Woking and Altrincham both go down with Covid for two weeks so Saturday is off unless they rearrange us to play Yeovil.

Premier League

BBB 14pts 2CS 5CR 5GB -3BB 0SB
Sanjay 10pts 1CS 4CR 5GB -3BB 0SB
Minizin 9pts 1CS 2CR 10GB -3BB 0SB
Snooty 8pts 1CS 3CR 5GB -3BB 0SB
Derby 8pts 0CS 4CR 5GB -3BB 0SB
SCO 6pts 0CS 3CR 5GB -3BB 0SB
BaggieOne 6pts 0CS 3CR 5GB -3BB 0SB
Silver 4pts 1CS 2CR -3GB 3BB 0SB

A tale of 3 balls! In what turned out to be a difficult week - the lowest scoring week of the season so far - there was a clear distiction in the accuracy of everyone's balls. For once it was the gamball that turned out to be the best scoring ball with only one player missing out, the score ball only had one positive and the scoreball drew a complete blank - I suspect that has never happened before.

BBB heads this week's table with 14 points. His interesting decision to predict every match as either 1-0 or 0-1 gave him the week's highest number of correct scores and correct results. Sanjay was the only other player to reach double figures from 4 correct results including the gamball. Somehow Minizin got 3rd place despite only getting 2 results right - 10 points from the gamball and minus 1 from the other 9!

Snooty and Derby share 4th place with SCO and BaggieOne 2 points further back. Derby and SCO at least maintained their gamball success - both of had positive scores on every gamball so far this season. Silver decided to be a bit different this week. He was the only player to lose points from the gamball but was also the only player to get his bonus correct. Like Minizin he only got 2 correct results and he was only saved from a negative week by that bonus.

No AAA again.

SCO 74pts
Silver 63pts
Minizin 62pts
Derby 61pts
BBB 58pts
Snooty 47pts
Sanjay 42pts
BaggieOne 41pts
AAA 16pts

Not much change in the overall league placings with just Sanjay and BaggieOne changing places. SCO actually extended his lead despite firing his lowest weekly score of the season thanks to Silver's poor week. The chasing pack has now closed up with just 5 points separating Silver in 2nd and BBB in 5th.

Zin


Championship

Twerton 18pts 1CS 5CR 5GB 3BB 0SB
Lady Jane 16pts 0CS 6CR 5GB 3BB 0SB
Amelia 14pts 1CS 4CR NPGB 6BB 0SB
Stairs 13pts 0CS 6CR NPGB 3BB 0SB
Salop 9pts 1CS 4CR NPGB -3BB 0SB
Zinman 7pts 1CS 3CR NPGB -3BB 0SB
Blue Baggie 6pts 0CS 6CR -3GB -3BB 0SB
Dingle 4pts 1CS 3CR -3GB -3BB 0SB
Themaclad 0pts 0CS 1CR -3GB 3BB 0SB

Well a bit of a turnaround this week in terms of who did well and who didn't. The balls as always played a key role in the scores and in a week where 8 of the games had only one team scoring meant we got zero in the Scoreball category. Top spot this week is Twerton who continues his fine form with 18 points, matching his highest score so far. He scored on 6 games including the Gamball and Bonus. Lady Jane and Amelia showed massive improvement in 2nd and 3rd, both scoring their season high scores of 16 and 14 respectively!! LJ picked up her first points on the Gamball and Amelia managed a spot on Bonus to boost the points.

Last player in double figures is Stairs with 13 points in 4th place, not playing the Gamball did cost him 3 points of course!! Salop is 5th on 9 points, like Stairs he has yet to play the Gamball this season and not for the first time he got the score spot on, costing him 6 points this week and 15 points so far this season!! Zinman with 7 points is 6th, his slow start continues but at least this week he got the Gamball prediction wrong but didn't play it so saved some points, unlike Stairs and Salop, not playing the Gamball has saved him 6 points so far this season!!

The bottom three this weeks includes the top two in the table, Blue Baggie and Dingle. Blue ended with 6 points, his lowest of the season, he scored on a week high 6 games but he missed both balls and got no CSs. Dingle finished on 4 points and also missed on all his balls. Themaclad brings up the rear this week with a zero, he only got points on two games, a -3 on the Gamball and a +3 on the Bonus equalling zilch!!

67 - Blue Baggie
56 - Stairs
51 - Salop
50 - Twerton
48 - Dingle
36 - Lady Jane
33 - Zinman
33 - Themaclad
32 - Amelia

A lot of movement in the table this week. Blue still leads the way but his lead has shrunk from 17 to 11 points. Back into 2nd spot is Stairs, ahead of Salop in 3rd, both up one place. Twerton is up 2 more places into 4th place and Dingle drops 3 spots this week to 5th but only 8 points separate 2nd to 5th. 12 point gap down to Lady Jane in 6th place, she climbs out of the bottom 3, up 2 places this week. Themaclad drops 2 places to join Zinman in joint 7th place while despite a much better week Amelia still finds herself bottom but is now only a single point behind the two above her and only 4 points of LJ.

Cheers
SCO

Gamball Game:
Norwich - Watford

Others:
Burnley - Arsenal
Villa - Everton
Hull - Sheff Utd
Cardiff - Bournemouth
Derby - Stoke
Millwall - Coventry
Preston - WBA
West Ham - Man Utd
Spurs - Chelsea

I watched a lot of King's Lynn against Dagenham and took particular interest in Joe Rowley's performance, and though he was obviously one of the better players on view I could see why he sometimes infuriates our friend Dancing and is now out on loan.

In his two previous games he had a been Man of the Match for King's Lynn and in the first half Joe was prominent in a decent team performance, prompting and linking in midfield, trying to search out that telling pass. For some reason Dagenham were extraordinarily passive and seemed content to sit back and watch King's Lynn pass the ball. That suited Joe, but my one criticism at that point was I wanted him to do more, to try to take advantage of the possession, maybe get into a shooting positions, maybe beat a man or two before laying the ball off. Somebody needed to do that, because by half time the better side hadn't done anything with their superiority.

The second half was as if Dagenham had been playing rope a dope. They brought on Myles Weston and suddenly King's Lynn were on the back foot. Before they'd even thought about re-grouping they were a goal down. Now I spent the next 15 minutes trying to spot Joe Rowley. True, Kings Lynn hardly saw the ball, but he'd borrowed Harry Potter's cloak of invisibility. Once play evened out a little Joe took off the cloak and he was still trying, still running and he wasn't playing badly, but he needs to do more, his team needed him to do more. Joe had the capability to be their best player. I think he should have been sticking out his (not very impressive) chest and saying, "right it's up to me!". But he didn't, he continued his neat passing, he didn't do much wrong, but he was one one of the few who could have stepped up. IF he could do that he would be an EFL player, no doubt, but he seems to lack the character and desire. I don't think he looks at a game and wants to run it. Deep down he doesn't want to show what he can do, he just wants to take part.

I think if I were James Rowe I would tell Joe Rowley that he is at King's Lynn to be their best player and to achieve that, avoiding doing much wrong isn't going to cut the mustard.

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 18th September:
Town v Nottingham Forest
Town scorers:
Forest scorers:

Hull City v Sheffield United (12:30)
Barnsley v Blackburn Rovers
Cardiff City v AFC Bournemouth
Derby County v Stoke City
Fulham v Reading
Luton Town v Swansea City
Middlesbrough v Blackpool
Millwall v Coventry City
Peterborough United v Birmingham City
Preston North End v West Bromwich Albion
Queens Park Rangers v Bristol City

EFL Cup rd3:
Tuesday 21st September:
Fulham v Leeds United
Preston North End v Cheltenham Town
Queens Park Rangers v Everton
Sheffield United v Southampton
Watford v Stoke City

Table after Matchday 7:

1. Baggiebob(BBB) = 182 pts
   
2. jjamez = 175 pts
   
3. St Charles Owl = 167 pts
   
4. Lord Snooty = 149 pts
   
5. theo_luddite = 146 pts
   
6. SHEP_HTAFC = 145 pts
   
7. neonfoxinthebox = 143 pts
   
8. WakeyTerrier = 143 pts
   
9. Amelia Chaffinch = 135 pts
   
10. ritchiebaby = 123 pts
    
11. themaclad = 123 pts

GROUND



Bramall Lane is a football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It is the home of EFL Championship club Sheffield United. As the largest stadium in Sheffield during the 19th century, it hosted most of the city's most significant matches including the final of the world's first football tournament, first floodlit match and several matches between the Sheffield and London Football Associations that led to the unification of their respective rules. It was also used by Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield F.C. for major matches. It has been the home of Sheffield United since the club's establishment in 1889. It is the oldest major stadium in the world still to be hosting professional association football matches.[2][3]

The stadium was built on a Sheffield road named after the Bramall family (who were file and graver manufacturers). The Bramalls owned The Old White House on the corner of Bramall Lane and Cherry Street, and subsequently built the Sheaf House, now a public house that still stands at the top of Bramall Lane. The stadium originally opened as a cricket ground. It was used for football games in the 19th century by Sheffield F.C. and Sheffield Wednesday, but since 1889 has been the home of Sheffield United.

Bramall Lane is one of only two grounds (the other being the Oval) which has hosted England football internationals (five games prior to 1930), an England cricket test match (a single Test, in 1902, against Australia) and an FA Cup Final (the 1912 replay, in which Barnsley beat West Bromwich Albion, 1–0). It also regularly hosted FA Cup semi-finals and replays between 1889 and 1938.

The ground has also hosted rugby league games for the Sheffield Eagles,[4] and has also been selected to host England v Greece in the 2021 Rugby League World Cup.[5] The ground also hosted a Billy Graham Evangelist meeting in 1985, a pair of rock concerts by Bruce Springsteen in 1988 in front of 88,000 people, a friendly match for the 150th anniversary of the world's oldest football club Sheffield F.C., where they played Inter Milan in 2007. Also hosting a Travis Pastrana Motor cross event in 2016, an IBF Welterweight title boxing match featuring Sheffield United fan Kell Brook, in front of 27,000 people in 2017, the Women's League Cup final and a Rod Stewart concert both in 2019. The stadium has also been used several times to host England men's and women's senior and youth teams in friendly and competitive matches.

The record attendance for the ground is 68,287 set at an FA Cup 5th Round tie between Sheffield United and Leeds United on 15 February 1936. The ground was extensively renovated in the wake of the Taylor Report, and has an all-seated capacity of 32,050.[1]


MANAGER

Slavisa Jokanovic

Partizan
Jokanović was living in Madrid when, in September 2007, he joined the technical staff of Tercera División club CA Pinto. However, three months later, he became the head coach of Partizan, replacing Miroslav Đukić who left to take the reins of the national team. His family (wife and three children) remained in the Spanish capital.[11]

In May 2008, under Jokanović's management, Partizan won the double (league and cup). He was also selected as the year's "Best Coach in Serbia" by the Football Association of Serbia, but refused to receive this award due to Partizan's poor results in the group stage of the UEFA Cup.[12]

Jokanović led Partizan to another double in his first full season, winning the league by a margin of 19 points over former team Vojvodina. Thus, he became the first coach in the club's history to successfully defend the accolades; on 5 September 2009, however, he left the post by mutual consent, bidding farewell through an open letter.[13]

Thailand, Bulgaria and Spain
On 28 February 2012, Muangthong United F.C. introduced Jokanović as their new head coach, and he signed a one-year contract with an option for a further two years.[14] In his first and only season, he led the team to the third Thai Premier League title in their history, going undefeated in the process.[15]

In mid-July 2013, Jokanović replaced Nikolay Mitov as manager of Bulgarian team PFC Levski Sofia.[16] He was relieved of his duties in October, due to poor results, but club supporters claimed that he should have been given time to change things around.[17]

On 5 May 2014, Spain's Hércules CF appointed Jokanović as coach until the end of the season, replacing Quique Hernández who had been sacked with the team in last place in the Segunda División table.[18] He only managed one win in his five matches in charge, in an eventual relegation.[19]

Watford
On 7 October 2014, Jokanović was appointed on a short-term contract at the helm of English Championship club Watford, their fourth coach in five weeks.[20] Under his leadership, the Hornets were promoted to the Premier League with one match to spare, sealing it with a 2–0 win at Brighton & Hove Albion on 25 April 2015 for their 15th win in 20 matches;[21] the team was also minutes away from winning the league title in the final match, but conceded an injury-time equaliser to Sheffield Wednesday that allowed Bournemouth to overtake them.[22]

On 5 June 2015, after failing to agree to a new deal, Jokanović left and was replaced by Quique Sánchez Flores.[23]

Maccabi Tel Aviv
On 14 June 2015, Jokanović was appointed as coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv.[24] On 25 August, he led the club to the group stage of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in 11 years, after ousting FC Basel on the away goals rule.[25]

Fulham
Jokanović lasted just over six months in the role before he elected to return to the Championship, joining Fulham on 27 December 2015 as head coach.[26] After avoiding relegation by 11 points, he achieved his target of a top six position for his first full season at Craven Cottage.[27]

Jokanović led Fulham to promotion by beating Aston Villa 1–0 at Wembley Stadium on 26 May 2018 in the play-off final.[28] On 14 November, however, after seven consecutive winless results and with the team ranking last, he was dismissed and replaced by Claudio Ranieri.[29]

Al-Gharafa
On 16 June 2019, Jokanović was appointed at Qatari club Al-Gharafa SC, on a two-year deal.[30] He was nominated for Manager of the Season in his first year in the Stars League.[31]

Sheffield United
On 27 May 2021, Jokanović was appointed by newly relegated Sheffield United on a three-year deal, becoming the club's first manager from overseas.[32


LAST TIME OUT




MYSTIC MACS FORM GUIDE

BLADES 7 PNE 8

Altrincham 2-0 King's Lynn Town
Boreham Wood 2-2 FC Halifax Town
Chesterfield 3-0 Barnet
Dagenham & Redbridge 2-0 Weymouth
Eastleigh 2-0 Dover Athletic
Grimsby Town 3-1 Wrexham
Maidenhead United 0-1 Stockport County
Notts County 2-0 Wealdstone
Solihull Moors 1-3 Torquay United
Southend United 2-0 Aldershot Town
Woking 1-2 Bromley

League Table After Matchday 5

Amelia = 76
Dancing = 60
St Charles = 56
Spireitematt = 54
Devon = 52
Lord Snoots = 48

Blackpool v Huddersfield Town
The Sky Bet Championship
Tuesday September 14th - 19:45 ko
at Bloomfield Road

Joe Smith

Robson score twice 12 months later when Blackpool came back to ours for another pasting. Kelly got another with George Crownshaw and Charlie Luke also scoring as the Seasiders managed to keep the score down to 5-0. They did beat us 2-0 though at theirs in the return fixture and the season after, we only took one point off them in their relegation season. They also beat us 2-0 at Bloomfield Road in our first ever FA Cup meeting, in the 4th round.

Blackpool came back up in '37 and we were both still in the first division after the war. Town had fallen to Div 2 though by the time our paths crossed again in the FA Cup. It was a famous year for the Tangerines as they went on to win the FA Cup for the one and only time in their history, beating us 1-0 at Bloomfield Road in round 4.

We were promoted that season though and so met up again in the top flight. That lasted for three season and we were the ones relegated again. We met up in the 60s again, this time in division 2. That was for three seasons, which ended with us both being promoted in '69/70 and so met up once again in the first divison in 1970. The game at Leeds Road was the first match of the season and we won it 3-0 with two goals from Steve Smith and a penalty scored by Frank Worthington. Big Frank is in this picture, wearing the fashionable flares of the time. I'm also in this picture of that match against Blackpool on the 15th of August. I remember sitting on that fence at that game, but I can't make out which one is me, but it'll be one of the lads in short pants. 

The season after that, we played Blackpool away on the first day. And what a day it was. It was the one day in the year that the sun shines there and thousands of Town fans took to the Golden Mile. It wasn't an all ticket game like we have now and so our cramped away section in by what was now a dilapidated old Bloomfield Road, was soon overflowing. Once again, the terrific Terriers scored early. New signing Paul Reid, on his debut following a transfer from Bradford City, scored it. He got another and Ronnie Jepson also scored twice as Town ran out winners by a scoreline of 4-1, that set off a great season in style and ended with promotion via the Play Offs.

Rocket Ron scored twice against them in the next season. We had been promoted, but met them in the FA cup and got our one and only FA cup win over the Tangerines, 2-1 in the 3rd round.

The next meeting of note was a two legged affair in the Northern Area Final of the Football League Trophy. Following a disappointing 1-3 reverse by the sea, with Danny Schofield scoring ours, we met again a fortnight later at the MacAlpine Stadium. By the 33rd minute, the aggregate scores were level. Firstly, Clyde Wijnhard scored from the spot and then Schofield got the second with a beauty of a shot curling in the top corner after cutting in from the right hand side. This thriller of a game, with a place at Wembley at stake ended 3-3 on aggregate at the 90 minute mark and so it went to golden goal extra time. Sadly, Blackpool got it and earned a trip from their own Tower to the Twin Towers of the North London shithole National Stadium.

We had another goal fest, three seasons later in the same competition. This time at the 2nd round stage. Blackpool led 1-0 at half time through Matt Blinkhorn, but John McAliskey equalised two minutes after the break. Yond pillock, Efe Sodje, got himself sent off though a minute later. However, that man Schofield scored against them again to put the Town's ten men into the lead. Blinkhorn got his second though soon after and the game went to extra time at 2-2. What followed was a good example of what a good idea it was to scrap the Golden Goal rule as five, yes five goals came in extra time. Keigan Parker and Jamie Burns scored for them. Adnan Ahmed pulled one back for us to make it 4-3 before the extra time break, but before the ref could blow his whistle, Daniel Coid made it 5-3. Burns got his second soon after and so the Tangerines won it 6-3.

Our fifth FA Cup meeting came in '06/07. A first round match at the Galpharm Stadium and it was Blackpool winning again, with Wes Hoolahan scoring, like he always seemed to do every time he played against us. And they beat us 1-0 again in the next season in our only League Cup meeting.

Finally, that stupid match at their place in 2015. We had beaten them earlier in the campaign 4-2, but then at the final match of the season, the Blackpool fans had a planned protest on the pitch at half time, which they kept going until the match got abandoned. Town should've been awarded a 3-0 win, but the FL decided to leave it at 0-0 seeing as they were already relegated and we had nothing to play for. Nothing to play for? A win for us would've meant us finishing above Leeds in the final standings. Don't you say there's nothing to play for, you bureaucratic bum fluffers!

Chris Maxwell beaten by the legend

They've got Richard Keogh.



I said, don't laugh. 

Seriously though. Almost 700 league appearances, 31 of them for us in two separate spells. Not one good performance in them. Can't speak for the rest of his 600 and odd others though. I suppose somebody, somewhere must've rated him.

They also have James Husband in their squad, who came to us on loan from Middlesbrough in 2016. He played 12 times for us then signed for Norwich. He then signed for Blackpool, initially on loan, in 2019 before making the move permanent. Another loanee, who came to us in the previous season and scored a goal direct from a corner against Derby in that 4-4 draw, is Reece James. He signed for Blackpool in the summer. We had had him on loan from Man Utd, but he has since played for Wigan, Sunderland and Doncaster.

In the other direction this summer, came Ollie Turton to our lovely Town. He played 165 games in the Tangerine shirt over a four year period, after starting out with Crewe.

One player who was quite a success at both clubs was Gary Taylor-Fletcher. He signed for us from Lincoln City in 2005, after previously playing and scoring for the Imps in our Play Off semi final meeting the year before. His first Town goals came in the form of a second half hat trick in the League Cup at Saltergate, in a 4-2 win over Chesterfield. He netted 15 times in that first season, including one down at Chelsea in the FA Cup and then his final goal of the campaign at Oakwell as we beat Barnsley in the first leg of the Play Off semis. We won't dwell on that.
He scored 11 in the next season. One of them was the 500,000th goal in the Football League, an absolute beauty it was too, in a 3-0 win against Rotherham Utd at the John MacAlpharm.
But then at the end of the season, he was surprisingly sold to Championship side Blackpool for an undisclosed fee. He stayed there for six seasons, one of them in the Prima Donna League after he helped them get there in 2010. That was through the Play Offs and GTF scored the second goal of their 3-2 Wembley win over Cardiff.
He followed that by scoring on his PL debut as the Seaside Donkeys whupped the Wigan Piemen 4-0 at the DW Stadium. He scored another famous goal in the Tangerine in January as they came from behind to beat Liverpool 2-1 at Bloomfield Road and then in the final match of the season he scored to put them 2-1 up at Old Trafford. It would turn out to be his final PL match though as the Mancky tossers came back to win 4-2 and send the Seasiders down.
Well not quite his final PL match. He did have one more when he left Blackpool for Leicester and helped them win the Championship. He scored in the match at our ground that secured promotion when they beat us 2-0. That one last Prima Donna game came at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea, but after playing in an embarrassing League Cup defeat at home to Shrewsbury, he was shipped out to Sheffield Wednesday and then Millwall on loan. And that was just about it. Tranmere, Accrington and then playing out his days in the Welsh League before retiring in 2019.



And then we have Captain Fantastic himself, the running through brick walls legend Peter Clarke. Now 39 years old and in his twenty third season as a professional player, he has been Player of the Season seven times at his various clubs, including twice with the Town and once at Blackpool.
He started out with Everton and as a young un, played 9 games for them in the Premier League. Steve McMahon then took him on loan to Blackpool and he scored twice on his home debut. That was back in 2002, but despite McMahon's desire to sign him permanently, he returned to Goodison before going out on loan again to Port Vale and then Coventry.
In 2004, new Blackpool manager Colin Hendry signed Peter from Everton for the bargain price of £150,000. At the end of that season he picked up his first of those POTS awards after helping the Seasiders avoid relegation from League One. He had one more season there, playing in all 46 league games, but rejected a new contract offer at the end of the season and left to play for Championship new boys Southend Utd.
He couldn't keep them up though and so the following season he was back in League One. They made the Play Offs, but lost to Donny Rovers in the semis. His final season at Roots Hall saw him win another POTS award and also score a last minute equaliser in the FA Cup against Chelsea.
His career then reached it's pinnacle when he signed for Huddersfield Town in 2009. His debut came back at Roots Hall as the new skipper and inspired his new team mates to come back from 0-2 down to draw 2-2. His first Town goal came the following week in that 7-1 win at home to Brighton and he finished the season once again as Player of the Season.
He won POTS again in the next one as well as the PFA Fans League One Player of the Season. But just like the previous season, we failed in the Play Offs. It was third time lucky though. He scored the first penalty in the shoot out at Wembley against Sheffield United, after we had missed our first three. His roaring celebration to the fans after burying his spot kick was an inspiration for his team mates who went on to score all their other pens to win it 8-7.
He had a couple of seasons with us in the Championship, but after suffering a knee injury, that knob head Mark Robins let him go. His last appearance was in that cracking, end of season 4-1 win at Watford, coming on as a sub for another knob head, Anthony Gerrard.
So he went back and signed for Blackpool. It was that disastrous season for them though, the one that ended in relegation and that stupid end of season match against us. Manager Lee Clark had offered him a new contract, but when he was sacked, Peter was also let go.
That was in 2015, but six years on from that, he's still playing. He went to Bury, became their POTS, then to Oldham and won it twice with them. Then to Fleetwood for half a season, before signing on with Tranmere in January 2020. He was relegated with them as Rovers were in the bottom 4 when Covid struck, but Peter did make another Wembley appearance as they made the EFL Trophy Final, but lost 0-1 against Sunderland. Last season they made the Play Offs and Clarkey became the oldest player to score in the Play Offs when he headed home against Morecambe, but they lost anyway.
Great career. Great player. Great bloke.



Clarkey played for two managers who have managed both us and them. Simon Grayson and Lee Clark. They aren't the only ones to have managed both either. Old turnip bonce himself, Stan Ternent was appointed manager at Bloomfield Road in 1979, his first managing job. He didn't last long and was sacked early in 1980 which was at the time Blackpool's shortest managerial reign. His time at Town was very similar. He managed 22 games for them and 18 for us before he became the first manager sacked by Dean Hoyle. In between those two appointments, he did actually have a decent managerial career, particularly at Bury and Burnley.

One match England boss, Sam Allardyce, who had one season playing for Town in the mid 80s, managed Blackpool from '94 to '96. In that time, he signed the mild mannered centre back Andy Morrison from Blackburn. Big Sam described Morrison as a "horrible in-your-face" centre-back and a "complete nutter" according to his Wiki page. 

Others to have played for both include Play Off penalty shoot out winning keeper Paul Rachubka. Ian Hughes from that same side, but was injured before the Play Offs. He had won the Play Offs a couple of seasons earlier with the Tangerines.

Keigan Parker was also a Blackpool Play Off winner before he came to us and was on the whole, let's say disappointing. Ishmael Miller was a bit of a cult at Town. He came to us after a short stint at Blackpool, but he had previously won the Championship twice, once with the Baggies and once with QPR.

Tom Ince played for us in the Premier League and was much better than his scoring record would suggest. Earlier, he had had three seasons at the seaside after joining them from Liverpool.

Peter Doherty I mentioned in the Derby match thread. He was one of the finest footballers of the pre and post second world war eras, playing for Blackpool in the 30s and us in the 40s.

I'll finish with a proper club legend that some of you may not have heard of as it was a long time ago. Tom Wilson played 500 matches for Town, leaving him second on our appearances record behind Billy Smith. The first of those matches was the opening game of the famous 1919/20 campaign, in a 2-1 win at home to Clapton Orient. He played centre half and soon became the regular choice, winning promotion in that first season, along with an FA Cup runners up medal.
He would go on to skipper the side during the three Football League Champions seasons and also captain the side in three more FA Cup Finals, including the victory over Preston in 1922.
He only missed four matches in the three first division title winning seasons, but eventually lost his place in the side to Alf Young and made his last appearance for the mighty Blue n Whites in a goal less draw at home to Everton in 1931 before transferring to Blackpool, where he made 18 appearances in that season. He retired at the end of it and came back to Leeds Road as trainer.
Despite only ever winning one cap for England, Tommy was so famous that he had a waxwork of him made by Madame Tussauds before the 1930 FA Cup Final against Arsenal. He left Town in 1939 when the war started and joined Barnsley as trainer when it ended. Sadly he died soon after at the age of just 51.

Pet Shop Boy Chris Lowe

Robert Smith of the Cure

Not sure about pubs. It's a quiet little town without much scope for a few beers.

Only kidding! If you want to get rat arsed and be arrested for drunken disorderly waaaaaaaay before kick off time, one of the best places you can go is the Bierkeller, where you will be served steins of lager and underestimate it's strength and end up doing things that you're glad mobile phones with cameras and videos haven't been invented yet. 

Thankfully I don't remember much else about that particular stag do. But that's beside the point. I've no idea which pubs in Blackpool are fashionable these days. On match day, just listen for one that has Town fans singing outside. You'll know where the action is.

September the 14th down the ages: How did we get on in previous matches played on this date?

1912: Bradford Park Avenue (h) Div 2, WON 2-0 (James Howie, Thomas Elliott)
1918: Sheffield United (h) Wartime League, WON 1-0 (Crowther)
1926: Sunderland (h) Div 1, drew 0-0
1929: Leeds United (h) Div 1, WON 1-0 (Harry Davies)
1935: Derby County (h) Div 1, drew 1-1 (Jimmy Richardson)
1938: Sunderland (h) Div 1, lost 0-1
1940: Leeds United (a) Wartime League, lost 2-5 (Billy Price, Billy Hayes)
1946: Blackburn Rovers (h) Div 1, lost 0-1
1949: Charlton Athletic (a) Div 1, drew 2-2 (Arnold Rodgers 2)
1957: Notts County (a) Div 2, drew 1-1 (Alex Bain)
1960: Sheffield United (h) Div 2, lost 0-1
1963: Charlton Athletic (a) Div 2, lost 2-5 (Len White, Derek Stokes)
1966: Lincoln City (a) League Cup, lost 1-2 (Tony Leighton)
1968: Cardiff City (h) Div 2, WON 3-0 (Frank Worthington 2, Colin Dobson)
1974: Chesterfield (h) Div 3, WON 2-0 (Bobby Hoy 2)
1976: Southport (h) Div 4, WON 1-0 (Steve Smith)
1979: Scunthorpe United (a) Div 4, drew 1-1 (Brian Stanton)
1982: Doncaster Rovers (a) League Cup, WON 1-0 (Malcolm Brown)
1985: Sheffield United (a) Div 2, drew 1-1 (David Cork)
1991: Bury (a) Div 3, drew 4-4 (Iwan Roberts 2, Phil Starbuck 2)
1993: Port Vale (h) Division Two (3rd tier), drew 1-1 (Iain Dunn)
1999: Notts County (h) League Cup, WON 2-1 (Clyde Wijnhard, Marcus Stewart)
2002: Northampton Town Division Two (3rd tier), drew 0-0
2013: Doncaster Rovers (h) Championship, drew 0-0


Well we've won more than we've lost. Winning eight and losing six, with quite a lot of draws. Ten of them to be precise. On a positive note, we haven't conceded this century on this date. We have't scored one either though, with the only two games since the year 1999 ending goal less. Sticking with being positive, we haven't lost on this date since 1966. And we haven't lost a league match on this date since 1963.

James Howie, who scored in 1912 against Park Avenue, was a Scotsman who spent the majority of his career at Newcastle, winning three league titles and an FA Cup with them. He came to us at the back end of his playing days and went on to manage QPR and Middlesbrough. He was a striker and scored 18 goals for us.

Jimmy Richardson, who scored against Derby in 1935, was another forward who came to us from Newcastle. Whilst there, he became involved in one of the most infamous FA Cup Final incidents of the time. It was the 1932 Final against Arsenal and was known as the "over the line final", for want of a more catchy title. Arsenal were one up when Richardson chased the ball down the wing and crossed for Jack Allen to equalise. In those long gone days when VAR was just a fragment of someone's imagination, it turned out with photographic evidence after someone had been to Boots the Chemist to get them developed, that the ball had crossed the line before he crossed it. Keep up, liner!
The Geordies went on to win 2-1 and Jimmy had a winners medal. A couple of years later he joined Town and scored 32 goals for us.

Billy Hayes, who scored against Leeds in 1940, was a defender, born in Cork, but grew up in Sheffield. He was one of just a handful of players to represent both Northern Ireland and the Republic as well. Having grown up in Sheffield, he also played for the England schoolboys team. He played 195 times for Town, not including his wartime games and would obviously have played many more but for yond pillock with the silly little tash.

The goal Alex Bain scored against Notts Co in 1957, was one of eleven he scored for us. Two of the others were in a famous match at the Valley when Town blew a 5-1 lead to lose 7-6 against Charlton. 

Brian Stanton scored on his Town debut on this date in 1979, in what turned out to be a great season, ending with us lifting the 4th Division champions trophy. The game was a 1-1 draw at Scunthorpe's Old Showground and was the last time we ever played there. And it was one of only a couple of games I missed that season and so I never saw Town play there. Stanton went on to become a Town legend, winning promotion twice and scoring 45 times, four of them in one match against Bradford City in 1983.

The League Cup wins in 1982 against Donny and 1999 against Notts County were seasons when we had a decent Cup run for a change. The 1982 campaign was the one with the famous David Cowling goal at Bellend Road, before eventually going out to Arsenal in Round 4. The 1999 one was also a 4th round exit, after a famous win down at Stamford Bridge when Kenny Irons scored an absolute screamer, only to go out to Wimbledon, who were in the Premier League at the time, but it was still a massive disappointment after beating Chelsea previously.

The game at Gigg Lane in 1991 against Bury was another famous match, as we came back from 0-4 down just before half time to get a draw. The daft kid who you can just about see running on the pitch after our fourth goal goes in is apparently a young Dean Hoyle. I missed this one, coming back from a Cornwall holiday and listening in disbelief as the scores came on the radio on 5 Live.

1. Alan Tweets Myths 
   
2. Florida Bloomed 
   
3. Austin Million 
   
4. Ashton Grit 
   
5. Lionel Trout 
   
6. Reusable Peach 
   
7. Tripe Horn 
   
8. Ethnic Cyrille 
   
9. Marlboro Towel 
   
10. Sony Wooten 
    

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/football...d=msedgntp

McKay's role was a senior position that was supposedly "done n dusted" in the close season. Deemed a misfit, his sudden imminent departure really "beggars belief". However, I don't believe Sutton's idea that this could mean the unexpected return of Peter Lawwell. IMO it won't happen.

St Martins 0 Hinckley 18 (Eighteen)