The Round Ball Game - II

[Alison]

Yes, Easy to sense he was going to miss! He was pretty poor today really.

Been in a grumpy mood since that Everton winner!

[BBMmk2]

Not too good for The Toon.

[gurnemanz]

Not too good for The Toon.

I felt genuinely sorry for them even though they are, like Palace, potential relegation fodder and I should wish them ill. As for Palace .... are we worried? A bit. Inability to score is a drawback.

[Lat-Literal]

Maybe I was slightly harsh in my last couple of posts. St Mary's doesn't look too much like a bowl when viewed on the television. The demographics at the clubs I visited were not quite as I outlined. However, there is an element of truth about both points. A good result for Arsenal. York City also did well on Saturday but they were playing against the tenth placed team in the Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division Central. Newcastle - very sad what is happening there. The first part of Exeter's new stand should be usable by the end of this month as part of the major redevelopment. In many ways, this is good news. It should help to keep the ground in a central location. I had one of my worst ever weeks in fantasy football.

[Lat-Literal]

Premier division splitting into two leagues Alison - Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeen, Celtic, Rangers, Livingstone and Killie...then a gap to Motherwell, Dundee, Hamilton, Saints and the pretend Saints. We got thumped 3-0 by Hamilton a couple of weeks back who got totalled 6-0 by Hibs yesterday. I mean we were beaten by half-time v the Dons yesterday. Just need to re-group, I suppose. I preferred it when we were winning...I preferred when you were winning too. Made me quite happy when Mahrez blazed that Pen over the bar today to be honest.

JC, I am sorry with the way things are going from your point of view. But from a neutral stance, the current order of Hearts, Hibs, Celtic, Kilmarnock, Livingston looks like one of the most open, interesting and competitive situations that has been seen in recent years. Not that I know the ins and outs of what is going on but it seems surprising - and quite positive.

[teamsaint]

Maybe I was slightly harsh in my last couple of posts. St Mary's doesn't look too much like a bowl when viewed on the television. The demographics at the clubs I visited were not quite as I outlined. However, there is an element of truth about both points. A good result for Arsenal. York City also did well on Saturday but they were playing against the tenth placed team in the Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division Central. Newcastle - very sad what is happening there. The first part of Exeter's new stand should be usable by the end of this month as part of the major redevelopment. In many ways, this is good news. It should help to keep the ground in a central location. I had one of my worst ever weeks in fantasy football.

Sorry Lat, I actually missed your post.
SMS is fine,( the Dell was really great at its best but bloody dire at its worst, when cold wet and half empty) but turning into the epitome of the modern football experience. Logistically Its actually ok to visit, being an easy 20 minute walk from the city centre. But he fans are fed up of mediocre and insipid football. I'd wait till better times.

[Lat-Literal]

Sorry Lat, I actually missed your post.
SMS is fine,( the Dell was really great at its best but bloody dire at its worst, when cold wet and half empty) but turning into the epitome of the modern football experience. Logistically Its actually ok to visit, being an easy 20 minute walk from the city centre. But he fans are fed up of mediocre and insipid football. I'd wait till better times.

Thank you - and that's fine. I have a feeling that we have had this discussion before and not so long ago. Repetition on my part. Put it down to dotage. I have had a look at it on the map and also where the Dell used to be. Neither inaccessible. So far, I have had win-draw-loss-loss. In characteristic style, I appear to be choosing a time to visit clubs when they are going through it a bit. I've just had to accept it. I'm not going to many more. Common sense would suggest that I should pick Bournemouth if I am in that general area and it isn't out of the question but as I have suggested Southampton - who I very much hope will pick up soon - and Yeovil are on the list. This is, if I ever get out of my house again. Unpredictable.

The very peculiar full list of grounds I have visited, approximately in date order of first or only visits:

Arsenal (Highbury, now gone), Boothferry Park (Hull, now gone, alongside a Hull City supporting friend), Bootham Crescent (York, soon to go), Whyteleafe (for "Chelsea 70"), Old Trafford (Man Utd, with a Man Utd supporting friend), Hillsborough (Sheff Wed, Norwich supporting friends were at the other end), Ayresome Park (Middlesbrough, now gone, supporting Arsenal), Wembley (now gone, for England, Arsenal and York), Carshalton, Selhurst Park (Crystal Palace, neutral, and Charlton), The Den (Millwall, now gone), Upton Park (West Ham, now gone, alongside a West Ham supporting friend), Craven Cottage (Fulham), Stamford Bridge (Chelsea, but supporting Arsenal), Carrow Road (Norwich, with Norwich supporting friends), White Hart Lane (Spurs, now gone, alongside a Chelsea supporting friend), Griffin Park (Brentford, but supporting York), Barcelona (outside only), Ajax (old ground), Haarlem (now defunct), Marseille (Velodrome, now gone), Monaco (no match, a weird walking through the corridors without being spotted), Evian Thonon Gaillard (now defunct), San Siro (AC Milan), Braga (Denmark v Bulgaria), Emirates (Arsenal), The new Wembley, St James's Park (Exeter), Portman Road (Ipswich), St James' Park (Newcastle), The Valley (Charlton).

[zola]

Some interesting league tables in Europe. Real Madrid and Barca not having it all their own way ( and not only Atletico challenging ) Bayern Munich just holding onto a Europa League slot and Monaco in the relegation places. This is all somewhat counter balanced by Juventus and PSG absolutely walking away with their respective leagues.

[antongould]

Ten from the Orient 0 Hangers 0
As long as we keep playing 10 men we should be safe .....

[johncorrigan]

Ten from the Orient 0 Hangers 0
As long as we keep playing 10 men we should be safe .....

Last week I was complaining about Saturday cos we keep losing...today I'm complaining cos there was no footie on...dunno where I'm at with it. Glad to see yer mob are doing reasonably well, anton...keep it up...it cheers me! Wonder how the Fort did today...rained off I reckon...where's Rob when you need him? I fair miss him!

[Demetrius]

Last week I was complaining about Saturday cos we keep losing...today I'm complaining cos there was no footie on...dunno where I'm at with it. Glad to see yer mob are doing reasonably well, anton...keep it up...it cheers me! Wonder how the Fort did today...rained off I reckon...where's Rob when you need him? I fair miss him!

Well, rained off ... in a way. 0:8 against FC Deveronvale

[Lat-Literal]

Following my recent visit to The Valley, I have been exploring a little of Charlton's history.

This was 1969:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aa5CBNYtUA

Incredibly, they had 70,000 attendances in the 1940s - often the largest in the country.

By 1990, they had formed their own political party to save the ground - and it worked.

Now they have a new political party - which on 14 Oct fielded candidates in Belgium:

https://www.skysports.com/football/n...and-duchatelet

[cloughie]

Following my recent visit to The Valley, I have been exploring a little of Charlton's history.

This was 1969:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aa5CBNYtUA

Incredibly, they had 70,000 attendances in the 1940s - often the largest in the country.

:

Weren’t they doing quite well then - winning the FA Cup in 1947, having been losing finalist the previous year!

[Lat-Literal]

Weren’t they doing quite well then - winning the FA Cup in 1947, having been losing finalist the previous year!

Yes indeed cloughie.

One of the stands is the Jimmy Seed stand which is a name that doesn't mean huge amounts to many people today. However, he was their manager from 1933 to 1956 which is in the same sort of league as Ferguson and Wenger. Born in Whitburn just north of Sunderland, Seed had been an Inside Forward at Tottenham and Sheffield Wednesday and subsequently became quite close to legendary Arsenal manager, Herbert Chapman. Between 1933 and 1936 he led Charlton to successive promotions from the Third Division to the First Division.

In Charlton's first season in the top-flight, they finished runners-up. They finished third and fourth in the final two seasons before the outbreak of the Second World War so this was an extraordinary start to his management. The two post war cup finals, one win, one loss, were unusually notable for ball bursting after which Charlton didn't invest in players - Seed discovered Stanley Matthews but wasn't allowed to sign him - and their bubble burst. He moved in 1956 to Millwall where he stayed for a decade until his death in various roles.

When you look at some of the attendances at all grounds from the past, what is striking are the sheer numbers involved which are so much greater than most today. Certainly that continued into the 1980s. I was one of 54,703 who was at Highbury on 15 August 1987 for Arsenal v Liverpool. Weirdly, I always think of it as having been against Man Utd but there was confusion on that day - we ultimately found a standing place on top of a toilet roof, then news from Scarborough on their first day in the league of a man falling through their roof.

Talking of Arsenal, my mate Mark with whom I attended matches regularly for over a decade was on the Isle of Sheppey last night enjoying a three course meal with Liam Brady. He is really thrilled by the way it went. Brady came across as a very nice man. I do now have a brilliant photo of the two of them together but I may not post it here for several reasons.

[Lat-Literal]

I am going to put this up only for a couple of hours in respect to both of them but it cheered me so much I wanted to share it. The warmth in it on both sides is very obvious. My best footballing mate who was not educated at university but only because of a lack of confidence in his background and who later became a Grade 7 for our country before turning back to fine art. On the Isle of Sheppey last night with a hero who turned out to be everything he wanted. Please - if you respond - do not copy in this post as I'd like to delete it fully:

Picture removed

For the uninitiated, the ex footballer is the one on the right!

I do have one of my daft arty titles (of which I am too fond) to go with this one too.

It is simply "But Here We Don't See Any Border...….".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liam_Brady

My mate here is Bennite Labour and pro Brexit should it matter - I did somehow collect them all in my time : the two I posted a couple of days ago are Blairites and find the referendum result so awful they can't bring themselves to discuss it; and there was one, a lovely man, who was UKIP before UKIP existed. I guess it means we don't let such things get in our way.

This is Swale. One of the three poorest areas in Kent on the economic deprivation index. It is also featured in the national index. As is my own very long term Kent link which is Thanet!