2023-24 Prediction League; Game 31 v MK Dons (away)

[Div3North]

Milton Keynes Dons

V

Accrington Stanley

2023/24 Prediction League Game 31 v MK Donuts (away)

Whoever said not to kick a man when he’s down had obviously never tangled with the Voodoo Gods of Football (or any of the myriad centre half cloggers of yore) … viz last Saturday:

Sutton United and Vegan Greenpeace occupied the Trapdoor Slots at 3.00pm on 3rd February (as they had for quite a while) …. FGR had 19 points, Sutton had 21, and above them, Grimsby, Donnie and Colchester all had 28 ……….. by 65 minutes, Vegan Greenpeace were 2-0 up at Colchester, and on 73 mins, Sutton stuck the ball in Donnie’s net for a 1-0 lead ……for once, Colchester didn’t fold, but instead they scored on 65, 67 and 70 mins for 3-2 …… VGU did manage to snatch a draw from the jaws of victory, as it finished 3-3 …… Sutton must have been enjoying seeing clear water between them and team 24, anticipating a four-point gap ………… and then Donnie converted a penalty on 90+6 (Dean Bouzanis being penalised while coming to collect a cross) ……. and Grimsby got a point chez nous ………… so the bottom five places look and stay the same ………. and Sutton and VGU were left thinking “merde, alors!” with 7 (Sutton) and 9 (VGU) points to catch up to stay up, with the two worst GDs in the Division ………

VGU, as we know, were the world’s first professional (vegan) Football Club in 2015; but did you know that there’s a non-league vegan side lurking 16th in the (18 team, 9th tier) United Counties League Premier Division North? Their Chairman is Steff Wright, a former owner of Lincoln City, and the club was “plant-powered” when he took it over in 2022; they only serve vegan food to players, staff, fans and visitors … Turning a non-league club vegan has presented numerous challenges says Wright, both from outside the club and their own playing squad.

"Our players, half are quite enthusiastic, half are resistant, but they are resistant to eating anything other than chicken nuggets. It's like having children you have to re-educate about what a healthy diet looks like.”

Four wins in 22 games so far, and visiting fans who’ve taken to chanting “You can stick your vegan sausage up your ****” …. Starter for Ten; which club is the non-League Vegan Trailblazer?

In the 1960s, the UK government decided that a further generation of new towns in the South East of England was needed to relieve housing congestion in London, so they stuck up Milton Keynes. Since the 1950s, overspill housing for several London boroughs had been constructed in Bletchley, while further studies in the 1960s identified north Buckinghamshire as a possible site for a large new town(now a city) encompassing the existing towns of Bletchley, Stony Stratford, and Wolverton.The New Town was to be the biggest yet, with a target population of 250,000, in a 'designated area' of 21,883 acres . The name 'Milton Keynes' was taken from that of an existing village on the site (and not a white showjumper plus Horace Batchelor’s abode, as you might have thought). MK also boasts its own Cat A prison (HMP Woodhill), where the very very naughty boys go …….

The history of the Donuts will be known to you all; they’ve apparently played the Wombles ten times in the League, and of those, the Wombles have won one and drawn three, and MK have nabbed the rest ……

Second Starter for Ten, then; what record did the Millers equal during their 2023 travels in the League …… and if it helps you (which it won’t) the record was lasted achieved by QPR in 2012 …..

MKD GreasyPoled last season, along with us, Morecambe and Vegan Greenpeace, finishing 21st in League One with 45 points, one fewer than Cambridge (they might have stayed up if they hadn’t drawn 6 and lost 2 of their last 8 games) ……….. You have the “Lost and Found Players” in the thread for the first meeting; since then they’ve ProperSigned AMF Stephen Warne from Gateshead for £undisclosed, let LW Ashley Hunter go to AFC Fylde and CB Tommy Smith join Macarthur FC in the Land of Oz, and LoanSigned RB Kyran Lofthouse from the LambChops, GK Filip Marschall from Villa, CMF Lewis Bate from Leeds and CF Emre Tezgel from Stoke ………… They’re 6th on 48 points from 29, with a +7 GD and a record which reads W14 D6 L9, and out of the FA Cup in Round One to Reading, the EFL Cup in Round One to Wycombe, and the Troffy in Round Two to the Brighton Babes…

Third SforT …….. What was remarkable about Sal Caccavale’s career in the MLS in the USofA?

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 10th February …… Their leading scorer is 19 year-old Max Dean (9 in the League, 12 in all competitions) ….. We beat them 1-0 at our place in October (Shaun Whalley) ….. They sacked their previous manager (Graham Alexander) on 16th October and replaced him next day with Mike Williamson, who moved on after four years at Gateshead …….. And in the “I didn’t know that” column, the last surviving player who played in the 1958 World Cup final has just died, so RIP to Swedish MF Kurt (known as “Kurre”) Hamrin …… and the Man with the Pea at Stadium MK is Declan Bourne (for the Wombles game on Tuesday we’ve got Ed Duckworth - him out of Coronation Street - with one of the liners being Emily Carney) .. and of their last 15 League games (since we beat them) they’ve won 10, drawn two and lost three …. they lost to Barrow last time out, and before that to Donnie and Morecambe ............ and TwistySpires United are currently 22 points clear at the top of the Bananarama

And the non-League Vegans are Newark and Sherwood United FC … they were formed as Worthington Simpsons, became IDP Newark, then Newark Flowserve, then Newark, and then Newark and Sherwood Utd …………. I suspect that the Man who keeps the Records agreed where the vegan sausage should be put …………….. and the Millers played 22 League games away from Rotherham during the calender year 2023, of which they won none, drew eight and lost 14 ……. just think of all those journeys home, never mind the cost of the petrol ……….. and on 19th May 2007, Sal Caccavale made his debut for the NY Red Bulls, subbing on on 88 mins; he scored the last goal in their 4-0 win against Columbus …… and never played in the MLS again ………… his stats will forever read “two minutes, one goal”

Good luck to everyone! ………. Keep your hair on! …… And thanks for playing!

[ossy kid]

Dons 2-1 Stanley

[Watchdog]

Draw please 1-1

[AccyMad]

2 - 2 for me please

[Greger]

MK Dons 3 Stanley 1

Kurre Hamrin was my childhood hero. Dug out a biography from 1963 when I heard of his passing. Read so many times that it just consisted of loose pages. But midfielder? Not so much. He is I think still among the top ten goalscorers in Italy.

[MikeA]

1-1 please

[Div3North]

Originally Posted by Greger

MK Dons 3 Stanley 1

Kurre Hamrin was my childhood hero. Dug out a biography from 1963 when I heard of his passing. Read so many times that it just consisted of loose pages. But midfielder? Not so much. He is I think still among the top ten goalscorers in Italy.

Played for Milan, Juventus, Fiorentina, Padova ….. 190 goals, still 9th in the All Time Seria A list

Source is an article on BBC football pages, but they refer to him as a midfielder

[Greger]

Not a big thing. He was (on paper) a winger, and I suppose they call them midfielders nowadays. But he was from another time (as am I).

[Chimer]

A possibly optimistic 2-2 please!

[teach]

2- MK Dons win.

[teach]

Sorry 2-1 MK Dons win

[Kiwi John]

2-1 to the bad guys

[Div3North]

Lots of negative vibes around - so far NOBODY has Kept the Faith by predicting a Stanley win

So: Stanley 1 Dons 0

[pompeylass]

MK Dons 3 - Stanley 2 for me. Loads of goals.

[mab]

🙂MK Dons 1 - 2 Accrington Stanley 🙂 please for me