THE COMPETITION in this season’s Ryman League was one of the best in recent years, according to the league’s president and chairman Alan Turvey.
The league boss also believes Dover Athletic and Dartford will perform well in the Ryman Premier after winning their respective divisions.
Chelmsford won the top division relatively comfortably, but it was the battle to avoid relegation from the Ryman Premier which caught the eye.
While basement club Leyton were cut well adrift for most of the season, as many as 10 teams were at risk of going down right up to the closing stages.
Turvey believes overall it was an excellent season but told the Saturday Observer that he had rarely seen such a relegation scrap.
He said:“It was a great season in all three divisions. Both the top and bottom positions were hotly contested. I’m delighted for the clubs who have had success and have great sympathy for those who were relegated.
"The bottom half of the Ryman Premier was very unusual with so many teams involved and in the end teams went down on goal difference.”
The season reached a dramatic climax on the final day at Cheriton Road, where drop rivals Folkestone Invicta and Maidstone United faced each other.
The visitors’ 1-0 win preserved their status and condemned Invicta to the Ryman South.
To show how competitive it was this season, Neil Cugley’s team finished second bottom on 49 points – a total sufficient for safety in previous seasons.
The two teams above Folkestone were relegated on goal difference.
While Invicta ended their four-year stay in the Ryman Premier, the division will include six Kent clubs next season after Dover and Dartford’s success in the Ryman South and North respectively.
Both clubs had home gates averaging well over 900, very substantial for their level, and figures which will instantly make them among the best supported clubs in the Ryman Premier.
Turvey is expecting the new teams to strengthen the division and with five sides in the Ryman South, he thinks the county’s clubs are in rude health.
He said:“The Kent clubs did very well last season, the teams in the county are strong, but then they have always seemed to be like that. I think it is going to be a very strong division next year.
“It’s always nice to have clubs with good support. I’ve visited Dover, Whitstable and Folkestone this season and they all get good gates.”
Turvey thinks overall the Ryman Leagues are healthy and played to a good standard, with little difference between the top sides and those in the Conference South above.
Bromley and Hampton & Richmond Borough, who were promoted out of the Premier last season, both finished in the Conference South’s top half.
POSTED: 10/05/2008 09:00:00