2 points for correct result
4 points for correct score
2 points for each correct scorer
Correct joker doubles your score   (correct score on a joker would give you 8 points)
Wrong joker result gives you minus 2
Correct Badger gives you 2 points

The prize for winning the league is one rep point.

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. However, if you do predict a draw and it's a match that won't be going to a replay, you can get a possible extra point by stating which of the two teams you think will eventually win.

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.  


At the end of the season, the winner of group 2 and the bottom of group 1 will swap places in what is commonly known as "promotion" and "relegation". It's something that most football fans will be familiar with, unless you're a fan of Liverpool or Arsenal or one of those other fashionable clubs.

The second placed player in group 2 will then have a play off with the player who finishes second from the bottom in group 1 to decide whether they will be going up, down or staying where they are.

We're going to have two seasons in one though, just to try and make it a bit more interesting and not so long drawn out. The first season will end on the Boxing Day fixtures, with the play offs being on the dates of the Twixtmas fixtures and the NYD fixtures.

The second season will start the following week, which is usually the FA Cup 3rd round, finishing on the last game of the League One season. Then another period of relegation/promotion play off games, taking in such fixtures as the EFL play offs, FA Cup Final, UEFA finals and such like.

Each group will have it's own set of fixtures. Both groups will have the Town games, with scorers to predict as before. Then it will be a split of League One fixtures and bonus matches, hopefully around ten, eleven or twelve games per Matchday.

The random badger is restricted to three goal scorers in any of the fixtures in your group.

Here's how that will appear at the end of the fixture list. All you have to do is fill in the blanks.......


*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***

Any of those will score two points if correct. No minus points for getting it wrong.

Postponed matches will only count if the match is re-played before the next Matchday is under way. Abandoned matches will be awarded half the points for the score at the time of abandonment, so 1 point if you have the correct result, 2 points if you have the correct score.

Substitute or scorer in one of the Town games:- These will be only be allowed if you change them before the match involved has kicked off.

Prediction League Archive: https://www.sportsbabble.co.uk/showthread.php?tid=12830

Division One table after Matchday 1:

1. neonfoxinthebox = 33 pts
   
2. ritchiebaby = 27 pts
   
3. Lord Snooty = 20 pts
   
4. Baggiebob(BBB) = 17 pts
   
5. theo_luddite = 15 pts
   
6. jjamez = 14 pts
   

Friday 16th January:
Championship:
West Bromwich Albion v Middlesbrough (20:00)

Saturday 17th January:
League One:
Burton v Town
Town scorers:
Burton scorers:

Bradford City v Cardiff City (12:30)
AFC Wimbledon v Doncaster Rovers
Barnsley v Blackpool
Mansfield Town v Port Vale
Northampton Town v Wycombe Wanderers
Peterborough United v Plymouth Argyle

Scottish Cup 4th round:
Dunfermline Athletic v Hibernian (12:30)

Premier League:
Manchester United v Manchester City (12:30)
Chelsea v Brentford

*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***

1. St Charles Owl = 22 pts
   
2. themaclad = 20 pts
   
3. SHEP_HTAFC = 18 pts
   
4. Devongone = 14 pts
   
5. Amelia Chaffinch = 10 pts
   
6. WakeyTerrier = 8 pts
   

Saturday 17th January:
League One:
Burton v Town
Town scorers:
Burton scorers:

Wigan Athletic v Bolton Wanderers (12:30)
Exeter City v Stevenage
Leyton Orient v Reading
Luton Town v Lincoln City
Stockport County v Rotherham United

Premier League:
Leeds United v Fulham
Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United

Championship:
Preston North End v Derby County
Sheffield Wednesday v Portsmouth

League Two:
Chesterfield v Bromley (12:30)

*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***

The death-by-a-thousand-cuts managerial tenure of Ryan Mason this week reached its unfortunate yet inevitable end, conveniently leaving Albion a few extra days in which to install a replacement before the resumption of our increasingly imperilled league campaign; in the meantime, James Morrison oversees Sunday's cup tie at Swansea fairly safe in the knowledge that he could field the under-13s side with very little pushback or reproach.

Naturally, no one likes seeing the cup sidelined, and an unlikely win in South Wales this weekend would certainly be a boost to the Baggies after a rough Christmas and New Year period, but hot on the heels of defeat there just ten days ago - the ninth of our ten consecutive away losses - and winless in Swansea since March 2020, it's hard to see any outcome other than our usual premature cup exit. All of which combines to give Mozza a pretty free swing at this one: if he can pick a decent side and give the players a lift, we might just get lucky. And if not... whatever will be, will be; another year without Wembley. Give it your best, Mozza, and good luck.

Oxford United have appointed Matt Bloomfield as their new head coach.

The 41-year-old has been out of work since he was sacked as Luton boss in October and replaces Gary Rowett who was dismissed on 23 December following a run of one win in 10 matches.

The U's are currently 23rd in the Championship, three points adrift of safety.

"This felt like the right place at the right time. Oxford United are a club with good foundations, ambition and a playing group with significant potential, and that matches exactly where I am as a coach," Bloomfield said.

Bloomfield will watch Friday's FA Cup third round tie at MK Dons, with interim manager Craig Short remaining in the dugout, before taking the reins next week before the visit of Bristol City on 17 January.

A decision on Bloomfield's coaching staff will be made in due course an Oxford statement said, while the club have not disclosed the length of his deal.

"I want my teams to work hard, attack with purpose and play with a clear identity," Bloomfield added.

"Everyone has to understand their role, be accountable and deliver consistently."

Bloomfield began his managerial career at Colchester United before taking over from Gareth Ainsworth at Wycombe Wanderers in 2023.

After leading the Chairboys to the League One automatic promotion places amid the challenge of big-spending Birmingham City and Wrexham last season, he left the club to take over at Luton in January.

But Bloomfield was unable to prevent the Hatters from suffering back-to-back relegations to the third tier and was dismissed after an underwhelming start to the season, with the club 11th in the table.

The club have already added two new players to their squad in January, with midfielder Jamie Donley, 20, arriving on loan from Tottenham Hotspur for the rest of the season, and Brentford's Myles Peart-Harris also signing a short-term deal.

The U's play four league games - against Bristol City, Queens Park Rangers, Leicester City and Birmingham City - inside 15 days later this month.

"Matt stood out for his attention to detail, work ethic and his strong belief in building success the right way. He is a coach with a very clear idea of how he wants his teams to play," said Oxford's head of football operations Ed Waldron.

"He has a proven track record of developing both teams and individuals through strong leadership and communication, and we believe he is the right person to strengthen the group now and moving forward."

These seem to be the top 8 in the betting at present.

Erik Ramsey - hot favourite at evens. I don’t know much about him!
Lee Carsley - similar to Mason, not enough experience.
Hassenhuttl - interesting candidate
Gary O’Neil - not for me thanks
Russell Martin - not convinced by him, thought he was lucky to get Southampton promoted 
Michael Carrick - ex middlesboro
Slaven Bilic - ex manager of WBA. 
Carlos Corberan - would only happen if he gets sacked by Valencia.

Who would I want.

Hassenhuttl for me. Carrick second, 

but also want to know a bit more about Ramsey! 

Or is there a left field choice, we used to be good at keeping it all under wraps till the last moment. 

Who do you want?

Here's your starters for 10, 9 more months of bonuses coming up as soon as I've organised them a bit better

Note the NFL Superbowl play-off's start this weekend with the Wild Cards - I'm sliding that deadline for your predictions to next weekend when fewer teams will be involved. If you want to guess early and you get it wrong, you can still have another go before next weekend.

Sports Predictions 2026

Dates Sport Event Venue(s) Predict What Deadline
January
17 Jan-08 Feb NFL American Football Superbowl Levi's Stadium, San Jose, San Francisco Bay Winning Team 17th Jan - 1st kick-off Conf P/O
The Wild Cards start this weekend, which is a tad short notice, so let those play-out and see who's still left in for next weekend. As they drag those Wild Card games out until next Tuesday you won't have much more notice but, tis wot it tis.

The top teams in each division in this link are not involved in the Wild Cards, those below them are.
https://www.nfl.com/standings/playoff-picture
The Wild Card picture looks like this
https://www.nfl.com/standings/playoff-picture

In the NFL - the play off games will be between
American Conference -
Buffalo v Dever 17th Jan - 9:30pm UK Time
Houston v New England 18th Jan 8:00pm UK Time

National Condference
San Francisco v Seattle 18th Jan 1:00am UK Time
LA v Chicago 18th Jan 18th 11:30 UK Time

Subtract the relevant time difference for the USA etc. So note the Frisco v Seattle game will take place Saturday evening over there. If nothing else get your prediction in for this one on Saturday, your deadline is 9:30pm UK time on Saturday.

18 Jan-1 Feb Tennis Aussie Womens Open Melbourne Winner 18 Jan - any 1st serve
18 Jan-1 Feb Tennis Aussie Mens Open Melbourne Winner 18 Jan - any 1st serve
https://ausopen.com/players

February

5 Feb-14 Mar Rugby Union Six Nations (Mens) Europe Winning Team 1st kick-off 5th Feb
https://www.sixnationsrugby.com/en/m6n/fixtures/2026
6 Feb-22 Feb Winter Olympics All of them Milan and Cortina, Italy UK & NI Medals Total 1st snowball thrown, 6th Feb, (it might be sooner)
4 Feb-10 Feb Winter Olympics Curling - Mixed Doubles Milan and Cortina, Italy Winners 1st rock thrown, 4th Feb, (told you it might be sooner)
https://worldcurling.org/olympic-qualification/
With it being Olympic year, I wasn't sure there would be a World Championship as well. So I thought I'd throw this one in as an extra bit of fun.

7 Feb-8 Mar Cricket T20 Mens World Cup India & Sri Lanka Winning Team 1st ball, 7th Feb
https://www.icc-cricket.com/tournaments/...26/matches

March

08 Mar- 06 Dec F1 World Championhip Globally Winning Driver Start 1st race, 8th Mar
08 Mar-06 Dec F1 World Championhip Globally Winning Team Start 1st race, 8th Mar
Teams and drivers - https://www.formula1.com/en/drivers, https://www.formula1.com/en/teams

10 Mar - 13 Mar Horse Racing Cheltenham Festival - 28 races Cheltenham Non-Irish Trainer winners Start 1st race 10th March
https://www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/cheltenh...-schedule/
As with last year, the Irish Trainers love to win here, so how many of the 28 races won't they win?

14 Mar-22 Mar Curling Women's World Championship Calgary, Canada Winners 14th Mar - 1st rock thrown
https://livescores.worldcurling.org/wwcc...?EventID=1
https://worldcurling.org/worldrankings/womens-rankings/

27 Mar - 14 Apr Curling Mens World Championship Ogden, Utah, USA Winners 27th Mar- 1st rock thrown
https://livescores.worldcurling.org/wmcc...?EventID=1
https://worldcurling.org/worldrankings/mens-rankings/

Shock news in the scandalous work of Curling. Sweeping the chimney takes on a whole new meaning.
https://worldcurling.org/2026/01/sweepin...ue-policy/
Apparent punishment for breaking the rules and not sweeping both ways - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3ZCZjhjguA

This might all make more sense when you look at it like this.




Apologies for having to do links rather than images but some moaning sods don't like their own free publicity apparently.

THE MATCH

SATURDAY 10TH JANUARY KO 3PM

v

LAST MATCH



We went down to another defeat at QPR. QPR dominated from the start and after blazing over from close range, Burrell latched on to Madsen's through ball before beating Charles at his near post. QPR had a few other chances but couldn't add to there lead while we couldn't muster a single attempt. Onto the 2nd half and we improved a bit and had a couple of chances through Amass & McNeill before QPR had a couple of chances. Kolli put the game to bed with 2 goals in the last 10 minutes, his first lashed in from the edge of the box and then firing home from close range to make it 3-0, both times we lost the ball, a very familiar tail this season.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

THE MATCH



Next up and we get a break from the league as we entertain Brentford at Hillsborough in the FA Cup. Brentford are having a decent season in the Premier League and currently lie in 7th place, after picking up 11 points out of 15 in there last 5 league games. If they can challenge fore the European places, we will have to wait and see but with likes of Man Utd, Newcastle and Brighton it might be a bit of a struggle. Clubs like Brentford should be looking for a good cup run but with the riches of the Premier League, I think you know what they will be concentrating on. They are managed by Keith Andrews who was given the job after Thomas Frank left for Tottenham in the summer. There leading scorer is Igor Thiago who has an impressive 14 goals so far this season, only Haaland is above him in the scoring stats.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

ALL TIME H2H

OWLS 16
BRENT 16
DRAW 13

CURRENT FORM

OWLS     L L D D L L                                                            

BRENT W D W W D L

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

Referee: Josh Smith
Assistant Referees: Sam Lewis & George Byrne
Fourth Official: David Webb

THE TEAM

Charles
Palmer McGhee Iorfa Otegbayo Amass
Thornton Ingelsson Bannan
McNeill Cadamarteri

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

1-4 Peart-Harris

WEDNESDAYS FIRT GOAL TIME

56

ATTENDANCE

10212

BML LEAGUE

Owlkev 16
Imre 15
SCO 10
Washington 9
Maddix 8

BMPL

Stateside 10
Pei 0
Wereham -11
Southey -12

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

RESULT OF THE TIE INCLUDING EXTRA TIME & PENALTIES

Fulham v Middleboro
Newcastle v Bournemouth
Tottenham v Aston Villa
West Ham v QPR
Man Utd v Brighton

HHAAH

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE

Group A

Stairs 16
Minizin 12
BaggieVicar 9
BaggieOne 8
A.A.A. 6
B.B.B. 5
Zimnan 5
Twerton -4

Average week in Group A but as it was only involving 9 games maybe its a bit better in reality. Stairs rises back to the top of the list with 16 points, that his 3rd top spot in the last 7 weeks, a return to decent form for sure. He was one of 2 who scored positive points on the Gamball and he added 5 other points scoring games to that. Minizin is 2nd with 12 points, 10 of which were scored on a max on the Bonus and a CS game. BaggieVicar is 3rd with 9 points, he has been in the top 4 weekly scores for 8 of the past 10 weeks despite his woes on the Gamball!!

BaggieOne is 4th with 8 points, he missed on all his balls which kept his score down. AAA, BBB and Zinman are the next 3 players. AAA got a max on his Bonus but little else, BBB managed a CR on the Gamball but of course missed on his Bonus and Zinman got a CR on the Bonus but was unable to back that up with much else.

Twerton had a complete mare!! He managed to get every prediction wrong and matched Stairs lowest score of the season so far with -4 points. I still class Stairs bad week as worse though because it was over 10 games whereas Twertons was just 9!! Not sure that brings him much solace but its all I have for him this week!!!

217 Minizin
204 Stairs
180 A.A.A.
179 BaggieOne
171 BaggieVicar
154 Twerton
153 B.B.B.
150 Zinman

No positional changes this week but some definite separation of groups occurring. The Top 2 - Minizin and Stairs - are now pulling further away but are closer together than they have been in a while. The next three, AAA, BaggieOne and BaggieVicar are separated by only 9 points and the bottom three, Twerton, BBB and Zinman, are now just 4 points apart!! At this stage all positions are still up for grabs!!

Cheers
SCO

Group B

Lady Jane 17
SCO 14
Themaclad 11
Amelia 10
Snooty 7
Derby 5
Salop 4
4eva -1

OK, I'm doing this a few hours after watching us concede yet another last gasp goal so my usual wit, repartee and good humour may be missing from this write up.

Just 9 matches this week with the postponement of the Portsmouth game so the points total was slightly down though this does mask some big differences in the individual scores. The Coventry defeat did some damage, nobody made that prediction and it accounted for 3 blown bonuses. 2 correct gamballs and they were both correct scores so not surprisingly the 9 point (well, 8 actually) difference on this ball made sure of the top 2 places.

For the second consecutive week, Lady Jane sits on top of the table scoring one less point than last week. Obviously the maximum gamball helped, but she also equalled the highest number of correct results (4) and scores (2). SCO is 3 points back with just 1 correct scores (the gamball) though his Bonus Ball wasn't in play. Third place is Themaclad, in his case it was a spot-on bonus that helped. He was also the other player to nail 2 correct scores.

Amelia scrambled to double figures, matching SCO's results/scores numbers and getting the extra bonusball point. Snooty was the third player with 1 correct score from 4 correct results but he missed out on the main balls to score just 7 points. Derby chose not to play the gamball this week (or he forgot!) and by doing so he saved himself a point. That omission was enough to keep him ahead of Salop.

He's human! Having dominated the group so far this season, 4eva decided to take a holiday break. Just one correct prediction for him, plus the scoreball, which wasn't enough to keep him away from a negative score, his first of the season.

193 4eva
164 SCO
162 Lady Jane
141 Snooty
140 Themaclad
132 Amelia
128 Derby
112 Salop

4eva's lead is down to just (!) 29 points so he can probably take a couple of more weeks off. Lady Jane's good last 2 weeks sees her creep ever closer to SCO but the only positional change sees Amelia and Derby swop places.

A slightly shortened write up this week as I'm going to cheer myself up by listening to the Test Match commentary.........

Zin

Port Vale have appointed former Northampton Town boss Jon Brady as their new manager on an 18-month contract.

The 50-year-old Australian replaces Darren Moore, who was sacked on 28 December after a run of seven defeats in nine games left the League One side bottom of the table, 10 points adrift of safety.

Brady, who resigned as Cobblers manager just over a year ago, has the task of trying to keep Vale, with just four wins from 23 games this season, in the third tier.

"We're delighted to welcome Jon to Vale Park as the club's new manager," Vale chief executive Matt Hancock said in a club statement., external

"Jon was the standout candidate at the end of a thorough recruitment process, with his experience and passion for returning to management here at Port Vale really shining through."


Brady spent three and a half years with the Cobblers, spanning 200 matches, delivering promotion to League One after finishing third in League Two 2022-23.

He arrives in Burslem in similar circumstances to when he took interim charge at the Sixfields Stadium in February 2021 when Northampton sat in the League One relegation zone.

Although he could not keep them up that season, his track record of getting the club back there - and keeping them there - appealed to the Vale hierarchy, given the Valiants' perilous position at the moment.

Hancock added that Brady "is someone who we believe can make a real difference here in both the short and long term" and said the new boss has "our full support as we focus on achieving our objectives this season".

Brady inherits a Vale side that ended a 12-game winless league run in spectacular style by thrashing relegation rivals Blackpool 5-1 on New Year's Day.

That was their first league victory since 27 September, having started the season solidly following promotion last term as League Two runners-up, only for their results to dip badly.

Brady will be in charge for the first time in Friday's FA Cup third round tie against Fleetwood Town [19:30 GMT].