Lorric wrote: ↑Wed Jul 29, 2020 20:14
I have a question for you guys. The National League playoff final is coming. It's Harrogate Town vs Notts County for a place in League Two.
Harrogate Town. 106 year old club. They've never been a league club in all that time.
Notts County. Britain's oldest club. Never relegated out of the league until last year, ending 157 years of always being a league club.
Who do you want to win? Should the league have new blood, or should Notts County return?
I think the difference between league and non-league is less stark these days. When I was a kid half the time the Conference winners would be denied promotion due to punitive ground requirements, and new clubs were rare. Now the 5th level is full of names I think of as League clubs. Wrexham, Stockport, Torquay. I don't really have a dog in this one but Harrogate's low crowds might make sustainability difficult even if crowds can return, so maybe Notts County.
Mention of oldest clubs reminds me of Sheffield. Some posters have recently referred to Sheffield United as Sheffield, which is wrong for two reasons. Firstly Sheffield is a two club city with United and Wednesday being pretty much equal size for most of the past 100+ years. Secondly there is also a Sheffield FC. Notts County are the oldest professional club but Sheffield are older still, and are the oldest surviving club in the world. They play at about the 8th level.
It doesn't look like I will get what I want with these Championship playoffs. Brentford pulled off a comeback tonight to eliminate Swansea, and Fulham are in firm control after a 0-2 away win.
Lorric wrote: ↑Thu Jul 30, 2020 00:54
It doesn't look like I will get what I want with these Championship playoffs. Brentford pulled off a comeback tonight to eliminate Swansea, and Fulham are in firm control after a 0-2 away win.
Meanwhile it looks like I'll be getting exactly what I want. Funny how life works, eh
Lorric wrote: ↑Wed Jul 29, 2020 20:14
Notts County. Britain's oldest club. Never relegated out of the league until last year, ending 157 years of always being a league club.
Just a minor point, but Notts County were only a Football League club from 1888-89 to 2018-19 which makes 131 years. They had an additional 26 years of existence prior to the formation of the league.
FA Cup final begins in an hour. It's a rematch of last year's Europa League final. And the circumstances are similar too. Last year, Chelsea were already qualified for the Champions League, while Arsenal needed to win the match to qualify. They failed. This time, Chelsea are again already qualified for the Champions League, while Arsenal again need to win the match, this time to play in the Europa League.
Arsenal are really playing with fire with this passing out from the back. Early on they got pressured into conceding a throw to the side of the box, and just now they got pressured off the ball but recovered. Chelsea are pressing them hard with many players right up in and around the Arsenal box. It's possible Arsenal might be able to exploit it, but so far it looks like it's working much better for Chelsea.
