2 points for correct result
4 points for correct score
2 points for each correct scorer
Correct joker doubles your score   (correct score on a joker would give you 8 points)
Wrong joker result gives you minus 2
Correct Badger gives you 2 points

The prize for winning the league is one rep point.

Cup games: In the event of a draw, it's half the points if you've predicted a draw when it gets to 90 mins and the full points if it's still a draw after extra time. Half the points will be awarded for correctly predicting the winner of the match if it goes to penalties. However, if you do predict a draw and it's a match that won't be going to a replay, you can get a possible extra point by stating which of the two teams you think will eventually win.

Random score generator: I will be using the random score generator again for those who miss predicting, so we shouldn't get some people too far behind that after missing a couple of weeks they lose all interest, because I know it's not easy getting on here every week.
To be fair to everybody, this is going to be like, say if three people in one week miss their predictions, the first one in the table will be given all 0-0, the second one down the line will get 1-0 and the third will get 0-1 and so on, like if there's four missing the 4th will get 1-1, then 5th 2-1, 6th 1-2. and if there are so many missing, might as well pack in.
And if you miss two weeks on the trot, I'll stop until you come back on again. Not doing it for half a season like I did t'other year.  


At the end of the season, the winner of group 2 and the bottom of group 1 will swap places in what is commonly known as "promotion" and "relegation". It's something that most football fans will be familiar with, unless you're a fan of Liverpool or Arsenal or one of those other fashionable clubs.

The second placed player in group 2 will then have a play off with the player who finishes second from the bottom in group 1 to decide whether they will be going up, down or staying where they are.

We're going to have two seasons in one though, just to try and make it a bit more interesting and not so long drawn out. The first season will end on the Boxing Day fixtures, with the play offs being on the dates of the Twixtmas fixtures and the NYD fixtures.

The second season will start the following week, which is usually the FA Cup 3rd round, finishing on the last game of the League One season. Then another period of relegation/promotion play off games, taking in such fixtures as the EFL play offs, FA Cup Final, UEFA finals and such like.

Each group will have it's own set of fixtures. Both groups will have the Town games, with scorers to predict as before. Then it will be a split of League One fixtures and bonus matches, hopefully around ten, eleven or twelve games per Matchday.

The random badger is restricted to three goal scorers in any of the fixtures in your group.

Here's how that will appear at the end of the fixture list. All you have to do is fill in the blanks.......


*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***

Any of those will score two points if correct. No minus points for getting it wrong.

Postponed matches will only count if the match is re-played before the next Matchday is under way. Abandoned matches will be awarded half the points for the score at the time of abandonment, so 1 point if you have the correct result, 2 points if you have the correct score.

Substitute or scorer in one of the Town games:- These will be only be allowed if you change them before the match involved has kicked off.

Prediction League Archive: https://www.sportsbabble.co.uk/showthread.php?tid=12830

Division One table after Matchday 19:

1. jjamez = 352 pts
   
2. Baggiebob(BBB) = 350 pts
   
3. neonfoxinthebox = 299 pts
   
4. Lord Snooty = 261 pts
   
5. ritchiebaby = 260 pts
   
6. SHEP_HTAFC = 137 pts
   

Friday 12th December:
Championship:
West Bromwich Albion v Sheffield United (20:00)

Saturday 13th December:
League One:
Town v Wigan (12:30)
Town scorers:
Wigan scorers:

Barnsley v Leyton Orient
Blackpool v Lincoln City
Bolton Wanderers v Exeter City
Bradford City v Reading
Burton Albion v Wycombe Wanderers
Stockport County v Stevenage

Sunday 14th December:
Premier League:
Sunderland v Newcastle United (14:00)
West Ham United v Aston Villa (14:00)

Monday 15th December:
Scottish Premiership:
Rangers v Hibernian

*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***

1. theo_luddite = 317 pts
   
2. themaclad = 309 pts
   
3. Devongone = 300 pts
   
4. St Charles Owl = 262 pts
   
5. WakeyTerrier = 237 pts
   
6. Amelia Chaffinch = 232 pts
   

Saturday 13th December:
Championship:
Oxford United v Preston North End (12:30)

League One:
Town v Wigan (12:30)
Town scorers:
Wigan scorers:

AFC Wimbledon v Mansfield Town (12:30)
Cardiff City v Doncaster Rovers
Luton Town v Port Vale
Peterborough United v Northampton Town
Plymouth Argyle v Rotherham United

League Two:
Chesterfield v Barnet

Sunday 14th December:
Scottish League Cup Final:
St. Mirren v Celtic (15:30)

Premier League:
Brentford v Leeds United (16:30)

Monday 15th December:
Championship:
Sheffield Wednesday v Derby County (20:00)

*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***

Tonda Eckert has targeted a promotion challenge after being appointed Southampton's permanent head coach on a contract to 2027.

The Championship side have won four of their five games since the 32-year-old German took charge on an interim basis at the start of November.

That run has helped the team climb to 14th in the table, five points off the play-off places.

"I think that we've had a great start and now it is up to us to continue," said Eckert.

"We go all in; there is no other way. I don't shy away from being ambitious to say that we want to play for promotion, whatever that is going to look like in the end. We will go for every single point there is to take."

Eckert had been Southampton's under-21s head coach and took over the first team when Will Still was sacked after just five months in charge.

Southampton, relegated from the Premier League last season, made a poor start to this campaign.

But they won their first four games under Eckert, beating QPR, Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton and Leicester, before losing 3-2 at Millwall last Saturday.

Southampton technical director Johannes Spors said of Eckert: "His empathy for the playing group and the clarity with which he communicates his ideas have been central to the team's improvement since he took charge.

"The great results he has achieved in that time, not just in terms of performances and points, but also in the way he has brought together players and supporters, has shown everyone what he is capable of achieving."

Eckert has never previously had experience as a first-team manager but has been assistant manager at Barnsley and Genoa.

Hartlepool United have appointed interim manager Nicky Featherstone as their new permanent boss on a deal until the end of the season.

The 37-year-old won four of his eight games after being placed in charge following Simon Grayson's sacking.

"It is a tremendous honour to be appointed manager of this football club, Pools means a huge amount to me," he told the club website., external

Featherstone made 415 league appearances across more than a decade as a player for Pools, with the last one coming against Boston in September.

"We spoke to a wide range of candidates including experienced EFL managers but Nicky's leadership and understanding of the club made him the standout choice," said Hartlepool head of football operations Joe Monks.

"Nicky is a club legend with a genuine connection to our supporters."

Featherstone has helped Hartlepool climb to eighth in the National League, one place and two points outside the play-off places.

They host mid-table Yeovil on Saturday.

There's a lot of stones to be drawn, guarded and taken out before the Finals in Denmark, but the long and winding road starts in Lohja, Finland on Sunday 7th to Saturday 13th December with the Women's B Championships, where the top 3 teams will qualify for the Finals.

The 22-team field is split into three groups where they will play a round robin within their group. The top two teams in each group plus the two third ranked teams with the better Draw Shot Challenge qualify for the quarter-finals. Then, teams will be ranked 1-8 to decide the quarter-final matchups.
Group A: Australia, England, Estonia, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Romania, Türkiye
Group B: Chinese Taipei, Hungary, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, United States
Group C: Brazil, Czechia, Finland, Hong Kong China, Latvia, Scotland, Spain

England are represented by Lina Opel - still only 15 - (4th and Vice Skip), Marianna Ward (3rd and Skip), Anna MacDougall (2nd), Helena Keggell (1st) with Chloe McNaughton as Alternate and play their first game against Estonia at 12 noon on Sunday, then at the same time against Australia on Monday.

Scotland's hopes rest with Katie Archibald - no not the multi-medalled saddlesore one, but the up-and-coming junior - (Skip), Alex McMillan (3rd), Hannah Young (2nd), Lillia Clarke (Lead) and Cara Thomson (Alternate). They play Spain in their opening game on Sunday at 7am. Their second game is against Brazil on Monday at 5pm.

Gamball:
Leicester - Ipswich

Others:
Burnley - Fulham
Oxford - Preston
Millwall - Hull
Portsmouth - Blackburn
Wrexham - Watford
Huddersfield - Wigan
Forest - Spurs
Sunderland - Newcastle
West Ham - Villa

Can we have a Sportbabble World peace prize please?

Asking for a friend.

Seriously, what’s next

The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation award for Medicine?

The World Taekwondo award for Economics?

The World Darts Federation award for Literature?

What a farce

Last week's must-win game came within a whisker of going severely Shane Long for Albion, and while the 2-0 half-time deficit thankfully just paved the way for the most entertaining comeback win we've been treated to in years, it nevertheless means that the only two ticks in Ryan Mason's plus column for November were earned by coming from behind at home against relegation battlers. If it was a school report, ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT would be plastered in red ink over the front, and though there are two opportunities in the coming week for that improvement to be delivered, both are taking place on the road where we haven't won in over two months.

The consolation is that our opponents are very much in the same boat as us: the good ship 12th-14th to be precise, boldly going nowhere fast and cultivating an ever-growing aquarium on the lower decks. QPR are Saturday's opposition, defeated at Norwich last week but with a couple of recent wins buoying them somewhat, while Southampton - our destination Tuesday night - are also bouncing back from a loss, but otherwise enjoyed a dream November with a string of resounding victories that went some way to repairing their dreadful start. The encouraging signs for Albion, not just against Swansea but also in the Coventry capitulation, are that we can clearly score goals if our forwards (particularly Heggebo) get the support and supply they need; the lesson to be learned, on the other hand, is that we can't expect to defend a lead for more than ten minutes, and Josh Griffiths needs to be protected from saving anything smaller and faster than a balloon. It's not an ideal situation, but shouldn't be beyond Mason's ken to make good.

Still, a couple of draws to give us an unbeaten run would be a decent outcome against these shipmates who are a little more shipshape at present than us, and even one draw would keep the points tally ticking. Back-to-back defeats, on the other hand, would put us back at square one a week from now.

Scotland get Brazil Morocco and Haiti. Looks like one of the games might be in boston/philly. Brazil will be in Miami. FFS

Only Scotland could wait nearly 30 years to go to a World Cup, the most expansive one in history, then end up with nearly the same draw as the last time they were in it. If Denmark qualify via the playoffs they will land an easier draw

England as Per get the pish easy group, I was almost expecting Spartans or Peterhead to come out of pot 4 That freaky looking gimp Kane will have scored about 20 goals before they qualify.

Totally rigged for TV audiences. Totally contrived.