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Old 21-02-2022, 19:08   #1
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2021/22 Prediction League Game 35; v Doncaster Rovers (away)

Doncaster Rovers

v

Accrington Stanley


2021/22 Prediction League Game 35; v Doncaster Tuesday


I was talking to a friend of mine about our next match, and momentarily - as you do - I forgot .... errrm ......... my name - no, ermm ...... who we were due to play next (Storms D1ck'ead, Eunuch and FFS permitting), and he said, "You're playing Doncaster, Tuesday" ............. Well I must have missed the announcement of the change of name, but then ..... So Doncaster, Tuesday it is ....They used to play at Belle Vue, where the circus was .......... so now then ....

And another 5-5 draw (Wycombe v Cheltenham, if you missed it - Alfie May scoring four of the Chelts' goals) ......... and four more managers have gone in the last twelve days; Matt Taylor on 9th Feb, after 264 days at Walsall's BestScottish Stadium (sounds like a prison sentence, that .... "You'll be sentenced to 264 days in Walsall"), replaced with unseemly haste by Mike Flynn (ex Newport boss) - and incidentally Flynn's already got a 100% win record halfway down the M6 (which is where Walsall is); Derek Adams on 15th, after 261 days at Bratfud ......... should have stayed at Morecambe .... or Plywood Argos (should have gone to Specsavers!); Veljko Paunovic (who?) after 540 days at Reading - which is what Oscar Wilde got, as I remember - on Feb 19th; and today (20th) Darren Ferguson (again), this time resigning after 1121 days at the Posh, who are 23rd dans Le Championnat ...........

And on the subject of Outstanding Fixture Pile-Ups (Piles-Up?), and the frequent pointlessness thereof (Oh, wasn't I?), may I refer this Honourable House to season 1987/88, and Notts Forest v Luton / Luton v Notts Forest ..............at the due end of the season every club had duly completed its fixtures and was off to the beach, but neither NF v L nor L v NF had been played ...... don't ask ...... Disgraceful, as Taunton's Best-Known Resident would no doubt have told us all .............. So on 13th May and 15th May 1988, League One was played to its (very pointless) conclusion .... Forest were third, and couldn't finish second: Luton were ninth, and would need to win both games to finish 8th ........ And both games ended 1-1 ...

And a propos de rien, have you ever thought to wonder whether or not a hat was ever actually used during the drawing of the FA Cup Fixtures (as in, "drawing the names out of a hat")? Well, apparently it was - a top hat (naturally!), inverted (presumably), covered by a handkerchief, filled with pieces of paper bearing the names of the clubs, and an FA Committee member delicately lifting the corner of said handkerchief - and please note, it wasn't a "hankie" - to allow the teams to be drawn; the whole process was "barred and bolted" against all unofficial comers - including the Press

The rot set in though when the draw was first broadcast on the wireless in December 1935; by then the Bag and Ball arrangement was in place .... and the bit of this story that I treasure is the (maybe apocryphal but none the less reported) request by Auntie Beeb to Sir Stanley Rous, the FA Secretary, to "rattle his balls in the bag for dramatic effect" ........It was always better on the wireless!

This week's Starter for Ten, then: what links Accrington Stanley, Roberto Martinez, the Mongolian National team, and Fort William FC?

Doncaster Rovers was founded in 1879 and turned professional six years later, moving to the Intake Ground; these days they play home games at the Eco-Power Stadium, having moved from Belle Vue in 2007.

They joined the Midland League in 1891 and were elected to the Football League in 1901, although they lost re-election votes in 1903 and 1905 and so returned to the Midland League; they were admitted into the Football League for a third and final time in 1923 and went on to win the Third Division North in 1934–35, 1946–47 and 1949–50; they found themselves in the Fourth Division after suffering successive relegations in 1958 and 1959, though they won the Fourth Division title in 1965–66 and 1968–69. They yo-yo'd between the third and fourth tiers, winning promotions in 1980–81 and 1983–84 and relegations in 1983 and 1988, before suffering relegation into non-League football in 1998. It took them until 2003 to get back in the League, beating Dagenham 3-2 aet in the Playoff Final and accompanying Yeovil Up The Down Staircase

You may have heard, those of you of my generation, of their striker ("centre forward" in those days) called Alick Jeffrey ........ the story is worth the re-telling:

"Jeffrey made his senior debut for Doncaster Rovers in 1954, at the age of 15, and was considered one of the most promising players in the country, playing for England U23 when still a teenager. He had an agreement with Manchester United that he would move there at the end of the 1956–57 season, but sustained a badly broken leg playing for England U23 v France in October 1956, and it was immediately apparent that he might never play again. He officially retired due to that injury in January 1959.

He then met the former Sweden International Manager George Raynor (who became manager of the non-League side Skegness Town F.C.) and who assisted Jeffrey in being able to play again, despite his former injuries. An attempted come back with Skegness in August 1959, ended when he broke his leg again on his debut. Jeffrey then moved to Australia, and began his long road back to professional football with Sydney Prague in 1961 and Auburn in 1962.

Later that same year, Jeffrey returned to England to play non-league football with Skegness Town F.C. before finally returning to professional football with Doncaster in December 1963, making his debut in a reserve team game in front of almost 4,000 supporters. Jimmy Murphy, the ex Manchester United Assistant Manager, called Jeffrey the "English Pele" ... Despite the fact that his athletic ability never returned to its previous heights, he had a successful career with Doncaster (who were now in the lower divisions of the football league.) In 1964–65 he led the entire league with 36 goals in the 4th division. In the twilight of his career, he also played in the Football League with Lincoln City, before playing non-league with Worksop Town."


Having rejoined the League in 2003, Donnie were then promoted as Champions of Division Three (as it then still was), winning by four points from Hull, and eleven from Torquay and Huddersfield; they see-sawed between League One and Championnat save for one season (2016/17) in League Two, but for the last five years they've been in League Un ....... Last season they were a very mid-table 14th (we were 11th) with 64 points and a -4 GD, winning two and drawing three of their last 15 ........ we did them 2-1 at home (two pens by Charles), and 1-0 away (Paul Smyth) .......

They signed five in the Transfer Window (well no, actually, they signed them in the Board Room, but you know what I mean); striker Kieran Agard from Plymouth, CB Ollie Younger from Sunderland, Hartlepool GK Jonathan Mitchell, Brum's CMF Adam Clayton, and French striker Reo Griffiths - not connected to Reo's Chicken, Preston - from Olympique Lyonnais, and got them all for free: Omar Bogle departed for Hartlepool ........
.
Home record is W4 D3 L10, away is W3 D1 L13 (although the three successes included wins against MK Dons 1-0 and Sunderland 2-1 ...... wrapped around those 3 wins were 10 defeats ........... it hasn't been Charles Dickens's "Best of Times ...." for Donnie this season so far. Overall record then is P34 W7 D4 L23 GF24 GA66 for 25 points and 23rd place .... and Crewe below them have two games in hand and three points to catch them up .......... apart from game one (when they were 20th despite losing) they haven't been out of the bottom two GreasyPole Places all season ........ and a -42 GD is the "Worst of Times ...." in League One ..... Going down? Yup!

And to continue the Winning Run from last season, we won 1-0 at Our Place in August with a 3rd minute OG by Donnie's on-loan Swedish GK Pontus Jacob Ragne Dahlberg, who now plays for Gillingham on loan from Watford instead of for Donnie (on loan from Watford). Wonder why ........

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 7.45pm on 22nd February (soon be Easter!). I was reading a rumour today that Middlesbrough are looking at Toby Savin and Ross Sykes ........ well they CAN'T HAVE THEM ...... so there

And the connection between Mongolia's National team, Roberto Martinez, the Stanley and Fort William FC is a who, not a what ................. Shadab Iftikhar was an academy coach with the Stanley (a few years back, as I believe), then the Assistant Manager of Mongolia, then assisted Martinez with scouting reports for the Euros in 2020, and is the current manager of Fort Willam FC (Highland League), who've doubled their points total, by the way (from one to two) and extended their GD to a modest minus 61 (GF19 GA80 - in 21 games)

Ah well ........... Can't win 'em all!

Good luck to everyone! ............ Keep the Faith! ,,,,,,,,,, And thanks for playing!

COYR!


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