Aldershot 2-0 Boreham Wood
Barnet 0-3 Solihull Moors
Bromley 1-2 Dag & Red
Dover 1-0 Maidenhead United
Halifax 1-1 Woking
King's Lynn 2-2 Yeovil
Torquay 0-1 Notts County
Wealdstone 0-1 Chesterfield
Weymouth 0-2 Grimsby
Wrexham 5-0 Eastleigh
Stockport 0-1 Southend

League Table After Matchday 51

Lord Snoots = 548
Amelia = 526
Devon = 524
St Charles = 512
Dancing = 502
Spireitematt = 460

Premier League

Snooty 22pts 3CS 5CR 5GB 6BB 1SB
Minizin 16pts 1CS 5CR 5GB 3BB 0SB
BaggieOne 15pts 1CS 6CR 5GB -3BB 1SB
Sanjay 10pts 0CS 4CR 0GB 3BB 1SB
SCO 7pts 1CS 3CR -3GB 3BB 1SB
Derby 7pts 1CS 3CR -3GB 3BB 1SB
BBB 4pts 0CS 3CR -3GB 3BB 0SB
Silver 2pts 0CS 2CR -3GB 3BB 0SB

Quite a spread of scores this week. Could things be getting interesting in the overall league? Some games proved easier to predict than others - everyone scored points from the Fulham and Forest wins but nobody saw Swansea's demolition of Cardiff and Albion's abject surrender at Blues.

Snooty has been on an impressive run lately as he tries to climb away from the relegation spots and he was once again in top form collecting an impressive 22 points with 3 correct scores including his bonus. He was also helped by a positive gamball to secure his 2nd highest score of the season. Minizin played a rare gamball and managed to get it right to give him 2nd place. BaggieOne looked on for his best week of the season until he decided to play his bonus on Albion. Given his form with this ball, he has scored minus 15 points in total, I think we can blame him for cursing the Albion result.
Mr Consistent, Sanjay was....well, consistent with his 10 points securing 4th place. He failed to convert any of his correct results into maximums (maxima?) and was also the only player not to play his gamball - wisely in his case.

Not such a good week for the rest of you. SCO and Derby had identical records to score 7 points while BBB's recent woes - he has now amassed just 15 points in the last 4 weeks - continued. I think his time as Prediction League Champion is coming to an end. Silver is another one who hasn't fared well in recent weeks and this was the case again, although he did at least score 2 more points than last week!

Derby 301
Sanjay 283
Minizin 269
Silver 264
SCO 259
Snooty 254
BBB 247
BaggieOne 213
AAA 79 ®

Derby breaks the 300 barrier though huis lead continues to erode - just 1 good week for Sanjay could make things interesting. Minizin climbs to 3rd overtaking Silver who is rapidly going backwards. Snooty is the other climber this week dropping BBB into the relegation play off spot though it remains fairly tight. BaggieOne has seen some improvement but needs a couple of stunning weeks to avoid the dreaded drop.

Zin


Championship

Blue Baggie 16pts 2CS 2CR 5GB 3BB 0SB
Salop 13pts 2CS 1CR NPGB 6BB 1SB
Twerton 11pts 0CS 5CR 5GB -3BB 1SB
Lady Jane 11pts 2CS 3CR -3GB 0BB 0SB
Themaclad 9pts 1CS 3CR -3GB 3BB 1SB
Amelia 8pts 1CS 3CR NPGB -3BB 1SB
Zinman 7pts 1CS 2CR -3GB 6BB 0SB
Stairs 1pts 0CS 2CR NPGB 3BB 0SB
Dingle 0pts 1CS 1CR -3GB -3BB 0SB

As we head into the final run those with some consistency will give themselves a chance of glory!! Blue Baggie again tops the table on his march to promotion. He scored 16 points with only 4 scoring games but he scored on both his key balls. Second place is Salop, he too is chasing promotion and his 13 points will help move him towards that. Similar to Blue, he only scored on 3 games but a spot on Bonus will boost your score. Twerton keeps up his excellent form and is tied with a rare decent week for Lady Jane. These two ended on 11 points but both scored on more games that the top two but both missed on at least one ball to keep their score down.

Themaclad had an improved week in 4th with 9 points closely followed by Amelia on 8 and Zinman on 7. Amelia wisely didn't play the Gamball and Zinman got a spot on Bonus.

Big drop to the bottom two, Stairs had another poor week finishing with just a single point, and with Blue topping the table again could this be the end of his push for the title?? Dingle didn't trouble the scorers with a zero, his worst score in a while.

309 - Blue Baggie
282 - Stairs
251 - Salop
244 - Zinman
238 - Dingle
220 - Themaclad
217 - Twerton
213 - Lady Jane
205 - Amelia

Blue extends his lead at the top to 27 points over Stairs, who is now looking over his shoulder a little at Salop in third. Zinman retakes 4th place from Dingle and both of them are still in touching distance with Salop in third.

Themaclad steadied the ship but Twerton is right in his wake and just 3 points behind. Lady Jane kept pace with Twerton but Amelia stays rock bottom and dropped a bit further back on those just above her.

Cheers
SCO

Returns as first team coach.
Don't know where we are going with this one but it doesn't fill me with hope.

It's John Beaton! Never officiated a Hibs game since Paul McGinn's scathing post-match comments against him after the League Cup final defeat v Celtic. Suddenly shows up to ref this match. Curious eh!

THE MATCH

SATURDAY 9TH APRIL KO 3:00 PM

v

LAST MATCH



Well, yet again we struggled against a team struggling in the relegation zone, but Lee Gregory was the hero of the day with an injury time winner. We got off to a good start when Hunt turned in a Bannan cross for his 2ng goal in as many games. The Dons equalized with there first attack when Assal finished well after a pull back from the right. It was a struggle the rest of the game and the Dons had a great chance to take the lead with a 3 on1 brake but BPF came to the rescue with a save. Then up pops Gregory in injury time. Bannan's cross was headed back by Paterson and Gregory stooped to head into the bottom corner.

THE MATCH



Next up in our playoff fight, and the short journey to Bolton. The Wanderers look set to miss out on the playoffs after falling 11 points behind 6th spot with just 6 games to go, so can only be spoiler for the rest of the season. Oladapo Afolayan is there leading scorer with 11. Keiran Lee is still amongst there ranks but wasn't in the squad v Wigan and I believe is injured. We beat these earlier in the season, with Gregory the goal-scorer. We will be well backed with 5000 making the journey over the pennines.

CURRENT FORM

OWLS                -                                                    

NOBLOT             -                                   

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

CARL BROOK
Dean Treleaven and Kevin Mulraine
Fourth Official : Hristo Karaivanov

THE TEAM

Peacock-Farrell
Storey Hutch Dean
NML Byers Bannan Luongo Johnson
Berahino Gregory

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

1-2 Berahino

ATTENDANCE

N/A

BML STANDINGS

Pei 16
SCO 14
Kev 12
Wereham 11
Maddix 9
Imre 9
Wash 7
SS 5

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Gillingham v Wycombe Wanderers
Lincoln City v Wigan Athletic
Oxford United v Sunderland
Rotherham United v Charlton Athletic
Shrewsbury Town v Ipswich Town

AAHHA

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC

Gamball:
Sheffield Utd - Bournemouth

Others:
Everton - Man Utd
Watford - Leeds
Villa - Spurs
Preston - QPR
WBA - Stoke
Bolton - Sheffield Wednesday
Brentford - West Ham
Norwich - Burnley
Man City - Liverpool

LAST TIME OUT



FORM GUIDE

PNE 7 BLACKPOOL 12

5/4/1922



Sir Thomas Finney CBE (5 April 1922 – 14 February 2014) was an English international footballer who played from 1946 to 1960 as a winger or centre forward for Preston North End and England. He is widely acknowledged to have been one of the sport's greatest-ever players. He was noted for his loyalty to Preston, for whom he made 433 Football League and 40 FA Cup appearances, scoring a total of 210 goals. He played for England 76 times, scoring 30 goals.
Finney was 17 when the Second World War began in September 1939. His elder brother Joe was playing for Netherfield A.F.C. and training with nearby Blackburn Rovers. Their father thought it would be sensible for both his sons to be at the same club. In January 1940, Finney was about to join Rovers when he received a letter from North End which resulted in him signing on as a professional. He later recalled that he was signed on wartime terms of ten shillings a match.[7]

First-class league and cup football had been suspended for the duration, but regional wartime competitions were organised as a boost to the people's morale. There were ten regional leagues in 1939–40 and Preston were in the North West League, finishing as runners-up to champions Bury.[8] Finney continued to play youth team football through the season.[5]

1940–41 season
The number of leagues were reduced to two in 1940 and Preston joined the North Regional League (NRL) for the 1940–41 season, which began on Saturday, 31 August 1940. They began their campaign with an away match against Liverpool at Anfield. Finney, now 18, made his first team debut playing on the right wing (wearing the no. 7 shirt). Five of his youth team colleagues, including Andy McLaren, also made their first team debuts. Played before an estimated 6,000 people, the result was a 3–3 draw after Preston led 2–3 at half-time. The Liverpool team included Bob Paisley, Billy Liddell and, playing as a guest, Stan Cullis. For military reasons, neither Matt Busby, of Liverpool, nor Bill Shankly, of Preston, were available. The Lancashire Evening Post praised Finney's performance as he was involved in creating two of the Preston goals and, but for a lucky save by Sam Bartram, would have scored the winning goal near the end of the match.[9][10]

With Finney in the team, Preston went on to enjoy a successful season and won the NRL with 18 wins in the 29 matches they played. They also won the Football League War Cup, defeating Arsenal 2–1 in a replay at Ewood Park after the final at Wembley Stadium ended 1–1.[11] There were 36 teams in the 1940–41 NRL – 34 in the South Regional League (SRL) – but, because of wartime demands limiting the availability of players and venues, fixtures were often unfulfilled. For example, Bury played the most matches (38) while their near neighbours Bolton Wanderers could only manage 16.[11]

1942–43 season
In December 1942, Finney made a guest appearance for Southampton in a 3–1 defeat by Arsenal at The Dell.[12][13]

Service in Egypt and Italy
Finney was called up in 1942 and joined the Royal Armoured Corps. He was sent to Egypt and served with Montgomery's Eighth Army.[citation needed] When on leave in North Africa, he was able to play for army football teams against local opposition.[citation needed] Many years later, he met the Egyptian film actor Omar Sharif who told him that he (Sharif, then a teenager) had been a substitute for one of the teams Finney played against, but he didn't take part in the match.[14]

In April 1945, Finney took part in the final offensive at the Battle of the Argenta Gap as a Stuart tank driver with the 9th Lancers.[citation needed]

First-class playing career
Preston North End
League debut
League football resumed on Saturday, 31 August 1946. Preston were in the First Division and began the new season with a home match against Leeds United.[15] Playing on the right wing, Finney made his debut in a team that included Bill Shankly and Andy Beattie. The crowd was over 25,000 and, on what Finney called "a carnival sort of afternoon", Preston won 3–2.[16] Finney said he was "lucky enough to score one of the goals" and his biographer Paul Agnew cites this as a typical example of Finney's modesty.[17] Newspapers of the day reported that Preston's win was a "one-man show"; that Finney created all their goals; that Leeds would have won but for Finney; and that Finney's goal, Preston's second, was "a brilliant solo effort".[18] Although this match was his league debut, Finney had played for Preston in wartime matches, so he wasn't a newcomer to the team. While the local supporters knew from his wartime appearances that Finney was an outstanding prospect, it was not until he played league football that his genius as a player was fully recognised.[19]

Finney went on to play for Preston in 14 English league seasons from 1946–47 to 1959–60, including twelve in the First Division.[20] He played in the Second Division for two seasons after Preston were relegated at the end of the 1948–49 season. In the Second Division, Preston finished sixth in 1949–50 and then won the division championship in 1950–51.[20] The club was thereby promoted back to the First Division where they remained for ten years until the end of the 1960–61 season, the one following Finney's retirement.[20] Preston's best league position during Finney's career was second in both the 1952–53 and 1957–58 seasons.[20]

Second income
Post-war demand for plumbers ensured that Finney had a second income to supplement the £14 he received as a footballer.[citation needed] He became known as "The Preston Plumber" and ran his own successful plumbing business from the 1940s until the 1990s.[21]

Palermo approach
Along with Stanley Matthews, Finney was English football's most famous player in the decade after the war.[22] In 1952, Preston's chairman Nat Buck rejected an offer for Finney worth £10,000 over two years from Italian club Palermo, and Finney remained a one-club player.[23]

1950s
In the 1952–53 season, Preston were runners-up to Arsenal in the First Division. Preston won their last three games and this run took them two points clear of Arsenal at the top of the league table, but Arsenal still had a game in hand. This match, at home to Burnley, was the Championship decider and was played on the night before the 1953 FA Cup Final. Arsenal had to win to equal Preston's points total and overtake them on goal average.[note 1] They won 3–2 and claimed the title by the margin of 0.099 of a goal. It was the closest that Finney came to a major title in his career.[22]

He played for Preston in the 1954 FA Cup Final against West Bromwich Albion, his only cup final appearance. Preston lost 3–2 and Finney revealed in his autobiography that he was not fully match fit and did not give his best performance.[citation needed]

Finney formed an attacking partnership with Tommy Thompson in the 1950s. In the 1956–57 season they scored 57 goals together; in 1957–58 their combined tally was 60 goals.[citation needed] Preston were First Division runners-up again in 1957–58, five points behind champions Wolverhampton Wanderers.[22]

England
Finney made his international debut for England on 28 September 1946, only four weeks after his Football League debut. The match was at Windsor Park against Ireland in the 1946–47 British Home Championship. Finney scored once in England's 7–2 victory. He later said the match was his "proudest day as a footballer".[citation needed]

Finney won 76 caps and scored 30 goals in an England career that spanned twelve years and included 51 victories.[citation needed] He scored his 29th international goal in June 1958 against the Soviet Union to become joint England all-time top-scorer, sharing the record with Vivian Woodward and Nat Lofthouse.[citation needed] In October the same year, he netted his 30th goal, against Northern Ireland, to become the sole holder of the record.[citation needed] Two weeks later, Lofthouse equalled his tally. Both were surpassed by Bobby Charlton in October 1963. Finney made his final appearance for England in October 1958, in a 5–0 win over the Soviet Union at Wembley.

Style and technique
Finney was a versatile attacking player who could operate in any forward position on either side of the pitch or at centre-forward. In the 1950s, he was often compared with Stanley Matthews and football fans would debate who was the best player, given Matthews' dribbling skills and Finney’s all round ability.[21] Relatively small in stature, Finney could withstand hard tackling but his movement, speed and ball control invariably enabled him to avoid contact with defenders. While Finney was himself a frequent goal scorer, he was also a creator of goals and it was because of his assists that he was considered "the ideal team man".[21]

Finney was voted Footballer of the Year in 1953–54. He won the award again in 1956–57, becoming the first player to win it a second time.[21]

Finney respected the rules of football and believed in fair play and sportsmanship. He was never booked or sent off in his career.[23] Both on and off the field, he always had a reputation as a gentleman.[21] Dave Whelan supported this view when he said of Finney: "He was and still is a total gentleman".[24]

Retirement from Preston North End
Finney retired from competitive football in 1960 because of a persistent groin injury.[23] He had played his entire career for his local club, making 433 League appearances and scoring 187 goals. At the end of the 1960–61 season, the first one after Finney's retirement, Preston were relegated from the Football League First Division,[25] and in the years since then they have failed to regain a place in the top flight of English football.

Finney continued playing football after he left Preston, often appearing in charity and benefit matches. In 1962, he played in the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League with Toronto City, appearing in one match and recorded a goal.[26] In 1963, he played for Northern Irish club Distillery against Benfica in the European Cup.

2 points for a correct result
4 points for a correct score
2 points for each correct scorer
Correct joker doubles your score      
Wrong joker result gives you minus 2
Correct Random Badger gives you 2 points

The random badger is used for any random prediction used once in each matchday sequence. For instance, a scorer at a particular match, the number of red cards in the matches or yellow cards or own goals or owt you want really within reason, I do need to be able to check whether it's correct or not. Please don't put stuff like....."Commentator says...."  
The joker   is played for one match in each sequence and if correct you get double points. So if you've predicted 1-0 and it finishes 2-0, you get 4 pts, but if you've predicted 2-0, that's 8 pts. But if you get it wrong, it's minus 2.
Jokers and badgers are optional. You don't have to play one if you don't want.


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. Similarly with the badger, if your random prediction is affected by this, it'll be half the points.

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.  

NEW FOR THIS SEASON: End of season Play Offs.

The one who finishes top of the league will still be champion, but after the season finishes there will be Play Offs between the top 4, with 1st v 4th and 2nd v 3rd. This will take in stuff like the EFL Play Offs, FA Cup Final, final day of Prima Donna League, European Finals etc. It will be one matchday for the semis and one for the Final. It will be the individual scores for each matchday against the allotted opponent, with some kind of tie breaker for a drawn match.
So last season's matches would've been Baggiebob(BBB) v theo_luddite and jjamez v St Charles Owl and would've given a bit more to play for towards the back end of the season.
The prize for winning will be enormous. Another rep point.

We now have an Appeals Committee set up, consisting of me, myself and I. All appeals must be made before the next Matchday kicks off.

Saturday 9th April:
Sheffield United v AFC Bournemouth (12:45)
Blackburn Rovers v Blackpool
Bristol City v Peterborough United
Middlesbrough v Hull City
Millwall v Barnsley
Nottingham Forest v Birmingham City
Preston North End v Queens Park Rangers
Reading v Cardiff City
Swansea City v Derby County
West Bromwich Albion v Stoke City

Sunday 10th April:
Fulham v Coventry City (15:00)

Monday 11th April:
Town v Luton
Town scorers:
Luton scorers:

Bonus matches:
Saturday:
Scottish Premiership:
Heart of Midlothian v Hibernian

League One:
Bolton Wanderers v Sheffield Wednesday

Table after Matchday 36:

1. Baggiebob(BBB) = 883 pts
   
2. jjamez = 826 pts
   
3. St Charles Owl = 809 pts
   
4. theo_luddite = 799 pts
   
5. themaclad = 786 pts
   
6. Lord Snooty = 778 pts
   
7. neonfoxinthebox = 757 pts
   
8. SHEP_HTAFC = 713 pts
   
9. ritchiebaby = 695 pts
   
10. Amelia Chaffinch = 630 pts
    
11. WakeyTerrier = 617 pts

Dag & Red 2-1 Boreham Wood
Halifax 0-1 Solihull Moors
King's Lynn 0-2 Bromley
Wealdstone 2-0 Maidenhead United
Wrexham 1-0 Barnet

League Table After Matchday 50

Lord Snoots = 546
Amelia = 524
Devon = 524
St Charles = 508
Dancing = 498
Spireitematt = 458