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.
Friday 6th August:
AFC Bournemouth v West Bromwich Albion
Saturday 7th August:
Derby v Town
Town scorers:
Derby scorers:
Blackburn Rovers v Swansea City
Bristol City v Blackpool
Cardiff City v Barnsley
Luton Town v Peterborough United
Preston North End v Hull City
Queens Park Rangers v Millwall
Stoke City v Reading
Sheffield United v Birmingham City (20:00)
Sunday 8th August:
Fulham v Middlesbrough (13:30)
Coventry City v Nottingham Forest (16:30)
Bonus matches: Saturday:
Community Shield:
Leicester City v Manchester City (17:15)
EFL Cup rd1:
Tuesday:
Bolton Wanderers v Barnsley
Harrogate Town v Rochdale
Mansfield Town v Preston North End
Reading v Swansea City
As I was the first and only one suggesting we put this mad man in charge I feel responsible. This is management Luke Rhinehart style. Have you read The Dice Man? All Chesterfield fans should. First we had Casino Ownership. Now we get Dice Management.
We're about to play a team. They're supposed to have a couple of outstanding young talents. We buy one just before the game. Win the game, having deprived the opposition of him. We finally give him a couple of runs in the team. No great success. Outer darkness. Sell him to major rival that having been the option on which we rolled a six.
If there's a bigger picture it was painted by Hieronymus Bosch.
Did it surprise me? Nothing would. It's like having the decorators in on a permanent basis.
So a new season is upon us, and we are back in our favourite division, League One, or the Pub League as we call it. A few of the big earners left in the summer along with half a dozen others, Bannan, Palmer & Hutch are still with us for now. DM has been fairly busy in the transfer market bringing in 8 so far with others to come, a striker the main priority. Not sure what to expect from the upcoming season, if we can find a goal-scorer we might challenge for the top 6 places, but a more realistic mid table finish would seem on the cards.
THE MATCH
Our first game of the season see us make the journey south to The valley and Charlton Athletic. The Addicks just missed out on the playoffs by goal difference and will be expecting to mount a challenge this season. Nigel Adkins is now in charge after Lee Bowyer left in March. Don't know too much about there playing staff, Shinnie, Stockley & Amos ring a bell & Aneke was there top scorer last season with 15 goals. Our last visit there saw us win 1-3 with Fletcher & Nuhiu on the scoresheet.
This is the 1st leg of a ECL tie v Croatian opponents that could propel Hibs into the final play-off round v Bohemians or PAOK. However, I don't think this will be an easy tie for Hibs although they have a chance to progress. IMO it will be an achievement if we finally qualify v Bohemians or PAOK, but I can't see it happening TBH. Here's hoping I'm wrong.
Grant Samuel McCann (born 14 April 1980) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder in the Football League. He is the manager of EFL Championship club Hull City.
Born in Belfast, McCann played in the Distillery youth system from 1995 until signing for the West Ham United Academy of Football in 1996, where he started his professional career.[2][3] He made his debut on 19 May 2001 in a 2–1 away defeat to Middlesbrough.[4] McCann also won 39 caps for Northern Ireland after making his senior debut against Malta in 2001, with the last of his 39 caps won in a 6–0 friendly defeat against the Netherlands in June 2012.
Managerial career
Peterborough United
On 16 May 2016, McCann was appointed Peterborough United manager on a four-year contract.[21] He was named League One Manager of the Month for August 2017, after his team got off to a flying start at the beginning of the season.[22] On 25 February 2018, he was sacked after no wins in seven matches.[23]
Doncaster Rovers
On 27 June 2018, McCann was announced as the new Doncaster Rovers manager.[24] He led them to the play-offs on the final day of the season, 4 May 2019, with a 2–0 win over Coventry City. They finished in sixth place in the League One table.[25] They lost to Charlton Athletic in the play-off semi-final stages. After two legs the aggregate score was 4–4 with Charlton winning 4–3 on penalties.[26]
Hull City
McCann was appointed as head coach of Championship club Hull City on 21 June 2019 on a one-year rolling contract.[27] City vice-chairman and son of owner Assem Allam, Ehab Allam said of McCann’s appointment, "Grant has been a standout candidate with a playing style and philosophy aligned to that of the Club. With a great team of existing staff in their support and of the squad too, I hope for an exciting season ahead."[28] On 14 July 2020, Hull lost 8–0 at Wigan Athletic, equalling their record loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers in November 1911. The result put Hull in the bottom three by one point having won once in their past 18 games with 14 defeats.[29] Hull were relegated to League One in 24th and bottom place following a 3–0 defeat by Cardiff City on 22 July. Despite the relegation, McCann said he hoped to manage the team in the upcoming season.[30]
McCann immediately led the team back to the Championship as League One Champions, winning promotion with two matches left to play after a 2–1 victory at Lincoln City.[31] The title was secured the following match with a 3–1 victory over Wigan Athletic, as second placed Peterborough United were held to a 3–3 draw, a result that still saw them promoted.[32] McCann was awarded a number of individual awards over the season, winning the League One Manager of the Month for both January 2021[33] and April 2021.[34]
Frankie McAvoy has issued a rallying cry to Preston North End supporters to get behind him and his players this weekend in the first game of the season.
Hull City come to Deepdale on Saturday for the opening game of the new Championship campaign and it will mark the first competitive fixture of Frankie’s spell as permanent head coach.
He’s hoping that his players, together with the supporters in the stands, can make the stadium a difficult place to come to.
What we need to do, and I ask this honestly, is that they get behind the players and they make Deepdale a real difficult venue for anybody that comes to play us and that begins on Saturday against Hull City.
“I think if you’ve got everybody behind you, supporting you, then they really become that 12th man, I don’t think there’s any question or doubt about that. That’s what I’m hoping we manage to do on Saturday and it’s fruitful for us and we get a positive result.”
Frankie is well aware that Saturday will be an emotional occasion for many supporters as they come through the turnstiles again after such a long time away, but it will also be a special day for him and his backroom staff.
He said: “It’s an absolute honour and a privilege to be the head coach of Preston North End, I’ve said that and I truly mean that. It’ll be a great day for myself and my family, and my friends and people that know me.
“But also for the likes of Gally [Paul Gallagher] and his family, Tommo [Steve Thompson] and his family, big Mike [Pollitt], and everybody connected with us as a group. It’s the first time that we as a group will be able to go and meet the supporters along with a lot of the players that have not had the opportunity or chance to play in front of the crowd.
“I’ve had the opportunity as a coach with Alex [Neil] to see just how good the Preston support can be playing at Deepdale. It’s got a special place in a lot of people’s hearts and I know and understand the importance of every game that you go and play to the supporters.
“They want to see you go and do well, particularly at home, and I’m hoping and praying and putting my faith and trust in the group that we’ve got that they can go and deliver on Saturday.”
It will be newly-promoted Hull City standing in the way of Frankie’s men and given their success last season, he is anticipating a difficult challenge, as with any game in the Championship.
He's not too interested, though, in putting large amounts of focus on the opposition, and instead is getting his own team ready as best as he can.
He said: “It’s difficult when you get relegated to try and bounce back at the next attempt, Grant [McCann] has done that with the group of players he’s got and that’s credit to him and credit to his backroom team, so we’re expecting a tough and difficult game.
“I’ve said to you before that anybody in the Championship can beat anybody on their day, so for me it’ll be a tough game but my main focus is on how we approach it. We will try and approach it with positivity and we’ll go and try and win the game.”
CLUB VIEW
Championship football is back this weekend and so are supporters, as Preston North End kick off the 2021/22 campaign against Hull City.
For the first time since March 2020, the North End faithful will be able to retake their seats inside Deepdale for a first team fixture, and it’ll also be the first time they get to see Frankie McAvoy in his new role of head coach.
Supporters may also get the chance to see certain players live in action for the first time, with the likes of Ben Whiteman, Daniel Iversen and Ched Evans all yet to play in front of a Deepdale crowd since joining the club.
PNE Team News
Head coach Frankie McAvoy told iFollow PNE he has almost a fully fit squad to pick from for this weekend’s game.
Summer signings Izzy Brown and Matthew Olosunde will both be missing, with the latter just a short-term worry, whereas Izzy will be out for a longer period after suffering an Achilles injury during pre-season training.
Frankie also admitted to having some very tough decisions to make all over the pitch in terms of team selection, especially given that rules on substitutions have reverted to what they were before Covid.
Hull City head into the new season no doubt beaming with confidence following their success in League One during the 2020/21 campaign.
They finished top of the division, bouncing straight back following their relegation from the Championship in the season prior.
The Tigers have strengthened over the summer, too, bringing in the likes of former Luton Town midfielder George Moncur and Randell Williams from Exeter City.
They are, however, set to be missing some key men on Saturday afternoon, with club captain George Honeyman sidelined through injury, while last season’s top scorer Mallik Wilks has missed the whole of pre-season and is in doubt for this fixture.
Key Stats
While Wilks may be missing for the visitors, Hull have plenty of other goal threats, with forwards Josh Magennis and Keane Lewis-Potter scoring 31 League One goals between them last season.
The missing Honeyman was the main source of creation in the side, though, with his 13 league assists proving crucial in their promotion campaign, so the Tigers will need to look for other playmakers to step up in his absence.
Our Last Meeting
PNE 2 Hull City 1, Sky Bet Championship, 22nd February 2020.
The Lilywhites came from behind to beat a struggling Hull side in early 2020 in what proved to be the penultimate home game prior to the season’s suspension.
Wilks opened the scoring for the visitors in the first half, but a trademark Paul Gallagher penalty on 67 minutes got PNE back into the game.
It took North End just four minutes to then take the lead, with Jayden Stockley providing a wonderful cross from the left for Alan Browne to head home inside the area.
Man In The Middle
Referee Gavin Ward will be the man to take charge of Saturday’s game, assisted by Mark Dwyer and Lee Venamore, with Christopher Sarginson as fourth official.
Ward, from Surrey, had the whistle for two of PNE’s Championship games last season, overseeing the Lilywhites’ 3-2 victory at AFC Bournemouth before coming to Deepdale in February for the visit of Rotherham United.
Other notable North End fixtures which Ward has taken charge of include the 5-1 home victory against Barnsley in 2019, but he was the man to send off Jordan Pickford against Leeds back in 2015.
MACS VIEW
Well it feels like a bit like Christmas Eve, something special will be happening tomorrow for the first time since 7/3/2020 we will be back in Deepdale to welcome the players and fans of both PNE and Hull. Interestingly Hull were the last side we beat in front of fans 17 months ago.
Apart from occasional glimpses of the floodlight when I've been on the M61 have not been near the ground since the QPR match.
We have had the soulless behind closed doors game which after our home defeat against Millwall last October I stopped watching altogether just was not watching football should be like.
Given the United postponement last weekend it's the first game for all home supporters although some managed to get in a few spectators in, us in diseased Lancashire never had that luxury.
Will be odd tomorrow doing something that was the norm but hopefully behind the doors games will hopefully be behind us and we can look forward to real misery/happiness watching your team
Sadly there will be a few over the last 16 months who will never be back and not from just Covid however a lot of old friendships will be revived and normality will return.
Big welcome to those who have travelled from the wrong side of the Pennines,
OTHER GAMES
Friday
Bornemouth v WBA
Saturday
Plastics v Swansea
Brizzle v Lashers
Cardiff v Barnsley
Direby v Terriers
Luton v Posh
QPR v Millwall
Blunts v Brum
Stoke v Reading
So the Prem League season finally begins with an away match v the "steel men". Here's hoping Hibs early competitive Euro matches "stand them in good stead" to register a good victory in this match. C'mon Hibs!
Sheffield Wednesday v Huddersfield Town The Carabao Cup Sunday August 1st - 13:00 ko at the Hillsborough Stadium
Huddersfield Town travel to Sheffield to play The Wednesday at Hillsborough on Sunday afternoon in the first round of this season's League Cup, aka the EFL Cup, but for sponsorship reasons known as the Carabao Cup and for silly names reasons known as the Carabooboo Cup.
We now have the chance to embarrass ourselves once more against lower league opposition, following The Wednesday's relegation to League One. We have been knocked out of this competition for the last two seasons by teams from the third division, Rochdale last time and Lincoln City the year before.
What kind of team will we put out for this match? Surely the starting XI will be the same one that Head Coach Carlos Corberán hopes to put out at Derby in the first league game next week. But we have had Covid outbreaks interrupting the pre season planning, so we can't be sure. But surely he won't field a team of youngsters like in the FA Cup game with Plymouth. Surely not!
Fraizer Campbell and Ramarni Edmonds-Green haven't played any pre season games due to catching a dose of Covid. They are now back with the squad, so maybe they will get some minutes in this game. Juninho Bacuna also returned from international duty early due to a Covid outbreak amongst his team mates and hasn't been seen in any of our friendlies. Isaac Mbenza seems to have disappeared off the face of the Earth though. Any sightings, anybody?
Our first two games of the season are against clubs in a crisis. We must take advantage. Anything but convincing wins in both matches will not go down well. Let's get a good start for a change.
Tickets: Yes, we have tickets. For the first time since that bad day at the Bellend, we have tickets to go and see Town in a proper first team game.
Tickets in the Upper West Stand will go on general sale to Town fans from 10am on Monday 26 July 2021 and will remain on sale at the Ticket Office until 4pm on Friday 30 July 2021.
EDIT: The club have announced that pay on the day will be available at the same prices.
Our New Players: Let's have a look at these new faces. We'll start with an old one. A returning hero......
Jordan Rhodes: left us in 2012, shortly after helping us get promoted to the Championship. When he left, he stood in 8th position in our all time goal scorers chart with 87 goals. Four of those goals came in one memorable match at Hillsborough, a ground where, despite having spent four years as an Owl, he still has more goals for us than them. Let's hope he can add to that total in this cup match. He scored on his first debut for Town, coming off the bench to score against Southend Utd in the first match of the 09/10 season.
After his time with us, he had some good days as a Blackburn Rovers player, but couldn't get them up to the Prima Donna League. He did manage it with his next club, Middlesbrough.
He never scored a Premiership goal though and after only 6 games at the top level, he was sent out on loan to the Wendys. That deal became permanent, but he never found his old form that made him a hero at Town and Rovers and so he was sent out on loan to Norwich for a season, where he ended up with a Championship winners medal.
Back at Wednesday he continued to struggle and at the end of his contract in the summer, he re-signed for the Terriers.
Matty Pearson: was born in Keighley 27 years ago and started his career with Blackburn Rovers, but never made their first team. Instead, he was sent to Conference side Lincoln City, then released to join Rochdale in League Two. That didn't work out and so he bounced between League Two and the Conference with FC Halifax Town and Accrington Stanley before Championship club Barnsley forked out half a million quid for him in 2017. That was an injury hit season though and with the Reds getting relegated, he was released and joined Luton Town.
He had three successful seasons as a Hatter, getting promoted to the Championship in his first season there. But when his contract was about to expire, he was announced as a Terrier inbound in May.
Josh Ruffels: is another 27 year old. Born in Oxford, he has made most of his football appearances for Oxford United, but started out at Coventry City. He only played once though for them before being released in 2013, when he went back home. He had 8 years there, winning promotion in 2016. He helped them to two EFL Trophy finals, losing them both and then in 2020, they were beaten in the League One Play Off Final, getting beaten by Wycombe Wanderers.
He helped Oxford to the Play Offs last season, but they were beaten in the semis by Blackpool. He scored 21 goals for the U's, starting out as a midfielder, but ending up as a left back.
Ollie Turton: played for Blackpool in that Play Off win over Oxford and then had a disastrous start to the Final. In the first minute of the match against Lincoln City, he turned the ball into his own net. Luckily for him Kenny Dougall netted twice in the right end and Ollie won promotion to the Championship, but didn't bother hanging around there, signing for the Terriers instead.
He's 28 years old, born in Manchester, came through the Crewe Academy, making his debut as an 18 year old. He stayed there for seven seasons before joining Blackpool in 2017.
Lee Nicholls: is another 28 year old. A goalkeeper who started out at Wigan Athletic, who were then in the Premier League. He didn't make his debut though until they were back in the Championship. He did however have a few loans out, one of them to Sheffield Wednesday, but made his Football League debut with Accrington Stanley in 2011/12 in League Two.
In 2016 he signed on at the MK Dons, becoming their first choice keeper for three seasons, before losing his position to Andy Fisher last year. So it was a bit of a surprise when we took on the Dons' second choice goalie, but we have and he is likely to be in goal for this one, having started most of the pre season games.
Levi Colwill: is an 18 year old centre back on loan from Chelsea. He's an England u17 player and he will also likely make his Town debut in this match.
Danel Sinani: signed on loan for the season on Wednesday. Assuming he's match fit and has taken part in Norwich's pre season, he might be in for his debut against lower league opposition in this cup competition.
He's a winger, was born 24 years ago in Belgrade, but moved to Luxembourg as a kid and so qualifies for them in international football. He started his career with Racing FC Union Luxembourg and then moved to F91 Dudelange in 2017. They won the Luxembourg league title twice while he was there and qualified for the Champions League. He scored against Olympiacos to become the first player from a Luxembourg club to score in a European Group game. In 2019 he won the Luxembourg Player of the Year and later on scored twice in a Europa League game against Sevilla.
He's got a phenomenal scoring record in Europe, bagging 9 goals in the 19/20 Europa League, which earned him a move to Championship club Norwich City. He never played for the Canaries though as they decided to send him out on loan to Waasland-Beveren in Belgium.
Despite being born in Serbia, he was wanted by Kosovo as an international (his parents came from there), but stayed loyal to Luxembourg which he calls home. He has six goals so far for them.
A brief history of Sheffield Wednesday: formed in 1867 by members of the Wednesday Cricket Club, they became professional in 1889 and reached the FA Cup Final in 1890, losing 1-6 to Blackburn Rovers. They joined the Football League in 1892 and then won the FA Cup for the first time in 1896, beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 at Crystal Palace, with both goals scored by Fred Spiksley.
Having played their early seasons at Brammall Lane, they were kicked out of there in 1899 and moved to Hillsborough. That move was soon followed by their first League titles, winning it back to back in 1903 and 04. And then another FA Cup in 1907, beating Everton 2-1 with goals from Jimmy Stewart and George Simpson. Also playing at this time was Scottish international centre forward, Andrew Wilson, who went on to hold both the record appearances record for the Owls with 560, but also became their record goalscorer with a grand total of 217
They were relegated after the War, but came back up in 1926 and won back to back League titles again in 1929 and 1930. In between these two League title wins, they changed their name from The Wednesday to Sheffield Wednesday. Then came another FA Cup triumph in 1935, beating West Brom 4-2 at Wembley, goals this time from Jack Palethorpe, Mark Hooper and Ellis Rimmer (2).
After the 2nd World War, they were relegated again, and again and again, but each time coming back up as 2nd division champions (in 1952, 56 and 59). In the 60s they finished runners up to Spurs in 1961 and reached the 1966 FA Cup Final, losing this time to Everton 2-3, with a 5th round win at Leeds Road along the way.
They were relegated at the end of the decade and then went down to the 3rd division for the first time in their history. In October 1977 they appointed ex Middlesbrough boss Jack Charlton as manager and he slowly turned the club around. He managed to persuade ex Nottingham Forest star Terry Curran to drop two divisions and sign for them from Southampton. He top scored for the Owls in 1979/80 as they finished 3rd in the 3rd division to go up automatically in those far gone, pre Play Off days.
They almost went up again, but after Charlton left, they eventually made it back to the top flight under the management of Howard Wilkinson in 1984. Back down again at the start of the 90s, but as a 2nd Division club, under the management of Ron Atkinson, they went and won their first major trophy since 1935 when they beat Manchester Utd 1-0 in the 1991 League Cup Final at Wembley with a goal from John Sheridan. And as an added bonus to the season, they won promotion back up to the 1st Division.
In 1993 they reached both the League Cup and FA Cup Finals, losing them both to Arsenal. And it was Arsenal again who relegated them on the last day of the 1999/2000 season from the Premier League, which 21 years later, they still haven't returned to.
They dropped again to League 1 in 2003, but came back up again, winning their first Play Off Final. Having disposed of Brentford in the semis, they took on Hartlepool United at the Millennium Stadium and won 4-2 (aet) with goals from Jon-Paul McGovern, a Steven MacLean penalty, Glenn Whelan and then Drew Talbot sealing it in the 120th minute. Since then they have been in the Championship, coming close to promotion again in 2016 when they reached the Play Off Final, losing to Hull City 0-1 at Wembley. And the following season they made the Play Offs once more, only to be beaten on penalties at the semi final stage by Huddersfield Town.
Last season, with a six point deduction for breaching the League's Profitability and Sustainability Rules, they were relegated, finishing bottom of the league, ending a nine year stint in the Championship.
Head to Head
Town lead the head to head with 26 wins to Wendy's 21, with 16 draws.
We only have had one League Cup meeting before this. That was the second round of 1984/85 and First Division Wednesday beat second division Town 4-2 on aggregate. They won 3-0 at Hillsborough, but we won the 2nd leg 2-1 at Leeds Road with goals from Paul Jones and Mark Lillis, back in the days when clubs took this competition seriously.
Last season, we beat them at home and drew away. The home game saw Josh Koroma score early on and then Isaac Mbenza made it two from a direct free kick on the half hour. It remained 2-0, despite us getting our first penalty of the season, with Juninho Bacuna being the first player to miss one in a season when we missed three and didn't score any. Josh Windass put the Owls ahead in the Hillsborough match in March, but we got lucky in the second half when Callum Paterson put the ball into his own net.
Our first meetings came in the 1926/27 season after Wednesday had been promoted back up to the 1st Division. At Hillsborough we drew 1-1, but won 4-3 at Leeds Road with Bob Kelly getting a hat trick. We followed that up the following season with a Christmas double, winning at home 1-0 on Boxing Day with an Alex Jackson goal. But then really ruining their festivities the day after by winning 5-0 at their place, this time with a George Brown hat trick.
Jackson scored twice against them in the FA Cup semi final victory in 1929/30. The game was played at Old Trafford and we won 2-1, before going on to get beaten by Arsenal at Wembley.
Another big win in 1931/32 and another Town legend bagging a hat trick. This time it was a 6-1 win at Leeds Road and that legend was Dave Mangnall. That was during his club record of scoring in 13 consecutive matches (22 goals). Oh for a goalscorer like that now!
There have been loads of similar high scoring matches between the two of us, but my first trip to Hillsborough was in 1983 when a crowd of 27,824 attended a dull goalless draw in the 2nd Division. I mention the crowd because in that Leppings Lane away end it felt like they were all in there. To compare it to the disaster that followed a few years later wouldn't be appropriate but we did get crushed and it was scary. If only.....
Anyway, back to Town legends scoring hat tricks. In 2011, a cracking game at Hillsborough, after taking an early two goal lead through Jordan Rhodes, typical Town blew it. From 2-0 up to 2-4 down by the 74th minute. Loads of Town fans walked out, some of them breaking seats as they went (dickheads!). But then Rhodes completed his hat trick as they were wandering down Leppings Lane and were back on the A629 by the time he scored his 4th to equalise in injury time to send us all barmy who had bothered to stay.
There was the famous Martin Paterson/Adam Clayton 1-2 a couple of years later, but all these victories paled into insignificance with a 1-1 draw one night in May 2017. Do we need a reminder of it? Oh go on then.
So what's going on down in Owlerton?Managed nowadays by Darren Moore, the ex Donny and Baggies manager. As a player, he started out at Torquay United in the 90s, before transferring to Doncaster Rovers in 1995. Rovers were run by a crook back then, who had them in all sorts of financial trouble and so to keep them from going under, the highly rated Moore was sold off at a snip to Bradford City. Whilst there, he helped the Billy Bantams win promotion to the Premier League (I know we're entering the realms of fantasy here, but it's in Wikipedia so it must be true).
Paul Jewell never rated him though however and so he was sold on to Portsmouth, staying there for a couple of years before moving on to West Brom, the ultimate yoyo club. With the Baggies, he got promoted, relegated and promoted again. Boing, boing!
He got promoted again with his next club, Derby County. Unfortunately for Darren, yond pillock Jewell took over and looked to sell him back to Bradford. However, he rejected that move in favour of a move to South Yorkshire with Barnsley. He'd a couple of seasons there in the Championship, followed by a couple at Burton in League Two before calling time on a 20 year playing career.
That was in 2012 and he went back as youth coach. Towards the back end of the 2017/18 season, with the Baggies heading for the relegation trapdoor following defeat at home to Huddersfield Town in the Premier League, Alan Pardew got the sack and Moore was given the chance to perform a great escape. He almost did, pulling off some remarkable results and winning Manager of the Month, but they still went down.
He had been caretaker, but was given the job full time. They were doing alright, but strangely they decided to sack him with the team in 4th position in March. And so his next move was back as manager of another of his old clubs, Donny Rovers. They were not far off a Play Off spot when the country got a touch of the Covids. When the final table was calculated on a points per game basis, they just missed out.
So he went and took on the job at Hillsbororugh towards the back end of last season, almost helping them avoid relegation. But just as he did when the Baggies asked him to perform miracles, he came up short once again. And now he's back managing in League One.
Who's in their squad then? Well shall we start with who's not in their squad? They released ten players from their first team squad at the end of the season, including Tom Lees and Kieren Westwood who had both been there for yonks. Also departing were Joost van Aken, Kadeem Harris, Matt Penney, Moses Odubajo, Joey Pelupessy, Adam Reach and Town legends Jordan Rhodes and Elias Kachunga. Liam Shaw has also left, signing for Celtic, after turning down the offer of a new contract. So who's left.......?
In goal, it will probably be Joe Wildsmith or it could be Cameron Dawson.
Club captain Barry Bannan was still there at the time of writing, although he had been the subject of much speculation, including a move to us, but I don't think that would be likely to happen. He's 31 now and this would be his seventh season as an Owl, after Premier League stints with Aston Villa and Crystal Palace, as well as 27 Scotland caps and a loan spell with the Scum of Beeston.
Full back Liam Palmer will be starting his 12th season at Hillsborough, in which time he's clocked up well over 300 appearances. He also has a few Scottish caps. Eight of them to date.
Two ex Town full backs are there. Jaden Brown signed after we released him and Jack Hunt signed after being let go by Bristol Titties.
German defender Julian Börner is still there. He had to be subbed off at our ground last season, suffering a facial injury. Chey Dunkley signed from Wigan last year. Dominic Iorfa came from Wolves in 2018.
In midfield they have Sam Hutchinson, despite him being released in 2020. He came back after being let go by Cypriot club Pafos. Aussie international Massimo Luongo came from QPR a couple of years ago, but has been injury prone.
Up top they still have Callum Paterson, who scored for us at Hillsborough last season and Josh Windass who scored against us. He was their top scorer last season and after he left our Academy, somehow ended up in Scotland playing for Rangers.
That Windyass boy
Club connections:
Andy Booth: scored 150 goals for Town, putting him third in our all time goalscoring table behind George Brown and Jimmy Glazzard. In 1996 he was transferred to Sheffield Wednesday, then in the Premier League, for a club record fee, which we spent on bringing Marcus Stewart, Andy Payton and Andy Morrison to the club. Stewart scored a hat trick in a League Cup match in his first home match at Town, but the Town fans were strangely singing about Andy Booth. Why? News had come through that he had scored the winner against Leeds at Bellend Road on his Wednesday debut.
Boothy scored 28 goals for the Owls, but it's at the other end he made his most famous performance for them after one keeper had gone off injured and the sub got sent off, he went in goal and made a load of saves to earn them a 1-1 draw with Liverpool. He had a loan spell at Spurs and then came home to Huddersfield
Another Town legend who went on to swap to the other blue n white stripes is Elias Kachunga. He of course, was our top scorer in the promotion season to the Premier League in 16/17. Unfortunately, he spent most of our Prima Donna life on the treatment table and was never quite the same afterwards, which is why he ended up at Hillsborough. He wasn't even good enough for them and was released at the end of last season. What a crying shame.
There are club connections in both of today's squads. Jordan Rhodes could be making his second Town debut in this match after being released by the Owls. Jac Khunt could be doing the same, making his second debut for Wendy after returning to Hillsborough from Bristol City. Jaden Brown similarly could also make his debut for them after we got shut of him following a disappointing time at the Town.
Rolando Aarons had a loan with Wendy in 18/19, scoring once in 9 games. Lee Nicholls went there on loan from Wigan in 2011, but never got a game. The Owls of course have Josh Windass, who has a bad habit of scoring against us. He came through our Academy, but never made it to our first team.
One more current Town employee, the ever popular Leigh Bromby started his career with the Owls and played a hundred games for them.
Ambrose Langley was Town manager from 1919 to 1921, being in charge of the team that got to the 1920 FA Cup Final as well as getting us promoted for the first time to the First Division. As a player, he won an FA Cup winners medal with The Wednesday in 1896. He also won the League title with them in 1903 and 1904.
George Stephenson managed Town between 1947 and 1952. He played for Sheffield Wednesday for a couple of seasons in the 30s.
Steve Bruce managed both clubs, without any success. He was at Wednesday in 2019 when out of the blue he was poached by Newcastle United.
'ow to get theere an' wheere to sup: The post code for sat nav is S6 1SW. That's the stadium, but S6 1QE is where the "Wednesdayite car park" is and apparently it's open to fans of both sides. I haven't been there for a few years and the place where we used to park up has now been built on, so we will be looking for somewhere new, if we decide to go. There is some street parking if you get there early enough, but most of the streets around the ground are permit parking only.
The train station is three miles away, but there are connecting trams to the ground, running every ten minutes.
Now, it's a one o'clock kick off on a Sunday afternoon, which doesn't give you much time between church and getting to the match, but here's a guide to where you might get some beer.........
Quote:From the Football Ground Guide website:
A pub that admits away supporters is the Railway Hotel on Penniston Road, which is the main A61 that runs by the stadium. Walk up the A61 in the opposite direction to Sheffield City Centre (Meadowhall & M1), passing a Burger King and Garage on your left, and you will reach the pub on the right, just before a railway bridge. Also, I did pass a couple of pubs (the Norfolk Arms & The Red Lion) on the way into Sheffield on the A61 from the M1, where away fans were drinking. Bill Harris a visiting Millwall fan adds; 'I found an excellent Pub called The New Barrack Tavern on the A61 just before McDonalds on the way to the ground, from the city centre. Forget the exterior, inside the pub has some excellent decor and no juke boxes or fruit machines. Although on my own I was made to feel very welcome and spent a good couple of hours talking football to the locals'. Craig Murray a visiting Bournemouth fan also enjoyed the New Barrack Tavern; 'It's a 'proper' pub, serving a great selection of real ales and imported lagers at reasonable prices. They also had really tasty, locally-made pork pies behind the bar. I wasn't wearing colours but the locals were very friendly and happy to chat footy once I opened my mouth and they realised I was an away fan. The pub's roughly 15-20 minutes walk from the ground.' This pub is owned by the Castle Rock Brewery and is listed in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide. It normally has seven beers on handpull, plus one cider polypin. It is also serves food. Please note that this is a home pub that welcomes small numbers of visiting supporters who appreciate their real ale, not a pub specifically for away fans.
For those with a little bit more time on their hands or planning to travel to the ground by Supertram, then the Hillsborough Hotel near the Langsett/Primrose View tram stop (two stops from Hillsborough going towards Meadowhall/Halfway) is worth a visit. This CAMRA Good Beer Guide listed pub, has a range of real ales available, hot food and is home to the Crown Brewery, whose beers it also has on offer. In fact, on my last visit, a lovely smell of hops wafted throughout the bar. Also from the outside area at the back, you can see people descending down the artificial ski slope in the distance. John Piper adds; 'From the Langsett/Primrose view stop. Cross over the road and walk back about 50 metres, in the direction of the city centre and the Hotel is on the corner. Afterwards just hop back on the tram (Yellow route – destination Middlewood) and get off at the Leppings Lane stop. An all-day ticket for the Supertram and is currently £3.70 and can be bought on board'. In Hillsborough itself (and conveniently situated by the tram stop, so much so that you can literally get straight off the tram and walk through the doors of the pub) is a Wetherspoons called the Rawson Spring. This pub is listed in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide and is about a 12-15 minute walk to the ground, or you can go back on the tram and up to the Leppings Lane stop. If you do go into this pub, then try to guess what the building was used for, before becoming a pub.
Nick Palfreyman informs me; 'With regard to where to drink, pubs close to the ground are normally pretty crammed full on matchdays and not easy to park by. The tram route, which can be boarded at Sheffield Station, out to Hillsborough (tram stop for the ground is' Leppings Lane') passes a good few excellent pubs. It is the Yellow Route with 'Middlewood' on the destination board. In the city centre near the West Street Tram stop is the Red Deer pub, which serves several real ales. By the University stop is the Harley, by the Shalesmoor stop is the Wellington, again real ales. and five minutes walk from that stop, by Kelham Island Museum (Alma Street) are the Fat Cat and Kelham Island Tavern, both jammed with real ale, and CAMRA Award winning pubs. If in a car you can park near these pubs and then use the tram to reach Hillsborough An all-day tram ticket allows you to hop on and off as you choose. See the Supertram website for more information. If arriving in Sheffield by train then as Joe Oates a visiting West Ham United fan suggests; 'The Howard pub, on Howard street opposite Sheffield Railway Station. I found it to be a very warm and welcoming place for away fans to visit. A reasonable selection of the usual draught beers/lagers and three ales on the pump. Prices were very reasonable and a good selection of pub grub. It is then a ten minute walk to Castle Square Tram station for the Yellow route'.
Otherwise alcohol is available to visiting supporters in the away section of the ground, in the form of bottles of Bulmers, Heineken and Fosters (all £4). The Beer and food kiosks are separate, meaning that you may need to queue twice which isn't great.
T'owels: Josh Windass (10) Callum Paterson (9) Jordan Rhodes (7) Adam Reach (6)
August the 1st down the ages: How did we get on in previous matches played on this date?
This will be the first game we have played on this date. Obviously there will have been friendlies, but no official matches.
Town's League Cup record: is really poor, considering what a big club we are.
Our best season was back in the 1967/68 season, the season I first started watching. We reached the semi finals then, losing to Arsenal over two legs, but I didn't see any of these games, probably because I was only 7 and my dad obviously thought I was too young for night matches.
Anyway, to get to that stage we beat Wolves at home 1-0, Norwich away 1-0, West Ham at home 2-0, and Fulham 2-1 at home in a replay after a 1-1 draw down at theirs. In the semi final we went down to Highbury for the first leg and narrowly lost 3-2, with goals from Trevor Cherry and Colin Dobson. Back at Leeds Road for the second leg we drew level on aggregate when Tony Leighton scored early on, but Arsenal scored three times to make it 6-3.
We had a famous win at Bellend Road in 1982/83, which was a 3rd round match. Third division Town had won two legged encounters over Doncaster Rovers and Oxford Utd and then beat the "Champions of Europe", Leeds United 1-0 with a second half goal from David Cowling, which in those days of Town being in their massive shadow, was a thing to celebrate. We lost 1-0 at Arsenal in the next round.
We have only got as far as the 4th round on three occasions. In the 67/68 and 82/83 seasons already mentioned, and in 1999/2000.
That last one was the year we won down at Chelsea in the 3rd round, a famous win and a famous goal coming from Kenny Irons. Earlier we had beaten Scunthorpe Utd and Notts County, both over two legs. And then we went out in the 4th round, beaten at home by Wimbledon, who were in the Premier League back then, 2-1 after extra time.
Since then our record has been appalling. This century we have only reached the 3rd round three times. In 2003/04, our post administration season under the guidance of Peter Jackson, we beat Derby at home and Sunderland away before losing at Reading. In 2013/14, home victories over Bradford City and Charlton Athletic gave us hope of a cup run, only to be dashed by a 1-0 defeat at Hull City. And most recently in 2017/18 when we had a first round bye before beating Rotherham at home and losing at Crystal Palace.
We have been embarrassed by lower league opposition, the likes of Oldham, Rochdale, Mansfield, Notts County, Shrewsbury, Lincoln City, and then Rochdale again last season, have all given us a rotten kick up the arse.
So the only managers to get us to the 4th round of the League Cup are all club legends. Ian Greaves, Mick Buxton and errm *cough cough* Steve Bruce. Is Carlos Corberán the man to do it this season?
Apologies if you've read most of this before. It's an update of what I've posted for the last few League Cup threads. We still haven't got anywhere.
Sheffield Wednesday Anagrams: Some are Town connected, some are not.
TIME TO PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH OR FAVE PLAYERS ARE AGAIN
We're off again on our mission to raise funds for starving kids and the Red and Yellow Choppers that are saving lives all over Yorkshire - plus a few in Lancashire.
£142 was our total last season, a £12 improvement on the season before. Onwards and upwards with a spring in our step and the the chance to watch football in the stadiums (stadia???) again
So we've got five regulars on here and we'd really love to welcome some more on board. I realise times are hard, more than a few have been a victim of the Covids if not in terms of health then jobwise one on these boards. Still, there's far worse off than me and thee and we can do a lot worse than put a decent breakfast in a kids belly before they start their school day.
So how does it work?
Send a reply to the thread and name a player or players, a team or teams, matches between certain teams or any combination you like and what you are willing to pay for each time they score, win, draw, lose, get a card, score/save a penalty, get an international cap, have games postponed due to the Covids (lets hope this isn't a factor this season) or shifted by those plonkers at Sky. Anything, Town related or not. Have a look at how we've mixed up the bag and pick your own choice. Hell, I've thrown Baseball results into the mix before now. It doesn't have to be full pounds either but birdseed is a bit more than 'tuppence a bag' these days so don't be penny pinching.
The totals are updated after every match (if I don't fall asleep for a couple of games or there's just nowt to report). At the end of the season we pay the money we've pledged per point into Just Giving pages for the above charidees. If the totals are high enough, I'll set them up by Christmas so the strain on your wallet/contactless card is spread a tad more thinly. Set your own limit. Just like playing the lottery. You know you won't win owt but at least you know where your brass is going. If you'd prefer to donate to another charidee - throw it out there.
So what's not to like? Going to matches? New playaz? Old playaz that still want to be here? New shirts, with a new sponsors name on 'em, wow. Such novelty.
Let the fun and games begin.
Anybody had a cold this past 18 months? Me neither. Keep washing your hands folks - don't forget to have shower too.
Now, when was the last time Town made it to Round 2 of the EFL Cup?
1. Joe Calghaze - Statistically the best
2. Lennox Lewis - our best HW beat everyone
3. Henry Cooper - people's champion ATT
4. Nigel Benn - won championships around the world.
5. Frank Bruno - most liked ATT
I'm sure these answers are questionable and age will change posters opinions.
Today I complained to the BBC about their online coverage of the National League, mentioning that 15 of the last 24 picture reports have concerned Wrexham and that actually underestimates the bias in the coverage as some of the remaining nine are two-line snippets of National League news.
I can understand the editor may be a Wrexham fan, but he or she is not editing the Wrexham website. If signing Mullin and bringing in Hollywood brings them actual success I can only imagine the room that will be given over to the other 22 clubs will be even further reduced.
Wrexham should be an EFL club, but so should several of the rest of us and we are equally deserving of attention.
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