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  HTAFC Prediction League 2025 Matchday 10
Posted by: Lord Snooty - 09-03-2025, 19:12 - Forum: Huddersfield Town - Replies (17)

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

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. Wink
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.  Rolleyes


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.......


Badger *** scores for ***
Badger *** scores for ***
Badger *** 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 Badger 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 9:

  1. neonfoxinthebox = 158 pts
  2. jjamez = 141 pts
  3. themaclad = 135 pts
  4. Baggiebob(BBB) = 132 pts
  5. Lord Snooty = 120 pts
  6. St Charles Owl = 112 pts

Saturday 15th March:
Town v Crawley
Town scorers:
Crawley scorers:

Cambridge United v Peterborough United (12:30)
Blackpool v Leyton Orient
Charlton Athletic v Wigan Athletic
Shrewsbury Town v Burton Albion
Wycombe Wanderers v Wrexham

Bonus matches:
Championship:
Saturday:

Preston North End v Portsmouth
West Bromwich Albion v Hull City

Sunday:
Sheffield Wednesday v Sheffield United (12:30)

Premier League:
Fulham v Tottenham Hotspur (13:30)

EFL Cup Final:
Liverpool v Newcastle United (16:30)

Badger *** scores for ***
Badger *** scores for ***
Badger *** scores for ***



Division Two table after Matchday 9:
  1. ritchiebaby = 176 pts
  2. theo_luddite = 153 pts
  3. Devongone = 145 pts
  4. SHEP_HTAFC = 139 pts
  5. Amelia Chaffinch = 103 pts
  6. WakeyTerrier = 99 pts


Saturday 15th March:
Town v Crawley
Town scorers:
Crawley scorers:

Bolton Wanderers v Stockport County (12:30)
Lincoln City v Bristol Rovers
Mansfield Town v Barnsley
Northampton Town v Birmingham City
Reading v Stevenage
Rotherham United v Exeter City

Bonus matches:
Saturday:
Scottish Premiership:

Kilmarnock v Hibernian

League Two:
Notts County v Chesterfield

Sunday:
Premier League:

Arsenal v Chelsea (13:30)

EFL Cup Final:
Liverpool v Newcastle United (16:30)

Badger *** scores for ***
Badger *** scores for ***
Badger *** scores for ***

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  Prediction Fixtures 11th and 13th March
Posted by: Devongone - 09-03-2025, 13:23 - Forum: Chesterfield - Replies (8)

Tuesday 11th March all ko at 7.45pm

Accrington Stanley v Newport County AFC.
AFC Wimbledon v Cheltenham Town.
Colchester United v Port Vale.
Grimsby Town v Notts County.
Salford City v Chesterfield.

Thursday 13th March ko 8.00pm

Bromley v Walsall.

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  Prediction League Fixtures - Week 27
Posted by: Zinman - 08-03-2025, 22:32 - Forum: West Bromwich Albion - Replies (13)

Gamball:
Coventry - Sunderland

Others:
Everton - West Ham
Bournemouth - Brentford
Luton - Middlesbrough
Oxford - Watford
Plymouth - Derby
Preston - Portsmouth
Swansea - Burnley
Wycombe - Wrexham
Fulham - Spurs

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  Celtic v Hibs - Sunday 9 March
Posted by: ritchiebaby - 08-03-2025, 19:01 - Forum: Hibernian - Replies (1)

Hibs travel to Glasgow tomorrow in the eagerly awaited Scottish Cup Quarteer-final. Celtic will be eager to re-assert themselves after losing 1-2 at Easter Road in the League and Hibs will be eager to show that result was no fluke.

I'm certain there will be plenty of goals in this fixture which should entertainment the neutrals, but will be torture for the committed fans. Celtic will obviously be favourites but a shock is still on the cards in this round. Will it be tomorrow?

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  WBA vs QPR & Burnley - Match Thread
Posted by: Ska'dForLife-WBA - 07-03-2025, 13:32 - Forum: West Bromwich Albion - Replies (7)

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A very good point at Leeds kept Albion in the playoff positions by the barest margin, and now in the space of four days we face a similar double-whammy test to last week: first a winnable home game as QPR visit the Hawthorns, and then a daunting trip up north to see what we can get out of Burnley at Turf Moor.

Our record against Rangers is about as solid as they come, with only one defeat in eleven and just four weeks short of completing a full ten years unbeaten against them at home (in fact, the last time we lost a Championship match at the Hawthorns to a London side at all was against Crystal Palace on 26th September 2009). Meanwhile, QPR's recent form - though buoyed somewhat by two home wins in February - has encompassed five defeats in the last six weeks, including the last three on the road. As with Oxford a fortnight ago, we can't and shouldn't expect a pushover, but three points is the bar we have to clear if the playoffs are our target.

Burnley are naturally a different kettle of fish: still within striking distance of the automatic places, they bounced back effortlessly from a shock FA Cup trouncing by Preston to record their fourth league win in five games in midweek. As with Leeds, if we get up there and have a go, then defend as a team when necessary, we might just pick up an unexpected bonus in a match where there are no real expectations of success.

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  Fixtures 8 March
Posted by: Dancingwilldoit - 07-03-2025, 11:55 - Forum: Chesterfield - Replies (7)

Wimbledon 1-0 Notts C
Walsall 3-1 Grimsby
Barrow 2-2 Accrington
Cheltenham 1-2 Colchester
Chesterfield 2-0 Newport
Doncaster 1 -1 Swindon
Fleetwood 2-1 Port Vale
Gillingham 1-0 Bradford
Harrogate 3-1 Carlisle
MKD 2-0 Morecambe
Salford 1-2 Crewe
Tranmere 0-1 Bromley

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  Sheffield United Bramall Lane 8/3/2025
Posted by: themaclad - 07-03-2025, 09:29 - Forum: Preston North End - Replies (4)

Sheffield United
Bramall Lane 8/3/2025 1500hrs

https://www.sufc.co.uk/

MANAGER

[Image: Screenshot-2025-03-05-111150.png]

FORM GUIDE

BLADES 16 PNE 8

LAST TIME OUT

[Image: Screenshot-2025-03-05-111035.png]



HOT BLUNTS

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SHEFFIELD ATTRACTIONS

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The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Paul, Sheffield, also known as Sheffield Cathedral, is the cathedral church for the Church of England diocese of Sheffield, England. Originally a parish church, it was elevated to cathedral status when the diocese was created in 1914. Sheffield Cathedral is one of five Grade I listed buildings in the city,[1] along with the Town Hall, Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, and the parish churches at Ecclesfield and Bradfield.

The cathedral is located on Church Street in the city centre, close to the head of Fargate. Construction of the earliest section of the cathedral dates back to c. 1200, with the newest construction completed in 1966; the building is an unusual mixture of medieval and modern architecture. Cathedral tram stop, located outside the front churchyard, opened in 1994 and is today served by all four lines of the Sheffield Supertram network. Most recently, the cathedral underwent an interior and exterior refurbishment in 2013–2014.

Sheffield Cathedral was damaged in a fire on 14 May 2020, an investigation into which is ongoing; a 40-year-old woman has been arrested and charged with arson. The fire destroyed a portion of the cathedral used by a homelessness charity.[2] A previous fire caused damage to the cathedral belltower in 1979.

OTHER CHAMPO STUFF

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The Fitness Test
Paul Heckingbottom will provide an update on team news in his pre-match press conference.

The Blades

Sheffield United are on track for an instant return to the Premier League, occupying second spot in the table following their relegation from the top flight last term.

With Chris Wilder at the helm, they have a manager with experience of promotion out of the Championship, and that came with the side from South Yorkshire back in 2019.

Their second tier campaign began with a 2-0 victory at Deepdale on the opening night of the season, and they’ve strengthened since then, bringing in the likes of Ben Brereton Diaz and former North End loanee Tom Cannon in January.

The Officials

Referee: John Busby
Assistant Referees: Mark Russell and Hristo Karaivanov
Fourth Official: Ross Joyce

John Busby will referee his fourth PNE match of the season on Saturday, having previously taken charge of the Portsmouth away fixture and home clashes against Leeds United and Middlesbrough.

So far this season, Busby has shown 73 yellow cards and two reds in 24 matches.

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  Plymouth v The Owls SBC Match Thread
Posted by: Owlkev71 - 06-03-2025, 15:15 - Forum: Sheffield Wednesday - Replies (48)

THE MATCH

SATURDAY 8TH FEBRUARY KO 3PM

[Image: 070da9e4a187a8c0fba73c0f2e9eee99.jpg] v [Image: c8f0e1f02feea03b72811b4b50c0f4c0--britis...nesday.jpg]

LAST MATCH



We slipped to our 3rd straight defeat, a mixture of bad defending/ref decisions. We should have been awarded a penalty early on for handball but wasn't seen by anu official. Windass had a great chance but blazed it over the bar. Sunderland took the lead when Mayenbe handled the ball and scored but the goal stood despite the ref looking right at it. Onto the 2nd half and we quickly equalised when Pato flicked in Ingelsson's cross. Sunderland got the winner when Mayende headed in a decent cross, but Ihiekwe's marking was poor. We huffed and puffed for an equaliser for couldn't find one.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB Thumb up  Thumb up  Thumb up

THE MATCH



Next up and a long trip all the way down to Plymouth. Plymouth have been struggling most of the season, what do you expect when Rooney was in charge, good player but not very good as a manager. The Pilgrims are currently in 23rd place, 6 points from safety and will have a fight on there hands to stay in the division, though they do have some winnable fixtures in March before a difficult last 7 games in the run in. They are now managed Miron Muslic, who took over from Rooney on the 10th January and has a 25% win rate from his 12 games in charge. There leading scorer is Ryan Hardie with 5 goals and 2 assists this season. We have lost our last 5 games at Plymouth, our last win coming 16 years ago.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB Thumb up  Thumb up  Thumb up

ALL TIME H2H

OWLS 18
PLYM 17
DRAW 13

CURRENT FORM

OWLS  L L L W L D                                                                      

PLYM  L D D L W W      

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT Thumb up  Thumb up

OLIVER LANGFORD
Lee Venamore and Andrew Fox
Fourth Official: Paul Howard

THE TEAM

Beadle
Palmer Bernard Iorfa Johnson
Bannan Ingelsson
Musaba Windass Gasama
Smith

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

1-2 Gassama

WEDNESDAYS FIRT GOAL TIME

26

ATTENDANCE

N/A

BML LEAGUE

Imre 24
SCO 22
Maddix 21
Washington 20
Wereham 14

BMPL

Stateside 17
Owlkev 13
Southey 12
Pei 8

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Brighton v Fulham
Swansea v Middlesboro
Barnsley v Blackpool
Tranmere v Bromley
York v Forest Green

DAAAD

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE

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KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC

[Image: iypski5vqnrtadp4tw17.jpg]
[Image: Kate1.jpg]
[Image: rs_600x600-170411105514-634-kate-beckins...quality=90]


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  Gasheads vs Furheads
Posted by: jjamez - 06-03-2025, 14:59 - Forum: Huddersfield Town - Replies (28)

[Image: HuddersfieldH.jpg]

On Saturday Town look to continue a mini away form bounce as they head to the deep, dark south to face Bristol's second side, Rovers. Otherwise known as the Pirates, Rovers haven't been able to plunder much this campaign and sit in a relegation threatened 20th, but 6 points clear of the drop zone.

Bristol is apparently a lovely city, never been, it is built around the river Avon and is bordered by Somerset and Gloucestershire, whilst also not being far from Wales. It is the second most populated city in the south of England behind London Town. It gets its name from the word Brycgstow, meaning "assembly place by the bridge" or simply "site of the bridge", presumably in reference to a crossing over the Avon. An older form of the name survives as the surname Bristow, which is derived from the city, so dart player Eric, may have ancestry from the area, if anyone is into family trees and all that jazz. Life has been found in the area by archeologists from before 1000 with evidence of Neanderthals and Romans living in the area. By 1020 it had become a trading centre with coins being minted with its name, by 1067 the Normans had control over the area and had turned it into one of the strongest castles in the region, with a nobleman of the city being known for his leading role in the Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland, the man was called Richard Strongbow, might be where the cider gets its name from too. The port developed in the 11th century around the confluence of the Rivers Frome and Avon, adjacent to Bristol Bridge just outside the town walls. By the 12th century, there was an important Jewish community in Bristol which survived through to the late 13th century when all Jews were expelled from England. By the late 1300's Bristol had been granted county status after it incorporated neighbouring suburbs. It became a major ship building centre and was one of the largest medieval towns along with York and Norwich. By the 15th and 16th century it had become a major maritime area, both good and bad, with Bristolians forming trade agreements with the Spanish, sending food and weapons during the Anglo-Spanish war, and it became integral to the region. The continued with their trading as the begun trading in the New World and Africa, becoming a hotspot for sending goods out to Africa in exchange for slaves to either send to the Americas or back to England. Plantation goods such as sugar, tobacco, rum, rice, cotton and a few slaves (sold to the aristocracy as house servants) returned across the Atlantic to England. Some household slaves were baptised in the hope this would lead them to be freed. The Somersett Case of 1772 clarified that slavery was illegal in England. At the height of the Bristol slave trade from 1700 to 1807, more than 2,000 slave ships carried a conservatively estimated 500,000 people from Africa to slavery in the Americas.

[Image: clifton-suspension-bridge-welcome-to-bri...00x500.jpg]

The city was associated with Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who designed the Great Western Railway between Bristol and London Paddington, two pioneering Bristol-built ocean going steamships (SS Great Britain and SS Great Western), and the Clifton Suspension Bridge. The new railway replaced the Kennet and Avon Canal, which had fully opened in 1810 as the main route for the transport of goods between Bristol and London. Competition from Liverpool, disruptions of maritime commerce due to war with France and the abolition of the slave trade contributed to Bristol's failure to keep pace with the newer manufacturing centres of Northern England and the West Midlands. The tidal Avon Gorge, which had secured the port during the Middle Ages, had become a liability and by the late 1800's ships were now too large to navigate the river Avon into Bristol and were moving further down the coast. Come the 1900's, its Avonmouth docklands were enlarged during the early 1900s by the Royal Edward Dock. Another new dock, the Royal Portbury Dock, opened across the river from Avonmouth during the 1970s. As air travel grew in the first half of the century, aircraft manufacturers built factories and Bristol became a prime target for the xxxx's during air raids as well as a target for the IRA given its history of attacking Ireland back in the medieval period. Bristol became a major player in the construction of Rolls Royce engines during and after the war, whilst Filton near by played an instrumental role in the construction of the Concorde (something I think should be brought back with modern technological advances! but no one listens to me) Bristol is still a major player in the aerospace industry with Airbus also operating out of the area, Bristol also is thought to be the largest producer of computer chips outside of Silicone Valley with companies like Hewlett-Packard having factories there, although China and India will stand to dispute the claim of producing computer chips.

[Image: 640px-British_Airways_Concorde_G-BOAC_03.jpg]

As well as the two football clubs, Bristol is also big in Rugby Union and Cricket, with Gloucestershire basing themselves there, although the ground is on the small side with little scope to expand meaning a move could be on the cards, whilst England have played games there, the size or lack there of tends to mean they go to Cardiff which isn't much bigger but has better infrastructure, or they go to Southampton which has far more scope for the future. England Women still play there often but as the women's game expands they too could leave Bristol behind. In the lesser sports, Bristol has staged starts and finishes of the Tour of Britain bike race as well as being home to one of the biggest hot air balloon events. In the modern arts category Bristol has numerous museums in and around the dock areas, and has been voted UNESCO's city of film back in 2017, Bristol is home of Aardman Animations, creators of Wallace and Gromitt, whilst also having a role in making the film Arthur Christmas, Bristol was also used for the filming of Treasure Island and has been a stomping ground for bands such as Massive Attack and other trip hop stuff. In terms of celebrities, comedian Lee Evans is from Bristol as are Russell Howard and Stephan Merchant with actor Cary Grant originally hailing from Bristol. Born as Archibald Leach he moved to America at 16 having had a bad upbringing with an alcoholic dad who had his mother sectioned and told him she had died. He found out this was a lie when in his 30's and had her released and visited regularly, although he classed himself as American by this point.

[Image: the_man_has_style_cary_grant_style_icon_chair.jpg]

Founded in 1883, as Black Arabs F.C they entered the Bristol & District League as Eastville Rovers in 1892 and then moved to the Birmingham & District League in 1897, before changing to the Southern League as Bristol Rovers in 1899. Despite being the elder club in the city, they have spent a lot of the more recent years in the shadow of their city sibling, Bristol City. Once upon a time when I first really started following football, the two were regular opponents for Town in League One, before City moved up with the wealth of Steve Lansdown with Town not far behind them. Rovers meanwhile sunk to the depths of League Two and even the Conference for a short time, before regaining their buoyancy and making their way back to where they are now. They got their nickname of the Pirates through Bristols maritime history, whilst The Gas was an often used derogatory remark from rival clubs such as City, Cheltenham, Cardiff, Swindon and Plymouth due to their old ground being situated near to a gasworks. Instead of being offended, Rovers fans took the name to heart and made it another nickname.

Its not always been like that for Rovers, in the 1920–21 season, they played in Division Three of the Football League. They remained in this division for over 30 years, before winning the league in the 1952–53 season. They have won promotion on six other occasions: in 1973–74 from the Third Division to the Second Division, again in 1989–90 as Division Three champions, in 2006–07 to the Football League One, in 2014–15 to League Two from the Conference Premier, in 2015–16 to League One and then in 2021-22 to League One from League Two. The club has been relegated seven times—in 1961–62, 1980–81, 1992–93, 2000–01, 2010–11, 2013–14 and most recently at the end of the 2020-21 season and will be hoping to avoid the eighth occasion, Town have 9 relegations on their CV but an argumentative soul would say they are from a higher level.

The relegation to the Conference is the lowest position the Gas have ever finished although they returned to the league at the end of their first Conference season, with a penalty shootout victory over Grimsby Town in the play-off final. They would notch back to back promotions the season after. In February 2016, it was announced that a 92% stake in the club had been bought by the Jordanian al-Qadi family, and that Wael al-Qadi, a member of the Jordan Football Association, would become the president. Since 2016, the club has been owned by Dwane Sports Ltd, with 92.6% of the shares, while Bristol Rovers Supporters Club owns the remaining 7.4%. In June 2020, it was announced that president Wael al-Qadi had bought a controlling stake in Dwane Sports Ltd, after he bought the shares of other members of his family, while it was also announced that the club's debt would be capitalised and a new training facility would begin construction at Hortham Lane, Almondsbury. Rovers have owned the site formerly known as 'The Colony' and re-branded by the club 'The Quarters' since 2017, and, in June 2020, the club announced that it would be ready for the beginning of the 2020–21 season. On 3 August 2023, Kuwaiti businessman Hussain Al Saeed bought a controlling 55% share in Dwane Sports, the holding company for the football club, thus becoming chairman. As part of the takeover, all debt owed to the company was capitalised. On 22 November 2024, Al Saeed reached an agreement to purchase the remaining 45% of shares owned by both Wael and Samer al-Qadi, the acquisition to be completed over an eighteen-month period.

[Image: 20758-thumbnail.jpg]

They begun this season with former Rotherham manager Matt Taylor in charge, he had been in charge just over a year when he was sacked in December last year, just weeks after returning to the role after a family emergency. He has since been replaced by former Brighton defender Inigo Calderon. The Spaniard, a regular opponent of Town, spent six years as a player at Brighton, amassing nearly 200 appearances in English football, he left Brighton in 2016 but returned in 2023 as a youth coach before being appointed by Bristol. He has won just 4 of his games in charge so far and will be hoping to stay in the division to help rebuild and try to progress the club further up the league.

[Image: 0_4a8de387-5ea9-4305-8169-bc20aaca5857.jpg]

The season in general has obviously been underwhelming for both sides, but Bristol have won just 10 games this season, losing 18 with the game back in October at the John Smiths being one of Towns better home performances as they ran out 3-1 winners thanks to goals from Matty Pearson, Callum Marshall and Bojan Radulovic, see miracles do happen sometimes. They have struggled for consistency and struggled for goals, scoring only 35 this season, whilst some of those have come in a couple of 3-1 victories, which probably highlights the issue even more. Town have had way too many scrappy 1-0's here and there which has yielded points but not much in way of goals, the fact we still have a decent goal difference is surprising to me. Last night showcased our issues, threadbare, weak, no real firepower, no height and most importantly no idea, how does that get you anywhere? We are now in the playoffs by a point with Bolton breathing down our necks, we still have some difficult games against Wycombe, Stockport, Orient and Charlton to come and on present showing I don't see us winning any of them. That Orient game could be a very nervy affair, it is also the start of the cricket season for me and I'm not sure how much I want to play, but at the moment I feel like I'd subject myself to 6 hours in a field getting "exercise" and bowling than 90 minutes of tedious Duff Ball...



In terms of the two sides, there has been quite a few meetings over the years, 39 in total, with Town winning 14 of them and losing 13. The first meeting came back in 1953 in the FA Cup, a tie that Town won 2-0, the first league meeting came three years later in Division 2 where Town won down Leeds Road 2-1 but lost away later in the season 4-0. The sides would continue to meet in Division 2 until 1962, there would then be an 11 year hiatus until they renewed acquaintances in Division 3. It would only be for the sole season and Town lost both games that campaign, it would be a further 7 years and yet again Bristol did the double over the Terriers. Town managed to register a first win since 61 against the Pirates in 1982 with a 3-1 at home, but for the rest of the 80's Bristol held the upper hand over Huddersfield. Come the 90's the tide gradually switched, the early 90's saw Town register one league win in 93 with the other 5 games being draws, the 1995 season culminated with the Play off final where Neil Warnock's side edged past Bristol 2-1 down at the old Wembley, it would be 2003 before the sides met again, with Town having survived administration in that time. 2003 saw the sides in Division 3 with Rob Edwards and a young Jon Stead scoring in a 2-1 win, the away game finished 1-1 and Town ended the season in the play offs at the Millenium Stadium. 3 years later and Bristol joined Town in League One, with Town winning the first game 2-1 thanks to goals from Ronnie Wallwork and Phil Jevons, the Bristol side contained one Rickie Lambert who was sought after by Town at one time, but was passed over by Dean Hoyle due to concerns over his age, we know what happened then, with his moves to Southampton and Liverpool, Town also won the away game with goals from James Barrett, Michael Collins and Chris Brandon sealing a 3-2 win. The following season Town drew 1-1 at home with Stan Ternant at the helm, whilst Lee Clark's side won 2-1 away, the first play off season under Clark saw Town struggle against Bristol, losing 1-0 away and drawing 0-0 at home, before the second of Clark's play off season saw Town lose at home but win away through a sole early Jordan Rhodes goal, that would be the last time the two sides met until this season when Town put in arguably their best home performance of the season, not that there is much to chose from.

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The current Bristol squad contains a few players of yesteryear that have tormented Town, Chris Martin leads the line at 36, often terrorising town when at Derby and Bristol City. Scott Sinclair, formerly of Chelsea, Swansea and Celtic, was a thorn in the side of Towns defences whilst at Preston, he was released in 2022 and joined Bristol Rovers where he was appointed captain, at 35 his pace isn't what it used to be but there will still be a smidgen of ability on the ball that got him to the elite level. Promise Omochere, Isaac Hutchinson and Ruel Sotiriou are their leading scorers in the league, all with just 4 goals, Hutchinson scored at the John Smiths earlier in the season. Omochere signed for Bristol from Fleetwood in the summer for a rumoured club record fee, standing at 6"2 he tends to be the target man for Sotiriou who also joined in the summer from Leyton Orient, Hutchinson operates in midfield and was brought in to replace current Town man Anthony Evans when he came to Town in the summer. Elsewhere in the Rovers squad is one Jack Hunt who was once of this parish and has been an antagonist to fans ever since he departed for Crystal Palace, usually whilst he was in his two spells at Sheffield Wednesday and Bristol City.

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Others to have played for both include former Town keeper Jamal Blackman who had a loan at Bristol a few years before his move to Town, Tareiq Holmes-Dennis who left Town whilst in the Premier League to join Bristol after a loan at Portsmouth. He suffered a serious injury whilst at Rovers and announced his retirement at 24 due to it, but returned to playing in non league last September more for the fun of the game than a career. Moving further back and in the 2015 season, Towns current number 1 Lee Nicholls had a loan spell at the Memorial Ground, making 15 appearances for the side. Three years prior to that Scott Bevan would be Bristols number one, he had two years at Bristol spanning from 2011-2013, he played alongside future Town loanee Mustapha Carayol, he had the one season at Bristol before moving to Middlesbrough in his journeyman career. Going a lot further back, Lee Martin had a loan spell at Town covering just 3 games, he had 2 years at Bristol having begun at Manchester United and part of me thinks he came back to Town in some form for a short while but I can't see anything to confirm that.

There is then, of course, one Marcus Stewart who spent 5 years at Bristol Rovers, scoring 80 goals in 171 appearances before he moved to Town, where he scored a further 58 in 133 games, nearly firing them into the top division, before he was unceremoniously sold to Ipswich and Town faded away. He would finish his playing career in 2011 having scored 222 goals in 664 games, moving into coaching, first at Exeter where he finished his career and then at Bristol Rovers when he returned as assistant to Darrell Clarke. In 2022 he was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease and has since been raising money for the Darby Rimmer MND foundation, he has been a guest at Town in the past and it wouldn't surprise me if he is there on Saturday.

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I won't do team news, we seem to have lost Josh Koroma and Nigel Lonwijk now, so we are well and truly threadbare, ending with Jonny Hogg, and Brodie Spencer at centre half on Tuesday. Saturday will probably see Spencer joined by Turton and Ruffles in defence if we decide to go with three at the back and no one returns. On the plus side another midget target man returned on Tuesday in the form of Joe Taylor.

I'll add the press conference when its done.

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  Prediction League week 25 results
Posted by: St Charles Owl - 06-03-2025, 00:24 - Forum: West Bromwich Albion - No Replies

Group A

Themaclad 16
Zinman 15
Twerton 11
Amelia 7
Minizin 1
A.A.A. 0

Seems Group A’s weekly scores are pretty much mirroring the league table. This week Themaclad takes top spot with 16 points, he only scored on 4 games but got a spot on Gamball and CR on the Bonus, so he didn’t need to get much right to be in 1st place. Zinman is right on his heels with 15 points, he scored on 6 games including his Bonus and 2 CSs, but he missed on the Gamball so had to work much harder that Themaclad!! Twerton rounds off the top 3 with 11 points, he too managed 2 CSs but missed on the Gamball.

Amelia is 4th with 7 points, a bit down on her recent form. Big drop to Minizin who scored just one point, his form has deserted him over the past few weeks after getting close to Themaclad at the top of the table. AAA was AWOL this week and therefore according to the rules scores one point t less than the bottom player and therefore ended with a zero!!

272 Themaclad
251 Zinman
237 Minizin
234 Twerton
189 Amelia
185 A.A.A.


Themaclad extends his lead by a further point to 21 points over Zinman, who now extends his lead in 2nd spot to 14 points over Minizin. Twerton is now just 3 points back in 4th spot and in with a shot of the playoffs. Amelia’s good form has now seen her overtake AAA for the final spot.

Cheers
SCO


Group B

SCO 13
Lady Jane 12
Stairs 10
Derby 7
BBB 7
BaggieOne 3
Snooty -1

Another average week for Group B with the gamball proving costly - nobody predicted a draw so minus one all round. Mixed results from the other balls, 2 spot on bonuses and everybody scored on the scoreball - unfortunately 2 of those scores were negative!

Lady Jane and SCO were the top 2 heading into this week and that won't have changed as they occupy the top 2 weekly places. SCO was the only player to score on 5 games , including his bonus, and equalled the week's best of 2 correct scores. He was let down by his scoreball, playing it the only nil - nil of the week. Lady Jane is just a point behind with one fewer correct score and result but securing a maximum on her bonus. 12 points represents her highest score since week 16. Stairs secures 3rd spot with 10 points. The only difference between him and Lady Jane was the scoreball - she got it right while Stairs followed SCO's pick to lose him a point.

Derby and BBB are firmly in mid-table with 7 points. Derby got 2 of his 3 correct predictions spot-on while BBB had one more correct result but just the one correct score.

BaggieOne scored just 3 points while Snooty at least had the consolation of improving as the weekend progressed - on Saturday, with 8 of the games played, he was in danger of collecting the minimum possible score but collected 3 points from Sunday's matches. Not enough to lift him out of negative territory but better than it could have been!

236 Lady Jane
221 SCO
214 Stairs
211 Derby
190 BBB
177 Snooty
154 BaggieOne


Just one positional change as Derby drops to 4th place behind Stairs. Lady Jane continues to set the pace with SCO, Stairs and Derby keeping an eye on Group A as they seek to claim a play-off place.

Just one stat this week - this set of games saw the 5th time that everybody failed to score on the gamball. That puts it level with the number of wipe-outs on the bonus.

Zin

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