2023-24 Prediction League; Game 21 v Doncaster Rovers (home)

[Div3North]

Accrington Stanley

V

Doncaster Rovers

2023/24 Prediction League Game 21 v Donnie (home)

Starter for Ten; What is the biggest winning margin in a Champions’ League game, and who achieved it?

And as for the Prediction League, oh dearie me ………. we had a good August, but since then it’s been all downhill; for the Crawley game (11th November) we had one five and two single points; we recovered our equilibrium for the Wrexham game (18th November) when the blind optimists thought we’d win and the rest didn’t (so, seven five-pointers and two one-pointers); the loss to Bradford yielded ten single-pointers only; and the 4-3 embarrassment at home to Swindon saw one four-pointer (Greger, who didn’t Keep the Faith) and three single-pointers (the nutters - including me - who thought we’d win 3-0 (Mike A), 3-1 (Kiwi) and 3-2 (me)) …. in August we had 21 “perfect tens”, in September we had three, in October we had 13 tens, and in November we had none (I got half my current points in August!) ………. AND …. we’re losing players: AccyBeme predicted twice in August and never since; Leylandii put in three guesses and hasn’t entered again; LLS has played six times out of 20; and lots of others have only played sporadically; one or two have only missed once, through error or misfortune …. We have just eight people who haven’t missed a match, and last time out only 16 entered out of the “usual” 24, plus two more “single appearances”

Second Starter for Ten (to lighten the moment) ….. El Tel (Venables) only won two full England caps in 1964 (a Desmond against Belgium and a half-Desmond against Holland); that said, he holds a record for appearances for his country that hasn’t been, and now can’t be, equalled; what is it?

Doncaster has been a City since the Platinum Jubilee in 2022; named after the River Don, it’s the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Noted for its horse racing and railway history, it is situated in the Don Valley on the western edge of the Humberhead Levels and east of the Pennines. The urban subdivision had a population of 113,566 at the 2021 census, whilst the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough had a population of 308,106. Possibly inhabited earlier, Doncaster grew up on the site of a Roman fort of the 1st century, at a crossing of the River Don. The 2nd-century Antonine Itinerary called the fort Danum. The first section of road to the Doncaster fort had probably been built since the early 50s, while a route through the north Derbyshire hills was opened in the later 1st century, possibly by Governor Gn. Julius Agricola in the late 70s. Doncaster provided an alternative land route between Lincoln and York, while the main route (Ermine Street) involved parties breaking up to cross the Humber in boats. As this was not always practical, the Romans saw Doncaster as an important staging post.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, Doncaster continued to expand, but it suffered several outbreaks of plague between 1562 and 1606. Each struck down significant numbers of victims; during the First English Civil War, King Charles I marched by Bridgnorth, Lichfield and Ashbourne to Doncaster, where on 18 August 1645 he was met by numbers of Yorkshire gentlemen who had rallied to his cause. On 2 May 1664, Doncaster was rewarded with the title of Free Borough as a way for the King (Charles I's son, King Charles II) to express gratitude for the allegiance.

Doncaster is the largest metropolitan district in England by area. It expanded dramatically in population with the development of coal mining. Closure of coal mines in the 1970s and early 1980s caused economic difficulties; the town then developed its service industry, drawing on the good communication links with the rest of the UK. From around the 16th century, Doncaster embraced the wealthy stagecoach trade. This led to horse breeding in Doncaster, which in turn led to the start of horseraces there. The earliest important race in Doncaster's history was the Doncaster Gold Cup, first run over Cantley Common in 1766. The Doncaster Cup is the oldest continuing regulated horse race in the world.

Famous Doncastrians include the late actress Emma Chambers (Alice Horton in The Vicar of Dibley), Roy Clarke (Last of the Summer Wine, as well as the creator of Hyacinth Bucket), Jeremy Clarkson, Dame Diana Rigg, and Kevin Keegan ….

The club was formed in 1879 by Albert Jenkins, a fitter at Doncaster's Great Northern Railway works. He gathered together some friends to play a match against the Yorkshire Institute for the Deaf in September 1879. The institute side took a 4–0 lead but the game ended as a 4–4 draw. On walking back from the game, the team took a rest at the Hall Cross, and had a discussion in which they decided to play more and called themselves Doncaster Rovers. They were first elected to the Football League in 1901, as a replacement for New Brighton Tower - their first season in the League was in fact the one when Doncaster achieved their highest position ever (7th in the Football League Second Tier). They only lasted two seasons in the league before being voted out in favour of local rivals Bradford City, having finished the 1902 season in the bottom three.

They spent the following season in the Midland League, only managing 11th place out of 18, but were elected back to Division 2. This time, in 1904–05, Doncaster finished bottom with W3 D2 L29, adrift by 12 points, gaining only 8 points – an unfortunate still standing record. They were voted out once again. The following several seasons saw them finish lower mid-table of the Midland League, till between 1910 and 1913 they had greater success. The last few years before the war mediocrity returned, and in August 1914 debts run up over the years led to voluntary liquidation. However, a new club was formed in time for the 1914–15 season and was accepted into the Midland League to continue where the old club had left off. The outbreak of the First World War meant the club closed down, and the army took over its ground using it as a depot.

The Club reformed after the war in 1919, rejoining the Midland League a year later and playing at their new temporary Bennetthorpe Ground. The first two seasons Rovers finished lower-mid table. The third season they moved to Belle Vue, finished runners up and were accepted into the Football League Division 3 North for 1923–24 to replace Stalybridge Celtic. The first match back in the Football League was a 0–0 draw against Wigan Borough on 25 August 1923, with Rovers playing in red tops with white shorts. One of the players in that first match was Rovers legend Tom Keetley who went on to become the Club's highest scorer with 186 goals in 241 appearances. Doncaster ended the season in 9th place. The next few seasons saw them rise towards the top of the table, then decline towards the bottom, before in the early 1930s finishing consistently near the top and finally becoming Champions in 1934–35.

In 1998 Rovers dropped out of the league with a −83 goal difference. For more, read the story of “The Ken Richardson Years” - described, it is said, by one Police officer as "the type that would trample a two-year-old child to pick up a 2p bit” …. After five seasons in the Conference League (now The Bananarama), under manager Dave Penney the club returned to the fourth tier (known then as Division Three) after winning the 2003 Conference play-off final 3-2 against Dagenham and Redbridge aet, in the only sudden death goal (also known as a "Golden Goal" and officially known as "Promotion Goal" in this game) in the history of English football promotion play-offs. - scored on 110 minutes by Francis Tierney …. the reached the Championnat in 2008, beating Leeds 1-0 at Wembley, and held on in there for five years before GreasyPoling back to Tier Three

Famous managers include Billy Bremner, Cyril Knowles, Dave Mackay, Maurice Setters, Lawrie McMenemy, Sammy Chung, Bill Leivers, Kerry Dixon and Paul Dickov ………. famous players include “The Comedians’” Charlie Williams, Harry Gregg, Alick Jeffery, Mike Elwiss (I used to play five-a-side with him!), Ian Snodin, Andy Warrington, Billy Sharp and John Marquis …………..

Final Starter for Ten; what was remarkable about the final table for the 1951/52 Division One table, and the League Two table after 28 games on 24th February 2021?

Donnie finished last season in 18th place with a 16-7-23 record and 55 points, losing 11 of their last 16, having won four and drawn two of their first 6 ………they scored 45 and conceded 63 and didn’t make the second round of anything …….. Seven left (none of them staying in the League), and nine joined, most notably striker Joe Ironside from Cambridge and CB Richard Wood from the Millers ………. season to date is P19 W7 D2 L10 GF25 GA31 for 23 points and 17th place ……. they began with two draws and five losses from their first seven games, since when it’s been seven wins and six losses … you’ll all be aware they turfed us out of the FA Cup after we’d done the hard yards by drawing at the Keepmoat - sorry, the Eco-Power Stadium (how posh is that?) - and then lost to the ProperPosh; they lasted to Round Two of the EFL Cup (losing to Everton 2-1), topped their Trophy Group and then beat Notts Forest u10s 3-0 in Round Two ….. can’t see who they play next ………… leading scorer is the said Joe Ironside with eight …….. head-to-head (League only) is W7 D2 L1, although they do bat us in Cup competitions ……..only League defeat by them was Feb 22 when we lost 2-0 …..

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 9t December (soon be Christmas!) ………. we need revenge for the Cup loss and to continue our winning lead against them …………. The Team Mascot is (or was) Donny the Dog - an unspecified brown dog in a red shirt, at one time portrayed by Tracy Chandler (who was sacked for posing in her undies in a Sunday paper, but re-instated soon after (or so it’s said!)) …….. there was also a yellow-haired bearded Viking called Eric back in 2013 …………. Funny people, Doncasterians ….

And the biggest win the the CL was 8-0, achieved by Real Madrid against Malmo, and by Liverpool against Besiktas …. and El Tel is the only England player to have won caps at schoolboy, youth, amateur, u23 and full international level - and since the amateur team was disbanded in 1974, he’ll never be equalled ……………and in 1951/2, the teams ranked from 9th (Blackpool) to 18th (Middlesbrough) in the old Division One each had one point more than the team below them (so, Blackpool 45, Charlton 44, Liverpool 43 and so on, down to Derby on 37 and Middlesbrough on 36), and the same thing happened to the League Two table on 24th February 2021, from Cambridge - top on 52 points - via Vegan Greenpeace (51), Cheltenham (50), down to Bolton (44) and Carlisle (43) ………………..

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

[Watchdog]

Accrington Stanley to win 2-1 please

[AccyMad]

2 - 1 to Stanley please

[ossy kid]

Stanley 1-0 please

[Greger]

1-1 please.

[choirboy]

Stanley 2-1 Doncaster for me please.

[Kiwi Johnny]

3-1 Stanley please.

[pompeylass]

2 - 2 draw please.

You forgot to mention Doncaster Prison, one of the few prisons left. Great read, by the way.

[Chimer]

3-2 Stanley (just to be different). Shame about the declining entries ...

[VALAIRIAN]

3-1 to Stanley

Do not make me regret this Reds......................

[Div3North]

I think we’ve now got more players from Hampshire than we have from Hyndburn Welcome pompeylass

Stanley 3 Donnie 1

[Div3North]

Originally Posted by pompeylass

2 - 2 draw please.

You forgot to mention Doncaster Prison, one of the few prisons left. Great read, by the way.

Thank you

I’ve been doing this for 13 years (12 of them with Chimer), and I think I’ve bored everybody over the years with details of every prison in England, and who was hanged there …..

[accytom18]

Accrington Stanley 1-0 Doncaster Rovers

[teach]

2-2 draw please

[nige b]

2-1 Stanley for me and 1-1 for The Angemeister, cheers