would 10 years be a reasonable target to get back in the conference proper. trying to think how long it took histon.

We're not quite the same type of club as Histon.
Histon is a small village (quite posh actually!) on the edge of Cambridge - a bit like Hurworth is to Darlo.
Our situation is not really comparable to theirs.

No it wouldn't 10 years is far too long, we should be looking to get back to the Conference in 5 years.

We need 4 promotions, and have a fan base bigger than almost all clubs we are likely to need to overcome to get those 4 promotions. We need to keep momentum going to keep our fanbase high though.

I'd say we're really looking at 5 seasons. We need to get back-to-back promotions to keep things rolling, to generate interest and to get people believing that we'll be back.

Getting back in to the League will be harder still - as we've seen the Conference Premier is a very hard league to get out of for a few reasons. However, Wimbledon have shown it is possible to do it relatively quickly with momentum behind you. If we can be back in the Football League within a decade I'll be happy.

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The hardest job is going to be getting out of the Northern League

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One step at a time for me. However, we must get out of the Northern League at the first opportunity. This means winning it because we can not rely on others to finish above us and not apply for promotion. It's a hard ask, but it looks like we're going to have the support behind the scenes to have a jolly good go.

I'll settle for merely living long enough to see it.

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Blimey so then it's got to be 5 years for Joe.

Dont see why we cant be back to at least Conference North in 5 years, both Halifax and Chester had back to back promotions, Chester are back in Conf North and Halifax lost in the Conf North Play Offs last season...

It only took Wimbledon 7 years to get league football, which is an amazing achievement, it is not going to be easy for us, but in 5 years I can really see us knocking at the door of the Conference Premier

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If it looks like a turd,
Smells like a turd,
Your probably in Hartlepool

1883
4 Numbers
1 Year
1 Club
1 Darlington F.C.

If we get out of the northern league quickly, I think we'll be able to progress quite quickly through the evostik leagues. BSN might take a couple of years to get out of perhaps, although with momentum it might be easier. BSP will be tough, unless crowds hold up around 2.5k at least. Hopefully by then it will be 3 up which would make it easier!!

5 or 6 years for the BSP if we can get some momentum. Promtions=big crowds=more money=more success=bigger crowds etc etc.

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Boycott greedy clubs!!

The other team to get back their league status (albeit a phoenix club) are Aldershot. It took them eleven years to get back to the conference national level from the same level as the Northern League Div 1. They kept retained very good crowds too. Looks like they were very successful initially with two promotions and then each step took 4 or 5 years. I would be happy to get back to the conference in anything less than 10 years from NL Div 1. Of course if we can start higher then all the better.
-Lee

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldershot_Town_F.C.