The Round Ball Game

[EdgeleyRob]

The forum has something to celebrate at least.

Afan Lido 0 Aberystwyth Town 0.Two points dropped ?.
Fulham 0 Arsenal 1 .Surely safe.
West Brom 1 Newcastle United 1.Still not out of trouble.
QPR 0 Stoke City 2.Hard to see an escape from relegation now.
Swansea City 0 Southampton 0.Again surely safe.
Crystal Palace 2 Leicester City 2.Forum derby,Palace still hanging in there,Foxes now 7th.
Sheffield Wednesday 1 Ipswich Town 1.Still not safe.
Coventry City 0 Leyton Orient 1.Nothing to play for now.
Hartlepool United 1 Brentford 1.Relegated.
Bristol Rovers 0 Accrington Stanley 1.A result that didn't do Wimbledon or York any favours.
Gillingham 2 Wimbledon 2.In great danger.
Port Vale 2 Northampton Town 2.All but promoted.
York City 2 Southend United 1.Survival in their own hands now.
St Mirren 1 Dundee 2.Blimey,not good.
Falkirk 0 Partick Thistle 2.Champions,another for the cabinet.
Telford 0 Hereford United 4.That's how to finish a season.
Kidderminster Harriers 4 Stockport County 0.Fin.
Mansfield 1 Wrexham 0.Play offs.
Chelmsford 2 Basingstoke 0.Play offs.
Truro City 3 Farnborough 3.Better news off the pitch at least.

[EdgeleyRob]

Sorry you weren't quite able to claw your way to safety, Rob. Hopefully you can regroup next season and get back into the League in the next year or two.

Also sorry about your boy and others being upset -- it's sad that some supporters feel violence is acceptable, but passion is no less passion when it accepts defeat gracefully, and the vast majority of your fans are doing exactly that.

I know County have been through some very hard times as a club, never mind on the pitch, but as long as you can keep together as a community, there has to be a brighter future ahead. I cannot believe that the current structure of football can sustain itself for ever. Portsmouth is the latest "big" club to be sliding down the divisions, and at some point I think there will be an enforced (by wider financial circumstances) levelling-down/up of clubs. Where there's life, there's hope.

Thank you Lass for those kind words,Wimbledon look to be in a bit of trouble,fingers crossed here for next Saturday.
At least franchise fc finished the season outside the play offs.

[eighthobstruction]

Sorry you weren't quite able to claw your way to safety, Rob. Hopefully you can regroup next season and get back into the League in the next year or two.

Also sorry about your boy and others being upset -- it's sad that some supporters feel violence is acceptable, but passion is no less passion when it accepts defeat gracefully, and the vast majority of your fans are doing exactly that.

I know County have been through some very hard times as a club, never mind on the pitch, but as long as you can keep together as a community, there has to be a brighter future ahead. I cannot believe that the current structure of football can sustain itself for ever. Portsmouth is the latest "big" club to be sliding down the divisions, and at some point I think there will be an enforced (by wider financial circumstances) levelling-down/up of clubs. Where there's life, there's hope.

Bing Bang Bong....a Sad Song....Gone....Yep hard luck Rob....11 men in your colours kicking a ball, next season the same as this....it's the game isn't it.....each one a challenge....best wishes....8O

[cloughie]

Bing Bang Bong....a Sad Song....Gone....Yep hard luck Rob....11 men in your colours kicking a ball, next season the same as this....it's the game isn't it.....each one a challenge....best wishes....8O

Edge
Sorry to hear the news - I guess you'll be everybody's cup final next season - I see Div 4 old boys Bradford PA and Boston and Halifax are down there - no real consolation though but you are trading places with Chester so rising from the ashes is possible. Derbies against Stalybridge and Altrincham could give record crowds for the division - OK I'll stop digging for positives. As for the Owls we need a couple of points - I'd like to think that we will beat Peterborough next week but knowing Wednesday they won't make it that easy for the long-suffering fans.

[teamsaint]

As an aside to the Stockport stuff, I see the Conference north has Oxford City as a member !!

Has anybody mentioned to the bullington club about this geographical fact?!

[teamsaint]

Teamsaint

I this Bournemouth have been brilliant especially if you consider how poorly they started the season. They do have a lot of money behind them unlike Portsmouth who, having now been take over by a supporter's trust, have been looked after by the FA as the club is, at last, being run for the benefit of the fans in a sensible fashion. Other teams may point out that clubs who have effectively been relegated have taken the hit with the points deduction in the following season and I can see their argument. However, I think it would have reflected poorly on the FA if they had deducted 10 points next just just as the supporter's trust were trying to get the club back on to an even keel.

I'm not a fan of points deductions and feel they hit the fans as opposed to the directors of the clubs. The situation should be to have more control of the stewardship of clubs to prevent poor financial mangement in future. Granted that Portsmouth might appear to have beaten the system but even as a Saints fan I can recognise that their fall down the leagues has also had as much to do with previous point deductions as it has for their playing performance. I'd have to say it through gritted teeth but Portsmouth is a big club and had it been managed correctly it should have eclipsed Southampton. Fortunately for us, Portsmouth have had nearly 50 years of being poorly run and I think they will struggle to attain south coast dominance in the future from the mighty team in red and white!

I am afraid I can't agree with you. Points deductions are a fact of life. They are there for a reason. I don't like them, but i like dodgy dealing less. The points deduction they should have had is the kind of thing that nearly put Bompey out of the League, and has consigned Luton to years in the wilderness. portsmouth utterly failed to honour their first CVA, and should have had a similar penalty to those clubs like Rotherham that failed to get a CVA.
Portsmouth will get out of L2 pretty quickly either way I suspect.
As for portsmouth being a big club. how or why? The place is smaller than Southampton, Leicester and so on. The club has a similar or smaller fan base, and apart from the 1950's no particularly great history. They can aspire, like all clubs outside the biggest few cities, to regular PL membership, but that is the size of it, unless they have a rich backer.
And the "Fan ownership" thing is in fact, as far as I can see, a cover for property speculators. I hope this is wrong. if portsmouth could be a real fan owned club , I would be pleased for them. I know a lot of blues, and they deserve a properly run club.

[Ian Thumwood]

Team Saint

It's quite interesting to contrast the two South coast clubs. Pompey have won the FA Cup twice compared to Saints and their form during the years either side of World War II would have probably seen them dominate the domestic league during the early 1940's had it not been suspended. By contrast, Saints were one of the dominant clubs in the Southern league during the first decade of the 1900s but as Duncan Holley's exceptional "Suited and booted" demonstrates, Southamptons spectactularly under-acheived in the years until 1939. After the war, they had to wait until the late 60's when Ted Bates took up to the top flight. I would say Southampton's modern record as a top flight club really stems from the era of Lawrie Mac which also corresponded with Portsmouth's side down the league.

I've tended to work either in Portsmouth or at least with Pompey fans since about 2006 and football has certainly got a must higher profile in Portsmouth than in Southampton. They have some of the most passionate fans in the country and you don't see the Manure replica sheets in Pompey that you will see in Southampton. The problem with PFc is that they have a history of poor management (they first went bust in 1913) but as a genuine working class club, they are probably unique on the south coast and only the likes of West Ham and Millwall probably mirror this "traditional" northern model in the south. They deserve as correctly run club yet you won't find one Pompey fan who would concede to the notion that Southampton are in anyway superior. I would doubt that there are few clubs with fans who have the passion of clubs likes Portsmouth, Newcastle and Cardiff.

Cheers

Ian

[Beef Oven]

Well done Spurs. United just need a draw against Arsenal at the Emirates and Jimmy van Persie can lift the trophy there

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

As an aside to the Stockport stuff, I see the Conference north has Oxford City as a member !!

Has anybody mentioned to the bullington club about this geographical fact?!

I've often thought that, but when you look at the teams in Conference South, they are even further south than Oxford.

[EdgeleyRob]

Crumb of comfort.

Nice.

[teamsaint]

Team Saint

It's quite interesting to contrast the two South coast clubs. Pompey have won the FA Cup twice compared to Saints and their form during the years either side of World War II would have probably seen them dominate the domestic league during the early 1940's had it not been suspended. By contrast, Saints were one of the dominant clubs in the Southern league during the first decade of the 1900s but as Duncan Holley's exceptional "Suited and booted" demonstrates, Southamptons spectactularly under-acheived in the years until 1939. After the war, they had to wait until the late 60's when Ted Bates took up to the top flight. I would say Southampton's modern record as a top flight club really stems from the era of Lawrie Mac which also corresponded with Portsmouth's side down the league.

I've tended to work either in Portsmouth or at least with Pompey fans since about 2006 and football has certainly got a must higher profile in Portsmouth than in Southampton. They have some of the most passionate fans in the country and you don't see the Manure replica sheets in Pompey that you will see in Southampton. The problem with PFc is that they have a history of poor management (they first went bust in 1913) but as a genuine working class club, they are probably unique on the south coast and only the likes of West Ham and Millwall probably mirror this "traditional" northern model in the south. They deserve as correctly run club yet you won't find one Pompey fan who would concede to the notion that Southampton are in anyway superior. I would doubt that there are few clubs with fans who have the passion of clubs likes Portsmouth, Newcastle and Cardiff.

Cheers

Ian

I lived and worked in portsmouth in 1986/88 when they won div 2 and beat us at the Dell in Div 1. I worked in an office with quite a few pompey ST holders, including one who has been central to the recent fan "takeover" .
I must say I got on well with the real pompey fans...they bought me(with gritted teeth) a Saints mug when I left.It was on sale on Albert road, amazingly.

I just don't buy this "most passionate fans " bit. Yes, pompeys hardcore, roughly the same in quantity as Saints is loyal, but numbers turning up over the years are broadly comparable. I honestly think its something of a myth, much like the "Scummers strike breaking at the dockyards" stuff.

[BBMmk2]

Believe it or not, teamsaint, I knew someoine who was a Pompoey fan, and he was in that group which had that ratrher eccentric chap with tht hat and tried to play the bugle!!

[Beef Oven]

Crumb of comfort.

Nice.

Jimmy Greaves (the finish).

[teamsaint]

Believe it or not, teamsaint, I knew someoine who was a Pompoey fan, and he was in that group which had that ratrher eccentric chap with tht hat and tried to play the bugle!!

He is madder than mad Jack McMad !!

enough of Saints and pompey though !! Lets get back to discussing the PL.

[BBMmk2]

The Toon are not out of trouble yet!