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The underlying problem across the whole league is that there aren't enough new players coming in. This results in all teams relying on a smaller pool of players to be 100% committed to whatever team they sign for.

For good reasons, not everyone can give a 100% commitment guaranteed across a season, so every side needs sufficient backup. That won't happen unless new players are encouraged into the league, and that's where the focus should really be. With the Croydon format, for a normal winter or summer season, then in my opinion, every team needs a squad of 8 players with at least 3 or 4 of those 100% committed to play every week. If a team has less than this at start of season, then they need to be looking for backup players, otherwise they will risk playing short.

Arguments about who plays for what team, and what division shouldn't really matter, and are quite petty really. Freedom to choose who you want to play for is healthy, but there needs to be loyalty for the season once signed, and an understanding on level of commitment expected.

To summarise, everyone involved with Croydon pool should be getting new players to join our league, and encouraging rookies to keep picking up the stick. Always admired Mr Bannister for his attitude, because he's always signed anyone that wanted to play for his team in spite their ability (looks like he's still letting in the rookies !)