming additional teams pulling from already scarce player pools locally!!! 

[cornish leg end]

Maybe they should have shared the influx of players from helston with Penzance for the season 😂😂

[Dave Deacon]

Presumably weren’t successful in filling vacant manager’s post that they advertised at the end of last season.

No manager during the summer and players are likely to wander elsewhere!

[Tommy Matthews]

Don’t forget, players can now get their football fix from midweek flexi leagues and not have to bother about training and commitment to Saturdays. They’re having fun with their mates and not having to worry too much about work issues either. It’s great for the FA’s retention figures but destroying Saturday leagues. 
Just a thought? 

[MattP]

6 hours ago, Tommy Matthews said:

Don’t forget, players can now get their football fix from midweek flexi leagues and not have to bother about training and commitment to Saturdays. They’re having fun with their mates and not having to worry too much about work issues either. It’s great for the FA’s retention figures but destroying Saturday leagues. 
Just a thought? 

And not forgetting the lads who turn up on a Saturday and make an honest tackle, only to get fined £12 by the FA for a yellow, on top of their subs that keep clubs going. The FA have a part to play in this 

[Richard Chown]

This is very sad to hear.

I have this discussion with many over the season.

Football to me was the only thing that mattered on a weekend.

The situation demographically is now very different.  Cornish villages no longer have young families living in them.  Young men now work for companies which open Saturdays and expect them to be in. More young men go to university than ever before. Self Employed don’t have a choice in current circumstances. But I think one of the single biggest effects on mens football is youth football. I now see clubs advertising under 5 teams by the time they are 16 they have basically played a decade of football and it no longer becomes attractive especially the thought of having to fight for a position on the pitch when coaches have told you how great you are for fear of losing you.

Also doen’t help when certain clubs in areas have 3+ teams in such a small catchment area. This is something that also effects mens cricket and rugby in Cornwall. 

 

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

4 hours ago, Richard Chown said:

This is very sad to hear.

I have this discussion with many over the season.

Football to me was the only thing that mattered on a weekend.

The situation demographically is now very different.  Cornish villages no longer have young families living in them.  Young men now work for companies which open Saturdays and expect them to be in. More young men go to university than ever before. Self Employed don’t have a choice in current circumstances. But I think one of the single biggest effects on mens football is youth football. I now see clubs advertising under 5 teams by the time they are 16 they have basically played a decade of football and it no longer becomes attractive especially the thought of having to fight for a position on the pitch when coaches have told you how great you are for fear of losing you.

Also doen’t help when certain clubs in areas have 3+ teams in such a small catchment area. This is something that also effects mens cricket and rugby in Cornwall. 

 

Organised youth football has had a big affect on players availability when they reach mens football,  as you said they have been playing for 10 years already!

I've seen kids dragged out in all winds and weathers, blue with the cold and rain and not even 3ft tall yet!

All to keep coaches and dads happy.

Football at 16 in a lot of cases ...not interested anymore, they'd rather have their freedom.

The number of kids I've spoken to over the years who no longer play all say the same thing, fed up with it, I want to do different things I've been playing 10 years.

I know one fella who was a hell of a player/goal scorer, did a couple of seasons in mens football and quit,  just fed up with it, chose to go to work privately on a Saturday or play golf if the fancy took him.

He'd had enough of the commitment he had already had put on him from 5 years of age.

[John Mead]

I know it could never happen in today's entitled society, but the old Cornwall Senior and Junior Leagues had a rule that you had to live or work within a 12 mile radius of the team you played for. It was very restrictive and gave a big advantage to the larger conurbations but it certainly had it's advantages for player retention and continuity.

[kevin richards]

4 hours ago, John Mead said:

I know it could never happen in today's entitled society, but the old Cornwall Senior and Junior Leagues had a rule that you had to live or work within a 12 mile radius of the team you played for. It was very restrictive and gave a big advantage to the larger conurbations but it certainly had it's advantages for player retention and continuity.

That would cut the number of clubs in Cornwall by half John. It’s certainly a solution. !!!

[cornish leg end]

10 hours ago, Richard Chown said:

This is very sad to hear.

I have this discussion with many over the season.

Football to me was the only thing that mattered on a weekend.

The situation demographically is now very different.  Cornish villages no longer have young families living in them.  Young men now work for companies which open Saturdays and expect them to be in. More young men go to university than ever before. Self Employed don’t have a choice in current circumstances. But I think one of the single biggest effects on mens football is youth football. I now see clubs advertising under 5 teams by the time they are 16 they have basically played a decade of football and it no longer becomes attractive especially the thought of having to fight for a position on the pitch when coaches have told you how great you are for fear of losing you.

Also doen’t help when certain clubs in areas have 3+ teams in such a small catchment area. This is something that also effects mens cricket and rugby in Cornwall. 

 

Hit the nail on the head here. 

[Gary Hocking]

4 hours ago, John Mead said:

I know it could never happen in today's entitled society, but the old Cornwall Senior and Junior Leagues had a rule that you had to live or work within a 12 mile radius of the team you played for. It was very restrictive and gave a big advantage to the larger conurbations but it certainly had it's advantages for player retention and continuity.

If that was the rule even I’d be in with a chance of getting 90 mins at Helston 🤪

[Martin Eddy]

Nobody has mentioned wall to wall televised football and a pint with your mates

[Tommy Matthews]

11 hours ago, TheolderIgetthebetterIwas said:

Organised youth football has had a big affect on players availability when they reach mens football,  as you said they have been playing for 10 years already!

I've seen kids dragged out in all winds and weathers, blue with the cold and rain and not even 3ft tall yet!

All to keep coaches and dads happy.

Football at 16 in a lot of cases ...not interested anymore, they'd rather have their freedom.

The number of kids I've spoken to over the years who no longer play all say the same thing, fed up with it, I want to do different things I've been playing 10 years.

I know one fella who was a hell of a player/goal scorer, did a couple of seasons in mens football and quit,  just fed up with it, chose to go to work privately on a Saturday or play golf if the fancy took him.

He'd had enough of the commitment he had already had put on him from 5 years of age.

I guess whichever way you go you can never please everyone. You coach them as kids and they blossom and you’ve done well. They give up through burn out, work or something else and no one’s achieved anything. Sport’s always about more than just the game. How many of us are better people for playing sport? How many of us have made lifelong friendships through sport? How many of us are better team players at work because of sport? How many of us are more tolerant of others and have a better moral compass because of sport? 

I know the player you’re talking about Dave and coached him myself. A real loss to the game and such a shame that he and others feel burnt out after playing since five year olds. 
 

I don’t have all the answers for sure, I guess the onus has to be on enjoyment before winning initially after all, who’s going to remember you as the best U-13 player around? 
 

The game has changed and not necessarily for the better. Let’s hope we can keep our local teams going for a few years yet. 

[Dave Bartlam]

On 08/07/2022 at 15:01, 6times said:

yep nailed it random teams appearing in places where there’s already clubs , unless clubs have land /facilities I believe there should be no place for them , not pointing fingers but use drop ship as an example sure there’s countless more around . 
but agree with Kev Richards it’s in some state Cornish football .

Whilst I get your point, I think using Dropship is a bad example. And the reason why is simple - they've sustained.

They were formed in 2017 and joined the West Cornwall Flexi League - a league that allows non-saturday players to play football. They were able to field two teams of non-saturday players and because of the accepting nature of the club, they didn't have superstars. They had players that had never played before. This resulted in them recording consecutive losses over the course of two seasons.

The whole point of the league and the club at the time was to get people playing football. During those two seasons, they sent Flexi players to clubs such as Storm and more noticeably, Four Lanes reserves. They then decided to enter a Saturday side.

This went well and since then, that small Flexi League team has grown into a club with 7 sustainable teams - including Ladies and a youth team.

They're also massively different to other clubs due to the nature of their geographic location. They have teams that play in Mabe, Cury, Nancegollan, Hayle (previously) and Falmouth. This is because Dropship simply can not find a ground of their own, despite their best efforts.

The club's that we need to focus on are the pop up clubs that disappear within a season or so. But the biggest factor without a doubt is player commitment and loyalty. As someone that's run a Club for 7 years and been part of them for almost 20... Commitment and loyalty are two of the biggest factors in what's destroying football. But I think as has already been said, the biggest factor is with social media and the way civilisation is now, we all simply have much better things to do that waste a whole day playing football. With the cost of living at an all time high, I can't blame anyone that feels they have no choice but to work in order to make ends meet.

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

1 hour ago, Tommy Matthews said:

I guess whichever way you go you can never please everyone. You coach them as kids and they blossom and you’ve done well. They give up through burn out, work or something else and no one’s achieved anything. Sport’s always about more than just the game. How many of us are better people for playing sport? How many of us have made lifelong friendships through sport? How many of us are better team players at work because of sport? How many of us are more tolerant of others and have a better moral compass because of sport? 

I know the player you’re talking about Dave and coached him myself. A real loss to the game and such a shame that he and others feel burnt out after playing since five year olds. 
 

I don’t have all the answers for sure, I guess the onus has to be on enjoyment before winning initially after all, who’s going to remember you as the best U-13 player around? 
 

The game has changed and not necessarily for the better. Let’s hope we can keep our local teams going for a few years yet. 

Spot on Tom, sports friends and camaraderie are for life and without a doubt participating makes you a better person.

And. Spot on, winning is not the be all and end all, especially for the young 'uns' and wish their parents and coaches understood that and had a more jumpers for goalposts mentality. 

Let the poor sods have a laugh and enjoy it more.

They may well stay in football when they get older, when it can rightly so get a bit more serious. 

[MattP]

Wait until we see a “one player one club” rule; the lack of player commitment means we’ll have multiple games called off every single week for player shortages when they can’t call on other available players without a game 

[Dave Bartlam]

There's a simple way to stop it.

One 'Super League'. Top divisions are the Western League/SWPL then they split down through East and West with St Piran League, then ECPL/Combo and Trelawny/Duchy. You can only sign for one club who in the same league so if you put all Saturday football in one Saturday League, the gets rid of dual registrations once and for all.

It wasn't that long ago I had a player signed for a different club in pretty much every single Cornish League! 

[Sijames]

5 hours ago, Dave Bartlam said:

Whilst I get your point, I think using Dropship is a bad example. And the reason why is simple - they've sustained.

They were formed in 2017 and joined the West Cornwall Flexi League - a league that allows non-saturday players to play football. They were able to field two teams of non-saturday players and because of the accepting nature of the club, they didn't have superstars. They had players that had never played before. This resulted in them recording consecutive losses over the course of two seasons.

The whole point of the league and the club at the time was to get people playing football. During those two seasons, they sent Flexi players to clubs such as Storm and more noticeably, Four Lanes reserves. They then decided to enter a Saturday side.

This went well and since then, that small Flexi League team has grown into a club with 7 sustainable teams - including Ladies and a youth team.

They're also massively different to other clubs due to the nature of their geographic location. They have teams that play in Mabe, Cury, Nancegollan, Hayle (previously) and Falmouth. This is because Dropship simply can not find a ground of their own, despite their best efforts.

The club's that we need to focus on are the pop up clubs that disappear within a season or so. But the biggest factor without a doubt is player commitment and loyalty. As someone that's run a Club for 7 years and been part of them for almost 20... Commitment and loyalty are two of the biggest factors in what's destroying football. But I think as has already been said, the biggest factor is with social media and the way civilisation is now, we all simply have much better things to do that waste a whole day playing football. With the cost of living at an all time high, I can't blame anyone that feels they have no choice but to work in order to make ends meet.

 

‘They're also massively different to other clubs due to the nature of their geographic location. They have teams that play in Mabe, Cury, Nancegollan, Hayle (previously) and Falmouth. This is because Dropship simply can not find a ground of their own, despite their best efforts.’

how ironic that you’re trying to justify your existence  with clubs / villages / Towns that have either since folded due to lack of players or are in desperate need of players, yet a club established on the basis that they aimed it at those who couldn’t commit to ‘normal’ football now find themselves cherry picking players from established clubs! 
why not stick with your initial intent, and when players are ready within your dropship teams direct them to clubs which are geographically within their grasp? 

or, failing that, just take pleasure by taking them away for yourselves and your own clubs ego and let clubs fall by the wayside….! then attempt to justify it, again and again. 

[Pitty]

11 hours ago, MattP said:

Wait until we see a “one player one club” rule; the lack of player commitment means we’ll have multiple games called off every single week for player shortages when they can’t call on other available players without a game 

That might not be far off if the Trelawny (and combo if they don’t get sidelined) come under the umbrella of the St Piran next season.

[FootballChat]

On 08/07/2022 at 23:19, MattP said:

And not forgetting the lads who turn up on a Saturday and make an honest tackle, only to get fined £12 by the FA for a yellow, on top of their subs that keep clubs going. The FA have a part to play in this 

It’s not the FA’s fault that players pick up bookings. Players are responsible for their own actions, if those actions infringe upon the laws of the game then they face the consequences. 
Without a fine there’d be no consequence of stupid/potentially dangerous tackles and we’d see an increase.

[Mr Justice]

19 hours ago, Dave Bartlam said:

Whilst I get your point, I think using Dropship is a bad example. And the reason why is simple - they've sustained.

They were formed in 2017 and joined the West Cornwall Flexi League - a league that allows non-saturday players to play football. They were able to field two teams of non-saturday players and because of the accepting nature of the club, they didn't have superstars. They had players that had never played before. This resulted in them recording consecutive losses over the course of two seasons.

The whole point of the league and the club at the time was to get people playing football. During those two seasons, they sent Flexi players to clubs such as Storm and more noticeably, Four Lanes reserves. They then decided to enter a Saturday side.

This went well and since then, that small Flexi League team has grown into a club with 7 sustainable teams - including Ladies and a youth team.

They're also massively different to other clubs due to the nature of their geographic location. They have teams that play in Mabe, Cury, Nancegollan, Hayle (previously) and Falmouth. This is because Dropship simply can not find a ground of their own, despite their best efforts.

The club's that we need to focus on are the pop up clubs that disappear within a season or so. But the biggest factor without a doubt is player commitment and loyalty. As someone that's run a Club for 7 years and been part of them for almost 20... Commitment and loyalty are two of the biggest factors in what's destroying football. But I think as has already been said, the biggest factor is with social media and the way civilisation is now, we all simply have much better things to do that waste a whole day playing football. With the cost of living at an all time high, I can't blame anyone that feels they have no choice but to work in order to make ends meet.

You got to admit Dave, Dropship are a bit cringe.

[Dave Bartlam]

Why cringe?

I think what we are doing and how we are trying to do our business is actually pretty good.

We've been responsible for trying to increase participation in football in the West for almost 6 seasons now. We all moan about the lack of players but those moaning are the ones not willing to actually put in the work to try and attract them.

The Flexi League is a perfect example of that. The ruling that I put in place (running the league) means that every time a team plays, they must play 7-12 non-saturday player's. As a result, teams like Dropship have been able to recruit players and increase participation.

Look at Dropship as a project. What other Club organisation sponsors two League's? What other club organisation has been able to supply sponsorship to players to achieve dreams (trips abroad as part of football development), supplying other local clubs with trophies and awards?

Unfortunately many don't understand or know the full extent of what we do. 

 

Regardless of the comments about Clubs etc, it's disappointing to hear about Ludgvan and I genuinely hope they can recover.

I've not commented on here for a good 6/7 months so I'm going to crawl back into my hole again now.

[Martin Eddy]

Dave I’ve noticed your advert for land in the Camborne/Redruth area. Do you not think this will effect the clubs in Camborne/Redruth. As established on numerous threads there are fewer players available. Where are these players going to come from. Not trying to pick a fight but you and I both know that a few of your players come from established clubs and are not returning or new to football. The latest signing being from Falmouth Town Res.

In this area we have Troon, Holmans, Storm, New Inn Titans, Illogan, Redruth United, Mount Ambrose Praze, St. Ives Mariners and St. Day. That is just Tr14,15,16.

These clubs between them all cater for football from young to not so young male and female.

Only last season Illogan had to drop out of the combination League because of lack of players.

Nothing against Dropside’s project because the idea was thought up with the right intent, but feel it could do more harm than good to this area

[6times]

41 minutes ago, Postman Pat said:

Dave I’ve noticed your advert for land in the Camborne/Redruth area. Do you not think this will effect the clubs in Camborne/Redruth. As established on numerous threads there are fewer players available. Where are these players going to come from. Not trying to pick a fight but you and I both know that a few of your players come from established clubs and are not returning or new to football. The latest signing being from Falmouth Town Res.

In this area we have Troon, Holmans, Storm, New Inn Titans, Illogan, Redruth United, Mount Ambrose Praze, St. Ives Mariners and St. Day. That is just Tr14,15,16.

These clubs between them all cater for football from young to not so young male and female.

Only last season Illogan had to drop out of the combination League because of lack of players.

Nothing against Dropside’s project because the idea was thought up with the right intent, but feel it could do more harm than good to this area

Again clubs shouldn’t be allowed to start up in the Saturday system without land facilities. Too many clubs too many leagues tbh I guess the ccfa or league runners are to blame 

[Martin Eddy]

This has been mentioned many times, the League do not admit teams the member clubs take a vote after each new club has made a presentation and then answered questions.

I do also feel that the size of Camborne/Redruth there should be a team in the Western League at least, but feel that over time there has been to many established clubs at a lower level. There are 3 St. Pirans league sides but, when you compare it to Falmouth/ Penryn there are I believe a lot more teams.

Please don’t say it’s because of the rugby because I think personally that is not the case.

 

[6times]

2 hours ago, Postman Pat said:

This has been mentioned many times, the League do not admit teams the member clubs take a vote after each new club has made a presentation and then answered questions.

I do also feel that the size of Camborne/Redruth there should be a team in the Western League at least, but feel that over time there has been to many established clubs at a lower level. There are 3 St. Pirans league sides but, when you compare it to Falmouth/ Penryn there are I believe a lot more teams.

Please don’t say it’s because of the rugby because I think personally that is not the case.

 

Yep there’s always been great players coming from those areas maybe your right about the players spreading across lots of clubs , but I would also say most if not all the best players from those areas always played outside of those clubs within that area. 

[Ian Pethick]

On 08/07/2022 at 13:40, John Mead said:

The player "pool" is getting more and more shallow and it's getting more and more difficult to replace those who retire or who seek pastures new!

The loyalty shown by many Club officials is rarely found in players. I don't see how things can get better - but unless something changes, the number of Cornish Teams and players will continue to shrink.

And the demographics suggest that the player pool is only going to get smaller.

The initial results from the 2021 census show that Cornwall's population is growing, but getting older.

Up from 532k to 570k in 10 years, but people over 65 now at over 25% compared to 21% in 2011. Around 9% of the population is under 10, compared to 10% in 2011.

[Martin Eddy]

As I said Dave it’s not the fact you come to the club looking for a player, it’s the pool of players that are available. As I said this area should and could have a Western League side but it will not have one for a long time even with 3 St. Pirans sides. Praze res.have also been elected to Trelawney league. I struggle to see where all these players are coming from without clubs folding.

It has taken Redruth United 30 years to get where we are and I remember going to the parish meetings with Robert Mugford back in the late 1980’s for meetings about the community building at Vogue Park. I have been around football clubs behind the scenes from the late 1970’s when I was playing and it worries me exactly where grassroots football is going.

But then I’ve had my day it’s not my problem.

[Dave Bartlam]

15 minutes ago, Postman Pat said:

As I said Dave it’s not the fact you come to the club looking for a player, it’s the pool of players that are available. As I said this area should and could have a Western League side but it will not have one for a long time even with 3 St. Pirans sides. Praze res.have also been elected to Trelawney league. I struggle to see where all these players are coming from without clubs folding.

It has taken Redruth United 30 years to get where we are and I remember going to the parish meetings with Robert Mugford back in the late 1980’s for meetings about the community building at Vogue Park. I have been around football clubs behind the scenes from the late 1970’s when I was playing and it worries me exactly where grassroots football is going.

But then I’ve had my day it’s not my problem.

Sorry I removed my post because I felt it would be turned around to be a negative - it just gives me too much temptation to respond and if I'm honest, I just haven't got the inclination to respond to anyone on here these days.

I absolutely agree that this area, Redruth and Camborne needs and should have a SWPL/Western standard team. But that isn't the be all and end all with community football, especially now. 

Look at these big clubs. What do they have that we don't, facilities aside? Let's face it, Plymouth Argyle/Exeter City will always be the biggest clubs this region has to offer because of their links to the main road network.

Personally, my own idea of what a successful club is, is based solely on what you can offer in terms of participation and enjoyment. I know the further up you go, the less fun it becomes and that's when it turns from a hobby to a paid job. 

[Ian Pethick]

On 09/07/2022 at 05:52, TheolderIgetthebetterIwas said:

Organised youth football has had a big affect on players availability when they reach mens football,  as you said they have been playing for 10 years already!

I've seen kids dragged out in all winds and weathers, blue with the cold and rain and not even 3ft tall yet!

All to keep coaches and dads happy.

Football at 16 in a lot of cases ...not interested anymore, they'd rather have their freedom.

The number of kids I've spoken to over the years who no longer play all say the same thing, fed up with it, I want to do different things I've been playing 10 years.

I know one fella who was a hell of a player/goal scorer, did a couple of seasons in mens football and quit,  just fed up with it, chose to go to work privately on a Saturday or play golf if the fancy took him.

He'd had enough of the commitment he had already had put on him from 5 years of age.

Said it on here before, but a survey needs to done to get to the bottom of why players leave the game after under 18 football.  Something the Cornish FA needs to think about digging in to, and I'm sure the results would be very revealing. Although they might make uncomfortable reading...

 

[Dave Bartlam]

I carried out a bit of research in my final season as the Trelawny League Reg Sec. Everyone seems to think that it's the youth that drop out... It's not. It's actually 32-36 year olds that have the minimum numbers registered each season - that number declines every season. Although I'm no longer privvy to that data, I'd imagine it's still the same.  It would be interesting to know if @Steve Carpenterhas that info for the St Piran.

32-36 is the age where I'd say responsibility hits. Kids, work, mortgages etc, all meaning that the more trivial stuff like football no longer takes priority.

 

Interestingly, numbers increase from 37-40. 

[MattP]

On 10/07/2022 at 09:11, FootballChat said:

It’s not the FA’s fault that players pick up bookings. Players are responsible for their own actions, if those actions infringe upon the laws of the game then they face the consequences. 
Without a fine there’d be no consequence of stupid/potentially dangerous tackles and we’d see an increase.

Not disputing the bookings for bad tackles. It’s those thrown around like confetti by the odd official that do the damage. 

On 10/07/2022 at 15:21, 6times said:

Again clubs shouldn’t be allowed to start up in the Saturday system without land facilities. Too many clubs too many leagues tbh I guess the ccfa or league runners are to blame 

I’ve heard the idea mentioned that clubs wouldn’t be allowed to start up in Saturday football without having a track record in either youth, Flexi or Sunday football. That’s not the worst idea and  would sort the one/two season wonders 

[TheolderIgetthebetterIwas]

4 hours ago, Dave Bartlam said:

I carried out a bit of research in my final season as the Trelawny League Reg Sec. Everyone seems to think that it's the youth that drop out... It's not. It's actually 32-36 year olds that have the minimum numbers registered each season - that number declines every season. Although I'm no longer privvy to that data, I'd imagine it's still the same.  It would be interesting to know if @Steve Carpenterhas that info for the St Piran.

32-36 is the age where I'd say responsibility hits. Kids, work, mortgages etc, all meaning that the more trivial stuff like football no longer takes priority.

 

Interestingly, numbers increase from 37-40. 

Not a question about dropping out at 17 or 18, they don't move from 16 into mens football,  that's my opinion anyway? 

[kitbag]

5 hours ago, MattP said:

Not disputing the bookings for bad tackles. It’s those thrown around like confetti by the odd official that do the damage. 

I’ve heard the idea mentioned that clubs wouldn’t be allowed to start up in Saturday football without having a track record in either youth, Flexi or Sunday football. That’s not the worst idea and  would sort the one/two season wonders 

Or just fold for a couple of years and come back somewhere in the middle that is easy.

[FootballChat]

11 hours ago, MattP said:

Not disputing the bookings for bad tackles. It’s those thrown around like confetti by the odd official that do the damage. 

Again, not the FA’s fault.

 

Don’t give a referee a reason to show a caution and you’ll be fine.

[Ian Pethick]

16 hours ago, Dave Bartlam said:

I carried out a bit of research in my final season as the Trelawny League Reg Sec. Everyone seems to think that it's the youth that drop out... It's not. It's actually 32-36 year olds that have the minimum numbers registered each season - that number declines every season. Although I'm no longer privvy to that data, I'd imagine it's still the same.  It would be interesting to know if @Steve Carpenterhas that info for the St Piran.

32-36 is the age where I'd say responsibility hits. Kids, work, mortgages etc, all meaning that the more trivial stuff like football no longer takes priority.

 

Interestingly, numbers increase from 37-40. 

That is really interesting. All feeds into the thoughts expressed by various people about how lifestyles and priorities have shifted in recent years.