2023-24 Prediction League; Game 1 v Newport County (home)

Div3North · 31-07-2023, 17:46

Accrington Stanley

V

Newport County

2023/24 Prediction League; Game 1 (5.8.23) v Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Sir Casnewydd) …............. Isn’t it. Look you. Eisteddfod …

As I was saying ….............

Starter for Ten, then; …... Name the footballer who scored the greatest number of goals for his team in an away FA Cup tie and still finished up on the losing side?

Newport is a city and county borough in Wales, situated on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, 12 miles northeast of Cardiff. With a population of 145,700 at the 2011 census, Newport is the third-largest authority with city status in Wales: it’s also the site of the last large-scale armed insurrection in Great Britain

The 1839 Newport Rising was caused by Chartists, whose demands included democracy and the right to vote with a secret ballot. On Monday 4 November 1839, approximately 4,000 sympathisers, under the leadership of John Frost, marched on the town of Newport, Monmouthshire (as it then was). En route, some were arrested by police and held prisoner at the Westgate Hotel in central Newport. Chartists from other towns, including many coal miners, some of whom had home-made arms, were intent on liberating their fellow Chartists. Fighting began, and soldiers of the 45th Regiment of Foot, deployed in the protection of the police, were ordered to open fire. Up to 24 Chartists were confirmed killed, with reports of perhaps a further 50 injured. 4 soldiers were injured, as well as the Mayor of Newport who was inside the hotel. Subsequently, the leaders of the rising were convicted of treason and were sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. The sentence was later commuted to transportation.

Oggy Oggy Oggy!

Newport has been a port since medieval times, when the first Newport Castle was built by the Normans. The town outgrew the Roman town of Caerleon, immediately upstream and now part of the borough: it grew significantly in the 19th century when its port became the focus of coal exports from the eastern South Wales Valleys. Newport was the largest coal exporter in Wales until the rise of Cardiff in the mid-1800s.

In the 20th century, the docks declined in importance, but Newport remained an important centre for manufacturing and for engineering. It was granted city status in 2002, hosted the Ryder Cup in 2010, and was the venue for the 2014 NATO summit. And …...... The Boys' Brigade movement in Wales was founded by George Philip Reynolds at Havelock Street Presbyterian Church in 1887

“I joined the Boys’ Brigade,
They called me Marmalade.
I hit me bum instead of me drum
I joined the Boys’ Brigade”

(Peter Whelan’s “The Accrington Pals”, Act One)

Famous people from Newport include actor Michael Sheen, Anne Hegarty, Leslie Thomas (The Virgin Soldiers), Q (Desmond Llewelyn) and one WH Davies, delightfully described as “poet and tramp” …. the mind boggles!

Second Starter for Ten, then; AIK won the Swedish title in 1998 with 26 games played and 25 goals scored, but that record was bettered by some tune in 2009-10; who by, and how many goals per game did they manage?

Formed in 1912, Mewport County (originally “Newport and Monmouth County AFC”) began life in the Southern League before being invited to become founder members of the FL Third Division in 1920: they failed re-election in 1931, but were elected back into the League in the following year. They struggled for some while but were crowned Div3S champions in 1938–39 (although WW11 meant they had to wait until the 1946–47 season to take their place in the Second Division, from which they were promptly if not inevitably relegated at the end of the campaign.) Fifteen years later (AD 1962 of Little Fame and Zero Honour) they were relegated from the FL Third Division too. In the 1980s they suffered financial difficulties with a double relegation costing them their League place in 1988, and the club went out of business in February 1989.

Newport inevitably re-formed but were initially unable to play at their home ground at Somerton Park, so picking up the nickname of the "Exiles" …..... their alternative nickname (not counting the ever-so-boring “The County”) was “The Ironsides”, which apparently came about by virtue of Newport being the hometown of Lysaght's Orb Works steel works. They reached the SouthernBananarama in 2004, which they won in 2009–10, and after moving to Rodney Parade in 2012, they returned to the Football League following a 25-year absence by winning the BananaramaProper play-off final in 2013 under then-manager Justin Edinburgh, beating Wrexham 2-0 after seeing off The Brothers Grimsby by the same score in the semis …. And they’re also one of only 17 people or organisations granted the Freedom of the City, which means that they – and also Viscount Montgomery of Alamein – can herd their sheep over the local bridges (or something) …....... Oggy oggy oggy indeed!

There is, of course, an Accrington Stanley Old Boys club at Newport, featuring ex GK Jonny Maxted, just signed on release from The Cobblers, and one Offrande Zanzala, plus Aaron Wildig (ex Morecambe – and may I say how generous it was of them to be relegated with us last season, which should guarantee us a least 6 points? …........ Maxted signed to replace Joe Day, who went on loan for the season to Woking FC despite having played 20 games last season as against Nick Townsend’s 17 (he being from Antigua and Barbuda) …............. Woking also have an Old Boys’ section featuring Podge (Pádraig Amond) - now 35, believe it or not …........... other recent Newport signings include CB Kyle Jameson (who distills whisky in his spare time) from Tranmere, DM Bryn Morris from Grimsby, AM Nathan Wood from Penybont, Irish CM Shane McLoughlin from Salford Moneybags, Irish CB Ryan Delaney from Morecambe (his dad kept donkeys, I believe), and a second Irish CB from Shelbourne called Josh Seberry

Last season they came 15th off a record reading P46 W14 D15 L17 and a GD of –3, finishing between Sutton and Walsall; they beat Colchester 2-0 in the Cup and then lost at home to Derby 2-1; in the EFL they did Luton and Pompeii (both by 3-2) and then lost 3-0 at the Foxes; and in the EFL Cup they got out of their group (behind Vegan Greenpeace United) before expiring against the McDonuts 3-1. Leading League scorer was Omar Bogle with 17 …........

The last time we met was April 2018, when we lost 2-1 away; in fact, we played them twice every season from 2013-14 to 2017/18 and we only managed one victory (March 2016, when we won 2-0 away, goals by Billy Whizz and Josh Windass) ...... the other 9 games featured four draws and five losses ….... which makes me quite glad that they lost pre-season 8-0 at Bristol City (hattricks by Wells and Scott, if you wanted to know)

Deadline for entries is, as it always was, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 5th August …........ I won’t deny I was getting worried when pretty much everybody had signed shedloads of players we hadn’t (signed anybody), but heigh-ho, this is League Two. So that’s OK then

And as regards “shedloads”, lose eleventy-billion points if you said “Denis Law at Luton” “Most Goals in a Losing Cup Match”. The King – for those who weren’t Man City fans in those days (I was) - got all six goals in the abandoned first attempt to play the game (City 6-2 up), plus the City goal in the rearranged game when Luton won 3-1! …... In fact, on 22nd November 1922 Wilfred Harry (“Billy”) Minter took the record for St Albans City when they took on Dulwich Hamlet in a re-played 4th Qualifying Round FA Cup game …............ Billy netted seven times for St Alban’s, but they lost 8-7 to the final kick of the game (bugg*r!)

Billy was something else in the field of goalscorers; he played 362 games for St Albans and scored 356 goals, 37 appearances for the Hertfordshire FA scoring 57 goals, and three England Amateur international caps (but I can’t find that he scored in those). And you might want to know that a community fundraising campaign just before the centenary of that November 1922 game raised enough to pay for a memorial to Billy, who was born in 1898, served in Mesopotamia during the Great War, and ran the shop which had been passed down to him by his father

And the fewest goals-per-game title win went to the Aduana Stars in 2009-10, when they won the Ghanaian championship with 19 goals in 30 games! Their win was apparently thanks to their head-to-head record against Ashanti Gold: the two-legged playoff resulted in a 1-0 win to the Stars, and – pretty inevitably – a Goalless Desmond in the return ….....

Plus ca change ...............

Good luck to everyone! …....... Keep the Faith! ….. And thanks

Watchdog · 31-07-2023, 18:17

Wilf Minter

Saturdays game - Accrington Stanley 2-1 Newport

mab · 31-07-2023, 19:31

Welcome back Div3North

Accrington Stanley 2 - 1 Newport County Please for me

andyd · 01-08-2023, 07:00

Cheers for this Div3North a big flash of optimism haven't seen any preseason games only brief highlights but here's to a great start and season ahead:-
Accrington Stanley 3-0 Newport County.