billsportsmaps.com

October 28, 2009

2009 Baseball World Series, New York Yankees: team roster, with birthplaces and home towns listed.

Filed under: Baseball — admin @ 3:11 pm

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New York Yankees regular season player statistics  {click here}.

[Note:  For this map,  I couldn't fit the stadium section onto the map,  like I did on the 2009 Philadelphia Phillies World Series roster map,  so here is the Yankee Stadium II gallery,  seperately...]    Click on this title for enlarged gallery image  yankee_stadium_ii_april-16-2009.gif

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Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org {click here (set at New York Yankees page)}.   Thanks to the New York Yankees official site {click here (set at active roster)}.   Thanks to Zimbio.com {click here (Sept. 29, 2009}.

Thanks to http://www.ballparkreviews.com/  {Yankee Stadium II,  here}.   Thanks to Flickr.com {Atom Moore’s photo of New Yankee Stadium,  here}. 

Thanks to NBC New York.com  {feature on ‘Yankee Stadium 2009: The First Season in Photos’,  here}.

2009 Baseball World Series, Philadelphia Phillies: team roster, with birthplaces and home towns listed.

Filed under: Baseball — admin @ 7:23 am

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 Full regular season player statistics  {click here (USA Today)}.

Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org {click here (Philadelphia Phillies page)}.   Thanks to Zimbio.com {click here}.   Thanks to the Philadelphia Phillies offficial site,  set at active roster  {click here}. 

Thanks to Lueckler.net {click here (set at American history tour/Phillies game)}.   Thanks to Tevami.com {click here (set at the article where I found 2 of the Citizen’s Bank Ballpark photos)}.   Thanks to Steve Maciejewski @ Flickr.com {click here (Citizens Bank Park)}.  

October 24, 2009

Chile: 2009 Primera División, with attendances.

Filed under: Chile — admin @ 5:45 pm

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The Primera Divisón de Chile has its roots in the Liga Profesional de Football de Santiago,  which was formed in May, 1933.  Of the 8 founding clubs of the league,  3 are currently in the 2009 Primera División de Chile:  Audax Italiano,  Colo Colo,  and Union Española.

Primera División de Chile Standings [2009 Clausura]  {click here (ESPN Soccernet)}.

The Primera División de Chile is the top tier of football in Chile.  There are 18 teams in the league,  with 2 to 4 teams relegated to Primera B each year after the conclusion of the Clausura and the promotion/relegation playoffs.  The league adopted the Mexican system in 2002,  with regular season round-robin formats for the Apertura (starting in January) and Clausura (starting in July),  followed by 8-team playoffs in June and December.  The 2009 Apertura champions are the well-supported club Universidad de Chile,  who draw around 14,000 per game.  Universidad de Chile has won 13 Primera División de Chile titles,  and are from the capital and largest city,  Santiago (population:  5,428,000; 2002 census).  Universidad de Chile has thus qualified for the 2010 Copa Libertadores,  as will the 2009 Clausura playoffs winner,  as well as the best-placed non-champion from the 2009 Clausura regular-season general table.

Current 2009 Clausura regular season leaders are another club from Santiago,  CD Universidad Católica.  Universidad Católica draw third best in the country,  averaging 8,800 per game this year,  and will be on their way to the 2010 Copa Liberatadores if they remain in first  place.  Universidad Católica has won 9 Primera División de Chile titles,  their most recent in 2002,  and are from the eastern and more affluent section of Greater Santiago called Los Condes.  Universidad Católica have the second most Copa Llibertadores appearances by a club from Chile:  21,  including finalists in 1993,  when they fell to São Paulo of Brazil,  5-3 on aggregate. 

  universidad_catolica_estadio-san-carlos-de-apoquindo.gif

Currently in second place are Audax Italiano,  a club which was founded by Italian residents of Santiago in 1910,  and which has won 4 Primera División de Chile titles (but none since 1957).  In third place are Universidad de Concepción,  from the third-largest metropolitan area in Chile,  Concepción.  In fourth place are the tiny club from the southern outskirts of the capital,  Santiago Morning,  who won one championship 67 years ago,  and  have a current  average gate of  just under 1,500.

There has only been one Chilean club that has won the Copa Libertadores,  Colo Colo,  who won the most prestigous South American title in 1991.  Colo Colo are named after the legendary Chilean Mapuche chief.  [The Mapuche are the indigenous inhabitants of central and southern Chile and Patagonian Argentina,  and were known as the Araucanians by the Spaniards.]  Santiago’s Colo Colo are the biggest and most successful club in Chile,  with 28 Chilean titles (last in 2008-Clausura),  and have recently averaged around 15,000 per game.  Colo Colo actually can draw higher in the domestic league,  in the low 20,000s,  but their participation in the 2009 Copa Libertadores drew crowds towards these matches at the expense of their ’09 Apertura matches.  Colo Colo have made 27 appearances in the Copa Libertadores,  the most by any club from Chile.

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The most distinctive thing about the nation of Chile is,  of course,  it’s very long and very narrow shape.  Chile’s size is 4,300 km. (2,700 mi.) long,  with an average width of only 175 km. (109 mi.).  Throughout Chile,  the variations in climate pretty much run the gamut,  from the world’s driest desert in the north,  the Atacama Desert,  to a Mediterranean climate in the center,  to a rainy temperate climate in the south,  to a much colder climate with a meandering coastline featuring fjords and glaciers in the far south.  And all along the eastern border are the towering Andes Mountains.

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Clubs in the Primera División Chilena 2009 are not surprisingly concentrated in the more-populated central region that includes the three largest cities of Santiago,  Valparaiso,  and Concepción.  7 clubs are from Greater Santiago,  with two more clubs within 100 kilometers of the capital:  Everton de Viña del Mar,  and O’Higgins.  CD O’Higgins are named after the South American independence leader Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme (who actually never met his father,  who was born in County Sligo, Ireland).  O’Higgins are from Rancagua,  Cachapoal province,  O’Higgins Region (metro area population: 236,000,  the 7th largest in Chile). 

Everton de Viña del Mar are named after the club from Liverpool, England…Everton FC.  The club was formed by visiting sailors from Merseyside,  in 1909.  The town of Viña del Mar is a tourist destination whose name translates as ‘vineyard of the sea’,  and is part of Greater Valparaiso,  the second largest metropolitan area in Chile (803,000 population).  Everton won the 2008 Apertura,  their fourth Chilean title.  The club gets decent support,  averaging 7,200 this year.

There are two more clubs from the central region that needs mentioning,  because both these greater Santiago-based clubs have won championships.  6-time champions Unión Española,  hail from the Independencia district of Santiago.  The club’s kits mirror those of the Spain national football team (dark red jersey/gold trim/navy pants).  Unión Española draw crowds in the mid 4,000s.   CD Palestino have won 2 titles,  their first in 1955,  and their second in 1978.  The club was founded in 1920 by Palestinian immigrants.  Palestino just missed out on another league title last December,  losing to Colo-Colo 4-2 on aggregate in the playoffs final.  This year the club are in a relegation battle,  just two points above the relegation/promotion playoffs.

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South of this Santiago/Valparaiso/Rancagua cluster of 9 clubs,  there are 5 clubs in the 2009 Primera división de Chile,  including two clubs from Greater Concepción:  Universidad de Concepción,  and CD Huachipato.  Huachipato won the championship in 1974,  and are the only club from south of Santiago to have won a title.  A steel company club originally,  they are in fact nicknamed the Steelers.  Their crest incorporates the ‘Steelmark’ logo which the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers use as their primary logo,  and which is owned by the American Iron and Steel Institute  {see this,  which includes a mention of CD Huachipato near the end of the page}.  

The current highest-drawing club from this south-central region of Chile is CD Ñublense,  from the 10th-largest city in the country,  Chilan (population: 165,000).  Ñublense have averaged around 6,000 per game in 2009,  but are third-bottom,  in the relegation/promotion playoff spots.

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North of the central/capital region there are four clubs currently in Chile’s top tier,  including two clubs from the extremely arid,  and mineral-rich,  Atacama Desert.   CD Cobreloa,  established 1977,  are from the city of Calama,  El Loa Province,  Antofagasta Region (population: 143,000),  Cobreola have won 8  Primera Divisón de Chile titles (!),  their most recent in the 2004 Clausura.  Their all-orange kit symbolizes the region’s copper mining;  indeed their name combines the Spanish word for copper (cobre) ,  and the nearby Loa River. 

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Entering Chile’s top flight in 1978,  one season after their inception,  Cobreloa won their first title in their fourth year,  in 1980.  Cobreloa then made it to two consecutive Copa Libertadores finals,  losing to Flamengo (Brazil) in 1981,  and to Peñarol (Uruguay) in 1982.  The club has made 13 appearances in the Copa Libertadores.  Cobreloa have never been relegated,  and these days the club draws aroumd 3,400 per game. 

The other club from the Atacama Desert are from the tiny mining town of El Salvador (population: 7,000),  and are named CD Cobresal.  Cobresal mimics Cobreloa in nomenclature, colors and crest (adding a jaunty miner’s helmet to the symbol for copper that dominates both crests).  Cobresal play in a stadium that has a larger capacity than the town’s population.  The tiny club have managed to stay in the Primera División for 18 seasons,  their current spell starting in 2002.  The club has made one Copa Libertadores appearance (in 1986).  Due to their remote desert location,  Cobresal are not surprisingly at the bottom of the attendance table,  but not,  crucially,  the league table,  and it looks like these minnows from the driest place on Earth have a solid chance at surviving another season in the first division.

Primera División Chilena, Relegation table {click here}.

The same cannot be said for the northern-most club in the 2009 Primera División de Chile.  They are Municipal Iquique,  from Iquique,  Tarapaca Region (population: 164,000).  This city is the center of Chile’s sodium nitrate (aka saltpeter) mining industry [sodium nitrate is mined for it's many uses in fertilizers,  glass production,  pyrotechnics,  and food preservatives].   Municipal Iquique’s current spell of 2 seasons in the top flight will end,  unless they can improve on their alarming record of zero wins, 5 draws and 9 losses.  The club has drawn well this year,  though,  fifth-highest,  at 6,400 per game. 

Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org {click here (set at Primera División Chilena 2009 page)  and es.wikipedia.org {click here (set at Torneo Clausura 2009 (Chile) page)}.   Thanks to Football-Lineups.com,  for attendance figures {click here}.  

Thanks to AtacamaPhoto.com,  photos by Gerhard Hüdepohl {click here}.  Thanks to PlatformaUrbana.cl {click here}.   Thanks to SkinPride StreetRockZine Chile {click here, ‘Hinchadas de Chile II’}.

Thanks to Bruno Eduardo Nunez,  for submitting a request in the Comments section here,  for a map of Primera Divisón Chilena. 

October 21, 2009

Scotland: 2008-09 attendance map (all clubs drawing over 1,000 per game- 24 clubs).

Filed under: Scotland — admin @ 6:29 am

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This is the 113th season of professional football in Scotland.  Reigning champions are Rangers. 

This map shows all football clubs in Scotland that drew over 1,000 per game last season (2008-09 domestic leagues).  The map ends up including all clubs in the top two tiers,  which are the Scottish Premier League (12 clubs);  and the Scottish First Division (10 clubs),  plus 2 clubs who were relegated…Clyde FC,  who are now in the Scottish Second Division (which is the 3rd Level),  and Livingston FC,  who are now in the lowest rung on the pro ladder,  the Scottish Third Division (the 4th Level).   [Note:  Airdrie United were also initially relegated to the 3rd Level,  but were re-installed,  because of the vacancy left by Livingston FC,  who ended up being relegated two leagues down to the Scottish Third Division for financial reasons.]

Currently in the Scottish Premier League,  after 8 matches,  the Old Firm is where they usually are,  in first and second place,  with Rangers one point ahead of Celtic.  There is talk again about Celtic and Rangers leaving the Scottish Premier League.  In one scenario the two Old Firm clubs would be part of a proposed Atlantic League,  featuring clubs from Holland,  Belgium,  Denmark,  and Sweden.  {see this article,  ‘Walter Smith stresses need for Old Firm to join European league’,  by Ewan Murray,  from 15th October, 2009 Guardian.co.uk}.   The question is,  would a move by Rangers and Celtic out of the Scottish Premier League be a “natural progression”,  as Smith says in the article,  or would it be a case of the big shots forsaking their roots,  and leaving the Scottish game to wither?  


Rangers are in the 2009-10 UEFA Champions League Group Stage,  Group G,  but do not look like a team capable of advancing.  They just made a hash of their home match versus Unirea Urziceni,  losing 4-1.  Two own goals were part of three goals conceded in 15 minutes to the Romamian minnows {see this (ESPN Soccernet)}.   Celtic are in the 2009-10 UEFA Europa League Group Stage,  Group C.  The club got off to a poor start in this competition,  losing away to Hapoel Tel Aviv (of Israel) in September.  Celtic will host Hamburg on Thursday, 22nd October.

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In the Scottish First Division,  the northern-most club on this map is currently in first place…Ross County FC,  who hail from the Scottish Highlands town of Dingwall, Ross and Cromarty.  [Note: there is one club in the Scottish Football League that is located futher north than Ross County,  that is 4th Level club Elgin City FC,  who are located about 15km. further north than Dingwall.] 

Dingwall’s population is around 5,000 (2001 census).  Ross County drew 2,164 per game last season to their ground,  Victoria Park,  which is not bad at all,  considering the town’s small size.  If Ross County does buck the odds and win their first ever promotion to the Scottish top flight,  the club has vowed to expand Victoria Park to meet SPL capacity requirements,  which calls for 6,000 seated…Victoria Park currently only has capacity for 3,500 seated {see this,  from the BBC site (24 September, 2009)}.  Last weekend the Staggies returned to the top of the table with a win away v. Airdrie  {see this,  from the Jailender,  a Ross County FC fansite}}.

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Ross County were elected to the Scottish Football League for the 1994-95 season,  along with local rivals Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC.  Inverness were just relegated from the Scottish Premier League after the 2008-09 season,  but maybe there will be Scottish Highlands representation in the top flight again next season,  if Ross County can keep up their good form.  They are playing with a thin squad,  though,  with only 16 senior and 3 junior players on board.  

Scottish groundhopping blog Fitba Daft’s page on Ross County FC’s Victoria Park {click here}.

Ross County FC official site,  set at club history page {here}.

Scottish Football League site (ie,  2nd through 4th Levels)… http://www.scottishfootballleague.com/ .

Scottish Premier League site {click here}.

Thanks to the E-F-S site,  for the attendance figures {click here}.   Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org {click here (set at 2008-09 in Scottish football).   Thanks to www.demis.nl ,  for the base map.

Thanks to Scotavia Images {click here}.   Thanks to Geograph.org.uk {click here}.   Thanks to the Jailender,  the unofficial Ross County FC fansite {click here}. 

October 17, 2009

The Netherlands: 2009-10 Eredivisie, with 08/09 average attendances, and stadium photos.

Filed under: Football Stadia,Netherlands,Zoom Maps — admin @ 8:11 am

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Note: to see my latest post on Dutch football, cluck on the following, category: Netherlands.

The reigning Eredivisie champions are AZ .  The club is located  in Alkmaar,  Nord-Holland,  which is 33 km. (20 mi.) north-west of Amsterdam.   KNVB Cup (Dutch Cup) Holders are SC Heerenveen,  from Heerenveen,  Friesland.

At the top of the map are the crests of each club,  sized to reflect their 2008-09 average attendance in either the Eredivisie or the second division,  which is called the Eerste Divisie.   At the top left,  there is a list of the cities with 09/10 Eredivisie representation.   Below is the list I used.

‘List of cities in the Netherlands with over 100,000 people’ {click here (en.wikipedia.org}.

Dutch clubs in UEFA competitions for 2009-10

AZ,  Champions League Group stage-Group H,  with Arsenal,  Olympiacos (Greece),  and Standard Liège (Belgium).   AZ travels to north London to play Arsenal on Tuesday, 20th October. 

Ajax,  Europa League,  Group stage-Group A.   At home versus Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) on Thursday, 22nd October.    Heerenveen,  Europa League,  Group stage-Group D.   Away to FK Venspils (Latvia) on Thursday, 22nd October.    Twente,  Europa League,  Group stage-Group H.   Away to Sheriff [Tiraspol] (Moldova) on Thursday, 22nd October.    PSV,  Europa League,  Group stage-Group K.   Home versus FC Copenhagen (Denmark) on Thursday, 22nd October.

UEFA site,  here. 

Thanks to  SportingSites.com/netherlands {click here}.   Thanks to http://hollandfoci.eufoci.hu/stadionok.php .   Thanks to Panoramio.com {I have set the link  to a ground-level exterior shot of SC Heerenveen’s Abe Lenstra Stadion,  here,  by Jelmer Wielema}.   Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org  {click here (2009-10 Eredivisie page)}.   Thanks to E-F-S site for attendance figures {click here}.

October 13, 2009

Major League Baseball: attendance map for 2009 regular season.

Filed under: Baseball,Baseball >paid-attendance — admin @ 7:04 am

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Please note: to see the most recent MLB paid-attendance map-and-post, click on the following: category: Baseball >paid-attendance.

Attendance dropped 6.58% for Major League Baseball in 2009.  {see this article,  from the Biz of Baseball site,  from October 5th, 2009}

Attendance was down for 22 of 30 Major League Baseball clubs.  There were only 8 teams with attendance increases.  They were Texas Rangers (+13.6%),  Florida Marlins (+12.7%),  Kansas City Royals (+12.4%),  Seattle Mariners (+5.7%),  Philadelphia Phillies (+5.2%);  Tampa Bay Rays (+3.9%),  Minnesota Twins (+3.7%),  Los Angelesw Dodgers (+0.8%).

Largest attendance decreases…Toronto Blue Jays (-21.8%),  Washington Nationals (-21.7%),  San Diego Padres (-20.8%),  Detroit Tigers (-19.9%),  Cleveland Indians (-17.6%),  Oakland Athletics (-15.4%),  Arizona Diamondbacks (-15.2%),  Cincinnati Reds (-15.1%),  Houston Astros (-10.4%).

Thanks to ESPN site for the attendance figures {click here}.  Thanks to MLB shop for the cap photos {click here}.

October 8, 2009

NCAA Division I, Football Bowl Subdivision: The Big 12, with 2008 average attendances, and modern helmet history of each team.

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As with the SEC map I posted a couple of weeks ago,  the modern helmet history of each team is shown in the teams’ sections on the far right.  The images of each team’s helmet start at the post-World War II period,  circa 1947 to 1950 or so.  This is when the old leather helmets were eventually replaced everywhere by the modern plastic compound helmets.  I am not positive,  but I think I have every helmet change of the teams in the Big 12,  from that post-War period to the present [to 2009].  At the bottom right of each team’s section is that team’s current helmet design  [note: Baylor has 2 helmets here because the team has home and road helmets this season.]. 

Thanks to MG’s Helmets {click here}.  This is where I get the illustrations of the current helmet designs. 

Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org {click here (set at Big 12 Conference football)}.   Thanks to Kansas U. Athletics site/’Evolution of the Jayhawk’ {click here}.   Thanks to Chris Creamer’s Sports Logos Page {click here}.   Thanks to Helmet Hut site {click here (set at College)}.   Thanks to The Helmet Project site {click here}.   Thanks to Logo Shak {click here}.   Thanks to Helmet History.com {click here (set at College)}.   Thanks to glenniz,  for the Sooners-wagon-on-dark-red-background image {click here}. 

Thanks to The Southwest Conference Helmet History site,  which was a real help in nailing down obscure helmet designs and dates for teams like Baylor,  Texas A&M,  and Texas Tech {click here}.

October 4, 2009

England: Non-League Football, attendance map for 4th October, 2009 (all clubs drawing above 600 per game- 45 clubs).

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 5:35 pm

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..
Attendance in the Conference is up 10.5%.  Last season,  the final average attendance for the entire league as a whole was 1,857.  This season,  as of 4th October, 2009,  the average is 2,051.  The main reason is the huge gates,  in Non-League terms,  of Luton Town and Oxford United (in the 5,00o-6,000 range).  The Oxford v. Luton match of 8th September (a Tuesday) drew 10,613. (!)   Also,  Mansfield Town,  another former Football League club,  is seeing a big upswing at the turnstiles,  with a 40% increase from last season,  to 3,392 per game.  And one of the newly promoted clubs is AFC Wimbledon,  who are seeing a 20% increase to 3,844 per game.  Two more clubs in the Conference are drawing above 3,000 per game:  Wrexham (3,734) and Cambridge United (3,032).

It must be pointed out that all but one of these clubs have spent considerable time in the Football League,  in the past.  The one club without League history is AFC Wimbledon,  but 1). AFC Wimbledon is the heir to Wimbledon FC,  who spent 14 seasons in the top flight,  and famously upset Liverpool in the 1988 FA Cup;  and 2). AFC Wimbledon is almost certainly bound for promotion to the Football League in the near future.

If you are wondering what all these decent-sized clubs with long histories in the Football League are doing in the 5th Level (ie, the Conference),  it is because so many small,  but well-performing clubs like Dagenham & Redbridge,  Barnet,  Burton Albion,  Aldershot,  and Morecambe are currently in the League.  All of these clubs are drawing less than 3,000 per game.  In fact,  11 clubs in League Two are drawing lower than 3,000. 

Prior to 1987,  there was no automatic promotion and relegation between the Football League (Levels 1-4),  and the lower leagues that made up Non-League football.  What we are seeing today is a sort of leveling out…all these clubs that spent decades in the lower reaches of the League,  and never had to worry about relegation (like,  say,  York City) now find themselves out of the League.  And clubs like Yeovil Town,  with no League history,  have punched above their weight and climbed up to the League.

The biggest increases among clubs in the leagues below the Conference are found at Havant & Waterlooville (+55%),  Newport Country (+51%),  and Tamworth (+47%),  all 6th Level clubs.  Newport County,  of south Wales;  and Tamworth,  of south-east Staffordshire,  were promoted last season.  That explains the gate increases there.  With H&WFC,  the club has seen an increase from 722 to 1,122 per game most likely due to the matches against other clubs within close vicinity,  which produced traveling support that increased the gates.  Their recent matches v. Bath City,  Eastleigh,  Basingstoke Town,  and Dover Athletic all fall into this category,  with gates in the 1,100-1,400 range rather than the normal 700-800 range.   [I guess that's one problem with doing a map like this,  when only about 30% of the season has been played...certain matches will skew the figures.  So I will make an updated version of this map in May,  2010.]

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51 weeks ago I made a map for Non-League attendance leaders,  with a cut-off point of all clubs drawing above 800 per game {see it, here}.  This year,  I have put the cut-off at 600 per game.  This added 7 more clubs total to the map.  Meanwhile, 33 of the 38 clubs on the map last season are back on the map this season.  Gone via promotion to the Football League are Burton Albion and Torquay United.  Gone from the map because of a drop in attendances are Bath City,  Lewes,  and Northwich Victoria.

Here are the clubs that were not on the Non-League attendance map last October… Braintree Town,  nicknamed the Iron,  are from Essex,  and play in the Conference South (a 6th Level league).   Truro City play in a location pretty far off the beaten path,  in Cornwall.  The club are currently in the Southern League (in the 7th Level).  Truro City have now been promoted four straight seasons.  Truro City are the only football club from Cornwall in the top 10 Levels of the English football league system   Farnborough are in the Conference South (6th Level),  and are from that north-east Hampshire town where ’The Football Ramble’ originated {see this recent article in the Guardian.co.uk,  about the unlikely rise of this independent sports show…click here}.   Havant & Waterlooville are also from Hampshire,  and also in the Conference South,  and are located in Havant,  which is about 10 km. north-east of Portsmouth.  The club,  nicknamed the Hawks,  made it to the 4th Round of the 2007-08 FA Cup (after beating Swansea in the 3rd Round).  Their 4th Round match versus Liverpool,  at Anfield,  was widely broadcast,  and saw the plucky south coast side take the lead on the Reds twice,  only to fall 5-2.   Eastwood Town are in the Conference-North,  and are from Nottinghamshire.  The club,  nicknamed the Badgers,  made it to the 2008-09 FA Cup 3rd Round (after beating Wycombe Wanderers in the 2nd Round).   Leamington are from Whitnash, Warwickshire,  that historic county which wraps around the eastern end of the West Midlands.  Leamington Spa and Warwick are both neighboring towns of Whitnash.  Leamington are in the Southern League (7th Level).   Lowestoft Town are from north-east Suffolk,  on the North Sea 33 km. (20 miles) south-east of Norwich;  and 59 km. (37 mi.) north-east of Ipswich.  The club has the great nickname of the Trawler Boys.  Lowestoft Town are in the Isthmian League, North (aka the Ryman North),  an 8th Level league. [note- there are just two clubs from the 8th Level on the map: Lowestoft Town and FC Halifax Town (who are the re-born Halifax Town AFC].  Gateshead are located in Tyne and Wear,  within Greater Newcastle.  The club crest features the town of Gateshead’s Angel of the North sculpture {see this}.  Gateshead were promoted to the Conference last season,  and have seen an attendance increase of around 300,  to 718 per game.

Thanks to the contributors to the pages at en.wikipedia.org {click here for the page on 2009-10 Conference National}.   Thanks to the King’s Lynn FC site’s Turnstile Count {click here}.   Thanks to ESPN Soccernet {click here},  for Conference attendance figures {click here}. 

Thanks to the Blue Square South official site {click here}.   Thanks to the BBC site’s Non-League page {click here}.  Thanks to the Two Hundred Percent site,  for it’s excellent coverage of the Non-League scene {click here}.

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