Football

[gg1]

Or more likely that with social media and attitudes to referees it's better to be more vague about where they live. I doubt there were many people called Ray Lewis living in Great Bookham back in the day.

Fair point.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

In the olden days, when you bought a programme, you were always told which town the referee came from.

Talking of programmes in the olden days, this might be an opportune time to reflect on terminology changes that have now taken place, as the team that I occasionally watched had their kit described in the match programme as being red jerseys and white knickers.

We (Stockton Town) were fortunate it wasn't at least 6-1. Hyde were the better team on the day. Mind you, once we scored our 1st goal there was hope we may get lucky and equalise. My first away game of the season proper, and it's going to be a long coach ride back home.

The final league game of the season should see Stockton Town, who are well placed in the play-offs, play the return fixture against a Hyde United side totally berift of form and defeated by lesser teams in the two area trophy competitions and a reverse scoreline of the match above is expected.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 26 Apr 2025 ==

Championship Saturday early kick-off

Queens Park Rangers 0 ... Burnley 5

Think Burnley decided that they were also capable of not being boring on their visit to London.

 

[PauloDavesi]

After todays results, Oxford United have confirmed their place in the championship next season. Cardiff are relegated to League One, and will, almost certainly be joined by Plymouth Argyle, who would ned to beat promoted Leeds United, Luton on 49 points would need to lose lose heavily, so there was a change in coal differrence of at least 14.

 

[bearhugger]

The final league game of the season should see Stockton Town, who are well placed in the play-offs, play the return fixture against a Hyde United side totally berift of form and defeated by lesser teams in the two area trophy competitions and a reverse scoreline of the match above is expected.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 26 Apr 2025 ==

Championship Saturday early kick-of

Stockton Town v Hyde was our final fixture of the regular season and a fairly eventful game. Both sides had a few chances to score but failed. Our captain got red carded and sent off for a coming together ( should only have been a yellow at worst in my opinion). Then Kev Hayes scored a wonder goal catching the Hyde keeper well off his line and lobbiing over the keeper from near the halfway line.

 

[THC]

Barnet, Brackley Town and Truro City win the National League divisions and promotions to the English Football League Two and the National League respectively. First time for Brackley and Truro at tier 5 come next season.

THC

 

[High Dyke]

Grantham Town 1 Bedworth United 6

In a game that was a 'dead rubber' for both sides, it proved a disappointing end to a depressing season for the Gingerbreads. Whilst we played some good football, it was a bit of men vs boys stuff at times. A big thank you to all the players and i wish you well for the future.

 

[Falcon1200]

Rather disappointed that BBC1 saw fit last night to ditch Final Score, on a day when multiple promotion and relegation issues were decided, in favour of Gary having a laugh with his mates before the FA Cup semi-final. At least we won't have to put up with him for much longer.

 

[JamesT]

Rather disappointed that BBC1 saw fit last night to ditch Final Score, on a day when multiple promotion and relegation issues were decided, in favour of Gary having a laugh with his mates before the FA Cup semi-final. At least we won't have to put up with him for much longer.

He’s only leaving Match of the Day at the end of the season. He’ll still be doing next season’s FA Cup and the World Cup.

I think Final Score was still broadcast yesterday, it was just bumped to Red Button/iplayer. At least there’s an episode on iplayer with yesterday’s date on it. It doesn’t seem that unreasonable when there’s two live events they go on the main channels instead of some chat about scores.

 

[Falcon1200]

He’s only leaving Match of the Day at the end of the season. He’ll still be doing next season’s FA Cup and the World Cup.

Thanks. Must remember to turn on the TV only when the match starts.

(And 'some chat about scores' included Oxford United's survival in the Championship!)

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The live matches yesterday were BBC1 showing the live FA Cup semi-final between Crystal Palace and Aston Villa and BBC2 showing the live Women's Rugby Union match between England and France.

 

[JD2168]

The FA Cup final will be between Crystal Palace & Manchester City after this weekend’s results.

Liverpool have been crowned champions after beating Tottenham Hotspur 5-1 at Anfield.

Ipswich have been relegated, this is the earliest all the relegation places have been decided in the Premier League.

Cardiff City have been relegated to league one for next season.

Carlisle United have been relegated to the National League. A match next season will be between Carlisle & Truro City with a 600 plus miles round trip.

 

[JamesT]

The Women's Champions League final will be between Barcelona and Arsenal after today's semi-final second legs resulted in Barcelona beating Chelsea 8-2 on aggregate and Arsenal beat Lyon 5-3. Both second legs were 4-1 results. Arsenal are currently the only English team to have won in Europe, 18 years ago.

 

[dangie]

Ipswich have been relegated, this is the earliest all the relegation places have been decided in the Premier League.

Plus with Liverpool winning the league with 4/5 games left to play it shows how boring the Premier League has become.

 

[Darandio]

Plus with Liverpool winning the league with 4/5 games left to play it shows how boring the Premier League has become.

How boring it's become in one season?

If Man City win the league with 4/5 games left to play we're apparently watching a genius at work.

 

[Jimini]

How boring it's become in one season?

If Man City win the league with 4/5 games left to play we're apparently watching a genius at work.

I’m no Liverpool fan (Fulham as it goes), but I was chuffed for them to finally win it after all these years in front of an actual crowd and have a good old knees up, rather than the Covid theatre crap they had to endure five years ago. They’ve had a cracking season.

Fair play to them.

 

[Haywain]

A match next season will be between Carlisle & Truro City with a 600 plus miles round trip.

Over 800 actually, but not the longest as the two matches between Truro and Gateshead will involve a round trip of over 900 miles (451 each way according to Google).

 

[DarloRich]

Darlington 3 v Needham Market 1 - End of season game meaningless game against a side already relegated. We finish 11th which is a lot better than last year but short of where we hoped to be. A lack of gaols in the team has really derailed our play off chances. Still, a positive season that hopefully we can build on next year.

Wider NLN news: In a glitch in the matrix perennial promotion bottle jobs Brackley won the league! Something has gone wrong there!

Looking at Middlesbrough for a moment: STILL in with a shot of the play offs despite being very poor and boring. Apparently the natives were unhappy with Carrick after thier 0-0 on Saturday. Lots of grumbling about his position and style of play. They will miss the play offs but have had & wasted every opportunity to take a place in the end of season shoot out. Poor.

If Man City win the league with 4/5 games left to play we're apparently watching a genius at work.

but Slot doesn't look as sexy as Pep

 

[SuspectUsual]

The Smogs aren’t without a chance of the playoffs. Last day they go to Coventry and if they win they go above them. The two other teams above them - Blackburn and Millwall - are away at Sheffield United and Burnley

 

[DarloRich]

The Smogs aren’t without a chance of the playoffs. Last day they go to Coventry and if they win they go above them. The two other teams above them - Blackburn and Millwall - are away at Sheffield United and Burnley

they do - but they have been awful recently and have tried VERY hard to throw away such a chance! They will draw 0-0 at Coventry but have 75 possession

 

[Old Yard Dog]

Jersey Bulls have won the Combined Counties League Premier Division South and should have been promoted to the Isthmian League, except ...

https://fulltime.thefa.com/index.html?s ... petition=0

The club have been deducted three points for inadvertently playing a suspended player. This would relegate the Bulls to the play-offs. But it's more complicated than that. Their rivals Redhill did something similar and seemingly got away with it. So promotion and the play-offs are on hold while the FA try and sort the mess out.

https://jerseyeveningpost.com/sport/202 ... 20decision

It's all very reminiscent of what happened to Brighouse Town who were relegated to the NCEL thanks to a 3 pt deduction for similar reasons.

Brighouse Echo Sport - All the latest news from the Heffernan Utilities Stadium by Dave Parker - Brighouse Town AFC

Brighouse Town have received a huge blow in their battle to stave off relegation by having three points deducted by the NPL. The deduction and fine originates from the Carlton Town home game on November 30 when Town were actual 4-1 winners, but an administrative error saw them play Josh Waldram...

brighousetownafc.co.uk

There seems to be a good deal of confusion as to which competitions count when adding up yellow cards and serving suspensions. Are clubs meant to work this out themselves - or is the FA meant to tell clubs when players are suspended? A few years back, anybody could look up suspensions on the FA website. Not any more.

I wonder whether a verdict in Jersey's favour could set a precedent which would allow Brighouse to belatedly appeal?

Basically it seems like the FA are guilty of a lack of clarity and competence in stating and enforcing their rules in a timely manner.

 

[Haywain]

Jersey reported the matter themselves and have been punished in the standard way, so an appeal would serve little purpose. If Redhill have done the same thing it will be AFC Whyteleafe who benefit by going above both teams. As for Brighouse, they are long out of time for any appeal.

Basically it seems like the FA are guilty of a lack of clarity and competence in stating and enforcing their rules in a timely manner.

The FA rules are clear and they appear to have followed their procedures appropriately.

 

[Iskra]

Leeds United 4 Bristol City 0

Men against boys. Very enjoyable double celebrations in the stands from the fans, who were absent for the last one due to Covid.

Leeds have Plymouth away on Saturday. Plymouth are essentially relegated already. If Leeds win they lift the title, regardless of what Burnley do against Millwall.

 

[youngiecj]

Boston 2 Gateshead 1. Nearly a miracle how we have managed to stay up with one game to spare. 12 points behind at the beginning of March, a super human effort that I probably won't see again in my lifetime! Heading full time next year and 4th stand to be completed. Can we just have a mid table season next year please!

 

[75A]

Well done Boston

 

[Old Yard Dog]

Jersey reported the matter themselves and have been punished in the standard way, so an appeal would serve little purpose. If Redhill have done the same thing it will be AFC Whyteleafe who benefit by going above both teams. As for Brighouse, they are long out of time for any appeal.

The FA rules are clear and they appear to have followed their procedures appropriately.

They may be clear to the mandarins at the FA but they are obviously not clear to the poorly paid or even unpaid officials of part time clubs, many of whom may be relatively new to their posts.

How many non-league clubs have had points deducted for administrative errors this season? Quite a few I would wager and I doubt whether any of them were deliberately cheating. The FA or County FAs should actively inform clubs when players are suspended instead of leaving officials to read the small print (if that is indeed the case - I don't know).

FWIW - Gateshead got away with fielding a substitute who against Bradford in the FA Cup three or four years ago who hadn't been named on the team sheet. The Heed went on to have a quite lucrative cup run. There are obviously one set of rules/punishments for "bigger" clubs and another set for minnows.

 

[Purple Train]

Leeds United 4 Bristol City 0

Men against boys. Very enjoyable double celebrations in the stands from the fans, who were absent for the last one due to Covid.

Leeds have Plymouth away on Saturday. Plymouth are essentially relegated already. If Leeds win they lift the title, regardless of what Burnley do against Millwall.

I don't begrudge you that one bit. We may as well have been playing Liverpool - Leeds are a fantastic side and absolutely deserve a long stay in the Premier League the way they're playing. Daniel Farke has done a phenomenal job for you - I know we travel about as well as a cat in a rucksack but we're fifth in the league on merit and it should have been a cricket scoreline.

As for Bristol City, it's been a brilliant effort from Liam Manning and the team to get so close to the play-offs. I'm not going to count my chickens before they hatch but I hope we do show that we can consistently challenge at the right end of the league rather than falling away like the last couple of times we've challenged for sixth. That being said, we only need to look at the bottom three this year to know what any season in the Premier League for us would be like. Would I prefer never quite getting there to euphoria followed quickly by getting thrashed 6-0 every week? I'm not sure. But it's been a fantastic season all the same.

 

[Falcon1200]

As for Bristol City, it's been a brilliant effort from Liam Manning and the team to get so close to the play-offs.

A lot of fans were most unhappy when Liam Manning left our club, Oxford United, for Bristol City, but personally I bear him no ill-will and things haven't worked out too badly for us. It is surprising that a city the size of Bristol has not had a top-flight football club for a long, long time.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Leeds are a fantastic side and absolutely deserve a long stay in the Premier League the way they're playing

And yet their team has plenty of players in it who couldn’t get into premier league teams. Rodon, James, Darlow, Solomon, Byram, Ampadu etc.

Yes Leeds are a fantastic championship side, but it just demonstrates again how wide the gulf to the premier league is

 

[1D54]

And there has been talk in various media outlets that Farke will be relieved of his duties in the summer. Wonder if it has anything to do with taking Norwich up twice only for it to end in immediate relegation but on both occasions he wasn't backed by the board with hard cash, a problem he surely wouldn't face at Leeds.

 

[AlterEgo]

Plus with Liverpool winning the league with 4/5 games left to play it shows how boring the Premier League has become.

Only if you look at the top of the table. The middle has had a lot of quality and excitement.