Huddersfield Town v Arsènil
Sunday 13th May 15:00 BST
The McGalphsmiths Stadium
4 Big Blue Arched Buildings
With 4 big Prima Donna Standard sets of Floodlights
and we'll have to switch 'em on so the cheap telly camera's Sky use can see what's going on
Near the Gasworks
Just off Leeds Road
HD1 6PX

The final Prima Donna League game of the season. Hell where did that go (in the blink of an eye)?

Only yesterday?
It only seems a couple of weeks back we were cheering a 0-3 thumping of Crystal Palace on opening day, followed by a win against Newcastle that got Town off to a flying start,

which apparently was August last year and it's nigh on a full year since that glorious Bank Holiday afternoon at Wemberlee, when Chris Schindler's spot kick put us here in the first place. Wasn't it just before Easter this year, which is what it feels like?
Does that mean I'm gettting old or just that I'm feeling someone that's too old?

The news got around mind
https://pantip.com/topic/36582698
Not sure if that was posted in Bradford or Batley to be honest

Cheers fellow posters
We've had a lot of great messages of congratulations from posters on other clubs boards this week, whether from way up north in Cabbage town, the outpost of the North West that is otherwise known as Preston Both Ends, Greater Lancastria, the odd Wendies fan from either side of the pond (some odder than others but we like most of them really) and their near neighbours just to the south of them (though some obviously live much further south these days) who will sadly be playing Halifax Town next season when not too long ago they were looking to join us in the Chumpionship. My near neighbours round here in Muddled Middle England have been most gracious inspite of their own demise this season and the success of the noisy neighbours who play in a litle ground 4 miles down the road from me. Hell, in other corners of the t'interweb, we've even had congratulations from L666s fans. Lads, lasses - and those still trying to make up their minds, not that there's anything wrong with that - we thank you all and wish you all the best for next season.

It's been a blast
As I've menioned countless times this season.

and it's got around a bit this season too

That was definitely Bradford

Those were the days?
I was 16 going on 17 when I met some fellow Town fans in the 1975-76 season in Division 4, just 5 years after winning promotion to Division 1 as it was then. I'll be 60 later this year and that they are still great friends to this day and we'll be there on Sunday, proud as punch and singing long and loud along with the rest of them from our perch on Row Z. It will be a beertastic weekend.

Apparently, Town's players had a beertastic night in London on Tuesday, drinking in bars and clubs until the wee small hours until the coach driver had enough hours kip to drive them back oop nooerth.
My car is staying on the drive and the train is taking the strain this weekend. Monday will be here far too early. Hopefully my head will be clear enough to see where I'm going on Monday morning.

Any road - this one's from my mates daughter, who ain't a little girl any more but she's a Town fan to the core.
https://www.si.com/soccer/2018/05/10/huddersfield-town-keep-magic-alive-league-big-spenders-and-heavy-hitters

T'match on Sunday
A game we can celebrate, free from biting our nails down passed the quick (there were a few fans of both sides doing that on Wednesday) and down to the first knuckle. The dreaded last 4 games has found the top 6 running out of gas, having won what they wanted to (Citeh), or left a few top players on the bench (Chelski) and underestimated our resolve and fight. Let's make it 5 points on Sunday.

No, it hasn't been pretty to watch at times. That rear-guard action that worked at Chelski and the 2nd half at The Emptihad (I'm sure some fans were dressed as seats again against Brighton) didn't work at all for 90 minutes against Liverpool, at Anfield or ours and against several other sides this season. They've labelled us the worst team they've seen at Anfield and it's hard to deny it on the evidence of either of those two games. It's no reason for the doom and gloom merchants on some other forum's to call for Wagners head though. I saw one moaning we were the only bottom half side not to change our manager a one point. Well Stoke did, the Baggies did it twice and Swansea did it - where did it get them? The only one it really worked for was Everton. Most of the others that stuck to the one they started with are sat nicely in mid-table. What the hell is wrong with stabiity people?

Fortunately, the season is 38 games long not 2, and some of the so called football fans who inhabit other forums and think only 6 or 7 teams deserve to be in the Prima Donna League and should not have to play the likes of Little ol' Huddersfield need to give their heads a shake.

Without playing the likes Little ol' Huddersfield, or Burnalee, or West Brom, Stoke, Swansea and plenty of others that make up the bottom 14, there wouldn't be a top 6. There would only be a league of 6 and if promotion and relegation still happened (if only 1 team each season), the "top 6" would soon find that not many of them are still in the top 6 after a few years and they wouldn't be scoring hundreds of goals either. They would soon get as sick of the sight of each other and TV armchair fans would turn off in droves, as I'm sure Rangers and Celtic, or Barca and Real fans can sometimes do, because there's nobody else to play that matters.

Alternatively, they might play in a European League and us "minnows" would only be allowed to play on Tuesday or Wednesday night according to Mr. Wenger. Sod that for a game of soldiers pal. If you want to go and play in a league of your own, go. Saturday afternoons (or Sundays) are ours, not yours. If the money drops substantially and common sense returns to the game, it won't stop us playing at the weekends. You lot won't be allowed in our League either if you want to swan off all over Europe with your rich mates, and you can forget the local Cups too if I'd get my way on that one. That will leave you lot one trophy to play for, maybe two if you have a European League Cup too that nobody other than the "elite" can enter.

What will I miss next season?
A few more away games maybe, having chalked a few grounds off I didn't get close to seeing us play at in the 70's. Yorkshire derby's (again) unless Boro' get their fingers out and recreate some more matches from the early 70's. Nah bollox, I want to see us win a few more away next season.

What won't I miss?
Derby matches against L666s. I didn't miss them this season either. Away trips to Derby - they won't make it again either. If I can get the tickets, I won't be missing to many away games that are within an hour or so of Wolvo to be honest. I might even give Brighton a try if it's a sensible weekend game rather tha a wet Wednesday in November. We've a couple of lads that work for us from Brighton so I could meet up with them pre and/or post match for tea and biscuits.  

What am I most looking forward to? 6 points off Wolves, spend what you like of your Chinese take-away brass.

What am I not looking forward to? Mo Salah running through our defence again.

What will you lot miss/not miss and look forward to next season?

Right then, Arsène Nil.
The club with the worst away record in English football since December 31st 2017 are coming looking to improve their record, just because the boss is retiring apparently. Well, Arsènil have apparently asked him to retire, though the papers say he's plenty of offers for work coming in. The players apparently retired for away games after winning at Burnalee on New Years Eve, believing European Qualification, or at least the Europa League was theirs. They couldn't even get anything at Leicester, who stopped playing way before Easter and will likely be looking for yet another manager to try and get them back into Europe or keep them up next season. Has Wagner been linked? Yawn, yes.
Hard to fathom how a side that is so good at home hasn't yet picked up a point away in 2018. I wasn't the only Town fan looking at the last 3-4 games with a renewed interest in this final game as the one where if we need to, we can get the points we need to stay up after first thinking - if we don't have the points before those last 4 games -


Like us they won the League 3 times in a row - having nobbled our manager when we were 2/3rd's of the way through that first effort. Unlike us they went on to win it a few times more than 3 though and also won it 2 years before they set off on the Town equalling run.

Retiree of the Year Award goes to

Arsène Wenger is the second most successful manager next to the red nosed Jock at Man Utd in English Football, though he hasn't been as succesful at two clubs as his famous predecessor of the 1920's and 30's.

Are we playing for t'Erbert Chapman Trophy again on Sunday too?

(Wishing you well Mr. Ferguson for a full recovery, by the way.)

He holds the record for the longest unbeaten run in English top Division football. A record only beaten by a side that then played in England's 3rd tier. Step forward Lee Clark's Huddersfield Town side. Unlike Wenger's Invincibles going on to lift League Trophies and assorted Cups and Shields to put in his and Arsenal's trophy cabinet, Lee Clark's Invincibles couldn't win play off finals, automatic promotion or the top prize in a raffle when they bought all the tickets. So Clark got the boot and Arsène got to spend more money keeping Arsenal in the top level of English football. He kept Arsenal in the Chumpions League (in whatever guise) while Arsenil moved from the too small and too hemmed in Highbury to the Emirates and for many seasons beyond, despite regularly having to sell his best players. He has brought way more Academy players into the Premier League (even if many now ply their trade in the EFL or beyond these shores) than any other Prima Donna League manager (or club). Chelski by comparison have blooded maybe a slackhandful in the same period in their own colours, despite being regular winners of the likes of the FA Youth Cup. Only Fergie comes anywhere close.

He's described as the man that changed English Football. Well, really? He was often the man that "didn't see that incident" in interviews on Match of the Day and elsewhere when one of his defenders cut the opposition centre forward or winger in half with a crunching and often foul tackle. It was a good few years before the "Same old Arsenal, always cheating" chants started to hit home and he started to play a more attractive and less brutal kind of football. This though was eventually to lead to his demise as the "Invincibles" were slowly replaced with the "Quite Often Beatables." They still carry a sting though and have beaten many sides this season with a three goals in a 5-10 minute burst that have put many a side to bed, including us, just when they though they had 'em running.

That having been said, what club wouldn't want this record?
Played 1,234 (it will be 1235 on Sunday if WIKI is up to snuff)
Won 706 - 57.2% :applause: - oh, we don't have that smilie  
Drawn 280
Lost 248

FA Premier League (3): 1997–98, 2001–02, 2003–04
FA Cup (7): 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2016–17
FA Community Shield (7): 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2014, 2015, 2017

The Premier League commissioned a unique gold trophy to commemorate Arsenal's achievement of winning the 2003–04 league unbeaten; Wenger was given the trophy as a parting gift from the club after his last home game as manager on 6 May 2018.


Never won owt in Europe mind, but that's not a bad haul of loot to take home with you to be fair.  
Not good enough for some guttersnipes though, partly why he's taking early retirement, from Arsènil anyway. Don't doubt he'll continue to be successful wherever he goes (gi'im a job Deano). I wish him well, as I'm sure most proper football fans do.

Favourite ex-Arsenal Player
This fella

He retired at 32 before Wenger came along, though he was their goalie coach when he did. Told Wenger signing Seaman was a no brainer. Somehow he qualified for Scotland and somehow they only gave him two caps. No wonder the numpties up north never win anything.

Points means £millions
About £2 million a place they reckon so another 3 points on the last day would be more than welcome, especially if it puts us above West 'Aaaaam

This was a reasonable guess from earlier in the season

Stats - it wouldn't be a Theo thread without stats

Table


Form

Nowt to see here, move along please

The Roller Coasters
Ours

Theirs

Stalled a bit early hasn't it

Who's banging them in?

A bunch more only have one too.

Where did he spend all the brass?


Where did he get it back?


Who played last time?



Pressers
If I can find 'em, I'll post 'em


I found 'em

Ey up, we're back on for another season of this. Could be better, could be worse, but as someone once nearly said, "Same Bat Times, Same Bat Channels" next season.

Song Time
Ya know the real words to this one - right?


............
'I wanna destroy Bradford and Leeds,
Cos I waaaaaaannnaaa beeeeeeeeeeeee
HTFCeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee'  

Come on you bloo .... ooooo's.