Fresh off the back of a resounding 4-0 win away at Bolton Wanderers, Huddersfield return to the John Smith's Stadium to Northampton, in what is set to be a rather busy period for the Terriers, with 5 games set to come over a two week period, including a tantalizing game against moneybag side Birmingham.

But lets not get ahead of ourselves just yet. There are a few games to come before that and it would be typical of Town to take the eye of the ball too soon in hope for a victory. Northampton will be looking to ruffle a few feathers in the hope of kick-starting their second campaign at this level since their most recent promotion. Last season they finished a respectable 14th and are currently sat in 18th this time around, having won just the one league game so far this season, at home to Exeter. They began the season away at Bristol Rovers and fell to a 92nd minute winner, before falling at the first hurdle in the Carabao Cup, 2-0 at home to 10 man Wycombe. They bounced back with the 2-1 win at home to Exeter before playing out two draws before the international break, away at Barnsley, 2-2 and a goalless draw at home to Burton Albion. Last time out they faced Wycombe once again, losing once again, this time 2-1.

Still managed by Australian Jon Brady, the Newcastle (New South Wales version) native had a lengthy career in the lower league in England, beginning his senior footballing experience at Brentford and then Swansea and Wycombe (all lower league at the time) but after failing to make the grade at Wycombe, he would move to Norway for a spell at Mjolner (Not quite Aussie Thor's Hammer) before finally settling and having a 4 year stay at Hayes. He would stay there for 4 years before moving to Rusden & Diamonds for yet another 4 year spell, making well over 300 appearances for the two clubs in total. Come the early 00's he would leave the Diamonds and move to Woking for a short spell before moving North to Chester. After a year at Chester he would join Arsenals coaching team, but he would resume playing not long after as he would move to Stevenage for two years before heading on to Hereford United for a season. Not content at what he had witnessed in England so far, he left and joined Cambridge United for a season, also spending time on loan at Kidderminster Harriers. Upon leaving Cambridge he joined Rushden's rivals, Kettering, playing one season before moving to Brackley where he would spend the last 5 years of his playing career, becoming manager of the Saints part way through his stay there. In keeping with the Newcastle theme he would remain at St James Park for a few seasons after retiring as a player but stepped down in 2015.

In 2016 he joined the Cobblers as under 16's coach before being promoted to under 18's coach a year later. Following the sacking of Keith Curle in 2021, Brady was placed in temporary charge of the first team. Brady would remain in charge of the first-team until the end of the season and in the penultimate match of the season, Northampton were beaten by Blackpool, a result that saw them immediately relegated back to League Two. Despite the relegation however Brady was appointed permanent manager and in his first full season in charge of the club he narrowly missed out on promotion, they sat third in the league and beat Barrow 3-1, but Bristol Rovers were level on points with them and needed to better the Cobblers result by 5 goals. Bristol Rovers beat Scunthorpe 7-0 and secured automatic promotion. They would go on to lose to Mansfield in the Play offs but managed to get promotion a year later when they finished 3rd, for certain this time. Last season they finished comfortably in 14th, 16 points away from the relegation zones and 16 points away from the play off places, striker Sam Hoskins bagged a respectable 15 goals in the league. They were a bit shaky to begin with in the season, but a solid winter period saw them register 8 wins from November to the end of January, only losing 3 times in that period and drawing twice. They finished the campaign much like they started it, but the 8 winter wins had seen them already all but safe, especially considering teams at the bottom of the table had the likes of Darren Moore as manager.



In terms of transfers this summer, one of the major departures for the side is that of midfielder Marc Leonard. The Scotsman spent two seasons on loan at the club from Brighton and saw his importance to the club increase. Town were rumoured to be interested in signing him, but it would be Birmingham that sealed the deal, not for the first time that they would beat us to the punch. Elsewhere though, the Cobblers were busy in regards to incomings. Winger Tariq Fosu joined on a free transfer, he spent the 2022-2023 season on loan at Rotherham, but failed to find a club last season, he had been set to move to Turkey, but that deal collapsed, he did trial at a few clubs but nothing materialised until Northampton took a punt on him. Callum Morton joined on loan from Salford City, the former West Brom man spent half of last season on loan at Forest Green and has yet to score for Salford. He did have a loan spell at Northampton a few season ago whilst still with the Baggies, which might go to explain why they would loan him in from the league below. Left sided player Liam McCarron joined for an undisclosed fee from Stoke City, the former Leeds United man joined Stoke back in 2022 but could only manage the one solitary cup appearance for the side. He had a short trial with the Cobblers before Brady was convinced to sign him on a one year deal with the option for a further year.

The Cobblers raided Brighton for a different midfielder this season as Samy Chouchane joined on loan, he's yet to make a senior appearance for the Seagulls, but has made two appearances so far this season for Northampton, he also has 10 under 20's caps for Tunisia, but those don't mean too much as we have seen in the past with the likes of Ryan Schofield. We also saw that with Luke Mbete, he represented England from under 15's through to under 21's and was awful for us, but rest assured he is still playing and could well line up against Town on Saturday as Northampton signed him on loan from Man City. Since his loan at Town, he went to Bolton and struggled there, but had a better time out in Holland at Den Bosch, he has made one appearance for the Cobblers this season, so maybe he won't line up against us. Sticking in defence, Jack Baldwin was brought in to try and shore up the back line. The former Sunderland man signed for an undisclosed fee from Scottish side Ross County where he had been for the last three years. Prior to that he had been at Hartlepool before moving to Peterborough, he joined Sunderland in the midst of the Netflix docuseries and had time out on loan at Salford before having a season at Bristol Rovers ahead of crossing North of the border.

New Zealander Matt Dibley-Dias joined on loan from Premier League side Fulham, this is his first taste of senior football, following the Kiwi into the club was Welsh international Tyler Roberts who joined on loan from Birmingham. Roberts, like Morton, began his professional career at West Brom, but made his name at Leeds, making over 100 appearances for that club, scoring just 9 times. He had a loan out at QPR but was sold to Brum last June but made just 17 goalless appearances for the side as they joined Town in being relegated to league one, he has made just the one appearance for the Cobblers so far this campaign. The rest of the signings were free transfers with journey man striker Tom Eaves joining on a 2 year deal after leaving Rotherham. The tall striker began at Oldham before moving to Bolton, but made his name at Gillingham where 38 goals in two seasons earned him a move to Hull City. He spent 3 years at the KC Stadium and I'm sure he saw red at the John Smiths once as well for them, he scored 15 times for the club before moving to Rotherham, whom he had played for earlier in his career. It didn't really work out for him there and he has yet to make an appearance for Northampton this season. Fellow striker James Wilson joined from Port Vale upon the expiry of his contract there. Once highly regarded when he was coming through the ranks at Manchester United, he played 15 times for the Red Devils and scored three times, whilst also having loans out at the likes of Brighton and Aberdeen, eventually moving there permanently in 2019. His career has often been curtailed by serious injuries and has arguably cost him a career in higher leagues. He did manage 9 goals in 29 games for Salford before moving to Port Vale where he registered 17 times in just under 100 games, but whilst his pace may have gone, he still apparently is very technical on the ball, he too has yet to score this season and has only made the one appearance. Finally, Goalkeeper Nik Tzanev joined on a free transfer from AFC Wimbledon to offer competition for the number 1 jersey. The Kiwi played over 100 games for Wimbledon and has two caps for the New Zealand national side, he was joined at the club by Cameron McGeehan who joined from Colchester. McGeehan began at Norwich but would make a name for himself at Luton before moving to South Yorkshire to play for Barnsley. He left Barno for Belgium to play for Oostende for 3 years before returning to join Colchester and then leaving the Cowley brothers to join Northampton this summer.



There was a fair few leaving the Sixfields this summer, Danny Hylton was released and joined former manager Nathan Jones on Wednesday as a player-coach, Liam Moore, formerly of Reading retired, whilst Dom Gape joined them in being released. Reuben Wyatt and Max Dyche both departed on loans to Redditch and Woking respectively, Dyche unsurprisingly has a father who manages a Premier League outfit (for now). Elsewhere, youngster Peter Abimbola joined St Ives on a free transfer, whilst Shaun McWilliams joined former manager Steve Evans at Rotherham. Full back Ryan Hayes moved to Cheltenham, Manny Monthe joined Oldham, fellow defender Sam Sherring dropped down to MK Dons and Louis Appere signed for Stevenage, all on free transfers.

In terms of a player to watch, look no further than Sam Hoskins. The forward began his career at Southampton but never made a league appearance for the Saints but had loan spells at Preston, Rotherham and Stevenage. He failed to make an appearance at Preston, scored twice in eight appearances for the Millers and scored once in 14 games for Stevenage. He left Southampton to join Yeovil in the Championship, but failed to score in 19 Championship appearances and managed just the one goal the next season in League one, he would end up being loaned to non league Barnet where he scored 2 in 6 games. Then in the summer of 2015 Northampton took the punt of giving him a one year deal, he scored 6 league goals that season and earned a longer deal, now 9 years later and 339 appearances later he still represents the Cobblers and has scored 82 goals for the club, reaching double figures in each of the last three seasons. There were rumours that he too could be leaving the club in the summer but nothing materialised and it looks like he will be heading for a testimonial season with the club.

He is currently joint top scorer for the Cobblers with the one solitary goal, joining him on one goal are McCarron, Baldwin, Morton and McGeehan. In terms of creativity Hoskins and Morton both have one to their name, as do Mitch Pinnock and experienced centre half Jon Guthrie. It is fair to say goals have been hard to come by so far this season, but one game can change that and we have barring two games, been a little bit slack later in games, allowing a few too many chances on goal.



Going into Saturdays game, Michael Duff has told the press that Mickel Miller will miss out this time, but more as a precaution than an actual injury worry. Jaheim Headley will be expected to fill in for the time being. There are no other new injury concerns, Bojan and Freddie Ladapo both featured for the B team in the midweek 6-0 victory over Chesterfield, whilst Herbie Kane, David Kasumu and Brodie Spencer have all resumed training and are back in contention for Saturday. Rhys Healey misses out once again with his muscle problem that is still being investigated by Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, Chris Maxwell also misses out due to the after effects of a viral infection which has caused some cardiovascular issues that he has to overcome.

That being said, it would come as no surprise to see Town name an unchanged lineup with one of the three returnees taking a spot on the bench. It appears that Kane is probably the closest to a return to fitness having had a full week of training and conditioning. That being said, following the emphatic win last weekend and the B team result midweek, one of Turton or Ruffles could make a bench appearance to offer a further defensive option alongside Pearson, but personally, I'd rather see Kane on there for the extra creative option.



As for Northampton, Goalkeeper Lee Burge is fit to travel to Huddersfield after coming off against Wycombe last weekend. Tom Eaves is a couple of weeks away, otherwise it is a full squad to pick from.

“Lee got bumped in the eye and it closed up which meant he couldn’t see properly which is why he came off,” said boss Jon Brady. “All the checks have been done and he is fine now. Tom Eaves is potentially a couple of weeks away, he is someone we feel can make a big difference to us and that’s why we worked so hard to bring him in."

“As I spoke about on Saturday, we are still having to manage minutes and that is the frustration because some of those players who came on showed with their performance that they deserve to start. We are trying to build connections but we are having the side a bit disrupted with players having to come out after picking up knocks. That has been frustrating but it’s part of the game and we have to deal with it. We’ve got a busy few months coming up which we have to keep in mind but we want to be picking up points now."

In terms of head to heads, this weekends fixture will be the first meeting between the two sides since 2011, when the two sides met in the John Stones Paints Trophy, Town would come out on top in that game, winning 2-1 thanks to goals from Donal McDermott and Lee Novak either side of a Michael Jacobs cracker. The first ever meeting between the two sides came way back in 1934 in the FA Cup when Northampton come out on top 2-0 down Leeds Road. The first league meeting between the sides would come nearly 30 years later in 1963, the Cobblers would do the double over Town that season, but overall the head to heads have been fairly even, Town having been victorious 14 times, Northampton 12 with 7 draws.

Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland League for two seasons, before joining the Southern League in 1901. They were crowned Southern League champions in 1908–09, allowing them to contest the 1909 FA Charity Shield. Admitted into the Football League in 1920, they spent the next 38 years in the Third Division South. Under Dave Bowen, the club achieved three promotions from the Fourth Division to the First Division within five years. However, Northampton only survived for one season in the top tier of English football after relegation in 1966. Northampton then experienced two further relegations in three years to return to the Fourth Division by 1969 – this set a record in English football of moving from the fourth tier to the first tier and back in only nine years. After six seasons of stability in the fourth tier, the club won promotion before returning to the Fourth Division after another relegation in 1977. Northampton won further promotions to the third tier in 1987 and 1997. Relegated in 1999, they won immediate promotion after securing an automatic promotion place the following season. However they were once more relegated after three seasons of struggle in the third tier, before securing promotion out of League Two in 2005–06 after two unsuccessful play-off campaigns. Relegated at the end of their third season in League One, they won the League Two title in 2015–16, but only lasted two seasons in League One before again being relegated. In 2020, they gained promotion to League One, but were relegated to League Two once again after a single season in the third tier.

Northampton are nicknamed the Cobblers, a reference to the town's historical shoe-making industry, and the team traditionally plays in claret and white kits. The Cobblers played at the County Ground from 1897 until 1994, when they moved to Sixfields Stadium, which has a capacity of 7,798. The club itself has been featuring in Changing Ends, an ITV show about comedian Alan Carr's childhood, with the younger version of Carr a regular at the ground due to Carr's father Graham, being a former manager at the club back in the 80's. Carr senior is approaching 80 years of age now, but is still involved at the club, being on the board of directors. Carr finished managing in the 90's and moved into scouting, working with David Pleat at Tottenham, before moving to work with late England manager Sven Goran Eriksson at Man City and Notts County. He went back to Spurs before heading to Newcastle as scout, he signed an 8 year deal with the club like Alan Pardew but left 5 years into the deal. Has anyone watched the TV show? I've seen one episode, loosely, my girlfriend has watched them all and still doesn't really want to watch football...ever



In terms of the town itself, the thought is that there has been civilisation in the area since the Bronze age, with the likes of the Romans and Angelo Saxons all having settlements in the region at some point. It is thought to have been burnt down in 1010 and 1065, but after the Norman Conquest it was rebuilt and became a site of national significance due to its central location, often acting as a meeting point for Royals and Nobility. King John regularly stayed at the castle and moved The Treasury there in 1205. Some 32 Parliaments were held there at the castle with the last Parliament at Northampton being held in 1380. Significant events in the castle's history include the trial of Thomas Becket in 1164, the publication of the Assize of Northampton in 1176, the declaration of peace with Scotland in the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton, the passage of the Statute of Northampton in 1328 and the imposition of poll tax in 1380.

When the English Civil war broke out in 1642, the town willingly became the main Parliamentarian garrison for the south-east Midlands area with the former royal castle as its headquarters. In 1643, Prince Rupert attacked Northampton with approximately 2,000 men, but was beaten back at the North Gate of the town. Oliver Cromwell visited in 1645 and General Fairfax marched from the town to Naseby, where Charles I's Royalist army was decisively defeated. Over 4,000 pairs of leather shoes and 600 pairs of cavalry jack-boots for the Parliamentary armies were manufactured in Northampton during the Civil War, and a further 2,000 for Cromwell's New Model Army in 1648. Until well into the 19th century, the shoe industry boomed in and around the town with small manufacturing workshops set up in the surrounding areas.

The War ended with a Parliamentary victory, resulting in England becoming a Commonwealth, which lasted a decade. Following the restoration of King Charles II in 1660, he took revenge on the town by ordering the destruction of its walls and partial demolition of its castle in 1662, since it did not support his father Charles I and his cavaliers. By the end of the 18th century, Northampton had become a major centre of footwear and leather manufacture. In 1801, the population was 7,020; it more than doubled to 15,351 in 1831, attributed to the fact that there was great demand for footwear caused by the Napoleonic Wars of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. A third of the adult males alone were shoemakers at the time. Northampton grew beyond the old town walls and industry grew rapidly with the mechanisation of factories by the middle of the 19th century. The Town can claim celebrities such as Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke, Game Of Thrones actress Sophie Turner, Morecambe and Wise long term target Des O'Connor as their own. Although O'Connor was born in London but was evacuated during the World War to Northampton. England cricketers Sam Curran and Graeme Swann were also born in Northampton, whilst Princess Diana was made a freeman of Northampton and is buried in Northamptonshire as are a long list of her Spencer ancestors.

We've just past the anniversary of her death and burial, I would have been 4 when she died and all I can remember was not understanding why my kids TV shows had been halted... it may have been when the Queen Mother died, but I'm almost certain it was Diana. What do people remember about her?



Now onto the played for both bit that you all love doing. There has been a few that have donned the colours of both during their career, one from the Shrewsbury match thread in Cristian Lopez for one, we loaned him out to both clubs for short spells, before he returned to Spain. Former Town loanee Emyr Huws got his first taste of professional football when he had a loan at the Cobblers from Manchester City, he played 10 games for the club, a few seasons later and Town would loan him for the season from Wigan, he would essentially come in as a replacement for Jacob Butterfield, the move also saw Jordy Hiwula move to Wigan. Huws would play 30 times for Town and score 5 goals and like in the most part of his career, injuries would hamper him. He retired from playing in 2023 following injury hit spells at Ipswich and Colchester. Former Town academy graduate Matt Crooks also played for both clubs, he made one professional appearance for Town, as Mark Robins decided to play him at centre half in a 4-0 home thrashing. The youngster would have spells away and eventually had his contract terminated as he joined Accrington Stanley. An impressive season for Stanley saw him and fellow graduate Josh Windass make the move to Scotland to join Rangers, injuries hampered him there and he only managed two appearances for the club before moving back to England and joining Northampton. He would rediscover his form whilst at the Cobblers, impressing as a box to box midfielder during his two year stay at the club ahead of joining Rotherham. At Rotherham, Crooks would find himself playing slightly higher up the pitch, sometimes being deployed as an auxiliary striker, after 18 goals in 89 appearances for the Millers, Crooks would follow manager Neil Warnock up to Middlesborough where he would stay until February of this year, before making the move to the US to play for Real Salt Lake. Crooks has also been diagnosed with epilepsy as well as growing up with deaf parents and siblings.



but now the anagrams

1) Unlocked Dog Tin
2) Pub Chalk Aura
3) Oil Spun Awl
4) Inverse Facts
5) Injured Omens
6) Relic Elm Milk
7) Falls For Rasher
8) Ceremony Spites
9) Chills No Eel
10) All Ant Grains
11) Shin Trim Mat

Carlisle United have appointed Mike Williamson as their permanent head coach after sacking Paul Simpson last month.

Williamson arrives from MK Dons after Carlisle met a release clause in his contract with the Buckinghamshire club.

Carlisle owner Tom Piatak will now aim to recruit the club's first sporting director to work alongside Williamson.

The 40-year-old returns to the north of England having spent six years as a player at Newcastle United and a further five as player and manager of National League side Gateshead.

The Cumbrians sit 22nd in League Two, having lost five of their opening six league games, and visit Swindon Town on Saturday.

Stoke City have appointed Norwich City coach Narcis Pelach as their new manager on a three-year contract.

The 36-year-old Catalan succeeds Steven Schumacher following his shock sacking on Monday after just nine months in charge.

Pelach, from Girona, has worked in English football for four years, first under fellow Spaniard Carlos Corberan at Huddersfield Town and then for the past 16 months under David Wagner and his replacement Johannes Hoff Thorup at Carrow Road.

He will be joined by three new backroom men, coaches Dean Whitehead and Paul Clements, as well as performance analyst Harrison Glew.

Former Stoke midfielder Whitehead, 42, has left Barnsley after just two months at the League One club to return to the Potteries, while Clements, 39, was working alongside Pelach at Norwich as the Canaries' goalkeeping coach.

Pelach's first game in charge will be on Friday, when the Potters, 13th in the Championship after losing three of their five league games this season, entertain winless Hull City.

Managerless Stoke need penalties to beat Fleetwood
“I’ve had other chances to become a head coach in England and in other countries," said Pelach. "But I know the league, I know the opposition and I already know about our players. The level of the squad is good. I believe in them and I will create a playing style that suits their qualities.

“I feel a great excitement and sense of responsibility to Stoke City and can’t thank (chairman) John Coates and (tehnical director) Jon Walters enough for giving me this opportunity. Once I saw in their eyes how passionate they are about the club and how much they want to embrace a different identity and philosophy, I could not refuse and, once I’m in, I’m all in."

Prior to coming to England, Pelach worked with UE Figueres, CF Peralada and hometown club Girona.

"Across the extensive dialogue I’ve had across football, including at the highest levels of the game, Narcis is one of the most respected and sought-after coaches around," said Stoke technical director Jonathan Walters, the former Potters striker.

"He is exceptionally driven and meticulous and will drive those same standards from everyone around him at the club.

"Having been a head coach in Spain from the age of 25, it was always something Narcis was going to get back to. He has been patient about selecting the right opportunity."

Since Mark Hughes was sacked in January 2018 and Paul Lambert took over but failed to prevent the Potters being relegated from the Premier League, the club has now made six new managerial appointments.

Pelach will follow Gary Rowett, Nathan Jones, Michael O'Neill, Alex Neil and Schumacher as Stoke's sixth manager or head coach in the Championship.

He joins Corberan, now with early Championship leaders West Bromwich Albion, and Unai Emery at Aston Villa as the third Spanish boss in Midlands football.


"It's a big gamble for sporting director Jon Walters, so immediately results and performances will be scrutinised.

"The two things Stoke City need more than anything are stability and continuity, which they have severely lacked since relegation from the Premier League in 2018.

"The club have to find the right strategy both on and off the pitch sooner rather than later. It’s a worry when the first thought about a new Stoke City boss is 'how long will he last?'

"After six managers in six years, Stoke fans will be hoping that this is the appointment that finally works."

THE MATCH

SATURDAY 21ST SEPTEMBER KO 3:00PM

v

LAST MATCH



We progressed into the 4th Round of the Carabao Cup with a fairly comfortable win at Blackpool. We changed the entire starting line-up but were still the better side overall. Bernard had a goal disallowed for offside and Musaba handled one into the net which was also disallowed and a yellow card. Bernard did give us the lead when he fired in from Smith's head down. Onto the 2nd half and Blackpool were a bit better and forced Charles into his only save of the game. They never really threatened after that as went into Round 4.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

THE MATCH



Next up we travel south to take on Luton. The Hatters have made a disappointing start to the new season, they lost 3 of there first 4 games, but did win there last game 0-1 at Millwall. If Luton can get there act together, they should be challenging for a playoff spot come the end of the season. They are managed by Rob Edwards, who took over in November 2022 and took them to promotion to the Premier League that very season. Unfortunately they were relegated there first season back, but they will have got a bucket load of cash and will be rewarded (FOR FAILURE) with parachute payments to help them out this season

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

ALL TIME H2H

OWLS 23
LUTON 19
DRAWS 21

CURRENT FORM

OWLS W D L L L W                                                            

LUTON W L L D L                                         

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

GAVIN WARD
Lee Venamore & Robert Hyde
Fourth Official: Scott Simpson

THE TEAM

Beadle
Palmer Bernard Iorfa Johnson
Bannan Charles
Musaba Ingelsson Gassama
Ugbo

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

3-1 Ugbo

WEDNESDAYS FIRT GOAL TIME

26

ATTENDANCE

N/A

BML LEAGUE

Wereham 7
Maddix 6
Imre 4
Washington 4
SCO 2

BMPL

Southey 9
Owlkev 4
Stateside 1
Pei 0

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Southampton v Ipswich
Bristol City v Oxford
Rotherham v Birmingham
Salford v Walsall
Aldershot v York City

AAAAA

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC

Saturday 21st September

Accrington 1-2 Port Vale
Chesterfield 2-0 Cheltenham
Barrow 2-1 Newport
Bradford City 1-1 Wimbledon
Colchester 3-1 Tranmere
Crewe 0-2 Harrogate
Grimsby 1-2 Bromley
MK Dons 0-2 Doncaster
Notts County 2-2 Gillingham
Salford City 0-1 Walsall
Swindon 3-0 Carlisle

Monday 23 September 2024
Fleetwood 4-1 Morecambe


League Table After Match day 6

Devon - 136
Lord Snoots - 128
Dancing - 121
SaltergateBorn - 103
Spireitematt - 103
Amelia - 98
St Charles - 96
Maclad - 94

Group A

Themaclad 22
Twerton 18
Zinman 17
Minizin 10
A.A.A. 4
Amelia 4

Another solid week on the whole for Group A with a season's high 75 points in total, matching the total for week 1. The top three also all set personal high scores and the leader this week, Themaclad also became the first player to go over 20 points with 22 in total. He was one of two players to get a max on the Gamball, although I think this should be rescinded due to a QPR player literally sitting on our keeper during that crazy ending!!! He was also able to back up this with 2 other CSs and managed positive points on all his balls. The other player to get the "fake" maximum on the Gamball was Twerton as he scored 18 points, he too scored on all his balls.

In 3rd is Zinman, finally the speedos have been consigned to the chest of drawers as he posted by far his best score so far with 17 points. He got 2 CSs as well as a CR on the Bonus but he missed out on the Gamball like everyone else except the top 2. Minizin is 4th with 10 points, one CS helped him along with a CR Bonus.

Bit of a gap to the bottom 2 who both only scored 4 points each. AAA and Amelia has a week to pretty much forget, they both missed on all their balls and as we know that will always hurt you final score!!

Interestingly, this week saw every game get a positive total score with the Baggies win seeing 14 points scored down to the Watford draw with Coventry getting a single point. Can't say I have seen this very often but its not a stat I track.

55 Themaclad
47 Twerton
34 Minizin
32 A.A.A.
28 Zinman
25 Amelia

Themaclad excellent week sees him extend his lead at the top over Twerton to 8 points, and these two now have a 13 point lead over Minizin in 3rd place. AAA is 4th and Zinman is now hot on his heels just 4 points behind after scaping himself off the bottom. Unfortunately for Amelia, this has landed her in the bottom spot but only by 3 points with a long, long way to go.

Cheers
SCO


Group B

BBB 16
Derby 15
Lady Jane 13
Stairs 12
BaggieOne 8
SCO 8
Snooty 8

A decent week's scoring thanks to Sunday's matches which generated 36 of this week's total haul. Quite a mixture of ball returns as well - a total wipeout on the gamball (don't you just hate those last minute goals? I know SCO does!) but, quite possibly for the first time ever, everyone scored on the bonus. Scoreballs were hard to come by, hardly surprising as only 3 of the fixtures available for this ball had both teams scoring.

Heading the table this week is BBB securing half of his 16 points from Sunday's fixtures. Newcastle's come back gave him a bonus maximum and he also shared the week's highest number of correct results, 5. Derby is a point behind thanks to another maximum bonus. He scored on just 4 games but turned 3 of them into correct scores. Lady Jane continued her good start with another solid performance, securing 13 points from 2 correct scores, 4 results and the scoreball. Stairs matched BBB's correct results but with only 1 correct score he failed to reach the top 3.

The remaining players all scored 8 points with SCO and Snooty the only players to fail to predict a correct score.

54 Lady Jane
46 Derby
42 BBB
40 Stairs
38 BaggieOne
33 Snooty
32 SCO

The top 2 remain unchanged with BBB climbing to 3rd place as BaggieOne drops to 5th. No respite for Snooty and SCO as they remain separated by just a point at the bottom.

Zin

Gamball:
Leicester - Everton

Others:
West Ham - Chelsea
Fulham - Newcastle
Southampton - Ipswich
Crystal Palace - Man Utd
Norwich - Watford
QPR - Millwall
Bristol City - Oxford
Sunderland - Middlesbrough
Preston - Blackburn

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.......


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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 6:

1. themaclad = 116 pts
   
2. Baggiebob(BBB) = 114 pts
   
3. jjamez = 108 pts
   
4. St Charles Owl = 104 pts
   
5. SHEP_HTAFC = 100 pts
   
6. Lord Snooty = 77 pts
   

Saturday 21st September:
Town v Northampton
Town scorers:
Northants scorers:

Lincoln City v Wigan Athletic (12:30)
Bolton Wanderers v Reading
Burton Albion v Barnsley
Charlton Athletic v Blackpool
Wycombe Wanderers v Cambridge United

Tuesday 24th September:
Town v Blackpool
Town scorers:
Blackpool scorers:

Leyton Orient v Peterborough United

EFL Cup round 3:
Walsall v Leicester City

Wednesday 25th September:
Liverpool v West Ham United

Bonus matches:
Saturday:
Championship:
Luton Town v Sheffield Wednesday
West Bromwich Albion v Plymouth Argyle

Sunday:
Preston North End v Blackburn Rovers (12:00)

Premier League:
Manchester City v Arsenal (16:30)


*** scores for ***
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1. neonfoxinthebox = 131 pts
   
2. Devongone = 117 pts
   
3. theo_luddite = 112 pts
   
4. ritchiebaby = 107 pts
   
5. WakeyTerrier = 87 pts
   
6. Amelia Chaffinch = 82 pts
   

Saturday 21st September:
Town v Northampton
Town scorers:
Northants scorers:

Charlton Athletic v Blackpool
Exeter City v Stevenage (12:30)
Mansfield Town v Shrewsbury Town
Peterborough United v Bristol Rovers
Rotherham United v Birmingham City
Stockport County v Leyton Orient
Wrexham v Crawley Town

Tuesday 24th September:
Town v Blackpool
Town scorers:
Blackpool scorers:

EFL Cup round 3:
AFC Wimbledon v Newcastle United
Wycombe Wanderers v Aston Villa

Wednesday 25th September:
Arsenal v Bolton Wanderers

Bonus matches:
Saturday:
League Two:
Chesterfield v Cheltenham Town (12:30)

Premier League:
Crystal Palace v Manchester United (17:30)


*** scores for ***
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