Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Royal Marines A.F.C.


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   delete. With the future possibility of adding the information to a new article about sports or football in the British Armed Forces. As there is no such article at the moment, closing as merge is not really helpful as creating such an article is not consensus here.  So Why  11:13, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

Royal Marines A.F.C.

 * ( [ delete] ) – (View AfD) (View log)

Football club which fails to meet the generally accepted notability criteria for English football clubs (i.e. playing at Step 6 or in the FA Cup or FA Vase) which has been established in at least 17 other AfDs (see here). In fact, the entire article is about other football clubs, all of which should have their own articles (at least one of which already does). Was prodded, but removed by an IP on the basis which they have played in the FA Cup (which they haven't). пﮟოьεԻ  5  7  09:12, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * This discussion has been included in WikiProject Football's list of association football related deletions. пﮟოьεԻ   5  7  09:12, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Delete per nom. – PeeJay 09:33, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Delete per my comments at the article talk page. --Dweller (talk) 12:04, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Comment - as it stands, this team doesn't pass the guidelines, having only been formed this year and never having played at a notable level. Article creator's claims appear to hinge on the fact that the team represents the same body as previous teams based in different parts of the UK which played at a notable level, albeit nearly 80 years ago.  This isn't quite the same situation as if some chancers decided to "reform" Middlesbrough Ironopolis in 2009, as technically there is a vague claim to continuity given that all the teams in question represented the RM, but I can't decide if the claim is strong enough to warrant this team having an article.  Hmmmm, after typing all that, I still don't seem to have made a decision - *sheesh* -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 12:19, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I suggested to the page's author that whilst this is probably not worthy of an article, it could be included in a Sport in the British Armed Forces article, which could discuss the three FAs (Army, RAF and Royal Navy) and the various teams which play/ed in cup/league competitions down the years (e.g. HMS Ganges, which used to enter the Suffolk Senior Cup). пﮟოьεԻ   5  7  12:30, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * The relevant article would be one on the now-defunct team. It either doesn't exist or Category:Defunct_English_football_clubs is missing it. --Dweller (talk) 12:31, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * RMLI Gosport F.C. -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 12:41, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Merge into a new article entitled Sport in the British Armed Forces, as per Number57. GiantSnowman 18:57, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Comment - If a merge similar to the one Number 57 proposed is completed, the title should probably be Football in the British Armed Forces, unless other sports are also going to be included.  Giants2008  ( 17-14 ) 04:59, 12 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Keep and merge as per suggestion above. Realistically, this team is almost certainly going to meet WP:FOOTYN within a couple of years, and it's pointless deleting something that's sourceable, verifiable, potentially useful and will probably need to be recreated. The spirit of the "top 10 steps of the pyramid only" guideline is to stop every pub and Sunday-league team from insisting on their own article. Unless I'm reading things wrong, this particular team is the military equivalent of FCUM or AFC Wimbledon and not a dozen squaddies having a kickabout in the park; I'd go so far as to say that if an appropriate merge target can't be found, this warrants an IAR keep. –  iride scent  20:15, 12 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Comment - I don't see it as inevitable that they are going to get promoted to Step 6 any time soon, and in reality they're just another Step 7 team - only a fraction of the current team are serving Marines, the rest of the squad are local players who are playing in one of the teams that happens to be on their doorsteps. They have made a fine job building Endurance Park, and the people there are extremely friendly and want to make everyone welcome, but to compare them with AFC Wimbledon or FC United of Manchester, both of which have many many times more coverage in reliable sources, is just plain wrong. I'm too close to some of the people involved to make a vote here, so I'll stay technically neutral. - fchd (talk) 22:15, 14 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Comment – I'm thinking more of the "played in the FA Cup/Vase" side. While obviously I can't predict, it seems unlikely they'll vanish soon enough not to meet the FA Cup qualifying criteria reasonably soon, not that they'll choose not to enter the Cup/Vase. Maybe the comparison with FCUM or AFCW is an overstretch, but a comparison with F.C. Halifax Town for example (yes, I know they're a couple of steps below) or the early Aldershot Town F.C. before their promotion run seems fair, especially if a case for continuity can be made. As I've previously said, IMO the spirit of the "top ten steps" rule is to keep out pub sides, school teams etc, not "legitimate" teams that have yet to qualify for the FA Cup but are on course to do so. Don't get me wrong – I won't lose sleep if it's deleted – but there doesn't seem a point providing the article can be appropriately sourced if it's going to need to be recreated in a few months. (WP:V is a policy whereas WP:N is still just a guideline, after all, and it is a potentially useful article.) –  iride scent  22:30, 14 December 2008 (UTC)
 * But under the current FA rules, only teams in levels 1-10 are eligible to enter the FA Cup, so by predicting that they will enter the FA Cup soon, you are effectively predicting that they will get promoted to level 10 anyway...... -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 08:02, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Scrub that, I only just noticed you mentioned the Vase as well, which they can enter while at level 11..... -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 08:15, 15 December 2008 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.