York City have appointed Stuart Maynard as their new manager.

The Minstermen parted company with Adam Hinshelwood despite him taking them to second place in the National League last season and beginning this campaign unbeaten, with one win and three draws.

Maynard, who had a nomadic non-league career as a player, began his coaching career as assistant to Dean Brennan at Hemel Hempstead Town, Billericay Town, Kingstonian and Wealdstone.

When Brennan resigned as manager after taking Wealdstone to the National League, Maynard took on his first senior role and led the club to their highest league placing for 35 years - 16th in the fifth tier.

After taking them to 13th in 2022-23, Maynard landed the Notts County job in January 2024 but was sacked at the end of last season after losing to AFC Wimbledon in the League Two play-off semi-final.

In a statement , externalon the club website, York co-chairs Matt and Julie-Anne Uggla said: "He comes with a high pedigree of football knowledge and holds the same ambition as ourselves in taking this football club to the EFL."

THE MATCH

SATURDAY 30TH AUGUST KO 3PM

v

LAST MATCH



Our youngster did us proud as they knocked out Premier League outfit Leeds on a penalty shoot out. Nine of the starting line up were 20 or under with only the keeper and Lowe as senior pros. Leeds had most of the ball but we defended very well with the keeper made several comfortable saves, while Lowe put a free kick just wide. Onto the 2nd half and the pattern continued but we took the lead when Darlow couldn't deal with Lowe's cross/shot and the ball squeezed over the line. Leeds then put on there first team players and there pressure was rewarded when Bodle fired past Horvath. The game finished 1-1 and went to penalties where we scored 3 and they missed 3 as went through to round 3 to face Grimsby Town.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

THE MATCH



Next up and Swansea make the journey north to Hillsborough. Its been a mixed start to the season for the Swans, with a win, draw and a loss so far although there win was against the Blunts I don't think they will be troubling either end of the table and a mid to lower half finish looks reasonable. They are managed by Alan Sheehan, who was caretaker manager for a while but was then made fulltime head coach at the end of April this year. Not many noticeable names in the Swans squad, Liam Cullen is a decent player and racked up 12 goals last season. 

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

ALL TIME H2H

OWLS 14
SWAN 10
DRAW 15

CURRENT FORM

OWLS     D L L                                                            

SWAN     L W D

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

ANTHONY BACKHOUSE
Matthew Smith and Darren Williams
Fourth Official : Ben Atkinson

THE TEAM

Horvath
Valery Iorfa Otegbayo Palmer
Fusire Ingelsson Bannan
J Lowe Cadamarteri Ugbo

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

1-1 Cadamarteri

WEDNESDAYS FIRT GOAL TIME

56

ATTENDANCE

18971

BML LEAGUE

SCO 3
Maddix 1
Owlkev 1
Imre
Washington

BMPL

Stateside 2
Wereham -12
Southey -12
Pei -12

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Sunderland v Brentford
Oxford v Coventry
Barnsley v Huddersfield
MK Dons v Walsall
Halifax v Yeovil

HAAHD

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC

Group A

BaggieOne 18
Minizin 12
BaggieVic 11
A.A.A. 10
Twerton 3
B.B.B. 3
Zinman 3
Stairs 2

Better week in Group A this week over last week……………………..but only for half of the participants!! BaggieOne leads the way with 18 points, he failed on his Gamball but made up for it with 3 CSs including one on his Bonus. Minizin was 2nd with 12 points, he was one of two players to get a spot on Gamball, the other being Baggie Vicar who is 3rd with 11 points. AAA was the 4th player to reach double figures this week ending on 10 points.

After this group the score fell off the proverbial cliff!! Three players - Twerton, BBB and Zinman ended with 3 points and the league leader Stairs ended up bottom with just 2 points. At least no one put in a negative score and for the first time Zinman was not bottom!!!

40 BaggieOne
38 Stairs
35 Twerton
31 B.B.B.
30 A.A.A.
30 BaggieVicar
30 Minizin
9 Zinman

So the top three from last week were in the bottom three scorers this week, so we have seen some changes in position. BaggieOne has taken over top spot from Stairs, who is only 2 points back. Twerton is now 3rd and BBB drops to 4th. There is then a 3 way tie for 5th place between AAA, BaggieVicar and Minizin. Only 10 points separate the top 7, so pretty close even at this early stage.

And then there is Zinman, he is 21 points behind 7th spot and by my calculation has posted one of the worst scores after the first three weeks (seems certain players in Group B are vying with him for this title though). Plenty of time left but 31 points off top is looking daunting already!!

Cheers
SCO


Group B

Tough set of fixtures this week!!

A quote from SCO on submission of his predictions this week - it proved to be one of the few things anyone got right!

Derby 5
SCO 5
Themaclad 1
4eva 1
Snooty 0
Lady Jane -2
Salop -4


Week 1, 75 points; Week 2, 56 points; Week 3, 6 points.

Down to earth with a bump as week 3 proved just how difficult predicting football results can be. 4 matches yielded negative points, just 2 correct gamball predictions and a complete blow out on the bonus ball. Add just 1 correct score prediction and the result is the worst total score I've reported on since the epic week 6 of 2024/5 (minus 1 in total).

Not a week anyone will want to recall but Derby and SCO did set themselves apart from the rest by scoring 5 points. Derby had the most correct results, 4, and was one of 2 players to pick up a scoreball point. SCO scored on 3 games but one of them was the gamball.

Themaclad's good start came to an end with just a single point. He only got one result correct but managed to get the score right and the scoreball point kept him in positive territory. Snooty ended up with zero points, his 2 correct results balancing out his incorrect balls.

The first negative scores of the season belong to Lady Jane and Salop. LJ did at least get one prediction correct while Salop, back after a few years' absence, is finding it tough - he managed a complete wipe-out, no correct results and also missing out on the scoreball to produce the minimum possible score and manage to make me look good! Thanks, Salop!

36 Themaclad
26 4eva
25 SCO
20 Lady Jane
18 Derby
8 Snooty
4 Salop

The 2 negative scores provide the only overall table movements this week, Lady Jane swopping places with SCO and Salop dropping to the foot of the table. Now to see if I can find another tough set of fixtures. .

Phil Kirk has passed away at 59.

RIP Phil. Thoughts are with his family and friends.

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 4:

1. Baggiebob(BBB) = 83 pts
   
2. SHEP_HTAFC = 75 pts
   
3. neonfoxinthebox = 72 pts
   
4. jjamez = 69 pts
   
5. ritchiebaby = 65 pts
   
6. Lord Snooty = 64 pts
   

Saturday 30th August:
Barnsley v Town
Town scorers:
Barnsley scorers:

Doncaster Rovers v Rotherham United (12:30)
Blackpool v Bolton Wanderers
Bradford City v AFC Wimbledon
Burton Albion v Luton Town
Exeter City v Peterborough United
Stevenage v Wycombe Wanderers

Tuesday 2nd September:
EFL Trophy Northern Group F:
Town v Newcastle Utd u21s
Town scorers:
Newcastle scorers:

Bonus matches:
Saturday:
Championship:
Stoke City v West Bromwich Albion (12:30)

Sunday:
Scottish Premiership:
Hibernian v St. Mirren (15:00)

Premier League:
Aston Villa v Crystal Palace (19:00)

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

1. themaclad = 84 pts
   
2. Amelia Chaffinch = 70 pts
   
3. theo_luddite = 68 pts
   
4. Devongone = 59 pts
   
5. St Charles Owl = 51 pts
   
6. WakeyTerrier = 49 pts
   

Saturday 30th August:
Barnsley v Town
Town scorers:
Barnsley scorers:

Cardiff City v Plymouth Argyle (12:30)
Leyton Orient v Northampton Town
Lincoln City v Mansfield Town
Reading v Port Vale
Wigan Athletic v Stockport County

Tuesday 2nd September:
EFL Trophy Northern Group F:
Town v Newcastle Utd u21s
Town scorers:
Newcastle scorers:

Bonus matches:
Saturday:
Championship:
Portsmouth v Preston North End
Sheffield Wednesday v Swansea City

League Two:
Chesterfield v Crawley Town

Sunday:
Premier League:
Liverpool v Arsenal (16:30)

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

Former Burnley chairman Mike Garlick has completed his takeover of Cheltenham Town.

The 61-year-old entered a period of exclusivity with the League Two side in June and has now "completed his acquisition of a controlling interest in the club combined with a commitment for future investment".

Garlick told the club's website, external: "I met some of the board members back in May and visited the stadium and training ground. From that moment on I knew this was the club I wanted to be part of.

"I believe firmly in evolution rather than revolution and step-by-step we will seek to drive the club forward both on and off the pitch, whilst remaining firmly rooted in our local community and loyal fan base."
Garlick spent 17 years on the board at Turf Moor before he left in 2023, including eight as club chairman during which the Clarets twice won promotion to the Premier League.

He also owns Gibraltar top-flight club St Joseph's and third tier Spanish side FC Antequera.

Garlick and his wife Alison will now join the Cheltenham board.

Meanwhile, John Murphy has retired from the board but will become the club's honorary president for a five-year term.

Chairman David Bloxham explained that the club have been operating with "financial and practical restraints" and that it "has been a source of frustration that we have been unable to undertake significant improvements to facilities and infrastructure or retain our best staff".

Bloxham added: "Mike Garlick brings with him a great deal of football knowledge and experience which I am confident will bring significant benefits and growth to our club."

Cheltenham confirmed last October that they were looking for "substantial" new investment with three of their four biggest shareholders willing to sell their stakes in the club.

The Robins had been owned by an array of shareholders, with the supporter-led Robins Trust having the third largest stake at 16% as of March 2024.

The Trust retain their share as the second-largest shareholders.

The rest of the ownership remains split between a large number of minor investors. However unlike other clubs, the board of directors - appointed by the shareholders - run the club rather than the owners.

Cheltenham finished 15th in League Two in 2024-25, with 15th in League One achieved in 2021-22 - their highest-ever finish in the English Football League.

Michael Flynn's side are currently bottom of League Two, without a point from their opening four games, going into Saturday's visit of Barnet.