2020/21 Prediction League; Game 25 v Hull City (away)

[Div3North]

Hull City AFC

V

Accrington Stanley

2020/21 Prediction League Game 25; v Hulk City (away)

You sort of have to feel sorry for Portuguese side Braga's newest signing - Brazilian-born ex Chelsea AMF Lucas Piazon (26), who signed for the Blues for a reported £5 million from Sao Paulo as a 16-year old back in the summer of 2011 ..... he made a positive impression in his first season (winning Young Player of the Season), and in the following year he appeared twice in the League Cup, and then came off the bench in a PL game to miss a penalty in an 8-0 thrashing of Aston Villa ... and whether that was the cause of what happened next we'll never know, but in the next eight years (Jan 13 to Jan 21) he went on loan to seven different clubs in six countries - Malaga in Spain, Vitesse in Holland, German side Eintracht Frankfurt, Reading, Fulham - who he helped to achieve PL status via the playoffs - Chievo (Italy) and Rio Ave (Portugal) ......... and now he's signed a four-year contract with Braga ......... but it makes you wonder why Chelski kept signing new contracts with him, even though he can't be that bad a player if so many senior sides in Eurpoe wanted him .... But talk about "If your face don't fit ...."; and all that money!

Hull - as you all know - isn't "Hull" at all - it's "Kingston upon Hull", and it stands on the north bank of the Humber Estuary at the mouth of its tributary, the River Hull... It was originally an outlying part of the hamlet of Myton, named "Wyke" (the name is thought to originate either from a Scandinavian word "Vik" meaning inlet or from the Saxon "Wic" meaning dwelling place or refuge). It's the fourth-largest city in Yorkshire (population around 260,000), and it's 25 miles inland from the North Sea, 50 miles east of Leeds, 34 miles south-east of York and 54 miles north-east of Sheffield. The town (then called "Wyke on Hull") was founded late in the 12th century by the monks as a port from which to export their wool, and it's been a market town, military supply port, trading hub, fishing and whaling centre, and industrial metropolis; its 18th-century Member of Parliament, William Wilberforce, took a prominent part in the abolition of the slave trade in Britain.

If you're wondering where the current name came from, the answer is "King Edward 1st" ... A 19th Century account tells that the King and a hunting party started a hare which "led them along the delightful banks of the River Hull to the hamlet of Wyke …Edward, charmed with the scene before him, viewed with delight the advantageous situation of this hitherto neglected and obscure corner. He foresaw it might become subservient both to render the kingdom more secure against foreign invasion, and at the same time greatly to enforce its commerce".

To achieve those ends, in 1293 His Kingshipness purchased the land and the town of Wyke from the Abbey, and in April 1299 he granted it a royal charter that renamed it "King's town upon Hull" , later bastardized to Kingston upon Hull.

People from Hull are apparently called "Hullensians" ...The City lays claim to several veteran stage and TV actors; Sir Tom Courtenay, John Alderton, Ian Carmichael and Maureen Lipman were born and brought up there, as were Reece Shearsmith and Debra Stephenson; singers David Whitfield, and Paul Heaton (from The Housemartins and Beautiful South) also hail from there- and if you want more reason why Hull was the 2017 City of Culture, back in 1914 there were 29 cinemas in Hull .... It's also a rugby league hub, with Hull FC (who share the KCOM Stadium with Hull City) and Hull Kingston Rovers (who play at Craven Park Stadium in East Hull); there are also several lower league teams (East Hull, West Hull, Hull Dockers and Hull Isberg, who all play in the National Conference). There's also a Prison, but I'll save that until the return game! And its MP used to be John Prescott ........... but thta's their fault, 'cos they elected him

Hull City Association Football Club was founded in June 1904, previous attempts to start a football club having proved difficult because of the dominance of rugby league ... Their first game (not in a League at that time) was a 2–2 Desmond draw with Notts County on 1 September 1904 with a crowd of 6,000, and was played at The Boulevard. The club's first competitive match was in the FA Cup preliminary round, ending 3–3 with Stockton (they lost the replay 4–1). After disputes with landlords at the Boulevard, the club moved to Anlaby Road Cricket Ground, and was admitted into the Football League Second Division for the 1905–06 season.

It was an expansion season, because as well as Hull, other new (or returning)sides that season were Chelsea, Leeds City, Stockpot and Clapton Orient ... Hull finished 5th (beating Barnsley 4-1 at home in their first foray) with 44 points from 38 games, scoring 67 and conceding 54; Bristol City and Man U were the promoted teams, Notts Forest and Wolves being relegated from Division One........... and they lost 1-0 at home to Reading in the FA Cup, which also included such famous sides as Staple Hill (from Bristol), New Crusaders FC (Sidcup, in Kent), New Brompton (who became Gillingham a few years later), The Wednesday, and Bishop Auckland ........ and while we're on Cup Tournaments, this week's Starter for Ten; True or False? Hull once played in the Europa League ....

They've made it in to the top tier three times; in 2012/13 they finished 2nd in the Championnat behind Cardiff, and they twice won the Play Offs - 2007/08, when the beat Bristol City 1-0 (goal from Mr Windarse Snr) and again in 2015/16 when they beat The Owls (also 1-0), and they finished second in the FA Cup Final in 2013/14, losing 3-2 aet to Arsenal after having been two-up inside 8 minutes and having another chance headed off the line ... They finished last season's Covid Championship in 24th place, with a record of W12 D9 L25 GF57 GA87 for 45 points, four points and eleven goals from safety

12 left in the summer, either released or free transferred; Australian CMF Jackson Irvine went to Hibs, LB Stephen Kingsley to Hearts, American RB Eric Lichaj to Fatih Karagümrük in Turkey (probably safer than going home to the Good Old US of A right now), GK Will Mannion joined Pafos in Cyprus, Spanish AMF Jon Toral (isn't he off MasterChef?) went to Brum, CB Angus McDonald joined the Millers, CB Ryan Tafazolli signed for the Chairboys and Portuguese CMF Leo Lopes joined Cercle Bruges (as opposed to Cercle Line) ... Marquee signing seems to have been Mallik Wilks from Barnsley (gets around a bit, doesn't he?), with back up from CMF Greg Docherty from Rangers, RMF Thomas Mayer from second tier side Austria Lustenau, and Wigan-born Jordan Flores from Dundalk

They had a brilliant start to the season; losses by 4-1 at Fleetwood, 2-1 at Swindon and 1-2 at home to the Posh didn't really take the gloss off an opening record that went P14 W11 D0 L3 Pts 33, and they've been top or 2nd after 17 of their 21 games, and never out of the top 4 ...... but recently it's been a bit wobbly, really ........ Last seven games have seen one win (2-0 at home to Charlton - and everyone beats Charlton 2-0, it seems), draws at Oxford, Sunderland and home to Blackpool - all half-Desmonds - and three consecutive losses, 1-0 at home to the Shrews, 2-0 at home to Pompey, and 2-3 at Blackpool (plus a red card for defender Reece Burke) means 6 points from 7 games, and so 39 points from 21 games and a GD of +13, but Pompey are a point behind with a game in hand, Donnie are three points behind with 2 in hand, and the Posh are three points behind with a game in hand and a similar GD - so three sides could leap-frog them .... well four, really, because we're 6 behind with three in hand

In the FA Cup they rather embarrassingly went out 6-5 on penalties to Stevenage in Round Two after another half-Desmond; in the EFL Cup they beat Sunderland away on pens 5-4 and then Leeds away, also on pens (9-8), before capitulating at West Ham 5-1; but they're through to the 4th Round of the Pope John Troffy, although the draw for the QF isn't until this coming Saturday ........ Leading scorers are Mallik Wilks with 10 in all competitions (8 in the League), Josh Magennis with 7 (6) and Keane Lewis-Potter with 5

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 5.30pm on Tuesday 19th January .... Hull have had an interesting time of recent years - GreasyPoled from the Prawn Sandwiches in 18th place in 2016/17 (6 points behind Watford); 18th in the Championnat in 2017/18 - scoring 70 but conceding the same; 13th in 2018/19 (scoring 66 but conceding 68); and GreasyPoled again last year - 87 conceded ....... which means they've conceded 225 in the last three seasons in the League - an average of 75, which is about 30 too many .........

It's nearly the same as the number of managers they've had since 2000; sixteen in all (one of them as Caretaker three times, he being William McKnight Russell, who played for Donnie, The Iron and the Millers, and is now Centre of Excellence Manager at Hull - and Stand In Manager When the Proper One's Been Sacked) ....... and when you bear in mind that Peter Taylor lasted as Boss for 3 years 9 months, Phil Brown lasted 3 years 7 months, and Steve Bruce managed 4 years, you realise how short some of the other tenures must have been ..........

And did you know that in days gone by Hull City and Grimsby Town were the only two professional teams which had official permission to play league football on Christmas Day, because of the demands of the fish trade? (although how many trawlermen actually played for them isn't certain ......) and it's true that Hull were once in the Europa League; in 2014/15 they beat Slovak side AS Trenčín 2-1 on aggregate in the 3rd Qualifying Round before going out on away goals in the PlayOff Round to Belgium's Lokeren

And don't forget it's a 5.30 kick-off this Tuesday (says so higher up the blurb) ........... and don't forget that our next game after this is against Hull City AFC at home on Tuesday 26th January, because Blackpool are at Brighton in the FA Cup on Saturday, so we get to put us feet up ............ Again! And that 's 5.30 too, I think ...... PM, happily ........

Good luck to everyone! ............ Take the Jab! ............ Stay safe and keep well! ........... And thanks for playing!

[Tom D]

Back to winning ways with a 1 0 win for Stanley

[AccyMad]

2 - 2 for me please

[Tommy McQueen]

Hull 1 Stanley 2 Hopefully

[Chimer]

Cut and paste next week then? I'll save my optimism for then and look for 2-2 this time around ..... Desmond, where are you?

[monkey hanger]

hull 2 stanley0

[MikeA]

1-1 please

[cashman]

reckon 1-1 and i will be very happy.

[Taypot]

Hull 2 Stanley 0

[Div3North]

Referee is Tom Nield, who is a Senior Nurse/Matron in Acute and Emergency Services in Yorkshire. He refereed our game at Swindon in November (3-0). Looking at his stats he keeps his cards in his pocket (no red cards that I can find during 2020). Refs Leagues One and Two mostly - did PNE away a few weeks back. On the list since 2018

Respect

[Stevie R]

1-0 to Hull please.

[Outback Ozzy]

Sadly, I think Malik Wilks will haunt us, 2-0 to Hull please

[Kiwi John]

3-1 to 'ull dam it.

[Watchdog]

1-1 draw please

[andyd]

Hard one this as we play them again next will be wieghing one another up hope both Butcher and Rodgers available Stanley 1-1 Hull.