Bostik Supporters Predictions 2018/19: South Central Division- the outcome!

It’s becoming something of a tradition. We started the 2017/18 season by asking our supporters to predict the outcome of our -then- three Divisions. How did they do? Well, if we’re honest, fairly badly!

At the start of the season which will end with the Premier Super Playoff Final on Saturday, we asked again- only now we had four divisions to worry about. So, it’s time to see whether our supporters knew their onions, or whether their predictions would end up causing us tears- probably of laughter. Let’s start with the South Central Division.

Let’s start with the positives. There are quite a lot of them!

You expected Hayes and Yeading United to win the title, and you were absolutely right- two thirds of our supporters put them in first place. You also predicted two more of the top five, suggesting that Cheshunt would be second and that Bracknell Town would be fourth- so you were one place out for the Ambers, two places for the Robins, but given that the Ambers came out on top in the Playoffs then perhaps we can give you a bonus point!

You had Westfield finishing sixth, so only one place out, and were absolutely spot on when it came to Molesey, who did indeed end the campaign in nineteenth place. You were also only two places out in the case of Bedfont Sports, who ended the season in twelfth place.

So, where did you go wrong?

Well, perhaps your biggest mistake was your prediction for Ware. You suggested that they would miss out on relegation by only one place, and instead they missed out on a playoff spot by two places. Marlow, who you expected to end the season in mid-table, stormed to a fourth place finish a full twenty-five points better off than the side in twelfth place, which was where you put them- only one of our supporters actually put them in the top five, and that supporter was absolutely correct, placing them in fourth place. You also expected Hertford Town to have a much better season than they actually had, but perhaps losing most of their team and their manager around half way through didn’t help- and we wouldn’t have expected anyone to predict that!

Two-thirds of you expected Waltham Abbey to end up in the top five. They eventually ended up in ninth place, but again, perhaps things would have been different if manager Mark Stimson hadn’t headed to AFC Hornchurch in November. You also expected South Park to do much better than they did- they’d have loved your eleventh place- and you couldn’t have predicted that Egham Town would end up with almost as many managers and they managed victories- none of us could!

So, take a look at your predicted table, and the actual table- which we’ve borrowed from those lovely folk at the Non League Paper- and see do some comparing and contrasting. Thanks to all who took part- and if you’d like to be involved next season, please get in touch via townsendaround@gmail.com and we’ll get back to you once we know who will be in our four divisions.