An away match v a "red lichties" side that is doing very well in the Scottish Championship. Therefore no complacency allowed in a match that will likely be very windy right next to the seafront. I'll take it all the same! That draw could've been much worse for us.

Friday Games

Notts County 2-0 Barnet
Southend 2-1 King's Lynn

Saturday Games

Altrincham 2-2 Torquay
Boreham Wood 3-1 Weymouth
Chesterfield 2-0 Aldershot
Grimsby 1-1 Bromley
Maidenhead United 2-1 Halifax
Solihull Moors 3-0 Dover
Woking 2-1 Wealdstone
Yeovil 2-3 Wrexham
Dag & Red 0-6 Stockport



League Table After Matchday 30

Amelia = 340
Lord Snoots = 340
St Charles = 324
Devon = 314
Dancing = 296
Spireitematt = 284

The Swansea.com Stadium (Welsh: Stadiwm Swansea.com; formerly Liberty Stadium) is an all-seated sports stadium and conferencing venue located in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales. The stadium opened in 2005 and was named the Liberty Stadium. It had an opening capacity of 20,750, making it the largest purpose-built venue in Swansea; minor layout changes have since increased this to 21,088.

It is the home stadium of EFL Championship club Swansea City, who took full operational control of the stadium in 2018,[5] and the Ospreys rugby team. As a result of Swansea City's promotion in 2011, the stadium became the first Premier League ground in Wales. It is the third largest stadium in Wales – after the Millennium Stadium and the Cardiff City Stadium. In European competitions, the stadium is known as Swansea Stadium due to advertising rules.
With Swansea City's Vetch Field, and Ospreys' St Helen's and The Gnoll no longer being up-to-date venues to play at, and both the Swans and the Ospreys not having the necessary capital to invest into a new stadium, Swansea council and a developer-led consortia submitted a proposal for a sustainable 'bowl' venue for 20,520 seats on a site to the west of the River Tawe on the site of the Morfa Stadium, an athletics stadium owned by the City and County of Swansea council. It was funded by a 355,000 ft retail park on land to the east of the river. The final value of the development was in excess of £50m.[6]

On 10 July 2005, the stadium was opened and became the home to Swansea City and Ospreys. On 23 July 2005, it was officially opened as Swansea City faced Fulham, (then managed by former Swansea player Chris Coleman) in a friendly match.[7] The match ended in a 1–1 draw with the first goal being scored by Fulham's Steed Malbranque. Swansea's Marc Goodfellow scored during the game to level the match.[8] The first league game was held on 6 August, with Swansea defeating Tranmere Rovers through a single goal by debutant Adebayo Akinfenwa.[9]

Before a league match between Swansea City and Oldham Athletic in October 2005, a statue of Ivor Allchurch was unveiled to commemorate the Swansea-born star who during two spells for the club scored a record 164 goals in 445 appearances.[10]

The first capacity crowd recorded at Liberty Stadium was on the 1 November 2006 when The Ospreys beat Australia A 24–16.[11] The stadium has hosted multiple Wales football internationals, listed below.

Seating at Liberty Stadium is often sold out during Swansea City football matches. Swansea City have expressed a desire to have the capacity of the stadium increased and have held talks with Swansea Council during the 2011–2012 season for the future expansion of the Liberty Stadium which would be completed in a number of phases beginning with expansion or redevelopment of the east stand.[12] Plans for a new McDonald's fast food restaurant to be opened near the stadium threw expansion plans into doubt.[13] However, the planning application was withdrawn.[14]

In December 2013, it was reported by BBC News that the European Commission had requested details of the funding of the stadium, as part of a wider inquiry into state aid for sports clubs.[15]

At the start of the 2014–15 Premier League season, a number of changes were made to the stadium. These included two new 'Jumbotron' screens inside the north and south stands, measuring approximately 200 inches. Due to sponsorship by LG all televisions in food outlets and concourse were replaced by 50" LG TV screens and the south stand renamed The LG Stand. New advertising boards with a crowd facing side were also added.

Expansions planned would expand the stadium to 33,000, with another expansion upgrading the stadium to above the 40,000 mark. This would make Wales national football matches a possibility.

In July 2018, Swansea City AFC took full ownership of the stadium, after reaching an agreement with Swansea City Council. It was agreed that Ospreys RFC could continue to share the stadium.

LAST TIME OUT



FORM GUIDE

SWANSEA 7 PNE 10

Famous from Swansea

Edwin Stuart Gomer Evans (20 October 1934 – 1994) was a Swansea-born Welsh novelist and poet, raised in Ystalyfera in Glamorgan.[1]

He read English at Jesus College, Oxford, before serving in the Royal Navy. He then taught at Brunel College of Advanced Technology. From the mid-1960s, he was employed by BBC Radio, London, to produce programmes for the Schools Broadcasting Department.[1]

His novels include Meritocrats (1974), The Gardens of the Casino (1976), The Caves of Alienation (1977), and the Windmill Hill Sequence of five novels which included Centres of Ritual, Occupational Debris, Temporary Hearths, Houses on the Site, and Seasonal Tribal Feasts. Prior to concentrating on novel writing, Evans had won the Newdigate Prize in 1955 for his poem "Elegy for a Dead Clown".[2] He also published two collections of poetry, Imaginary Gardens with Real Toads (1972) and The Function of the Fool (1997). For his thrillers co-written with Kay Evans, he used the pseudonym Hugh Tracy.[3]

Norman Shrapnel, in The Guardian, wrote of Evans' debut novel Meritocrats, that "I can scarcely recall a more ambitious first novel ... and few more interesting ones".[4] Philip Howard, writing in The Times, described Evans as "my candidate for the Juvenal, I dare not say the Martial, of our generation."[5] Peter Lewis, in The Times Literary Supplement, described Evans' Windmill Hill Sequence as "probably the most ambitious fictional work in progress by a British writer".[6]

Until the late 2000s much of his work was out of print, but two of his poems were included in the anthology Poetry 1900–2000,[1] published by the Library of Wales. The Library of Wales has also re-published his novel The Caves of Alienation,[7] described by Anthony Brockway as "One of the most ambitious Welsh novels of the twentieth century".[This quote needs a citation] This is his most widely held book; according to WorldCat, it is held in 151 libraries. Evans was married to Kathleen Bridget Snelling, née Treacy (1932–1993), her second marriage.[8]

Stuart won't be attending as sadly he is no longer with us

Swansea music



Badfinger were a Welsh rock band formed in Swansea, who were active from the 1960s to the 1980s. Their best-known lineup consisted of Pete Ham, Mike Gibbins, Tom Evans, and Joey Molland. They are recognised for their influence on the 1970s power pop genre. It is estimated that the band sold 14 million albums.[1][2]

The band evolved from an earlier group called the Iveys, formed in 1961, which became the first group signed by the Beatles' Apple label in 1968. The band renamed themselves Badfinger, after the working title for the Beatles' 1967 song "With a Little Help from My Friends" ("Bad Finger Boogie"). From 1968 to 1973, Badfinger recorded five albums for Apple and toured extensively, before they became embroiled in the chaos of Apple's dissolution.

Badfinger had four consecutive worldwide hits from 1970 to 1972: "Come and Get It" (written and produced by Paul McCartney, 1970), "No Matter What" (produced by Mal Evans, 1970), "Day After Day" (produced by George Harrison, 1971), and "Baby Blue" (produced by Todd Rundgren, 1972). Their song "Without You" (1970) has been recorded many times, and became a US and UK number-one hit for Harry Nilsson and, two decades later, a UK number-one for Mariah Carey.

After Apple Records folded in 1973, Badfinger struggled with a host of legal, managerial, and financial problems, leading to Ham's suicide in 1975. The surviving members struggled to rebuild their personal and professional lives against a backdrop of lawsuits, which tied up the songwriters' royalty payments for years. Their subsequent albums floundered, as Molland and Evans alternated between co-operation and conflict in their attempts to revive and capitalise on the Badfinger legacy. Evans died by suicide in 1983, and Gibbins died from a brain aneurysm in 2005, leaving Molland as the group's only surviving member.

20 years since his untimely death.
I am lucky enough to remember him playing..... a REAL hero, a star of the day in every way, but - surprise, surprise - his obvious skills were only fully appreciated by those at our club.

R. I. P. Jeff.

Nice piece here:
https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/foo...-the-king/

THE MATCH

SATURDAY 22ND JANUARY KO 3:00 PM

v

LAST MATCH



After all the gloom & doom, we were all pleasantly surprised (except Charlie who is positive 99% of the time) as we brushed aside Plymouth. We started on the front foot and were rewarded when Sow turned in a cross for his first league goal for us. We ke[pt up the pressure and made it 2 when NML got down the left cut inside and curled one in the corner. Onto the 2nd and Plymouth pulled one back direct from a free kick. We made it 3-1 when Hutch headed in from a cross. Argyle pulled another back when after a scramble Johnson diverted into his own net. Barely 30 seconds later Windass controlled the ball and finished clinically to finally wrap up the points

NEXT MATCH



Next up and a trip to Oxford and there 3 sided ground. They will be looking to do the double over us after winning at Hillsborough earlier in the season. Oxford lie in 7th place, 1 place and 3 points above us, so a win would be very handy to say the least. Matty Taylor is there main threat with 12 goals and 3 assists this season. They will be looking at the playoffs as there best chance for promotion, bit like us, as the gap to the top 2 looks too big to make up even with 20 games still to be played.

CURRENT FORM  ]

OWLS               -                                          

OXFORD          -                                

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

ALAN YOUNG
Garry Maskell and Matthew Lee
Fourth Official : Justin Amey

THE TEAM

Peacock-Farrell
Brennan Hutch Storey
Hunt Dele Bannan Adeniran NML
Windass Gregory

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

1-1 Windass

BML STANDINGS

SCO 11
Pei 9
Kev 8
Wereham 8
Maddix 5
Wash 4
Imre 4
SS 2

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Plymouth Argyle v Lincoln City
Rotherham United v Cheltenham Town
Shrewsbury Town v Bolton Wanderers
Sunderland v Portsmouth
Wigan Athletic v Gillingham

HHHHH

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC

Premier League

Sanjay 14pts 2CS 6CR 0GB -3BB 1SB
BaggieOne 12pts 1CS 5CR 5GB -3BB 0SB
Snooty 11pts 0CS 4CR 5GB 0BB 0SB
Minizin 9pts 1CS 3CR 0GB 3BB 0SB
Silver 5pts 1CS 2CR -3GB 3BB 1SB
BBB 4pts 2CS 3CR -3GB -3BB 0SB
Derby 4pts 1CS 4CR -3GB -3BB 0SB
AAA -1pt 0CS 1CR 0GB -3BB 0SB
SCO -2pts 0CS 2CR -3GB -3BB 0SB

Moderate scoring this week, not helped by a tricky gamball - SCO claiming it was predictable (see below) while, obviously getting it wrong himself - and the free choice bonus once again causing a great deal of pain. Nobody predicted wins for either Norwich or Luton while sadly, Albion's continuing demise seemed utterly predictable with only Blackburn's win harvesting a greater points total.

Sanjay was one of 3 players to avoid the gamball but unlike the other 2 he actually got the result right so lost out on 3 extra points. He still did enough to top this week's table with 14 points from a week's high of 6 correct predictions including 2 correct scores. Even missing out on his bonus couldn't prevent his table topping performance which probably says a lot about the rest of you. BaggieOne had his early - and mid - season struggles but actually has accumulated more points over the last 7 weeks than anyone else and this run of consistency continued to give him 2nd spot thanks to 5 correct predictions including the gamball. Snooty was the third player to achieve double figures but in his case he was hindered (or just possibly helped) by his bonus ball game being postponed.

Minizin appears to be concentrating on avoiding a quick return to the Championship - yet another average week which should keep him safe but won't see him threaten the leaders. He avoided the gamball but was fortunate to have one of his 3 correct predictions as his bonus. Not great scores for the rest. Silver had one of his poorer weeks but at least got his bonus right. BBB matched Sanjay's 2 correct scores but got little else right to score just 4 point, the same as overall league leader Derby, both players losing points on the gamball and bonus. At least they stayed positive. AAA had a horror week - just a single correct prediction and saved from an even worse score by avoiding the gamball. Normally a score of minus one would have you firmly anchored to the foot of the table, but not this week. It gives me no pleasure (*) to announce my fellow organiser, SCO, as this week's bottom feeder. Minus 2 points withjust 2 correct result and losses on his balls - should have had more faith!

* Not true, obviously.

Derby 206
Silver 173
BBB 172
SCO 162
Minizin 151
Sanjay 147
BaggieOne 138
Snooty 129
AAA 80

Not a lot of change in the overall table. Silver manages to break free from BBB to take 2nd place on his own by one massive point. Nobody seems remotely interested in challenging Derby at the top but the bottom few (not AAA, obviously) seem to be improving and could yet drag others into the relegation scrap (yes, I mean you, Minizin!)

Zin

Championship

Twerton 16pts 0CS 6CR 5GB 3BB 0SB
Dingle 8pts 0CS 4CR 5GB -3BB 0SB
Salop 6pts 0CS 3CR 5GB -3BB 0SB
Stairs 4pts 0CS 3CR NPGB -3BB 1SB
Amelia 4pts 1CS 1CR -3GB NPBB 1SB
Blue Baggie 3pts 1CS 2CR -3GB -3BB 1SB
Zinman 3pts 1CS 2CR -3GB -3BB 1SB
Themaclad 1pts 0CS 3CR -3GB -3BB 1SB
Lady Jane -2pts 0CS 2CR -3GB -3BB 0SB

So Zinman decided to play a Gamball that he thought was difficult, well he has obviously been proven wrong as that was the most predictable performance and win of the week!!! Maybe he should decide which game the Bonus Ball is played on, once again it's patently clear that we all can't choose the right one, all bar two players got it wrong, and one of those two had a NP due to a Covid postponement!!

Twerton continues his rise in form and easily took to spot this week with 16 points. He was the only player to score positive points on the bonus and got a CR Gamball as well. He ended up with twice as many points as 2nd place Dingle who had 8 points, he too got a CR Gamball but missed his other balls. Salop is third with 6 points and was the only other player to get points on the Gamball.

Our league leader Stairs and Amelia are next with 4 points, different paths to that score with Amelia one of only three players to get a CS and Stairs avoiding the banana skin that was the Gamball for most players. Blue Baggie and Zinman were joint 6th with 3 points and were exactly level in how they got there!! Themaclad seems to be on a rollercoaster, up one week, down the next, this week he was one the downslope and ended with just 1 point!! In last place is Lady Jane with -2 points, she has been on the slide for a few weeks and needs to find some form if she wants to catch the top 2.

177 - Stairs
175 - Blue Baggie
155 - Lady Jane
154 - Salop
143 - Zinman
142 - Dingle
138 - Themaclad
111 - Amelia
100 - Twerton

Stairs increased his lead at the top to 2 points, he isn't Man City yet but he is showing their form!! Lady Jane's poor run sees her now 20 points behind Blue and she is now being chased down by Salop. Zinman has dropped off those above him and is now in a menage e trois for the 3rd bottom spot with Dingle and Themaclad. Twerton's sudden show of form is seeing him close in on Amelia for the wooden spoon and now is just 11 points behind her.

Cheers
SCO

Well this is a case of what team will SM field v lesser opponents. He favours expansive footie. Therefore he'll undoubtedly be looking at a hi-press lineup. It was interesting to note Maloney mentioning a perceived problem at Celtic Park re not really doing it in the "final third" of the pitch. My observation of this match was Hibs players passing with no purpose for a good part of the game and the worrying sight of still scorning some vg scoring opps was nothing new TBF. I'm sure Maloney will be emphasising that fact to the players who will start this match - lets try to score a good few goals and at least try to "light up" this cup tie in front of returning Hibs fans. C'mon Hibs!

GGTTH

Gamball:

Coventry - QPR

Others:
Everton - Villa
Brentford - Wolves
Leeds - Newcastle
Man U - West Ham
Reading - Huddersfield
Forest - Derby
Stoke - Fulham
Oxford - Sheff Wed
Walsall - Exeter

Scrambling round for fixtures this week! I'll also post on who has extra balls to play with this week when I can get to it! (see below)

Extra Balls:
Bonus: Snooty and Amelia
Scoreball: DD