2023-24 Prediction League; Game 12 v Forest Green Rovers (home)

[Div3North]

Accrington Stanley

V

Forest Green Rovers

2023/24 Prediction League Game 12 v Vegan Greenpeace United, FGR and Nailsworth Thursday

All Hail Cheltenham Town FC, now the holder and/or sharer of a number of unwanted records

They are, as you know, currently in League 1 of the EFL ….......... You may remember that they achieved, a couple of weeks back now, the dubious distinction of being the Club which has started a League season and waited the longest for their first goal …........ the record was (see previous threads) 772 minutes, but they extended that – and they ain’t done yet – to 990 minutes (eleven games), by virtue of losses to Lincoln (away) and Fleetwood (home), both by 2-0

But the other record which they currently share, and may soon own outright, is for the longest scoreless run at any point during a season by a League side; that record is 11 games and was previously shared by Coventry in 1919/20 and Hartlepool in 1992/93; add the Chelts!

This season they’ve had more red cards than goals (2), and they’ve scored three OGs to boot: they’ve had 81 shots in their first 12 games, 23 of which were on target. The Cheltenham motto is “Salubritas et Erudicio”, meaning “Health and Education”, but there’s a Motion for debate before this Thursday’s Town Council meeting to change that to “Propter Deum haereo in reti”, which roughly translates as “For God’s sake stick it in the net”

Starter for ten, then; as at this coming Saturday, who is Cheltenham’s all-competitions 2023/24 leading goal scorer? And yes, they have got a tick in the Goals For column, as I mentioned previously …..........

Forest Green isn’t a “place”, but an area of Nailsworth in Gloucestershire; since the last census population of Nailsworth was 5,794, it’s a very small area …... Nailsworth itself is a town and civil parish in the Stroud District in Gloucestershire, England, lying in one of the Stroud Valleys in the Cotswolds, on the A46 road (the Roman Fosse Way), 4 miles south of Stroud and about 25 miles north-east of Bristol and Bath. Over the past decade the small town centre has been reinvigorated (or maybe reinVincerated): besides numerous restaurants and cafes (presumably all Vegan, although BBC Verify can’t confirm that), it now contains a number of shops, including bakers, a delicatessen with a fishmonger, a hardware store, butchers, craft shops, bookshops, art galleries and a gardening shop. It’s a Fairtrade Town and twinned with the French town of Lèves, with which it enjoys an exchange visit in alternate years. Gosh, that’s exciting!

As if to confirm its status, I can tell you that Nailsworth’s most famous former residents comprise an 18th Century (Lady) Sermon writer, poet and playwright, a translator and Missionary to China, a Newport-born Poet/Tramp, an artist of visual and concrete poetry (don’t ask), a Baronial Civil Servant, and an Olympic rower

Second Starter for Ten; what’s (apparently) the fewest number of games that anyone has played before picking up a ban for five yellow cards? And who was it?

The Football Club was established in 1889 by Rev. E.J.H. Peach (the Church has a lot to answer for!), representing the Forest Green area: the “Rovers” part was adopted in 1893, and the following year the club were founder member of the Mid-Gloucestershire League. Their first home league match was a 1–1 draw with Brimscombe, and they finished the 1894–95 season in third place. Nailsworth had become an urban district in 1894 and there was a move to ensure the town was represented by a football team, so as a result the club was renamed Nailsworth AFC and many members of the original team were replaced by players from Nailsworth, although they continued to play at the original Lawn Ground in Forest Green. However, the club withdrew from the league during the 1896–97 season, to be re-established in 1898 under the Forest Green Rovers name, and they absorbed Nailsworth Thursday shortly afterwards.

Interestingly, in 1906–07 they finished bottom of the Stroud & District League with zero points (although they had won one game, they had two points deducted for fielding an ineligible player). In 1911 Forest Green merged with Nailsworth to form Nailsworth & Forest Green United, continuing to play at the Lawn Ground; the new club won the league, losing only one match all season

In 1989, the club was renamed Stroud Football Club. After reverting to their original name soon after, the club continued to struggle in the league until they were transferred to the Southern Division of the Southern League in 1995. After two seasons they won the division, earning promotion to the Premier Division of the Southern League. The 1997–98 season saw them win the Southern League Premier Division, securing a second successive promotion and entry to the Bananarama

In 2004–05 they finished in the relegation zone but were reprieved after Northwich Victoria were demoted due to issues with their stadium: the 2009–10 season saw them finish in the relegation zone again, but they received a second reprieve when Salisbury City were expelled for breaking financial rules. The club was then taken over by Ecotricity founder Dale Vince, who set out plans to make the club eco-friendlier, including removing red meat from players' diets, stopping selling meat products in the ground (“Wot! No meat pies?”) and treating the pitch with organic fertiliser …... (You should be aware that there are lots of horses and ponies in the area )

They finished fifth in the Conference in 2014–15, qualifying for the promotion play-offs, but they lost 3–0 on aggregate to Bristol Rovers in the semi-finals. The following season saw them finish as runners-up in the renamed National League (still aka the Bananarama), their highest-ever league position; in the subsequent play-offs they beat Dover Athletic 2–1 in the semi-finals, before losing 3–1 to Grimsby Town in the final; a third consecutive play-off campaign was secured with a third-place finish in 2016–17. After beating Dagenham & Redbridge 3–1 in the semi-finals, they beat Tranmere by the same scoreline in the final at Wembley, earning promotion to League Two. This made Nailsworth the smallest town ever to host a Football League club and ended a 19 season long run in the National League The 2018–19 season saw them finish fifth in League Two. They went on to lose 2–1 to Tranmere Rovers in the play-off semi-finals; another play-off campaign in 2020–21 saw them lose 5–4 on aggregate to Newport County.

In 2021–22 they finished in the automatic promotion spot to League One after a draw against Bristol Rovers, and clinched the title following a Desmond away at Mansfield. They won their first League One game, defeating Bristol Rovers 2–1 away thanks to a late goal, but at the end of the 2022–23 season, Rovers were relegated back to League Two. Mwahahahaha!

Another Starter for Ten; on Saturday 2nd September of this year, three Premieship hat-tricks were scored, one by Son Heung-min, one by Erling Haaland, and one by Evan Ferguson; before that date, how many times in the history of the PrawnSandwich League had there been three hat-tricks on the same day?

I suppose if you’re going to be relegated, you may as well do it in style; last May VGU were 24th of 24, 17 points from the 23rd-placed team (us!), and 19 points and 30-odd goals from safety … they’ve had four managers since May 21, including Rob Edwards and Big Duncan (Ferguson), but between Ferguson and current manager David Horseman, Hannah Dingley became the first woman to manage a professional men's team in England when appointed as caretaker interim head coach, although less than two weeks later, she was replaced by Horseman.

They shipped out 13 in the summer, and ProperSigned 12, including RB Fankaty Dabo, striker Matty Taylor from Oxford, GK Jamie Searle from the LambChops (Barnsley), and the Marquee signing of Troy Deeney, ex Watford and – for a short time – of Brum. Currently they’re 23rd (one up on last season) with a record of P11 W2 D1 L8 GF10 GA22 for 7 points …..... they’ve lost 6 out of 6 at home (Salford, Swindon, Newport, Crewe, Donnie and Morecambe) as well as losing away at Notts Co (4-3) and Stockport, drawn at the Wombles, and won 1-0 at Harrogate and Sutton ….......... five defeats in their last five, so confidence can’t be that good (give the lads pie and chips, Dale) … and they lost 3-1 to Pompey in the EFL Cup!

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is three pip-emma on Saturday 7th October; they beat us 2-1 in our first meeting last season (our goal from Tommy Leigh), and we won the return by the same score chez nous (goals by Aaron Pressley and Longelo), so bragging rights on offer …........... And Cheltenham’s leading goal scorer this season is Bristol Rovers defender James Gibbons, who “inadvertently volleyed past his own goalkeeper” when they met Brizzle in the Carabao …......... and the quickest ban for five yellow cards is apparently five games; - James Perch, playing for Newcastle in 2010/11, being booked in the first five games of the season (which were also his first five games for the club) …... and three hat-tricks (or better) on the same day in the Premiership has only been done once before – 23rd September 1995, when Robbie Fowler stuck four in the net for Liverpool against Bolton in a 5-2 win, Alan Shearer scored three (all assisted by Mike Newell) in a 5-1 Blackburn thrashing of Coventry, and Tony Yeboah, who ran amok when Leeds beat the Wombles 4-2 ….......

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

[ossy kid]

Stanley 2 - 1 F.G.R.

[AccyMad]

3 - 1 to Stanley please

[cashman]

3-0 stanley.

[Taypot]

Stanley 2 FGR 1

[Tommy McQueen]

Stanley 2 FGR 2

[teach]

2-0 to Stanley please.

[choirboy]

Stanley 2-1 Forest Green Rovers for me please.

[Watchdog]

Draw please 1-1

[Greger]

A must win game usually means a defeat these days, but I will still go for a Stanley win. Really do not like that self-righteous lot.
Stanley 2 them 1, please!

[MikeA]

2-0 Stanley, please

[Lord Stiffupperlip]

So they've lost their last 5 games.
Well that's the kiss of death for us.
Troy Deeney to run riot!
Stanley 1 - 3 Forest Greenpeace
(Don't worry folks, I'm always wrong)

[Chimer]

4-0 Stanley. Would obviously be better to win 1-0 and bank the other 3 goals for use later in the month, but that never happens .....

[Kiwi Johnny]

5-1 Stanley

[Div3North]

Stanley 3 Vegan Greenpeace 2