2023-24 Prediction League; Game 39 v Sutton Utd (away)

Div3North · 21-03-2024, 22:22

Sutton United

V

Accrington Stanley

2023/24 Prediction League Game 39 v The Doomed United (away)

Starter for Ten (and if anyone knows this one I’ll show me bum in Burtons’ Window) …. name the European international defender who was “hanged for love” by his own country? And if that doesn’t grab your attention, nothing will!

12 of 15 players last week thought we’d beat NottsCo (Midlands version of CostCo), but we never; two predicted draws (nige b and teach) but both half-Desmonds, so a basic 4-pointer; two of us thought we’d win 3-2 and one nameless charlatan though we’d lose 1-2, so all three got a point for their two goals, and seven players got a point for our two; and mab and pompeylass got lost in the mists, and were too late to post their coupons ………

And did you see that Calamity James came out of retirement to play for AFC Hutwood in the Sunday League last weekend, played out in the second half (I imagine they were playing 3 and in), and lashed in a 25 yard pile driver of a free kick for the winner (2-1) … not the only goal he’s ever scored, but all the others were in his own net …… managerial sackings are down this week, but that’s because there’s no-one left to sack ………… and ignoring Harrogate’s Simon Weaver, most of whose tenure was in non-League, do you know who’s the longest serving EFL Manager now that Coley’s gone? Apparently it’s Mark Robbins at Coventry (2017)……….

And did you also know that in 1962 Geoff Hurst played cricket for Essex against Lancashire? I don’t know how many goals he scored, but his two innings brought him nought and nought (not out), and it appears that he never played First Class cricket again ……………

Speaking of longest serving managers - Second Starter for Ten; who is currently the longest serving International team manager?

The Borough of Sutton is an Outer London borough.. It covers an area of 17 square miles - slightly larger than Accrington - and is the 80th largest local authority in England by population. It borders the Borough of Croydon to the east, the Borough of Merton to the north and the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames to the north-west; it also borders the Surrey boroughs of Epsom and Ewell to the west and Reigate and Banstead to the south. Google maps are available … The Borough was once made up of rural villages, associated with feudal and royal estates. The "village feel" persists, and Carshalton, Cheam and Belmont in Sutton continue to be referred to as villages. The historic development of the borough is reflected in the number of heritage areas designated as conservation areas and as areas of special local character. The local theatre is named after Sir Harry Secombe ………..

Among the Historical Notables of Sutton was Sir Nicholas Carew, “sheriff of Surrey and Sussex, Master of the King's Horse, executed by Henry VIII” ……… why Henry VIII executed his horse I’m not clear …………….

Starter for Ten number 3; which team (present or past) conceded the highest number of goals in a season in the Football League but still ended that season with a positive GD?

Sutton United FC (not to be confused with Sutton United FC (Birmingham), nor with Sutton Common Rovers, who share SUFC’s ground at Gander Green Lane and play in the Isthmian League South Central Division) were formed on 5th March 1898, when Sutton Guild Rovers F.C. and Sutton Association F.C. (formerly Sutton St Barnabas F.C.) agreed to merge: they did junior footie, the Isthmian League, the Athenian League, and then were founding members of the Conference South (now known as the Southern Bananarama) in 2004. They won the Said Bananarama South in 2015–16 and achieved promotion to the Football League by winning the BananaramaProper title in 2020–21 by four points from Torquay and seven from Stockpot; Harrogate accompanied them into the Big Boys League, beating NottsCo 3-1 in the Playoff Final. Dover Athletic were unable to complete their fixtures that season and had their record expunged, but the relevant tables still show them as P0 W0 D0 L0 GF0 GA0 Points -12 (they weren’t going to be allowed to get away with that!) ……….

They may be most famous for beating Coventry (then second in Division One) in 1988/89 - a year and a half after Coventry had won the FA Cup - 2-1 in the Third Round of that season’s FA Cup; sadly their Fourth Round game at Norwich ended 8-0

Their coat of arms (look it up) features a green budgie on a pile of leaves, with two keys and four daggers on the shield ……….. they’re known as “The Us” (how original!), The Yellows, and The Amber and Chocolates (“Give us an A ….. and a Mars bar”)…… Manager since January 2024 is Steve Morison (once manager at Cardiff for most of a season), who played for nigh on 20 years as a striker (190 goals in 603 games) for Stevenage, Millwall (3 times), Norwich, Leeds and Shrewsbury …………. they released two players in the January window - DMF Dominic Gape (who went to Oblivion FC) and French striker Hisham Kasimu, who dropped down to Farnborough, and they ProperSigned Guyana international striker Deon Moore, and Fulham CB Jay Williams ……………….. Leading scorer is Harry Smith with 8 (League) and three more in other competitions …..

Currently they’re 24th, with a record of P39 W6 D12 L21 GF42 GA70 for 30 points and a heap of trouble ………… three points behind Vegan Greenpeace (who they beat 1-0 on Saturday) and also Colchester, but VG have a game in hand and Colchester have three in hand ……… they’ve been 23rd or 24th since the fifth game of the season ……. their wins have been against NottsCo (home, first game of the season, 5-1), Walsall (home ) 4-0, Bradford (home 2-1), 1-0 at the Wombles, 4-3 at NottsCo and 1-0 at Vegan Greenpeace (their goal scored by Coley, who must have had a day off and took his boots just in case) …. two wins in their last five…… and they lost at our place 4-1 (Tommy Leigh with two, Longelo and Pritchard)

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 23rd March …………………. the two to GreasyPole will be two from Sutton, VGU and Colchester ………. Sky Bet have Sutton at 1-12 to go down, VGU at 1-7 and Colchester at 2-1 , with Grimsby the back-up at 14-1, and as a Colchester supporter (my home town, as I keep saying) I hope the bookies are right………..

And the unfortunate footballer was Hungarian International defender Sándor Szűcs, who played 19 times for his country, alongside the likes of Puskas and Hidegkuti …… this, remember, was a post-war totalitarian state run with barbarous cruelty, and Szucs - a married man - met and began an affair with singer Erzsi Kovács, leading to their living together. The State frowned on this. He was threatened with the loss of his career, and then received word that AC Milan would like to sign him ……….. a colleague (Laszlo Kubala) had defected from Hungary in 1949, and Sandor decided to do the same ……… they found someone who would help them escape (for a price), but it turned out that this person was an AVO agent, and that the whole thing had been a trap. The couple were arrested ………. Because he played for Ujpest FC (which was controlled by the Police), he was automatically a commissioned officer in the Hungarian Police, which made him subject to an anti-defection law the penalties for breach of which were life imprisonment or the death penalty ………Szucs was sentenced to death by hanging, and executed on 4th June 1951

In 1989 his death was declared a violation of Hungarian Law, and was revoked (rather too late) …. he was posthumously named as a Police Lieutenant-Colonel

And the current longest serving International manager is Luxembourg’s Luc Holtz, who was first appointed in 2010 ………. and the team with the highest number of goals conceded but still with a positive GD was the 1957/58 version of Manchester City, who finished 5th in Division One having scored 104 goals and conceded 100 ………. and I remember it well, because I quite often watched them that season …….. Ray Sambrook running the left touchline, Joe Hayes, Bert Trautmann, Billy McAdam ……………Happy Days!

Good luck to everyone! ……. Keep the Faith (and say one for Colchester)! … And thanks for playing!

ossy kid · 22-03-2024, 05:17

1-1 please

Watchdog · 22-03-2024, 06:45

Accrington Stanley to WIN 2-1

choirboy · 22-03-2024, 08:15

Sutton 1-2 Stanley please!��

AccyMad · 22-03-2024, 09:53

3 - 1 to Stanley please

teach · 22-03-2024, 10:03

Stanley to win 2-0 please.

MikeA · 22-03-2024, 10:20

Stanley 3-0, please.

I remember seeing Sutton United in 1969, losing 3-1 away at Prestwich Heys in the FA Amateur Cup, the week before they lost 6-0 at home to Leeds in the FA Cup.
Strangely, I was chatting to someone last week who was at the same match!