Bath City and Fleetwood Town become the 22nd and 23rd sides to confirm their places in next years Conference Nation, after a couple of tight play-off finals in front of huge crowds were decided by a single goal this afternoon.
In the North, big spending Fleetwood overcame Alfreton 2-1 thanks to a goal in the 78th minute in front of 3592 at a packed Highbury (Fleetwood version, not North London posh peoples conversion flats of course…). Dons fans can look forward to packing their buckets and spades as Fleetwood is just a few miles north of Blackpool and a favourable early/late season Saturday fixture could be combined with a weekend at the seaside with a tramride up to Fleetwood in the afternoon to take in the game. Fleetwood Town FC actually have a pretty interesting history, and hopefully I’ll get a chance to touch upon that later in the week.
Bath City overcame Woking in the Southern Final 1-0 in front of over four thousand at Twerton Park, including an apparent 1800 travelling supporters. Sadly our ‘friends’ from further down the South West mainline have at least another season in the BSS to look forward to, reducing their dreams of meeting the mighty AFC Wimbledon in a League fixture still further. Like Fleetwood, Bath will be an enjoyable trip, one we have made twice before, a late Alan Inns goal salvaging a point in a 2-2 draw in August ’08, before a December visit to then-tenants Team Bath saw Wimbledon take the points with a 2-1 victory.
Which means the current lineup for next season is as follows;
AFC Wimbledon
Altrincham
Barrow
Bath City
Cambridge United
Crawley Town
Darlington
Eastbourne Borough
Fleetwood Town
Gateshead
Grimsby Town
Hayes and Yeading
Histon
Kettering Town
Kidderminster Harriers
Luton Town
Mansfield Town
Newport County
Rushden & Diamonds
Salisbury City
Southport
Tamworth
Wrexham
The defeated side in the Conference Play-Off Final between Oxford United and York City.
The Anonymous Don 