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The third round draw is now available via http://www.croydo...ingles.pdf or via the link on the home page . .

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Its all getting very silly............

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It had to happen at some stage . .

Ian Chapman v Sean Kelly is a cracking tie considering there's only four :lol:

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ian chapamissalotofpots v sean kelly... hotshots v eagles, london v surrey, greece v england... should be a good explosive game... would expect kelly to take the honours though

60 byes... in the 3rd round... how did that happen...???:clap:

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Chapamissalotofpots !!!!!
LOL!!!

On a serious note, should be a good game, albiet a qucik one. Ian in cracking form at the moment. Looking forward to it.

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For a second (and only a second) I thought I was in the quarters :eek2:

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Andye,there are 60 byes not 64.There will be 64 matches in the next round !!

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Wiggy don't read good. :wall:

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farce

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Very strange. Still at least my bye is at home

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It's as a result of the plate competition that so many people wanted at the AGM.

Blame them.

(For those of you who don't know who proposed, seconded and voted it in; you should have turned up, shouldn't you?!!! )

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No mud this time? :lol:

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Well it is a farce how the feck can you have 60 byes in a draw :movingon:

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Its obvious Sean. Its to ensure as many choppers as possible from DIv 2 and below are culled before the real comp starts. :wink:

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Bit strange alright, but that's what they wanted. That's what they've got.
I don't mind the idea of a plate, in principal, it is something realistic for players who are never going to compete at the business end of the KO comps.
I don't think the structure was thought through well enough by the proposers though, which is why we're in this pickle.
No blame attached to Mark in any way, he is simply running the comps exactly as the majority of the voting secretaries wanted.
Hopefully after this round is out of the way, people will appreciate that the system needs tinkering with, and get it in place for next season.

I can't help but see if you're gonna have an "Us and Them" situation, which is effectively what has been put in place by barring losing 1st division teams and players from any of the plates,
why don't you then have two seperate KO's running simultaneously.
One for the top 2 divisions.
And one for Divisons 3 to 5, like an LDV Vans trophy in football.

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Plate = Shit Competition designed for Shit Players

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So Daniel, basically you want only good players in the singles and doubles, the immediate death of all first round losers, and no women in the league.

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why are having a plate, the comp is to be croydon singles champion, so the plate will be for the champion of the 1st round losers, with top players barred, seems a bit hollow to me.

There are also a lot of div 1 players who don't have a realistic chance of winning the comp, can we have a plate for them as well.

If the lower division players want a better chance of winning a trophy, then win your divisional singles rankings, the plate idea is just stupid !!!

Just a different idea for next year, why not have the divisions play there own singles comps and then the winners and runners up or top 4 then play each other for the title

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Because the last AGM was full of Liberal Democrat voters with their 'fair dues for all policy' who seemed to forget that pool is actually a competitive game and that not everyone can win a trophy. ;)

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Two brilliant posts . .

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You would all appear to be incredibly naive in your response to the new plate competitions. The reasons for their introduction was to try to maintain/increase the number of teams in the league. To do nothing about the membership decline would have been criminal. The intention was to try to attract new teams and give them a greater chance of winning something. That certainly was not the case before. It's amazing that some people seem to think that the changes weren't necessary or don't really give a toss either way. They were voted in using the democratic process. No doubt,if they prove to be unpopular,they could quite easily be voted out at some future meeting. Sometimes it's hard to progress but to stand still and do nothing is easy !!

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What is the big deal about how many teams there are in the league?

Are you worried about eventually finishing in the bottom three of the entire league Pat as:

a) I don't think it'll ever get that bad
b) You can't get relegated out of the entire league

All jokes aside, the 'plate' concept is awful . . The question that needs to be asked is why allowances are being made for players who are of a lesser standard than others? The top players and top teams are at the top for a reason as are the 'lesser' players and teams . . IT's just the way it is . . There are no allowances made for the better players or teams . .

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Danny,you know full well that I have no personal axe to grind whatsoever. Everybody should be concerned at the way that the league is shrinking. You can only try to improve the situation by innovation. As I've already said:To do nothing is not an option. Fifty years ago the Midland Bank was the largest in the world.Now it is a subsidiary of a chinese takeaway (HSBC). I know that there are unique reasons for the possible demise of two 1st division teams during this season. How many more will go down the same route ? You question whether it matters that the number of teams in the league is reducing.The short answer is YES it does matter!! Most of todays top players had to start somewhere . Don't deprive the future champions of their opportunities! Stop thinking about today and concentrate a little more on tomorrow !!

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I still don't understand what the number of teams has to do with 'future champions'? You say that most of today's top players had to start somewhere . . You'll probably find that most of today's top players joined a team that were already playing top level pool . . I first joined The Prop . . Kyle first joined the Eagles, Sean Halligan joined the Hot Shots, Jacko first joined The Prop . .

Teams drop out, that's just the way it is as if they didn't then the league would have about 200 teams by now . .

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Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Kyle first play for me?

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Thank you Harry. That proves my point that the insignificant teams do serve a purpose !! Ha ha !!

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I was always led to believe that Kyle played for the Eagles first . . If he did play for your lot first then Pat's right :lol:

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Golden i think what pondlife is trying to say is that the croydonpool league has been around a lot longer than most of the players of today and hopefully many years after they have gone. The league is about all five divisions. I played 1st division pool myself for over 10years and i think there are many other old 1st div. players who play their pool in the lower divisions today. In my days most of the teams came from local pubs and clubs who worked their way up to the 1st division not like the teams of today full of inported players.

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Pat's argument is the number of teams that are in the leaugue . . Whether there are 5 divisions or 55 divisions, the league still consists of a top level and a bottom level and everyone finds their place within that . .

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i thought kyle started with the tornados...
in 2000/1 the tornados including kyle and john robinson helped them to a shock win in the k.o. cup final against the eagles and hence were both signed up to us in due course...

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That sounds about right . .

. . the main thing is he's where he's meant to be now.

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aww bollox....

Not that I wanted a night off anyways

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Anyone know how Ian Chapman Vs Sean Kelly got on?

I lost 2-0 in an amazing succession of bad luck. Glad there were no lightning storms on the way home or I prolly would have been hit.

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I had a bit of a late dilema thrust upon me, Ian was kind enough to reschedule (Thanks mate) so will get it sorted out in the very near future.

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I beat Ray Speller 2-0.

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Steve Rowlerson beat Richard Turly 2-1

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Sean Kelly beat Ian Chapman in the tie of the round . .

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Danny, you are being incredibly selfish in your answer to what it matters about the decline of the league. When will you start to worry? When there are 2 divisions. One maybe or just 24 of the best Croydon has to offer.
As for why ?allowances are being made for players who are of a lesser standard than others?. Why not? I don?t see how it affects you. Would you like to play in it? What allowances would you like for first division players to even things out for you?
There are a hell of a lot more players in the league that do not come up to your standard, but that doesn't make them any less important. Mark Halsey has said that he needs a basic running cost to run the league. If there are less teams the price goes up. Which in turn could put more teams off joining the league. Therefore cutting the size even more. I applaud Pondlife for coming up with new ideas. I think the Plate Comp needs some work, but it does keep the lesser players playing and presumably improving.
I also think that Paparazzi?s idea of the KO competitions starting at divisional level, before the winners, or top 4, progress to a ?finals? round, is well worth looking at.
As for teams working their way up the league, I think those days are over. When I joined the league, about 15 years ago, The Imperials and the Prop were at the same level. We followed each other working our way through the Divisions, normally 1st and 2nd, until we got to the second div where the Prop took over and have been one of the top teams ever since. That doesn?t appear to happen any more. The top teams recruit their players.
On another note. I also remember when The Croydon and District Pool League, meant Croydon and District. If it weren?t for the likes of the teams from The Coach and Horses in Lewisham we probably would have only 4 divisions.

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Why? There are several examples in the recent past and present that conflict that view.

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That's true, we did!

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But it equally doesn't make them more important to the extent where they get three extra competitions excluding members of the league who play exactly the same entry fee at the start of the season . .

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the mighty Eagles started in the 5th division,at the time first division teams included the brigstock A who two years later changed there name to the characters (widely reguarded as the 2nd best ever team in croydon:smug:)the red deer, the star etc all top teams who were as good as anybody around today.We practised a lot and had a good team ethic this led us to climb the divisions, any team around today can do the same thing. Once you start improving and get to a certain level if you then need to bolster your squad it's easier to attract good players who fit in. To say it is almost impossible to climb the divisions says more about mentality than ability

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I think the main reasons for there not being to many teams working their way up the divisions now days is the lack of young players in the lower divisions. if you have a look around you next time you play you will see that most of the players around you are 25 plus; who have
been playing in the league for many years possibly in the same team.
and a good many would have played in the top divisions in the past to.
but As soon as any talent comes along today it's poached straight into the top teams to keep the subs bench warm until one of the big names can't make the grade any more. When i first started played in the league back in 1978 it was made up of all the pubs/clubs to give their customers young old good or bad some entertainment and bring in some income midweek now it's all about being a big name in a local pool league.

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Dunno what division you play in, but there are a plethora of young players in the 'lower' divisions. The Loyalists 'B' team has plenty of youngsters, Nicky Barber at the Manor, The Greyhound in Div 5 is a young team and they're just the ones off the top of my head.




And who's choice is that? No team forces any player into signing. If any individual chooses to take their chances as to whether they get a game every week rather than playing regularly in a lower divisional team, then good luck to them. Just shows that they're prepared to wait until their oppotunity arises to show their worthiness in the chosen top team. Let's hate the youngsters for setting their sights higher than the 'old boys'.




Ahh, jumpers for goalposts, fresh bread for a shilling, etc . . :zzz:




Do you really think the top players in the Croydon league give a shit about being a big name?!! Yeah, why not slate players for doing well - that's the spirit of what's meant to be a Gentlemans League, eh?!!! Tell you what, why not only allow Division One players to play 10 matches a year, so the lower divisions can have the extra matches to gain more ranking points and get a better chance of winning the top ranked player award? After all, they've only got 3 extra comps at the moment - why stop there?!!!!!! :lol:

The lower divisions were crying out for equality in the size of the trophies at the AGM, yet then voted in three extra competitions which excluded Division One players!!! It just gets funnier!

:winner::worship:

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well said don

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"plethora" what a word

I would have used "a lot", but then i am from Addington :winkgrin:

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I didn't say there are no young players in the lower divisions i said most of them are 25 plus and played in top divisions in the past.
I don't hate the youngsters there are some very good young players in the lower divisions but if there that good how long will it be before a big team comes in to sign them. how can his/ her team work it's way to the top then. was my reply to nutmeg. As for us old boys we've had our days in the first division most of us just play for the enjoyment and try to beat some good players along the way.
Bye the way i didn't know you get ranking points in the plate comps. if so that is wrong only the main competitions should get ranking points. as you mentioned the ranking points how many years has it been that the 1st division players get more ranking points than the lower divisions per league game it would be a lot fairer if all league players started on level points per game. As it seems all the first division players now get byes into the 2nd round in all main comps now

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Oddball, are you on drugs or just a bit 'special'?!!!

If a young, talented player wants to improve and go to a better team, who's fault is that? Are they in the wrong for wanting to improve? And with all due respect, if they're perfectly happy in the team they're in, they'll stay where they are.

Division One players get a bye into Round 2 of the comps because of the 3 extra competitions in which they are NOT ALLOWED TO ENTER.

And as for Div 1 players getting more ranking points, it's because they're generally playing against tougher opposition. But to be honest, even if you DID bring that rule in (which i'm sure you'd be in favour of, seeing as you believe that the lesser talented player should be rewarded for being rubbish) I doubt very much if you'd see THAT big a difference. Rod Altes dropped around 2 frames in the League last year and won pretty much everything. Who else in the lower Divisions even got close to that? I don't really see your point. As said before, why not just handicap all the good players who've practiced hard to play well? In fact, why not just ostracize all 'good' players from the League?

Anyway, if you are that desperate for a trophy, you can have one of mine or my husbands - we've got loads at home. I'll even get it engraved for you; i'm generous like that.