Accrington Web - 2020/21 Prediction League; Game 41 v Doncaster Rovers (home)

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Doncaster Rovers

2020/21 Prediction League Game 41; v Donnie

I remember, as do you (because I mentioned it), that Ipswich were promoted to the Top Flight and won the title in their first season following that promotion (1961/62) ... and I remember Notts Forest doing the same thing in 1977/78 (they won the European Cup the following season, I think) .... and then I wondered if anyone else had done it as well, and I find that they have .... it's been done five times altogether, and I've given you two of the five; Starter for Ten, then; which other teams have won the top flight the year after going up, and which years was it?

Jose Mourinho; did he jump (ESL) or was he pushed? Discuss

So; sharp end of the season, and we've got Norwich promoted, Sheff Utd relegated, and John Sheridan resigned as Swindon Manager before Les Tricoteuses could knit you a scarf ...... God's in his Heaven and all's right with the world. How does that man keep getting new jobs?

The Blades have had an absolute mare of a season; Paul Heckingbottom has presided over four successive Premier League defeats since replacing Chris Wilder last month, and 'his' team have only scored once in that time, although they made an abysmal start to the season without his help, which brought them one point from their opening 13 games.... the record for the fewest league goals scored in a season is held by Loughborough, who scored 18 in the Second Division in 1899–1900, and the fewest top-flight goals scored in a season was the 20 that Derby managed in the Prawn Butty days of 2007–08; the Blades have six games left and so far have managed 17 .... think on, lads .... The Baggies have 24 points from 31, Fulham have 27 from 33, and Burnley and Brighton have 33 from 32 and 31 respectively (and much better GDs)

Championnat? Well, The Millers could well rue that 88th minute winner that Birmingham stuck past them, because now they're four points behind Derby with two in hand, not 3 .......... Can't see Les Garcons des Chaises or Les Owls saving themselves either, which is - I think - the first time both Sheffield teams have been relegated in the same season (and - London or Birmingham apart - maybe something that hasn't happened anywhere else either) .... Watford look like they're up auto, plus one from Swansea, Brentford, Bournemouth, Barnsley or Reading ... I fancy Bournemouth, but looking at the PL table, what do I know?

League Un promotions are still open (Hull and the Posh look good value to go straight up); Sunderland have 'failed to win' (ie lost or drawn) too many games again this season, despite only losing 8 (14 draws), and it's probably one from six for the Play-Off place, although Oxford and Blackpool are both on fire (Oxford scored on 74, 84 and 90+3 against The Nice Mr Evans' Gillingham to steal the points ....... Mwwwwwwhahahahah!) .... Bottom four (Cobblers, Brizzle, Dale and Swindon) are now four points or more behind 20th placed Wigan who, with the Wombles, have both won their last three (and the Wombles went on a similar run a couple of years back, I seem to remember, and saved themselves on the last day)

League Ducks; promotion too tight to call (Cambridge, Cheltenham and Bolton in the driving seats (be nice to see Morecambe come up now that Cry-Baby's gone)); down at the bottom, Colchester - with just their second success in 24 - got the win they needed over Walsall to put clear water between them and Southend/Grimsby, who are 6 and 7 points adrift with 4 and 5 to play ......

Top Bananarama doesn't finish their season until 29th May; no-one going down (but wonder what they'll do with Dover when they don't pay the fine for not completing matches they couldn't (apparently) afford to play?) Sutton second, one point behind Hartlepool with three games in hand, and Torquay third ......

And here's a MemoryTester Starter for Ten number 2; what's the name of York City FC's home ground?

Donnie have been in the playoff spots for 23 of their 40 games; after 6th February's 3-2 win over Oxfud they were 3rd, having won 9 of the previous 10; since then they've played 17 games, winning 3, drawing 3 and losing 11 .... away record is P19 W7 D2 L10 GF24 GA28; overall they're now P40 W18 D6 L16 GF57 GA55, giving them 60 points and 10th place .......... we went there on 16th February, and courtesy of a Paul Smyth goal we beat them by the odd goal in one; we lost to them in November 2006 in the Johnstone's Painted P1sspot Trophy 2-0) and beat them in the League Cup in August 2010 (2-1) .... that apart, we've met 7 times in the League, of which we've won 5 and drawn the others ........... Hmmm! Very interesting ............ but shtoopid! (Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In (Jan 68 - March 73)

No changes of personnel at all since we last met, except that Manager Darren Moore caught the number 47 bus to Sheffield, to go and manage on Wednesday ........... sorry, no, to go and manage THE Wednesday (so he jumped up a League to a team about to get relegated) .... The club - originally a Cricket Club - was so named because it was on Wednesdays that the founding members had their day off work. They often went by the name of Darnall Wednesday (where they sometimes played); on Wednesday 4 September 1867, a meeting was held at the Adelphi Hotel to establish whether there was interest among the club's members to form a football club to keep the team together and fit during the winter months. The proposal proved very popular, with over 60 members signing up for the new team on the first night. They played their first match against The Mechanics on 19 October the same year, winning by three goals and four 'rouges' to nil. (This week's homework; what were "Rouges"?)

Moore was replaced as (temporary) manager by Andrew Peter Butler, who plays for the club as a central defender, and who's also manager of Doncaster Rovers Belles; if that weren't enough, he's also a qualified Referee (Smartarse!) ...... 12 games, 3 wins, 2 draws, seven defeats .......... I'm not 100% sure about your job security, Andy old lad ...........

Deadline for entries is, as always, a quarter to midnight on Sunday week (well they bugg*r them around so much I can't keep up!) ..... ok, 7.00pm tomorrow (Tuesday 20th April) ..... And apart from Ipswich and Forest, the other three teams to win the Top Tier the season after promotion to the Top Tier were Liverpool (1905/06), Everton (1931/32) and Spurs (1950/51) ... and York City's ground isn't Bootham Crescent any more (do try and keep up!) - their new ground is now the LNER Community Stadium, which they share with the York City Knights Rugby League team (another ploughed up pitch in the monsoon season, then) .......... and their first game there was against AFC Fylde - and they lost, 3-1!

And I quote David Baddiel from the Guardian (which I don't usually read);

"Sometimes football is dull. Some football matches are not mouth-watering fixtures. It’s what makes the glorious moments more glorious. The problem with every game being the biggest game ever – which seems to me the dream of the European Super League – is that it means no game is the biggest game ever. I’m wondering in fact, if the ESL isn’t the secret brainchild of Syndrome, the teenage villain in The Incredibles, whose most famous line is, said with desperate sad mocking bitterness: “Once everyone is super, nobody is.”

Good luck to everyone! ...... Fight the Obscene Moneygrabbing ESL! .......... And thanks for playing!

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