Aldershot 2-0 Maidenhead United
Barnet 2-3 Altrincham
Bromley 1-2 Solihull Moors
Dover 0-3 Notts County
Halifax 2-0 Eastleigh
King's Lynn 0-2 Woking
Torquay 3-3 Dag & Red
Weymouth 1-2 Southend



League Table After Matchday 26

Amelia = 320
Lord Snoots = 298
Devon = 296
St Charles = 292
Dancing = 288
Spireitematt = 268

Burnley v Huddersfield Town
FA Cup round 3
Saturday January 8th - 12:30 ko
at Turf Moor

Huddersfield Town travel to Burnley in deepest, darkest Lancastershire to the Turf Moor Stadium on Saturday dinnertime for an exciting FA Cup 3rd round match between the reserve teams of each club. It's a match that Town will be desperate to win however, this season marking one hundred years since our one and only FA Cup triumph, way back in 1922.

Hopefully, head coach Carlos Corberán won't make as many changes to the team as he did last season when he changed the entire starting XI for the game against Plymouth. We're on a roll, six games unbeaten, surely he won't do that again. Maybe a start for the returning from injuries like Pipa, Aaron Rowe and Jordan Rhodes, but keep the squad as it is. There's a full week each side of this fixture, surely the lads are fit enough for a game against a Burnley side that are struggling in the Premier League and pathetically surrendered on Sunday against a very poor Leeds Urinals side.

Burnley, like Town and a load of other clubs, were hit hard by the collapse of ITV Digital and so struggled to compete financially. However, they managed to stay in the, by now named, Championship and reached the Play Offs in 2009, under the management of Owen Coyle. After beating Reading in the semis, they faced Sheffield Utd at Wembley and won 1-0 with a goal from Wade Elliott and so that meant a return to the top flight after an absence of 33 years.

It was just for one season though. Coyle was poached by local rivals Bolton Wanderers and he was replaced by former player and ex Town full back, Brian Laws, who oversaw the relegation. Laws left to be replaced by Eddie Howe. He got homesick for Bournemouth and left to be replaced in October 2012 by ex Watford boss, Sean Dyche.

Despite being the bookies favourites for the drop, Dyche got them back into the Prima Donna League by finishing the 2013/14 season as runners up to Leicester. Straight back down and straight back up again, winning the Championship title in 2016. And despite being such a tin pot outfit, they have managed to stay in the PL ever since, even qualifying for Europe for the first time since the 60s. That was for the 2018/19 Europa League, but they didn't get past the qualification rounds.

It could be a return to the Championship at the end of this season as they have been in the bottom 3 for ages now, but I'm sure we all wish them luck in avoiding relegation, if they can catch and send down Leeds Urinals instead.

Head to Head



Burnley lead the head to head with 33 wins to Town's 27, with 14 draws.

It's 4 Burnley wins to 2 for Town in the FA Cup.

This is the 7th time that the two clubs have been drawn to play each other, the first one being as long ago as 1915. That was for a 1st round match, but as it was played in January, it's the equivalent of what is now the 3rd round. Burnley were a 1st division team then, finishing that season in 4th. They were also the Cup holders, having won it in the previous season. Town were in the 2nd and it was the first division team who came out on top, winning 3-1 at Turf Moor. Fred Fayers scored our goal, who I've written about before. He was a Quaker and became a conscientious objector during the war.

So, we have waited 100 years to see Town win the Cup and 50 years to see us even get as far as the quarter finals. There must be some omens in there about playing Burnley at this stage of the competition and going on to have a good run. Surely, we'll give it a decent go this time. Surely!

As for the league. We played four times in the Premier League, without winning any. There were three draws, both 0-0 in the first season. The legend, Christopher Schindler scored in a 1-1 draw at Turf Moor in 2018/19, but then got sent off in the return match at the JSS. Steve Mounié had given us the lead in that match, only for that bloody Chris Wood getting his customary goal against us before Ashley Barnes got the Burnley winner.

We haven't beaten them for the last 7 games, the last win being in 2013/14 at the McAlpharm, a 2-1 win with Oliver Norwood and a James Vaughan penalty giving us a two goal lead before Danny Ings pulled back a late consolation. Our last win at their place was the season before when it was Vaughaney again in a 1-0 win.

Town's FA Cup record: Here's a quick look at our glorious history in this fine competition. And how we've been not so glorious of late.

1920: Runners up
1922: Winners
1928: Runners up
1929: Semi final
1930: Runners up
1932: Quarter final
1938: Runners up
1939: Semi final
1955: Quarter final
1972: Quarter final

2021: R3 - Town 2-3 Plymouth

2020: R3 - Southampton 2-0 Town

2019: R3 - Bristol City 1-0 Town

2018: R3 - Bolton 1-2 Town
R4 - Town 1-1 Birmingham
R4r - Birmingham 1-4 Town (aet)
R5 - Town 0-2 Man Utd

2017: R3 - Town 4-0 Port Vale
R4: - Rochdale 0-4 Town
R5: - Town 0-0 Man City
R5r - Man City 5-1 Town

2016: R3 - Town 2-2 Reading
R3r Reading 5-2 Town

What about Burnley then?

1898: Quarter final
1909: Quarter final
1911: Quarter final
1913: Semi final
1914: Winners
1924: Semi final
1933: Quarter final
1935: Semi final
1952: Quarter final
1957: Quarter final
1959: Quarter final
1960: Quarter final
1961: Semi final
1962: Runners up
1964: Quarter final
1983: Quarter final
2003: Quarter final

2021: R3 - Burnley 1-1 MK Dons (aet Burnley won on pens)
R4 - Fulham 0-3 Burnley
R5 - Burnley 0-2 Bournemouth

2020: R3 - Burnley 4-2 Peterborough
R4 - Burnley 1-2 Norwich

2019: R3 - Burnley 1-0 Barnsley
R4 - Man City 5-0 Burnley

2018: R3 - Man City 4-1 Burnley

2017: R3 - Sunderland 0-0 Burnley
R3r - Burnley 2-0 Sunderland
R4 - Burnley 2-0 Bristol City
R5 - Burnley 0-1 Lincoln City

2016: R3 - Middlesbrough 1-2 Burnley
R4 - Arsenal 2-1 Burnley

I've only put all this down so I could remind everybody how Danny Cowley took his non league Lincoln City to Turf Moor and beat Premier League Burnley in 2017. 

January the 8th down the ages: How did we get on in previous matches played on this date?

1910: Gainsborough Trinity (h) Midland League, WON 4-1 (Joe Jee 2, Jack Foster, WE Smith)
1916: Grimsby Town (a) Wartime League, WON 1-0 (Frank Mann)
1921: Brentford (a) FA Cup, WON 2-1 (Ernie Islip, William Wright)
1927: Millwall (a) FA Cup, lost 1-3 (George Brown)
1938: Hull City (h) FA Cup, WON 3-1 (Pat Beasley, Alf Lythgoe 2)
1944: Bradford Park Avenue (h) Wartime League, lost 1-2 (Jimmy Glazzard)
1949: Queens Park Rangers (a) FA Cup, drew 0-0 (aet)
1955: Coventry City (h) FA Cup, drew 3-3 (Jimmy Glazzard 2, Jimmy Watson)
1958: Charlton Athletic (a) FA Cup, lost 0-1
1966: Southampton (h) Div 2, WON 2-0 (Alan Gilliver 2)
1972: Chelsea (a) Div 1, drew 2-2 (Les Chapman, Steve Smith)
1977: AFC Bournemouth (a) Div 4, lost 0-1
1983: Chelsea (h) FA Cup, drew 1-1 (Brian Stanton)
2002: Hull City (a) LDV Vans Trophy, WON 1-0 (Andy Booth)
2005: Torquay Utd (h) League One (3rd tier), drew 1-1 (Efe Sodje)
2011: Dover Athletic (h) FA Cup, WON 2-0 (Scott Arfield, Gary Roberts)

Played 16, WON 7, drew 5, lost 4.

Jack Foster, who scored on this date in 1910, had earlier scored 4 in our record FA Cup victory when we beat Heckmondwike 11-0. He finished that Cup campaign with 11 goals, which is a club record for a single season. He was at the back end of his career though and when Town got voted in to the Football League at the end of that season, he got a job as a chimney sweep and played football for Castleford. Later on, he came back to Town as a trainer, then a similar role at Bradford City.

For the 1955 FA Cup drawn game with Coventry, we were in Division One, they were in Division Three (South). That was a bit of an upset, but we won the replay and almost made it to the semi finals later that season. After beating Torquay and Liverpool, our brave lads were seconds away from the semis when Newcastle equalised and then won the replay.

The 1958 Cup defeat at Charlton was a 3rd round replay. We had drawn at Leeds Road on the Saturday, but the really famous match between the two clubs had taken place a fortnight earlier. That, of course, was when we lost 6-7 down at The Valley. Still the only team to have scored six goals away from home in a Football League match and lost. Only Huddersfield Town could do that!

The LDV Vans game in 2002 was at the area semi final stage. Having beaten Halifax, Wrexham, Scunthorpe and now Hull, we went on to lose the area final against Blackpool and so missed out on a trip to Wembley.

Efe Sodje, who scored in 2005, was club captain when we beat Mansfield in the 2004 Play Off Final. By the time we were receiving the trophy, he was in an ambulance on his way to Cardiff A&E with a head injury. That's why Jacko and Boothy both lifted the trophy together instead of the skipper.

Scott Arfield, who scored in the massive Cup win over Dover in 2011, is another club connection we have with Burnley. He came to us as a Scottish u21 international. By the time he left Burnley he was a full Canadian international.

1. Rich Woods 
   
2. Ten Windows Withheld 
   
3. Cheesy Dan 
   
4. Dougy Zaire Jr 
   
5. Abba cum Wham 
   
6. Tanner Tents 
   
7. Stoned Kevin 
   
8. Alwyn Tom Tom 
   
9. Fern Beermat 
   
10. Trophy Tsar 
    

Welcome back everyone.

Before the fixture list, after recent postponements the following have extra balls to play with:

Extra bonus ball: Baggie One, Sanjay, Amelia.
Extra score ball: Stairs, Salop, Zinman, Sanjay, Themaclad, Silver, Twerton, Lady Jane.

Please play them responsibly.

The lottery of the FA Cup this week so predictions are further complicated - who knows, Covic may force teams to put out a stronger 11 than usual!

Gamball Game:
Wigan - Blackburn

Others:
Mansfield - Middlesbrough
Hartlepool - Blackpool
Millwall - Crystal Palace
Kidderminster - Reading
Albion - Brighton
Hull - Everton
Swansea - Southampton
Charlton - Norwich
Forest - Arsenal

Scores will be taken at the end of the match before penalties (so after extra time if that is a thing this round!)

ALL WELCOME TO JOIN IN WITH OUR ANNUAL GENERAL SPORTS PREDICTIONS. 

http://www.sportsbabble.co.uk/showthread.php?tid=10928

ALL WELCOME TO JOIN IN WITH OUR ANNUAL GENERAL SPORTS PREDICTIONS. 

http://www.sportsbabble.co.uk/showthread.php?tid=10928

ALL WELCOME TO JOIN IN WITH OUR ANNUAL GENERAL SPORTS PREDICTIONS. 

http://www.sportsbabble.co.uk/showthread.php?tid=10928

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.

FA Cup 3rd Round:
Saturday 8th January:
Burnley v Town (12:30)
Town scorers:
Burnley scorers:

Mansfield Town v Middlesbrough 
Bristol City v Fulham 
Coventry City v Derby County
Hartlepool United v Blackpool
Millwall v Crystal Palace
West Bromwich Albion v Brighton & Hove Albion
Hull City v Everton
Swansea City v Southampton

Sunday 9th January:
Cardiff City v Preston North End
West Ham United v Leeds United
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Sheffield United
Nottingham Forest v Arsenal

Monday 10th January:
Manchester United v Aston Villa

Championship:
Wednesday 12th January:
Barnsley OFF Stoke City

Quote:From the FA (20 Dec)

We can today confirm that replays have been removed in both the third and fourth rounds of the 2021-22 Emirates FA Cup.

This exceptional decision was approved by the FA Board on Friday 17 December and has been taken in the wider interest of English football to alleviate the possibility of fixture congestion following several postponements in recent days and continued uncertainty ahead due to COVID-19.

Ties in the third and fourth rounds of this season’s competition will be played to a finish on the day, with extra-time and penalty shootouts if required.

Replays will return up to and including the fourth round of the Emirates FA Cup from the 2022-23 season onwards.

1. Baggiebob(BBB) = 559 pts
   
2. jjamez = 503 pts
   
3. theo_luddite = 495 pts
   
4. Lord Snooty = 483 pts
   
5. St Charles Owl = 479 pts
   
6. neonfoxinthebox = 474 pts
   
7. themaclad = 469 pts
   
8. SHEP_HTAFC = 438 pts
   
9. WakeyTerrier = 420 pts
   
10. ritchiebaby = 405 pts
    
11. Amelia Chaffinch = 375 pts

The Bet365 Stadium (stylised as bet365 Stadium) is an all-seater football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England and the home of EFL Championship club Stoke City. The stadium was previously called the Britannia Stadium but was renamed on 1 June 2016 when the club entered into a new stadium-naming-rights agreement with its parent company, Bet365.[4] It has a capacity of 30,089 following the completion of expansion works in 2017.[5][6]

The stadium was built in 1998 at a cost of £14.8 million as a replacement for the Victoria Ground. Former player Sir Stanley Matthews' ashes were buried beneath the centre circle of the pitch following his death in February 2000; he had officially opened the stadium on 30 August 1997.[7] In European competitions it is known as the Stoke Ground due to UEFA regulations on sponsorships.[8][9]The all-seater stadium cost nearly £15 million to build and brought the club up to standards with the Taylor Report of January 1990 to end 115 years at the Victoria Ground. Along with the possibility of converting the Victoria Ground into an all-seater stadium, relocation was being considered by 1995 and by early 1996 the decision to build a new stadium elsewhere had been confirmed.[10]

Construction of the stadium was underway during the 1996-97 season.[11] In August 1997 it opened its doors for the first time as the Britannia Stadium thanks to a £1 million, 10-year sponsorship deal with the Britannia Building Society which was instrumental in the overall funding of the project. Another £4.5 million was given as a grant by the Football Trust.[11]

The stadium's opening did not go according to plan, as from the outset there was concern about getting there, as the plans covered only one access road from the nearby A50, and as a result, spectators arriving from the city or the motorway had to travel up the A50 for over a mile to a roundabout at Sideway and double-back the other way, which caused huge congestion.[10] The stadium was officially opened by club legend Sir Stanley Matthews, then aged 82. After he died in March 2000, his ashes were buried beneath the stadium's centre circle and a statue showing different stages of his career was put up in his honour outside the ground.[12] On 27 August 1997, Rochdale were the visitors for the historic first-ever competitive match a 1–1 draw in the League Cup watched by 15,439 – and four days later the first-ever league game took place against Swindon Town before a crowd of 23,859.[11] The first season at the new ground was a bad one as Stoke were relegated from the First Division, losing 5–2 at home to Manchester City on the final day of the season, with the visiting side also going down after the relegation-threatened sides above them all won their final games.

The club's supporters protested against chairman Peter Coates, who stood down afterwards, only to return in 2006.[11]

Four seasons of third-tier football followed with Gunnar Gíslason taking control of the club in November 1999.[10] In May 2006 he sold control of the club back to Peter Coates, and soon after the club obtained full ownership of the stadium in a deal worth £6 million following the previous joint-partnership with the Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Stoke-on-Trent Regeneration Ltd.[13] The name of the ground was changed to the Bet365 Stadium in June 2016.[14]

MANAGER
MICHAEL O'NEILL

O'Neill retired from playing football in 2004 and began a career in financial services.[10] A year later he took a part-time role as assistant manager at Cowdenbeath, working with Mixu Paatelainen.[10]

Brechin City
O'Neill became manager of Scottish side Brechin City in April 2006. He won the Second Division Manager of the Month award in both December 2007[15] and October 2008.[16] O'Neill was released by Brechin City to join Shamrock Rovers on 13 December 2008.[17]

Shamrock Rovers
At the press conference when unveiled as Rovers manager, he cited Gordon Strachan as his main managerial influence.[18] He was awarded the Irish Soccer Writers Manager of the Month award for July 2009 and eventually guided The Hoops to second place in the 2009 League of Ireland.

In October 2010, he guided Shamrock Rovers to win the 2010 League of Ireland title, their first league championship since 1994.[19] O'Neill led Rovers to the 2011 Setanta Sports Cup and then made history by being the first manager of a League of Ireland team to reach the group stages of a European competition.[20] Rovers defeated Partizan Belgrade in the play-off round of the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League.[20] Shamrock Rovers retained their league title in the 2011 season.[21][22] New contract talks between O'Neill and Shamrock Rovers stalled[23] and he left the club in December 2011.[24] O'Neill won the Soccer Writers Association Personality of the Year award for 2011.[25]

Northern Ireland
O'Neill was appointed manager of Northern Ireland on 28 December 2011, with one report stating he was "the first Catholic in 50 years to manage Northern Ireland".[5][26][2] However, this is almost certainly untrue, since previous managers Lawrie Sanchez (2004–07) and Lawrie McMenemy (1998–99) were both educated in Roman Catholic schools.[27][28] O'Neill's first game in charge ended in defeat with a 3–0 loss to Norway.[29] In his next game an inexperienced Northern Ireland team were beaten 6–0 by the Netherlands in Amsterdam.[30] During their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification, Northern Ireland earned some creditable results, including a 1–1 draw away to Portugal and a 1–0 home win against Russia.[31]

In November 2013, O'Neill agreed a new two-year deal with Irish Football Association to remain as Northern Ireland manager.[32]

Northern Ireland qualified for their first ever European Championship, Euro 2016 in France after beating Greece 3–1 at Windsor Park on 8 October 2015.[33] It was the first time in 30 years that Northern Ireland had qualified for a major tournament. At the tournament itself he led the side to the second round, losing narrowly to Wales[34] but recorded a surprise victory over Ukraine in the group stages.[35]

In January 2018, O'Neill turned down an offer to become manager of Scotland following discussions with the Scottish Football Association.[36]

O'Neill initially continued as Northern Ireland manager after his appointment by Stoke City in November 2019.[37] He had intended to stay on for UEFA Euro 2020 playoffs, which had been scheduled for March 2020, but these were postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic.[38] With the Euro 2020 playoffs delayed at least until the autumn of 2020, O'Neill resigned as Northern Ireland manager on 22 April.[38]

Stoke City
O'Neill was appointed manager of EFL Championship club Stoke City on 8 November 2019.[37] He joined Stoke with the side bottom of the 2019–20 EFL Championship table after struggling under the management of Nathan Jones.[39] O'Neill won his first match in charge of Stoke, 4–2 away at Barnsley on 9 November.[40] Stoke began to improve and secured vital victories over Wigan Athletic, Luton Town, Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield Town, helping the team move out of the relegation zone at the turn of the year.[41] In the January transfer window O'Neill cancelled the loans of Cameron Carter-Vickers, Mark Duffy and Scott Hogan, whilst also letting Peter Etebo, Badou Ndiaye and Ryan Woods leave on loan. Into the team came Northern Irish midfielder Jordan Thompson from Blackpool, center-back James Chester on loan from Aston Villa and young midfielder Tashan Oakley-Boothe from Tottenham Hotspur.[42] Stoke beat Hull City 5–1 on 7 March 2020 moving the team three points above the drop with nine remaining matches.[43] The Championship was suspended on 13 March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[44]

Championship squads returned to training on 25 May with the intention to finish the season behind closed doors.[45] Stoke's preparations for the season restart were disrupted after O'Neill tested positive for coronavirus on 9 June which caused a training match against Manchester United to be cancelled.[46] Stoke won four of the remaining nine matches to avoid relegation and finish in 15th position, finishing eight points clear of the relegation zone.[47]

Due to the ongoing pandemic the 2020–21 season began later in September with matches continuing to played behind closed doors. O'Neill brought in a number of free transfers including James Chester, Morgan Fox, Steven Fletcher and Mikel John Obi with Jacob Brown the only arrival to have been bought.[48] Stoke began the season well with Tyrese Campbell in decent form, winning eight of their first 16 matches and were just outside the play-off places at the beginning of December.[49] However a number of injuries to key players most notably to Tyrese Campbell saw goals dry up and the team went nine games without a win at the turn of the year.[50] Stoke were unable to put a sustained run of results together in March and April and ended the season in mid-table.[51]

LAST TIME OUT



Form guide pointless as no game for three weeks

FAMOUS STOKE PERSON

Enoch Arnold Bennett
(1867 - 1931)
Enoch Arnold Bennett was born on 27 May 1867 at 90 Hope Street, Hanley. He was the son of Enoch Bennett, a Burslem man who was at the time a pawnbroker, seeking to improve his station in the pursuit of a career in law (which he subsequently attained). He was the husband of Sarah Longson, a daughter of a Derbyshire family.

Arnold Bennett was the eldest of six surviving children. From the time Arnold was eight years old, the family changed residences from Dale Hall, Burslem to Middleport and eventually settled in a newly built house at 205 Waterloo Road, Burslem.

Bennett was educated at Swan Bank Wesleyan Chapel, Burslem, the Endowed school at the Wedgwood Institute in Queen Street and the Orme Middle School which was to become Wolstanton Grammar School.

Upon leaving school it was intended that Bennett should become a lawyer but already he had experienced the stirrings for journalism, social correspondence and short-story writing. In 1889 he left the Potteries for good to make his home in the capital where for a time he worked as a solicitors clerk. By 1893 he had become a journalist and within three years he was the editor of the London periodical Woman.

Bennett`s first novel, "A Man From The North", was published in 1898 and foretold the writer's exploration of environmental biography which resulted in the creation of his fictional town Bursley. His written works contained lightly concealed descriptions of Burslem, forming a fictional gazetteer of this important Potteries town.

These B Curling Championships will take place from Monday 3 January until Wednesday 12 January and is open to junior teams from all World Curling Federation Member Associations that have not already qualified for the World Junior Curling Championships. The top three women’s and men’s teams will qualify from this event to the World Junior Curling Championships.

The Men's Teams are from Austria, Brazil, Chinese Taipei, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey, and play from 3 January to 6 January in the Round-robin. Their Quarter-finals and Semi-finals are due to be played on 7 January with the Finals on 8 January.

England Men
4 : Jotham SUGDEN (Skip)
3 : Felix WHITTICASE (Vice-Skip)
2 : Archer WOODS
1 : Harry PINNELL

According the WCF website, England are not in any of the 3 Groups, but Chinese Taipei are in Groups A and B and Hong Kong are in Groups B and C. I had hoped that the playing schedule would yield a clue as to the Groups, but England are playing 4 of the 5 teams in Group C, except for Kazakhstan, so that doesn't really help. Add in the fact that Chinese Taipei are due to play Netherlands 3 times (twice in the same session!) and Denmark are playing 2 teams at the same time, which doesn't fill me with confidence as to the accuracy of the draw. It's an absolute bloody shambles. 

Women's Teams representing Austria, Brazil, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey and United States compete in 3 Groups. They play from 10 January to 12 January in the Round-robin, followed by their Quarter-finals and Semi-finals on 13 January and Finals on 14 January.

England Women
4 : Sydney BOYD (Skip)
3 : Annabelle MARTIN (Vice-Skip)
2 : Mia ANDELL
1 : Anna HOWEY
A : Libby DAVIES

Scotland Women
4 : Fay HENDERSON (Skip)
3 : Katie McMILLAN
2 : Lisa DAVIE (Vice-Skip)
1 : Holly WILKIE-MILNE
A : Robyn MITCHELL

The Women's Draw and Groups do seem to make sense with both England and Scotland in Group B.