THE MATCH

SATURDAY 31ST AUGUST KO 3PM

v

LAST MATCH



It was back to back defeats as Leeds won fairly comfortably. From the moment Leeds took the the lead, they were never in any real danger of losing as we struggled to put any thing together and they always seemed a constant threat when they came forward. Leeds first goal was a flowing move for them, poor defending by us as Aaronson slotted past Beadle. There second goal just after halftime finished the game off as James was put through and finished well. Our best chance came to Bernard but he headed wide.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

THE MATCH



Next up and a trip to the New Den to take on Millwall and our first 3pm KO of the season. The Lions haven't made the best of starts losing 2 and drawing 1 of there first 3 league games and they also lost at home Leyton Orient in the Carabao cup on Tuesday. We won here last season as we staved off relegation and similar result would do just nicely before the first international break of the season. They are managed by Neil Harris who took over last season and saw them survive just like ourselves.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

ALL TIME H2H

OWLS 20
MILL 17
DRAWS 16

CURRENT FORM

OWLS              - L L W                                                            

MILL - D L L                                         

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

LEIGH DOUGHTY
Nigel Lugg & Mark Stevens
Fourth Official: James Linington

THE TEAM

Beadle
Valery Bernard Iorfa Johnson
Bannan Charles
Musaba Ingelsson Gassama
Ugbo

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

1-2 Ugbo

WEDNESDAYS FIRT GOAL TIME

26

ATTENDANCE

N/A

BML LEAGUE

Wereham 7
Maddix 6
Imre 4
Washington 2
SCO 2

BMPL

Southey 6
Owlkev 4
Stateside 1
Pei 0

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Leicester v Villa
Portsmouth v Sunderland
Peterborough v Wrexham
Grimsby v Bradford
Boston v Yeovil

ADAAA

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC

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 3:

1. jjamez = 56 pts
   
2. themaclad = 56 pts
   
3. Baggiebob(BBB) = 54 pts
   
4. St Charles Owl = 54 pts
   
5. SHEP_HTAFC = 44 pts
   
6. Lord Snooty = 41 pts
   

Saturday 31st August:
Rotherham v Town (12:30)
Town scorers:
Rotherham scorers:

Blackpool v Wycombe Wanderers (12:30)
Birmingham City v Wigan Athletic
Bolton Wanderers v Exeter City
Bristol Rovers v Cambridge United
Crawley Town v Barnsley

Tuesday 3rd September:
Bristol Street Motors Trophy Northern Group F:
Doncaster v Town (19:00)
Town scorers:
Donny scorers:

Bonus matches:
Saturday:
Championship:
Millwall v Sheffield Wednesday
Oxford United v Preston North End
West Bromwich Albion v Swansea City

Sunday:
Premier League:
Chelsea v Crystal Palace (13:30)
Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur (13:30)

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

1. Devongone = 65 pts
   
2. neonfoxinthebox = 64 pts
   
3. theo_luddite = 55 pts
   
4. ritchiebaby = 46 pts
   
5. WakeyTerrier = 41 pts
   
6. Amelia Chaffinch = 37 pts
   

Saturday 31st August:
Rotherham v Town (12:30)
Town scorers:
Rotherham scorers:

Mansfield Town v Stockport County
Northampton Town v Burton Albion
Peterborough United v Wrexham
Reading v Charlton Athletic
Shrewsbury Town v Leyton Orient
Stevenage v Lincoln City

Tuesday 3rd September:
Bristol Street Motors Trophy Northern Group F:
Doncaster v Town (19:00)
Town scorers:
Donny scorers:

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

Sunday:
Scottish Premiership:
Celtic v Rangers (12:30)
Kilmarnock v Hibernian (15:00)

Premier League:
Manchester United v Liverpool (16:00)

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

Huddersfield Town ride into Walsall looking to make it 5 wins from 5 when they meet in the League Cup second round tie. Town will be hoping to avoid saddlesore as they aim to progress to the third round in what seems to be years, in fact the last time they made it that far was in the first season in the Prem, when a second string side was knocked out by Crystal Palace. The furthest the club has ever got in the competition is the semi finals, which is no mean feat, but that was back in the 1967/68 season when they succumbed to Arsenal, otherwise there has been a couple of quarter final appearances, one in the 1982/83 season, again falling at the hands of Arsenal, the other in the 1999/2000 season when extra time was needed for the crazy gang of Wimbledon to progress.

Apparently we also made the third round in 2013/14 season where we lost away at Hull, Town fielded a side containing Danny Carr, Oscar Gobern and Jake Carroll, with Cristian Lopez being one of the players to come off the bench, current assistant manager Martin Paterson led the forward line that evening.
For those interested in who some of those I mentioned are or what they have achieved in their career, here's a bit of a low down for you;

Danny Carr- The Trinbagan international was plucked out of non league by Town from Dulwich Hamlet. He began his career at Reading but after being released without making a professional appearance for the Royals, made the move to Eastbourne Borough. He only played 3 games for the side in his sole season there and moved to Dulwich where he had a happier time, scoring 25 goals for the side and attracting the attention of clubs further up the pyramid. He had trials at Leeds, Liverpool and Charlton, before making the move to Town. He only made 2 appearances for the club and had a number of fruitless loans away and was ultimately released by the club. He would go on to have a short stay at Cambridge coupled with loans to Aldershot and Woking, but ended up back at Dulwich looking to find what had made him successful in the first place. He finished his time at Dulwich with a loan to Leatherhead before making a surprise move to Karlstad in Sweden, scoring 8 in 19 for the side earning him a move back closer to home as he joined Irish side Shamrock Rovers. He had two years at the Rovers, scoring 16 goals in his 57 appearances. This saw him called up to his national side as well as earn a move out into Europe once again, this time to Cyprus to play for Apollon Limassol, he would make 4 appearances for the Cypriot club, before heading back to Scandinavia to play for RoPS in Finland, interesting fact, they play their home games within the Artic Circle of Lapland and count Rudolph as one of their famous fans. He only stayed for 7 games before once again hopping onto a plane, and once again seeking a temperature rise, as this time he moved to Bengaluru United of India, it would once again be brief as England came a calling and he headed to Welling. Another brief stay ensued and he moved back to Shelbourne of Ireland, he made 27 appearances in a single season for them before moving to Sevenoaks last season. This season he will be turning out for Sheppey United in the Isthmian League at the ripe old age of 30.

Oscar Gobern- Probably the most recognisable of the players mentioned, with the midfielder making 71 appearances for Town over a 4 year stay at the club. He joined from Southampton, although the club paid more than they thought they would when the Saints took the transfer to a tribunal as he had come through their academy. He made 21 appearances for the Saints prior to joining Town, whilst at Town he had a short loan at Chesterfield before making a surprise move to QPR after a successful trial, he made a sole league cup appearance before going on loan to Doncaster and eventually signing for Mansfield but could only manage 9 appearances there before moving north of the border to Ross County, he would make no appearances there before moving south to Yeovil. He would be at the Glovers for just one season making 11 appearances before heading to Eastleigh for a season. He would make 44 appearances in a single season there before heading even further south to Dover, where he stayed for 2 years before moving to Havant and Waterloovile. Although he his now currently without a club and still probably most famous for his red card tackle whilst at Southampton.

Cristian Lopez- Now if you thought that Danny Carr had a journey man career, then you haven't seen anything yet. Although this guy did have quite a bit of success after leaving Town. He began his career at Alicante in Spain, a hotspot for Brits going to Benidorm. He would move to the capital to play 2 seasons at Real Madrid B scoring 10 goals for the side before leaving on loan to Valencia B. 11 goals in 16 games was enough for Los Che to turn that deal permanent and he would play a further season there scoring another 11 goals but in 31 games before moving to Atletico Baleares on the island of Mallorca. He would score 9 in 35 for the side in his single season there before being an exotic signing for Huddersfield. From memory he was as technical as we had expected given his background, but wasn't strong enough or quick enough for the English game, let alone the championship. He only made 2 appearances for Town before having loans at Shrewsbury and Northampton but could only muster one goal in a combined 8 games for the two sides. He would be released by Town and head back to his homeland to play for Burgos. His scoring touch was regained and he managed 13 goals in 36 games for the side before a surprise move to Romanian side CFR Cluj, there he scored 16 in 44 and would score in the Romanian League Cup final. He made the move to France after that to RC Lens, spending 2 years at the French side scoring 26 goals in 63 appearances, becoming a fan favourite, with the supporters campaigning for him to get a new deal, but instead he would move to fellow French side Angers. His season there would be a struggle as he would manage just a couple of goals in 19 appearances, eventually leaving the club to move to UAE side Hatta, he would score 5 goals in his season there before Spain came calling again in the form of Las Palmas, he would fail to find the back of the net in his 10 games there before leaving to join Cypriot club Aris, but would score once in 2 seasons before returning once again to Spain, bouncing around in the lower leagues.

For this game I'd expect a couple of changes, Herbie Kane and Brodie Spencer look likely to miss out with Kane missing saturdays game against Shrewsbury with a groin injury and looking likely to be out for a few weeks, Spencer came off with a shoulder injury and it has yet to be said as to the severity of it, but it would probably be most prudent to let him miss it regardless. Matty Pearson came on to replace him but he started against Morecambe, so it could lead to Lees starting, or maybe an appearance for Ollie Turton or Josh Ruffles. Chris Maxwell will likely start in between the sticks, Michal Helik only played 45 minutes in the last round, but that was possibly due to the tie being as good as over already. In midfield it would be nice to see Kasumu and Iorpenda get a run out, although the third midfield man will have to be one who played against Shrewsbury, personally i'd say Wiles, but reckon that Duff will go with Hogg. At wingbacks, i'd be expecting Headley and Sorensen to line up there, whilst like Snooty said in the Shrewsbury thread, it would be nice to see Healey and Koroma start up top. I would say it is highly unlikely that we see another through the door before the game and I'm unsure who else is in the squad that would be options, maybe Pat Jones or Kian Harratt, but i don't see where they fit other than the bench. Between now and the end of the window i personally see Ruffles leaving along with possible loans for the two other younger players mentioned.

Onto the hosts, the Saddlers, managed by the aptly named Matt err Sadler, have started their league two campaign fairly well, currently sitting third with two wins and one defeat. They lost on the weekend 1-0 away to Tranmere, prior to that they had started the season with a 1-0 win at home to Morecambe thanks to a goal from defender Taylor Allen, and a 4-0 win away at Swindon, with Allen once again being on the scoresheet along with experienced former Forest Green striker Jamille Matt, striker Josh Gordon and the evergreen Uncle Albert Adomah . In their round one tie they faced league one side Exeter at the Bescot Stadium, with the tie finishing 1-1 after 90 minutes, the west midland side winning 4-3 on penalties, with Jamie Jells scoring the goal for the league two side.
Once again i'm clueless on who to watch, but Jamille Matt has been around the block a few times and will know how to handle himself against our experienced/aging back line, Josh Gordon likewise has been around for a while, having played 130 games for the Saddlers, scoring 23 goals in that period, he is currently into his third stint with the club, having joined originally from Leicester back in 2018. After 3 years at the club he moved on to Barrow before heading to Burton Albion. He spent last season on loan at the Bescot Stadium before rejoining permanently this summer.

In order to get to the ground, you have a few different methods of driving to the ground, you can go down the M1 down to the A38 in Derby, then stick on the A38 until it becomes the A5127, then it is a few B roads until you arrive at your destination. If you go that way, enjoy going around the outskirts of Derby at that time! The other option would be to drive over the Pennines on the M62 and then down the M6 down to the A461 also known as Bescot Road, you will be able to follow that all the way to the ground, it is also the quickest of the two options by about half an hour, you will have to navigate Manchester but it should be reyt. Train is another option, but you might have to depart from Wakefield instead and head to Birmingham, before getting another train or bus into Walsall, which for a Tuesday night game, in a cup, when it is also on that new Sky Sports + thingy if it works, probably isn't worth it. If you do decide to go, then kudos to you, i think i might wait for the Brum or Wrecsam game.

Sorry for being brief and no piccywitches, i'll try to do it when i get on to my computer which might be tomorrow or Tuesday.

https://www.harrogatetownafc.com/



MANAGER

Simon Daniel Weaver (born 20 December 1977) is an English football manager and former player who is manager of League Two side Harrogate Town.

As a player he was a defender from 1996 until 2012 and notably played in the Football League for Lincoln City between 2002 and 2004, he also briefly played in the league for Doncaster Rovers, Macclesfield Town and Kidderminster Harriers. He also played at non-league level for Ilkeston Town, Nuneaton Borough, Scarborough, York City, Tamworth, Boston United, King's Lynn and Redditch United. In May 2009, he was appointed player/manager of Harrogate Town and led the team to first-ever promotions to the National League in 2018 and League Two in 2020, and is currently the longest-serving manager in the top four divisions.

IN AND OUT



STATS



STORY SO FAR



No previous

Culture

Montpellier Quarter
An imposing cenotaph is an important landmark in the centre of the town. Bettys are tea rooms established in 1919 owned by Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate – the same company that markets Yorkshire Tea. Bettys has a second tea room at the RHS Harlow Carr Gardens.[48]

The Mercer Art Gallery[49] is home to Harrogate district's art collection which consists of some 2,000 works of art, mainly from the 19th and 20th centuries. The collection includes works by William Powell Frith, Atkinson Grimshaw, Sir Edward Burne-Jones, Dame Laura Knight and Alan Davie.

The View

Very winnable game if we put our minds to it, possibly a few changes given the effort they put in on Saturday, the home side played the Plastics in the same competition, Plastics won 8-0
We have a target to beat, first of two new grounds in the same week.

Hibs welcome high-flying Dundee to Easter Road in a game that's perhaps come too quick for the Hibees.

SDG is on record as saying that he can't keep on picking players who are letting him down with mistake after mistake. That could apply to several players, but surely we don't have enough depth in the squad to make wholesale changes. Two games in and we have yet to score, but have leaked 5 goals. Dundee, on the other hand, have scored 5, losing 3 in the process. They also have the edge in confidence, allied to their undoubted willingness to attack.

Currently, I'd be delighted to come away with a point.

Saturday sees our second home league fixture of this new campaign as the Shrews of Shropshire come to Huddersfield.

Town have registered 3 wins from 3 in this early season and whilst that is a huge positive in comparison to previous years, there has also been signs of things to improve on. Take our game away at Peterborough, we got the win and clean sheet, but some would say we were opened up on a few too many occasions. The game against Morecambe, saw Town dominate from the first minute, but the second half was lacking in that clinical nature, Koroma being guilty of missing a golden opportunity, whilst also hitting the post, a few fringe players like Kian Harratt also failed to make an impact against a team likely to struggle this season and one that had been reduced to 10 men. Last Saturday, saw the opposition fluff a few decent opportunities, whilst they did manage to get one back late on, the second half performance from a Town perspective was poor and with no disrespect to Stevenage, a better standard of opposition or striker would have put us to the sword. The concerning thing was that this was our first choice back line and it was pulled out of shape often during the second half.



Anyway, enough of the slightly negative and on to the more positive. Now i've not been down to the ground yet, but it appears that it has had a bit of a makeover and is starting to look a lot nicer as a venue. Listening in to Nagle's diary, it sounds like there is still work to be done at the stadium, a lot of which will wait until we own the ground, but it is definitely moving in the right direction. In the same diary, it sounds like we are still looking to be active in the window but Duff and Nagle are both happy with how the side is shaping up at the moment. We all know where we would like to strengthen, but maybe this is more a case of keeping our cards close to our chest in the final weeks of the window. Elsewhere, it seems like a lot of the improvements that are in progress right now are to do with revenue and customer/supporter satisfaction, with the club needing to increase the money coming in through means outside transfer activity in order to be better prepared and competitive on a larger scale, the emphasis on having ties with someone who has worked closely with Adidas and also being from the Town makes me think that this could be one of the lines that the club takes. The man in question is the uncle of one Frazier Campbell, remember him?

Moving onto the game itself, Shrewsbury have had a largely disappointing start to the season, currently sitting bottom of the league after two games, but that doesn't really mean anything at this stage. They started the season away at Stevenage and lost 1-0 before taking on league two side Notts County in the league cup, after drawing the initial tie 3-3 they went through on penalties 4-3. Last time in the league was at home to Peterborough and they were well and truly put to the sword, losing 4-1, this coming after going one goal ahead. In all their games so far they have yielded possession and been more than willing to concede niggling fouls in order to break up play. They did play on Tuesday in the Weird not important cup against Fulham under 21's and lost 2-1, despite having 21 shots, only 3 hit the target. It would be fair to expect Town to be seeing most of the ball and look to try and make use of superiority at set pieces, lucky we have one big lad and only a couple of tallish guys, otherwise, I think we are fairly short in stature, but we should still be able to create chances against them. As long as we don't go too gung ho if they sit deep and frustrate, that sort of mentality leaves us very open at the back.

A little about the club, Founded in 1886, the club were inaugural members of the Shropshire & District League in 1890 and then joined the Birmingham & District League five years later. Crowned champions in 1922–23, they switched to the Midland League in 1937 and won the Midland League title in 1937–38, 1945–46 and 1947–48. Shrewsbury were admitted into the Football League in 1950 and won promotion out of the Fourth Division at the end of the 1958–59 season. They were promoted again in 1974–75 after being relegated the previous year, and went on to win the Third Division title in 1978–79. They returned to the fourth tier following relegations in 1989 and 1992, where they won another league title in 1993–94. The club lost in the 1996 Football League Trophy final and dropped into non-League football after suffering relegations in 1997 and 2003. Shrewsbury immediately regained their Football League status after winning the 2004 Conference play-off final. They subsequently lost League Two play-off finals in 2007 and 2009 before they won automatic promotion in 2011–12 and again in 2014–15 after relegation in the previous season. They finished as runners-up in the 2018 EFL Trophy final and 2018 League One play-off final. They finished 19th in the league last season and have been widely predicted to struggle in this upcoming campaign, with finances not readily available to compete with a lot of the teams in the league.

Shrewsbury itself is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, 150 miles (240 km) north-west of London. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 76,782. Shrewsbury has Anglo-Saxon roots and institutions whose foundations dating from that time represent a cultural continuity possibly going back as far as the 8th century.
The centre has a largely undisturbed medieval street plan and over 660 listed buildings,[6] including several examples of timber framing from the 15th and 16th centuries. Shrewsbury Castle, a red sandstone fortification, and Shrewsbury Abbey, were founded in 1074 and 1083 respectively by the Norman Earl of Shrewsbury, Roger de Montgomery, the town is the birthplace of fabled biologist Charles Darwin.

Prior to the late 8th century, there is little in the way of reliable records. There is a tradition that the town was "founded in the 5th century, on occasion of the decay of the Roman Uriconium." It is claimed that Pengwern, sometime capital of the Kingdom of Powis (itself established by the 440s), was at Shrewsbury.The first attested association of Pengwern with Shrewsbury is mentioned by Giraldus Cambrensis in the 12th century.

In 914,Æthelflæd, daughter of Alfred the Great and known as the Lady of the Mercians, fortified Shrewsbury, along with Hereford and two other fortresses, at Scergeat (a currently unknown location) and Weardbyrig (thought to be Whitchurch. Viking raiders from the north were reaching as far south as Bridgnorth by 910. In the early 10th century, the relics of St Alkmund were translated to the town from Derby, this was probably the work of Æthelflæd.

Roger de Montgomery was given the town as a gift from William the Conqueror and took the title of Earl of Shrewsbury. He built at Shrewsbury Castle in 1074, though archaeological excavations at the site of Shrewsbury castle in 2019 have indicated that the location may have been a fortified site in the time of the Anglo-Saxons. In 1102, Robert of Bellême, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury was deposed and the title forfeited, as a consequence of him rebelling against Henry I and joining the Duke of Normandy's invasion of England in 1101. William Pantulf, Lord of Wem, assisted Henry in putting down the rebellion. From 1155, during the reign of Henry II, there was a leper hospital dedicated to St Giles and associated with Shrewsbury Abbey. From the 1220s, there was also a general hospital dedicated to St John the Baptist. In January 1234 Prince Llywelyn ab Iorwerth of Wales and Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke burned down the town and laid siege to its castle. In 1283, Edward I summoned a parliament in Shrewsbury, later adjourned to Acton Burnell,to try and condemn Dafydd ap Gruffydd, last of the native Princes of Wales, to execution by hanging, drawing and quartering within the town after Dafydd was captured, ending his rebellion against the king. It is thought this parliament met in the Abbey.

In the middle ages, Shrewsbury was devastated by the Black Death, which, records suggest, arrived in the spring of 1349. Examining the number of local church benefices falling vacant due to death, 1349 alone saw twice as many vacancies as the previous ten years combined, suggesting a high death toll in Shrewsbury. "The Great Fire of Shrewsbury" took place in 1394: St Chad's church was consumed by an accidental fire, which spread to a great portion of the town, then chiefly consisting of timber houses with thatched roofs. The damage was so considerable that Richard II remitted the town's taxes for three years towards the repairs.In 1398, Richard summoned a Great Parliament in the town, which is believed to have met in the Abbey.

In 1403 the Battle of Shrewsbury was fought at Battlefield, a few miles north of the town centre, between King Henry IV and Henry Percy (Hotspur), with the king emerging victorious. Hotspur's body was taken by Thomas Neville, to Whitchurch, for burial. However, when rumours circulated that Percy was still alive, the king "had the corpse exhumed and displayed it, propped upright between two millstones, in the market place at Shrewsbury".That being done, Percy was subjected to posthumous execution.

One of the Princes in the Tower, Richard of Shrewsbury, was born in the town around 17 August 1473, the second son of King Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville. In 1480, Edward V, then Prince of Wales (and the other prince of the Princes in the Tower), was resident in Shrewsbury. I read and heard about these two whilst at the Tower of London last weekend, it doesn't surprise me the lengths people went to to get power, even back then.

In 1485, ahead of the Battle of Bosworth Field, Henry Tudor, while not yet king, marched his forces on a route that lay through Shrewsbury. He was initially denied access to the town, but on intervention by a member of the Stanley family he was admitted. Thomas Mytton, the Bailiff of the town, a supporter of Richard III, had vowed that the only way he would get through was "over his dead body". Thomas then lay down and allowed Henry to step over him, to free himself from his oath. Henry was accommodated in the building now known as Henry Tudor House on Wyle Cop. In 1490, Henry VII, accompanied by his queen and his son, Prince Arthur, celebrated the feast of St George in the town.



During the English Civil War, Shrewsbury was a Royalist stronghold, under the command of Sir Francis Ottley.In the autumn of 1642 Charles I had a temporary base in the town. Prince Rupert established his headquarters in the town on 18 February 1644, being welcomed by Shrewsbury's aldermen. He was billeted in a building then the home of the family of Thomas Jones in the precincts of what is now the Prince Rupert Hotel. Shrewsbury only fell to Parliament forces after they were let in by a parliamentarian sympathiser at the St Mary's Water Gate (now also known as Traitor's Gate). After Thomas Mytton captured Shrewsbury in February 1645; in following with the ordnance of no quarter; a dozen Irish prisoners were selected to be killed after picking lots. This prompted Rupert to respond by executing Parliamentarian prisoners in Oswestry.

The town suffered very little from air raids in the Second World War; the worst case was in 1940, when a woman and her two grandchildren were killed when a cottage was destroyed on Ellesmere Road, the only local air raid deaths.Therefore, many of its ancient buildings remain intact and there was little redevelopment in the 1960s and 1970s. However, some historic buildings were demolished to make way for the brutalist architectural style of the 1960s, though the town was saved from a new inner ring road due to its challenging geography.

Between 1962 and 1992 there was a hardened nuclear bunker and would have sounded the four-minute warning alarm in the event of war and warned the population of Shrewsbury in the event of approaching radioactive fallout.The building was staffed by up to 120 volunteers who trained on a weekly basis. After the breakup of the communist bloc in 1989, the Royal Observer Corps was disbanded between September 1991 and December 1995. However, the nuclear bunker still stands just inside Holywell Street near the Abbey as a lasting reminder of the Cold War, but is now converted and used as a veterinary practice.

The town was targeted by the IRA in 1992. One bomb was detonated at Shrewsbury Castle, causing severe damage to the regimental museum of the Shropshire Light Infantry, estimated to be in the region of £250,000 and many artefacts were lost. A second bomb, detonated in the Darwin Shopping Centre, was put out by the sprinkler system before any major damage was caused. Finally, a third bomb was discovered elsewhere in the town centre but failed to do any serious damage.



In terms of who to watch, it is quite difficult as I don't really know many of their players, one name that does stand out is John Marquis who had a good spell at Doncaster Rovers where he scored 61 goals over a 3 year period, earning him a move to Portsmouth for just under £2 million, there, he wasn't quite as prolific, but still handy enough with 28 in 93. He would then move to Lincoln on a short term contract before winding up at Bristol Rovers, who released him at the end of last season, whilst his record there wasn't bad, the belief is that his best years are behind him with injuries occurring more regularly.



Another to stand out a little is Jordan Rossiter, the midfielder began his career with Liverpool, often training with the first team but only managing one appearance for the Reds before heading north of the border to Rangers. His time in Scotland was injury ravaged, with one calf injury keeping him out for 4 months despite it only being minor. The midfielder was sent for specialist treatment back down in England to try and cure the reoccurring problem. He would manage just 10 appearances for the Glasgow side during a 4 year stay, with loans to Bury and Fleetwood also being on the cards. Upon leaving Rangers he would move to the West coast of England and sign permanently for Fleetwood, spending two full seasons at the club and managing the one goal before moving to Bristol Rovers. He would spend two years at the Memorial Ground before following Marquis up to Shrewsbury.



Elsewhere in the squad are the likes of Aaron Pierre and Toto Nsiala and Jordan Shipley. Pierre has spent the vast majority of his career in the lower leagues of England, he played over 120 games for Wycombe in league two before moving up a league to Northampton where he would spend 2 seasons before joining Shrewsbury for his first spell upon the Cobblers getting relegated. After three seasons in Shropshire, he would drop down a division to join Sutton United, but would play only two games before joining AFC Wimbledon on a short term contract, eventually going back to Shrewsbury for his second spell. Nsiala likewise has spent a lot of his career in the bottom divisions after coming through at Everton. Known as a strong defender, Nsiala's first taste of league football was on loan at Macclesfield before a further loan at Accrington Stanley, which would lead to a permanent deal at the Lancashire side. It would be just the one season as he dropped out of the football league to join conference side Southport, reuniting with former manager John Coleman. He would spend a year there before joining fellow Cconference side Grimsby on an initial one year deal. This was extended and Nsiala and the Mariners would win promotion back to the football league, but Nsiala would move to pastures new at Hartlepool, again this only lasted a year before he joined Shrewsbury for his first spell, rejoining Paul Hurst who had managed him at Grimsby. He would spend two seasons at the Shrews before handing in a transfer request in order to join Hurst at Ipswich, Nsiala would fare slightly better at the Tractors Boys than his manager and spent four seasons there, including one year on loan at Bolton. He eventually left in order to join Fleetwood, he would play 38 times for Fleetwood before moving to Burton on a short term deal to finish last season, rejoining Shrewsbury over this summer to pair up with Hurst once again. Shipley spent 6 years with Coventry before joining Shrewsbury back in 2022. He played a key role in getting the Sky Blues back into the Championship, his game time dwindled however and he has since been a key player in the midfield for the Shrews, scoring 10 goals in 79 games.



Managed by Paul Hurst, in his second stint at the club, he rejoined the club in January a few months after being sacked by Grimsby. He has had a few spells in charge of those as well, even joining Shrewsbury originally from the mariners back in 2016. He left his first spell at the new meadow to head over to Ipswich. His stay at Ipswich is the shortest reign of anyone in Ipswich's history. Hurst has also managed Scunthorpe, Boston and Ilkeston, the latter two being as a joint manager with Rob Scott, who he knew from his playing career. As a player, Hurst played almost entirely at Rotherham, being at the club from 1993 to 2008, amassing over 400 appearances for the millers. He had one loan spell away from the club at the end of his career when he rocked up at Burton Albion, who were then in the Conference.



Shrewsbury currently have a number of first-team players out through injury. Morgan Feeney and Josh Feeney both have hamstring issues, while George Nurse has a quad problem and Carl Winchester has a groin injury, although he featured in the defeat against Peterborough, but came off in the game against Fulham under21's. Hurst has said that if there is any more incomings at the club it is likely to be the one solitary loan deal with the Shrews expected to play with the hand that they have been dealt.

Paul Hurst's musings

As for Town, there have been no new injuries to report, with Rhys Healey expected to be fit for Saturday. Bojan has started work back on the grass but is still expected to be a few weeks away from being ready for first team action. Balker is the long term absentee in the squad. Duff and Lasse Sorensen spoke to the media earlier with more details for Saturdays fixture.



In terms of head to heads, there hasn't been too many, with the Shrews having the upper hand over the Terriers. The current record is 24 games played, 10 wins for Shrewsbury, 9 for Town and 5 draws. The first meeting was way back in 1973, where a spritely youthful Snoots would have been raucous in and amongst the smoke in the cowshed end! The last meeting between the sides was back in 2016 in league cup action, when David Wagner took a strong side to the Greenhous Meadow. Shrewsbury striker AJ Leitch-Smith scored past Danny Ward after just 20 seconds. Kachunga replied for Town after 39 minutes before the home side sealed victory through Louis Dodds in the 77th minute. A notable player on the bench for Shrewsbury that day was Ivan Toney, he probably had a couple of quid on a home victory too knowing him. Other notable players to play for Shrewsbury in modern times include, former Bournemouth stalwart Charlie Daniels, who spent a season at Shrewsbury after leaving the Cherries. Welsh international and Wolves legend David Edwards had two spells at the club, making over 170 appearances for the side in total before moving to Bala Town in Wales as well as punditry. Sticking with the Welsh theme and the name Edwards, Luton boss Rob Edwards had a short spell at the club on loan from Barnsley before retiring and moving into management. Former Rangers captain Connor Goldson began his professional career at the Shropshire side, making over 100 appearances for the side before moving the Brighton. He only managed 32 games for the Seagulls after being diagnosed with a heart defect. He moved north of the border after being given the all clear and made just under 200 appearances for the club in his 6 year stay before turning Birmingham down and moving to Aris of Cyprus this summer.



Other players to play for Shrewsbury include Liam Lawrence of Mansfield Playoff fame, Carlton Morris formerly of Barnsley, now at Luton, had a loan at the Shrews, former Preston and Real Sociedad manager David Moyes spent 3 years at the club during the 80's, sticking with Preston managers and their most recent one Ryan Lowe made his name at the Shrews at the start of his career, he would make 171 appearances for the side, but would be more well known for his times at Bury. Fellow manager Nigel Pearson began his career at Shrewsbury, making 150 appearances as a defender for the club before moving to Sheffield Wednesday. Potential England manager Graham Potter had a short loan spell at the Shrews towards the end of his playing career, they like being a playing home for managers don't they? Current Town number 1 Lee Nicholls had a gameless loan spell at the club early in his career.

One of the most notable players to come through the Shrewsbury set up would be one Charles Joseph John Hart. The goalkeeper would make his debut for the side in 2004 and after a series of good performances, Manchester City came knocking and the rest was history so to speak. He would have a number of loans out, one being at Blackpool where his debut would be away at Town. Eventually he would go on to make 266 appearances for the the Cityzens, as well as 75 for the national side. He finished his career at Celtic this summer and moved onto the panel for Match of the Day for this coming campaign.



A number of former Town players have been involved with Shrewsbury, some I will mention here, others will be in a set of anagrams below. Former Town midfielder Dean Whitehead was assistant manager at Shrewsbury for a spell, a spell in which he took 'future Town Captain' Scott High on loan to the club, that was probably as good as it will get for the young midfielder who has lost his way somewhat and looks in need of a fresh break somewhere else. Speaking of being somewhere else, Kieran Phillips had a loan spell at Shrewsbury last season, but this was injury hit and his appearances limited, leading to Town sending him to sunny Sacremento to get some prolonged game time. Another Town academy graduate Joe Skarz spent a time on loan at Shrewsbury after Lee Clark decided to sign Australian full back Dean Heffernan to act as backup for Robbie Williams. Former Town loanee Grant Holt had a season at Shrewsbury where he scored 20 goals in 43 games, earning him a move to Norwich City, where he would go on to be a cult icon. Speaking of backups, Joel Coleman spent a season on loan at Shrewsbury from Town after we had been relegated back to the Championship, he had just agreed a new deal with the club, but would not make another appearance as he was sent on his way. Sticking with goalkeepers that weren't very good, Scott Bevan had a spell at both clubs. His time at Town saw the club relegated from then League Two, he was on loan from Southampton. His time at Shrewsbury came 5 years later, where he would make just 5 appearances for the club before moving on to Torquay.

1) Ripe Elk Key
2) Thin Husker Toe
3) Wrong Thud John
4) Viper Shank
5) Warmth Trick Rag
6) Ill Waste Journey
7) Cat Milker
8) In Hollower Satin

The TOB starts off in Kelso in the beautiful Scottish Borders on Tuesday 3 September.

The 181.9kms of Stage 1 starts and ends on the famous Kelso cobbles. The route goes round in two loops all within half an hour of my house, meaning there will be plenty of opportunities for me to watch the action. Too many to be honest, but thanks to road closures and the like, I'll be limited to only three.

I'll probably be in Kelso for the start (once again the race will go past Oscar Onley's house), then Melrose for the 6.2% Dingleton Hill climb on the first circuit and finally within half a mile of my house as the riders race back to Kelso for the finish. If the weather is decent I could easily walk to the foot of the Scott's View climb on the second circuit.


Leaving Scotland for the rest of the TOB in England for
Stage 2 Wednesday 4 September - Darlington to Redcar
Stage 3 Thursday 5 September - Sheffield to Barnsley
Stage 4 Friday 6 September - Derby to Newark-on-Trent
Stage 5 Saturday 7 September - Northampton to Northampton
Stage 6 Sunday 8 September - Lowestoft to Felixstowe

THE MATCH

FRIDAY 23RD AUGUST KO 8PM

v

LAST MATCH



Back down to earth with a bump as a poor performance and bad defending saw us go down to Sunderland 4-0. We did ok for the first 10 mins but once Sunderland got a free kick and scored from it with the aid of some poor defending, everything went downhill quick. Windass gave the ball away and Mayende scored emphatically and then Windass played O'Nien onside who poked in past Beadle. 3 goals conceded in 13 minutes and game over. The Black Cats made it 4 quickly after halftime, ball given away, quick ball over the top, pulled back and a tap in from Mayende. We huffed and puffed for the rest of the half but never looked like scoring.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

THE MATCH



Next up and the first Yorkshire derby of the season as L**ds make the short trip to Hillsborough. L**ds have made a disappointing start to the season with a couple of draws and a defeat to Middleboro in the Carabao Cup. They have lost several players from last season, Summerville, Gray, Kamara and Rutter and while bringing in plenty of money (£140m) they haven't replaced those players yet. They are managed by Daniel Farke who has a knack of getting teams promoted to the Premier League. I'm sure Leeds will be looking to get at least to the playoffs as a bare minimum, although I wouldn't rule out them getting into the autos if they can make some good signings.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

ALL TIME H2H

OWLS 34
LEEDS 40
DRAWS 27

CURRENT FORM

OWLS              - L W                                                            

LEEDS - D D                                         

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

SIMON HOOPER
Mark Scholes & Steven Meredith
Fourth Official: Sam Allison

THE TEAM

Beadle
Valery Bernard Iorfa Lowe
Bannan Ingelsson
Musaba Ugbo Gassama
Lowe

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

1-1 Ugbo

WEDNESDAYS FIRT GOAL TIME

26

ATTENDANCE

N/A

BML LEAGUE

Wereham 7
Maddix 6
Imre 4
Washington 2
SCO 2

BMPL

Southey 6
Owlkev 4
Stateside 1
Pei 0

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Southampton v Notts Forest
Norwich v Sheff Utd
Leyton Orient v Birmingham
Bradford v Bromley
Aldershot v Oldham

ADAAA

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC

Thursday

Notts County 0-1 Grimsby

Saturday

Barrow 1-1 Port Vale
Bradford 1-2 Bromley
Cheltenham 1-3 AFC Wimbledon
Chesterfield 4-1 Salford City
Colchester 2-0 Harrogate Town
Crewe 1-3 Swindon Town
Doncaster Rovers 4-2 Morecambe
Fleetwood Town 1-1 Gillingham
MK Dons 2-1 Carlisle United
Newport County 2-1 Accrington Stanley
Tranmere Rovers 0-2 Walsall


League Table After Match day 2

Devon - 62
Lord Snoots - 62
SaltergateBorn - 35
Dancing - 32
Amelia - 26
Spireitematt - 23
St Charles - 21
Maclad - 6