Gillingham FC Forum

I understand that the fixtures are all done by computer,unlike in old Aussies days when they sat with a piece of paper and a pencil to do the fixture list,but surely someone could have put the first local derby game between the Gills and newly promoted Bromley in say September when the weather was nice, or at least on a Saturday not a damn Wednesday night ? I guess when your in the 4th division no one even bothers to read the fixtures when there first made up,or they just don't care.

You could say the same if we were playing at Carlisle last night - probably the season's longest trip for any club in the country

I still think the 4th div should be split into two leagues, north and south. Then no team from the south coast would ever have to travel to Carlisle ever again except for a possible cup game. Five leagues of 18,20,22,22 and 22. You would need to find 12 new teams, 6 from both north and south. Problem solved. You could have a better Premier and Championship league with a little better distribution of the massive monies received, then teams would have a better chance of staying up when they get promoted. However, none of that will ever happen. Why? Greed of course.

Sounds logical but then you have the issue of relegations from the higher division; if all the clubs in the relegation placed are, say, in the north then a restucturing of the North and South divisions is needed.

That's no problem, that's how it was when I first supported the Gills. They had the third div north and south. At the end of the season, after promotion and relegation the teams around the centre of the country were re-calibrated. They could play north one year and south the next. I would quite like that if my team was involved. You would see new teams and visit new grounds.The amount of traveling and the huge costs involved would be reduced considerably.

It's a little more tricky than that though. If distances are the issue, then Kent or Essex teams would travel further to Plymouth in the South than they would travelling to teams in Yorkshire for example. Of course that would still help Plymouth etc as they wouldn't have to face even further northern teams.

I think it would have most impact on teams featuring in the play-offs and that would be the biggest hurdle which the EFL and most teams would not want to impact on.

Where there's a will, there's a way.