Thanks Dolly. I agree with both you and with m3's experience of the quality of WP sides. The problem is in these circumstances and with only ONE team certain of going up from WP - and that subject to ground grading - is that is very difficult indeed to secure promotion. Maybe there should be play-offs from Step 5 as there are in the Steps above that. For example, top teams from all Step 4 leagues go up automatically and runners-up play-off for any residual places. Or increase the numbers coming down from Step 4. There certainly doesn't seem to be much between Step 5 and Step 4 - or even a lot higher, as you show m3.

I feel that's a very valid point Brian, and one that may have more of an effect than we think, although I'm not complaining as we now have more skilled local youngsters through the Non league levels.
Another thing that stands out in the Non league pyramid are the two bottle necks that are created with teams trying to leave our level to get to level four. And the second bottle neck is level three to level two.

Perhaps this is why there seems to be two extremes in our league of either very good sides or very poor sides, and once a team wins promotion they have a very good chance of back to back promotions. This is further emphasised in teams winning promotion to level two ( Connie South ) and going on to mount a serious challenge to gain promotion to the Connie National, like Salisbury or Lewes. Braintree and Hampton also made the play offs in their first seasons in the CS. Is it any surprise that last years promoted sides to the CS find themselves in the top four or that AFC Totton got off to a sterling start with a 6-0 route ?

My feeling is, maybe there needs to be a look at how more than one team per league can be promoted from level 5 to try to aid the stronger teams with the better players to progress. As with the knock on effect with foreign players local youngsters are now finding themselves at the 'bigger', or 'well positioned', or 'best networked' non league clubs like Poole, Moneyfields, Wimborne, VTFC, Brockenhurst and Fareham.
With no disrespect to other clubs who don't have the above credentials maybe more teams promoted from level five and more teams relegated from level four will help the cream players rise to the top and help all the leagues become more closely competitive ? Just some thoughts.

Good point asif but it doesn't change the fact that it is very hard to get promoted from Step 5 with ground grading, several decent sides in most Step 5 leagues in with a shout and only one team certain to go up from each.

I have argued this one many times before. People have to accept the Wessex league for what it is - a league which is the border between clubs which have a budget and clubs which don't - hence the undoubted '2 leagues within 1' that exists in the wessex. This is not, if it is accepted, a problem. Every club has the right to be ambitious and get out of the league, just as every club has the right to maintain a purely amateur status and attempt to stay in the league.

What has to be remembered is that many of the sides that have been mentioned are not necessarily as stable as PTFC. Brockenhurst, for example, were a bottom 5 team not too many years ago! Yes, I believe there should be more than one up - possibly 2. However to make anymore would be a misjudgement. As asif has said, no-one has really gone through the leagues since Eastleigh and it would reflect badly on the Wessex if too many clubs were to be promoted only for them to come back down.

The league is a good one - every league has clubs which are seen a 'poor' (Derby with 11 points springs to mind) but we should accept those clubs and at the end of the season if they weren't good enough they'll go down and someone'll come up to give it a go.

Good post crashtest................I have to say the quality of discussion in this forum is very high. Yet another good example of our claim to have the best web-site in the league.