Our ref at the weekend tried telling us that 75 clubs were going back to winter.

That Leigh East statement is understandable, and holidays and other events were always going to be an issue in terms of spectators. Of course, that's if your club is lucky enough to have a clubhouse with a bar. Only a few clubs we visit are in that position - that vast majority of us play on a rented pitch and go to a local pub afterwards. And most of us don't have floodlights to train under in the winter. Crowd numbers simply aren't an issue.

Winter was ok for us but player numbers were down (we struggled for 17 most weeks), training was extremely difficult and grim in poor lighting and conditions and with poor numbers, and around 7-8 games were postponed every year due to the weather.

Summer has meant a boost in player numbers (we've run 2 teams some weekends), brilliant training conditions in daylight and great numbers, and only 1 game postponed due to the freak rain we've been having. And that's without the cost of hiring a floodlit area.

Each club can only make a decision based on what's best for them. Some will prefer summer, some will prefer winter, but BARLA's constant moaning that clubs were 'coerced' into playing summer is getting embarrassing. They were given the options and allowed to make their own decision.

This first season was ALWAYS going to see a few issues as things settled in. Teams were always going to go through changes as players moved around and new arrangements were made. Eventually I think some will end up going back to winter with the majority remaining in summer, and as the kids playing summer move into open-age that will grow.

Sides I've heard mentioned as playing in winter:
Dalton
Blackpool Scorpions
Irlam Hornets
Langworthy Reds
West Bank Bears *
Albert Park
Moorfield Mallards
Widnes Tigers
Leigh East*
Blackbrook Royals*
Golborne Parkside
Rylands Sharks
Higginshaw

* Means this is a separate winter side not the first team returning to winter

Assume there's more I haven't heard and maybe 1 or 2 of the above won't materialise.

This was always going to happen - some clubs would find summer wasn't for them and go back to winter. I've always said we'll probably end up with two similar sized leagues running consecutively, with a small overlap.

The main problem for most clubs in summer seems to be player numbers - summer holidays, music festival, weddings, etc on top of the usual work and other commitments have meant selection nightmares for a lot of teams. We're exactly the same, one week we have 40+ lads, the next we're down to the bare bones and a scratchy 17.

Still, for us summer is the way forward. Winter seasons were a struggle with facilities and poor numbers whereas we've got great facilities and strong numbers in the summer.

The list seems to be growing all the time

growing?!

the mass ranks of clubs joining the league have been talked up for weeks. the reality is that there are 4 more than first suggested and 3 of them are sides playing a winter side in addition to keeping their main sides in summer!