In all fairness, there have been worse starts to a job. King Luis II, for instance, hardly had a whale of a time during his twenty-minute-long reign over Portugal, the entirety of which was spent in a gunfight with revolutionaries whilst bleeding from a hole in the cranium; and the less said about Ben Sliney's first day as head of air traffic control operations for the United States of America on Tuesday 11th September 2001, the better. But even so, Eric Ramsey's opening seven days at the Hawthorns have ostensibly consisted of him pondering the achievements of old Coup-Slew Lou and Benny Boom Boom and saying "hold my beer."

After back to back home defeats, the second of which was comfortably our most humiliating at this level in history, it's tempting to say that the only way is up, but of course there's another (and perhaps likelier) option. It doesn't help that tonight we visit Derby, where our last success came in summer 2003. The recruitment of keeper Max O'Leary is the one ray of hope in a dark and dismal week, giving us a potential - and much-needed - improvement between the sticks, but it's still difficult to see how we come away with any kind of result this evening, barring a miracle.

Assuming Ramsey is with us for a while yet, he'll need a little bit of leeway; but it's self-evident that so far, he's taken Mason's team and managed to make them even worse. Having made that catastrophic first impression, his chances to win back any charity or goodwill are limited, and will begin with tonight's showing, if not the outcome.

Just read that if we lose tonight it will match our worst run of away league defeats (11) since 1891, 135 years. This season has been bad but WOW I didn’t realise it was that bad.

Can we win?

Anybody got any hope left?, have you got any spare I can borrow?

THE MATCH

SATURDAY 24TH JANUARY KO 3PM

v

LAST MATCH



Another home game and another defeat although the performance was better than the Portsmouth game. It was a even first half but chances again were at a premium. Cooper saved from Stansfield while Bannan fired over from 20 yards. Onto the 2nd half and Birmingham upped there game. Cooper made a double save and then almost took the ball over his own line when stumbling backward. Cads then came close to scoring but his shot hit the pos. But it was Brum who took the lead, Stansfield's shot was turned in by Ducksch from close range. Brum wrapped up the points in injury time when McGhee's pass back was intercepted by Furuhashi who scored from a narrow angle. The loss was our 21st game without a win in the league, a new record for the club.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

THE MATCH



Next up and back on the road as we make the long journey down to Bristol. Bristol are having a decent season and currently lie in 11th place and are just 3 points off a playoff spot. With how poor the Championship is this season they have a good chance of making the end of season playoffs. They are managed by Gerhard Struber, who has been in charge since June 2025, he did manage the Dingles for a year also. There leading scorer is Mehmeti with 8 goals and 6 assists as well.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

ALL TIME H2H

OWLS 31
BRIST 20
DRAW 18

CURRENT FORM

OWLS     L L L L D D                                                             

BRIST    L D L W L W

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

BENJAMIN SPEEDIE
George Byrne and Mark Dwyer
Fourth Official : Stephen Martin

THE TEAM

Cooper
Palmer McGhee Emery Otegbayo Johnson
Thornton Ingelsson Bannan
McNeill Cadamarteri

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

3-1 Cads

WEDNESDAYS FIRT GOAL TIME

56

ATTENDANCE

N/A

BML LEAGUE

Owlkev 16
Imre 16
Washington 11
SCO 10
Maddix 8

BMPL

Stateside 14
Pei 0
Wereham -11
Southey -12

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Burnley v Tottenham
Sheff Utd v Ipswich
Stevenage v Mansfield
Bromley v Swindon
Scunthorpe v Forest Green

AAHAD

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE

Huddersfield Town v Bradford City
Sky Bet League One
Saturday January 24th - 12:30 ko
at the Accu Stadium

Huddersfield Town welcome Bradford City to the Kirklees Stadium on Saturday lunchtime for the West Yorkshire derby, the first at our ground since March 2007, although we have had two League Cup games and a FL Trophy game since then. And the reason why it's been such a long time is that while we were high in the clouds of the Premier League, they were plunging the depths of League Two.

But, after all these years, here we are. Already humbled at the Chicken Shack, we now stand 7 points behind them in the League One table. Some fans think that manager Lee Grant should've been sacked on the spot after that dismal display, but it took a few months more to finally see him off. The defeat at Burton Albion was the last straw for the bumbling American millionaire businessman and club owner, Kevin Nagle and Grant was finally dismissed on Saturday night.

Thankfully we didn't have to wait long for the new man to be appointed, unlike last season. Since David Wagner left in January 2019, Liam Manning becomes our 11th permanent manager. Do you remember when we used to laugh at Watford for changing their managers three or four times a year? Oh how we laughed.

Are we the new Watford?

All images used in this thread are form Wikipedia.

A brief history of Bradford City: formed in 1903, when Manningham RFC, a rugby league club, switched codes to association football and was immediately elected into the Football League Second Division without having played a single game.

Early Success and Only Major Honour: Under manager Peter O'Rourke, the club quickly found success, winning the Division Two title in the 1907-08 season and earning promotion to the First Division. Their most successful period culminated in the 1911 FA Cup triumph, their only major honour to date. Captain Jimmy Speirs (pictured below) scored the single goal in a replay against Newcastle United at Old Trafford to secure the victory. This era also saw the club achieve its highest league finish of fifth place in the 1910-11 season.

The Post-War Years and the 1985 Fire: After relegation in 1922, the club spent decades in the lower tiers of English football. There they stayed until the 1980s saw them win the Third Division title in the 1984-85 season. However, this triumph was tragically overshadowed by the devastating stadium fire at Valley Parade on 11 May 1985, during the final match of the season, which claimed the lives of 56 supporters. The club played its home games at other stadiums for 19 months while Valley Parade was
rebuilt.

The Premier League and Financial Crisis: In the late 1990s, under chairman Geoffrey Richmond, the club rose through the divisions and reached the Premier League in 1999 after a 77-year absence from the top flight. They survived their first season in the Premier League with a crucial final-day victory over Liverpool but were relegated the following season. This was followed by a series of financial crises, leading to the club entering administration twice and dropping down to the fourth tier of English football.

Recent History: A notable resurgence came in the 2012-13 season when Bradford City, a fourth-tier club, reached the League Cup final at Wembley, ultimately losing to Swansea City. In the same season, they returned to Wembley and won the League Two play-off final to gain promotion to League One. In the 2014-15 FA Cup, they famously defeated Premier League sides Chelsea and Sunderland before being knocked out in the quarter-finals.

The club was relegated back to League Two in 2019 but achieved promotion to League One at the end of the 2024-25 season. They are the only professional English club to wear claret and amber colours, which are incorporated into their "Bantams" nickname and crest.

The first two matches against Bradford City were in our first ever season in the top flight of English football, games 5 and 6, playing back to back in September 1920. Fred Lunn, who only ever played six times for us, scored both of his Town goals in this one. A 1-0 win at Leeds Road, followed by a 2-0 win at Valley Parade, with Ernie Islip getting the second.

City got relegated at the end of the next season and so it was many decades until we played each other in the league. There was an FA Cup game in between, when Town won 2-1 at home, en route to a famous Final at Wembley against Arsenal.

Our next league meetings came in Division 4 and both games were drawn. There were some very dreary games in those days and I do remember going with my dad to Valley Parade and sitting in that old wooden stand and watching a goalless draw.

After we'd both been promoted, things got livelier. There was a famous 6-3 at Leeds Road on New Years Day in 1983. Brian Stanton got four goals in that one, alongside a penalty from Malcolm Brown and a goal from Phil Wilson.

The 1986/87 season saw a 4-3 defeat away and a 5-2 win at home. Duncan Shearer scored four times in that one. Any chance of a Town player scoring four in this one, please?

There was another 4-3 at Valley Parade in 1994/95, which we won. Andy Booth scored a couple, with Ronnie Jepson and ex Bantam Paul Reid getting the others.

In 1996/97, we played out an exciting 3-3 draw on a Friday night Sky Sports match at the McAlpine Stadium. Chris Waddle scored direct from a corner kick in the 6th minute and by the 38th minute, we were 3-0 down. Instead of crumbling though, our brave lads fought back and goals frpm Paul Dalton and Ian Lawson had us only one goal behind at the break. Gary Crosby completed the comeback just after half time and the rest of the game was a thrilling end to end encounter with Andy Payton fluffing a great chance to win it late on.

All the games in that era were always full blood and thunder occasions, with the names Kevin Gray and Gordon Watson being etched in the history of the rivalry. That's something that our current squad don't have and were clearly not as fired up as the Bantams were as the teams met earlier in the season when we wimped out with a 3-1 defeat. Zepiqueno Redmond (pictured), a name that I don't think will be remembered in years to come, scored our consolation.

Bradford in popular culture: Bradford's popular culture is a vibrant tapestry woven from its rich industrial heritage, profound literary and artistic roots, and a diverse, youthful population. The city's cultural identity has been significantly shaped by its status as the world's first UNESCO City of Film and its reign as the self-proclaimed "Curry Capital of Britain".

Cinema and Screen: Bradford has a long-standing history with film, dating back to the birth of cinema, which led to its UNESCO City of Film designation in 2009.

• Filming Locations: The city's diverse architecture, from the Italianate structures of the Little Germany quarter to the rugged Pennine moors, has made it a popular backdrop for numerous film and TV productions, including Peaky Blinders, The King's Speech, Downton Abbey, and Happy Valley. The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway is a particularly famous location, notably used in The Railway Children.
  
  
• National Science and Media Museum: This prominent cultural institution, located in the city centre, is the UK's largest visitor attraction dedicated to photography, broadcast media, and the internet, and is home to the first-ever IMAX screen in Europe.
  
  
• Film Festivals: The city hosts several film-related events and festivals throughout the year, celebrating all aspects of the moving image and nurturing local talent.
  

Arts and Literature: Bradford's literary and art scene boasts internationally renowned figures:

• The Brontë Sisters: The nearby village of Haworth was home to Anne, Charlotte, and Emily Brontë, where they wrote classic novels like Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. The Brontë Parsonage Museum is a major literary pilgrimage site.
  
  
• David Hockney: One of the world's most influential living artists, Hockney was born in Bradford, and the city's Cartwright Hall Art Gallery and Salts Mill in Saltaire house extensive collections of his work.
  
  
• J.B. Priestley: The acclaimed novelist, playwright, and broadcaster was also a Bradford native, his work often reflecting the life and character of the city.
  
  
• Bradford Literature Festival: This internationally recognised event attracts a wide range of authors and audiences, further cementing the city's literary credentials.
  

Music and Entertainment: The city has produced several notable musicians and entertainers:

Zayn Malik: The singer-songwriter and former member of the global sensation One Direction was born and raised in Bradford.
Dynamo: Magician Steven Frayne, known globally as Dynamo, hails from the city.
Kimberley Walsh of the pop group Girls Aloud.
Smokie: The glam rock band most famous for Living Next Door To Alice.
Kiki Dee: Pop singer who had a number one with Elton John, Don't Go Breaking My Heart.

Food Culture: Bradford's reputation as the "Curry Capital of Britain" is well-established, a testament to its large and diverse South Asian community. The city offers a vast array of high-quality curry houses and Asian fusion restaurants, which are a cornerstone of its modern popular culture and social life.

Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture:
The city was been named the UK City of Culture for 2025, an accolade set to transform its cultural landscape further. The year-long programme included over 1,000 events, exhibitions, and performances, showcasing the city's vibrant diversity and creative spirit to a national and international audience.

1. Spank Ejector
   
2. Ken Charlatan
   
3. Winkle Lash
   
4. Jade Snot
   
5. Ruby Deluxe
   
6. Swine Boiler
   
7. Janus Gave Ham
   
8. Roy Retry Hat
   
9. Terry VCR Hero
   
10. He Tests Vim
    

what a made game that was

last minute pen against senegal
they then walked off the pitch in protest

came back eventually
penalty missed
senegal won in extra time


bizarre game

THE MATCH

TUESDAY 20TH JANUARY KO 7:45PM

v

LAST MATCH



Another home game and another home defeat as Portsmouth eased away from the relegation zone. Devlin fired just wide for Pompey and Ingelsson also fired wide as chances were hard to find. Onto the 2nd half and we had our only shot on target which was comfortably saved by the Pompey keeper. Pompey then went up the other end and got what turned out to be the winner, as Segecic fired in from a deflected cross. Pompey nearly added a second but the ball went over the bar. We didn't have one attempt after Pompey took the lead, which is beyond comprehension.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

THE MATCH



Next up and Birmingham make the journey north. Birmingham  started the season brightly but have gone off the boil recently and currently lie in 14th place. They are eight points off the playoffs and the relegation zone, if they spend some money in the transfer window they might be able to make a push for the playoffs, although if they finish around mid table that wouldn't be a bad return to the Championship. They are managed by Chris Davies, who has been in charge since June 2024, got them promoted in his first season, setting an EFL points record of 111 points. There leading scorer this season is Stansfield with 8 goals and 3 assists.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

ALL TIME H2H

OWLS 36
BRUM 40
DRAW 28

CURRENT FORM

OWLS     L L L D D L                                                             

BRUM    D W L D D L

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

LEIGH DOUGHTY
Richard Woodward and Paul Hodskinson
Fourth Official: Oliver Langford

THE TEAM

Cooper
Palmer McGhee Emery Otegbayo Johnson
Thornton Ingelsson Bannan
McNeill Cadamarteri

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

1-3 Stansfield

WEDNESDAYS FIRT GOAL TIME

56

ATTENDANCE

21212

BML LEAGUE

Owlkev 16
Imre 16
SCO 10
Washington 9
Maddix 8

BMPL

Stateside 14
Pei 0
Wereham -11
Southey -12

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Charlton Athletic v Derby Co
Coventry City v Millwall
Ipswich Town v Bristol City
Oxford United v Queens Park Rangers
Preston North End v Hull City

HHHDH

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE.

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 2:

1. neonfoxinthebox = 41 pts
   
2. ritchiebaby = 41 pts
   
3. Baggiebob(BBB) = 31 pts
   
4. jjamez = 30 pts
   
5. Lord Snooty = 28 pts
   
6. theo_luddite = 27 pts
   

Friday 23rd January:
Championship:
Derby County v West Bromwich Albion (20:00)

Saturday 24th January:
League One:
Town v Bradford City (12:30)
Town scorers:
City scorers:

Scottish Premiership:
Falkirk v Hibernian

Monday 26th January:
Premier League:
Everton v Leeds United (20:00)

Tuesday 27th January:
League One:
Town v Luton
Town scorers:
Luton scorers:

Blackpool v Stockport County
Bolton Wanderers v Burton Albion
Cardiff City v Barnsley
Lincoln City v Bradford City
Plymouth Argyle v Mansfield Town
Port Vale v AFC Wimbledon
Rotherham United v Northampton Town
Stevenage v Peterborough United
Wycombe Wanderers v Wigan Athletic
Doncaster Rovers v Leyton Orient (20:00)
Reading v Exeter City (20:00)

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

1. themaclad = 40 pts
   
2. St Charles Owl = 38 pts
   
3. SHEP_HTAFC = 30 pts
   
4. Devongone = 24 pts
   
5. Amelia Chaffinch = 22 pts
   
6. WakeyTerrier = 18 pts
   

Saturday 24th January:
League One:
Town v Bradford City (12:30)
Town scorers:
City scorers:

Cardiff City v Stockport County (12:30)
Plymouth Argyle v Luton Town (12:30)
Blackpool v Northampton Town
Bolton Wanderers v Leyton Orient
Doncaster Rovers v Wigan Athletic
Port Vale v Exeter City
Reading v Barnsley
Rotherham United v AFC Wimbledon
Stevenage v Mansfield Town
Wycombe Wanderers v Peterborough United

Championship:
Middlesbrough v Preston North End (12:30)
Bristol City v Sheffield Wednesday

Sunday 25th January:
Premier League:
Arsenal v Manchester United (16:30)

Tuesday 27th January:
League One:
Town v Luton
Town scorers:
Luton scorers:

League Two:
Salford City v Chesterfield

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

The 2025/26 Prediction League Cup will kick off next week, it was won by Zinman the last time we did it and he achieved the League and Cup double in the process, not likely this year I'm afraid!! The same set of fixtures and scores from each chosen week will count towards each round of the Cup. League points are not affected, they still count towards the league tables as they always do.

After our recent Board meeting we decided to once again make each round a random one on one, two legged match just like the real cup competitions.

Last 16 matches will take place over 2 legs during weeks 22 & 24.

Quarter Finals will be over 2 legs using weeks 26 & 28.

The winners of those then meet in 2 legged semi finals in weeks 30 & 32.

The final will be a straight sudden death result using the last weeks league fixtures for scoring.

An online random number sequence generator machine was used to determine the first round ties and will also be used for the random draw for each round, here are the first set of ties:

Round of 16

Stairs v BaggieVicar
Amelia v Salop
AAA v BaggieOne
Twerton v Themaclad
Zinman v 4eva
Lady Jane v SCO
BBB v Lord Snooty
Derby v Minizin

In the event of a tie between players, the number of Correct Scores over the two legs will determine the winner, followed by total points scored on the Bonus Ball. After that Zinman and I will toss a coin!!!!

Scores and the draw for each round will be updated on this thread as we go through the competition.

Cheers Zinman & SCO