Accrington Web - 2023-24 Prediction League; Game 35 v Wrexham AFC (away)

Wrexham

Accrington Stanley

2023/24 Prediction League Game 35 v Wreck’dEm (away)

Three TenFromLens and four five-pointers on Tuesday night – all scored by the Faithless – those who predicted Stanley would lose at Walsall; tens for Greger, Kiwi and Teach ….. All Hail, Kings of the Faithless Hordes. 16 entries, which is now our standard, having started with 24; did the rest get bored? Do they not like the thread openers? Someone tell me why they’ve deserted us ………….

And it isn’t going well for “The Garrulous Englishman” (aka Neil Warnock) since he took over at Aberdeen; one narrow win in the Cup against Bonnyrigg Rose of League Two (4th tier), home draws against Motherwell (3-3) and Hibs (2-2), and defeats against Rangers (2-1), Killies (2-0), and St Johnstone (2-0) has them currently in 9th place in a League of 12, four points above the playoff, and the fans ain’t impressed one little bit …… apparently he’s constantly criticising the players – not, perhaps, the best bit of man-management - and he amused the city (not) by his prediction that he “can’t see Aberdeen winning another game at the moment”; watch this space! Be interesting to see if he lasts out the season …………..

Starter for Ten, then; I’ve written more than once about the Winter of 63 and all its postponements, the 29-times postponed Scottish Cup game between Inverness Thistle and Falkirk in 1979, and Airdrie v Stranraer, played eventually at the 34th attempt (Airdrie won 3-0); but none of those were the worst day of domestic cancellations of matches, which was actually 3rd February 1940, when because of the weather only one of the scheduled 56 Wartime League games could be played ………………. Plymouth v Bristol City ………… and the scoreline was memorable ……….. but what was it?

Wrexham (or in Welsh – “Wrecsam”) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It's located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire; historically in the county of Denbighshire, and later the county of Clwyd in 1974, it has been the principal settlement of Wrexham County Borough since 1996.

Wrexham was one of the primary settlements of Wales. At the 2021 Census, it had a population of 44,785. The core of the city comprises the communities of Acton, Caia Park, Offa and Rhosddu. It was likely founded prior to the 11th century and developed in the Middle Ages as a regional centre for trade and administration. The city became the most populous settlement in Wales in the 17th century and was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution from the 18th century; prior to de-industrialisation in the 20th century, the city and surrounding area were a hub of coal and lead mining, the production of iron, steel and leather, and brewing. Today, it continues to serve North Wales and the Welsh borderlands as a centre for manufacturing, retail, education and administration.

The city is noted for the nationally significant industrial heritage of the Clywedog Valley; the National Trust Property of Erddig; and the fine Tudor church of St Giles, which towers over the historic Wrexham city centre. Wrexham has two railway stations, Wrexham General and Wrexham Central. One of its famous citizens was Thomas Beach (died 1737), a Welsh poet and wine merchant (who could ask more of Life?)

Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Wrecsam (have a guess what that means) was formed in 1864, and is the oldest club in Wales and the third-oldest professional association football team in the world. The club initially participated in friendlies and cup competitions, and first entered a non-league league in 1890, becoming inaugural members of the Football League's Third Division North in 1921. They spent 37 years in the Northern section until being placed in the re-organised Third Division in 1958 and then relegated two years later. They were promoted out of the Fourth Division in 1961–62, only to be relegated again two years later. Other promotions and relegations followed, and they reached the Second Division for the first time after winning the Third Division title in 1977–78; worsening financial problems resulted in administration in December 2004. It took 18 months for the club to exit administration and the club's decline on the pitch continued, as it dropped out of the Football League in 2008. They had five unsuccessful play-off campaigns in the fifth tier of the English football league system, before being promoted as champions of the 2022–23 Bananarama.

Wrexham's honours include winning the Welsh Cup a record 23 times, the Football League Trophy in 2005 at the Millennium Stadium, and the FA Trophy in 2013 at Wembley Stadium. The club are also record winners of the short-lived FAW Premier Cup, winning it five times out of the 11 years of its tenure, participating against fellow Welsh clubs such as Cardiff City, Swansea City and Newport County. In 1992, Wrexham upset the reigning English Champions Arsenal in the FA Cup; they also scored a 1–0 victory over FC Porto in 1984 in the European Cup Winners' Cup. Their first European tie was against FC Zürich of Switzerland in 1972 and their last was played in Romania against Petrolul Ploiești in 1995. Wrexham's home stadium, the Racecourse Ground, is the world's oldest international stadium that still continues to host international games. The record attendance at the ground was set in 1957, when the club hosted a match against Manchester United in front of 34,445 spectators

Second Starter for Ten; in season 1907/08, two sides (then in the top division of the Football League) both – unusually – finished the season with absolutely identical records; P38 W12 D12 L14 GF51 GA63 Pts36 …….. one of the teams was Blackburn Rovers; who was the other?

They started this season in fine form, losing 5-3 at home to the MK Dons …. They followed that by drawing three and winning four of their next seven games (including a 5-5 draw at home to Swindon), before capitulating 5-0 at Stockport – the third time in ten games they’d let in five goals ………. Their next 14 consisted of nine wins (including 6-0 against Morecambe) four draws and one defeat, which was 2-0 at Ours! They’ve lost five and drawn two of their last eleven, and managed to scrape a draw at home to Vegan Greenpeace on Tuesday courtesy only of a 90+6 minute penalty, and they only beat Sutton in the 85th minute. Currently they’re 4th, but 14 points from their last 11 games isn’t what the fans expected, and is showing clear signs of blue water above them starting to develop; P34 W17 D9 L8 GF60 GA45 Pts 60

The answer, of course, is “throw some more money at it”, and they’ve bought GK Luke McNicholas from Sligo, defender Luke Bolton from Salford, and forward Jack Marriott from Fleetwood, all for “£undisclosed”; Marriott has had a lengthy career at – primarily – Luton, Posh, Derby, Posh again and Fleetwood, scoring over 100 goals in all … and we are, of course, indebted to them for the borrowing of Jake Bickerstaff

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 2nd March 2024 …….. those planning to attend, please remember your passports ………… and if you want to engage in merry banter with the natives, you could try greeting them with a warm handshake and the words “ffyc i ffwrdd” – but only if you’re a fast runner!

And the result at Plymouth on 3rd February 1940 saw the Pilgrims just sneak home by 10-3; and the second side with the identical playing record in 1907/08 was Woolwich Arsenal!

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

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