Lamb chops? That'll be lovely

Breaking News 88888 Manager of week 40

I love that quote - Rutts planning out how beers he can have before he gets home to the Missus for dinner. I embellished the Lamb bit because it was Glenn Francis and Lamb to the slaughter that won the final MoW fiver after securing promtion after scoring 28 points from the awful FA Cup final game alone.

Ian Kennett's Incontentia B uttocks thankfully came second because otherwise I would have had to put up a picture of Ian's buttocks instead of a cute little lamb. Kennett's 26 points was also good enough to secure promotion to the Premiership next season.

Crown Jewells and NY Eagles were next up with 24 points. Megan & Hannah's Bears hit the low point with 1, but this doesn't count towards the lowest seasonal score because rule #46, paragraph 3 was evoked.

The all-star Fantasy League team

Based on the Premiership players total points scored. This was the best performing fantasy team & it is pretty fair to say, that if you chose this lot then you would be the N&R FL's newest champion**:

Goalkeeper - P Reina, Liverpool 123 pts
Defender - R Carvalho, Chelsea 135 pts
Defender - J Carragher, Liverpool 132 pts
Defender - JA Riise, Liverpool 132 pts
Defender - J Terry, Chelsea or M Taylor, Portsmouth both 125 pts
Midfielder - C Ronaldo, Man Utd 247 pts
Midfielder - F Lampard, Chelsea 215 pts
Midfielder - M Pederson, Blackburn 169 pts
Striker - W Rooney, Man Utd 236 pts
Striker - D Drogba, Chelsea 199 pts
Striker - M Viduka, Middlesbrough 196 pts

**Total cost 55.5m (our max is 50m)
Fantasy player of the year - Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Bargain - Matthew Taylor (3.4m)
Biggest flop - Michael Owen (6 pts)
Best Charlton player - Darren Bent (142 pts)

The Fizzy Pops - how did I do?

At the end of March I predicted the top 6 finishers + winners of the play-off's and the teams to get relegated from the Championship, League One & Two plus The Conference. How did I do?

Championship My Picks (finish in brackets)
1. Derby (3rd & p/o winners)
2. Birmingham (2nd)
3. Sunderland & p/o winners (Champions)
4. Preston (7th)
5. West Brom (4th)
6. Southampton (6th)

22. Leeds (24th, but did have 10 points deducted)
23. QPR (18th)
24. Luton (23rd)

League One My Picks (finish in brackets)
1. Scunthorpe (Champions)
2. Bristol City (2nd)
3. Forest (4th)
4. Yeovil (5th)
5. Oldham (6th)
6. Blackpool & p/o winners (3rd & p/o winners)

21. Chesterfield (21st)
22. Cheltenham (17th)
23. Brentford (24th)
24. Rotherham (23rd)

League Two My Picks (finish in brackets*)
1. Hartlepool (2nd)
2. Walsall (Champions)
3. MK Dons (4th)
4. Swindon & p/o winners (3rd)
5. Lincoln (5th)
6. Stockport (8th)
7. Peterborough (10th)
*Bristol Rovers won play-off final

23. Bury (21st)
24. Torquay (24th)

Conference My Picks (finish in brackets*)
1. Dagenham & Redbridge (Champions)
2. Oxford (2nd)
3. York City (4th)
4. Stevenage (8th)
5. Gravesend & Northfleet (7th)
*Morecombe won play-off final

You are joking?

I found this in today's Daily Mirror:

"Watford have secured a new sponsorship deal. They will bear the brand name Beko on their shirts instead of the names of their Turkish parent companies - Arcelik and Koc Holding."

Arcelik & Koc Holding - what in the hell are those for names of companies?

New York, New York so good they named it twice

Breaking news 8888 The N&R Premiership - week 39 scores

Savchenko is looking pretty secure in pole position as we enter the final week of the season. Hannoi Utd and Flighty Feet will battle it out for the runners up spot but Barry Paull's NY Eagles, in the relegation places in mid March have made a late run to try to disrupt the party. Barry jumped an amazing 5 places to 4th and succeded in knocking out long time challenger Rooney & Ronaldo Rockstars out of the prize money places.

East Indian Summer slip to 5th, with Glasgow kiss in 6th. Kirsty had a good week 39 and will be hoping to hold onto her place.

And Cristiano's Allstars and Roubles tie for 7th place, both just 3 points ahead of John in 9th. Christian Dailly Football Genius is a further 14 points behind in 10th. Epping 'dog walking' club and Living in Sin look like missing out despite good recent form.

The bottom 8 remain unchanged with only perhaps Davor's #1 Strugglers in a position to catch Rob's Thieving Chelsea Gits.

All will be revealed after this week's final scores.

Soozie causes stir at promotion party

Breaking news 8888 The N&R Championship - week 39 scores
Wenners closed the gap to 20 points in the final week but it is a big ask for him to pip Mark at the top of the table. Bollocks to Ballack had a better week than Sven & Janas in w39 and these two are guaranteed to be playing Premiership FL next season.

Jonny Forskins look settled in 3rd although Thank You 4 The Daze and In Tatters are still looking over their shoulders in 3rd and 4th. And what about Soozie's Ping Pong Aces, who only for the 2nd time this season get into the promotion places. Last season's Champ has had a dire season but she has saved the best for last and she pushes both Incontentia B uttocks and Lamb to the slaughter out of the promotion race.

Massive Tackle and Vote Seagulls Party have a right to be nervy as only 8 from perhaps 12 teams will make the cut.

Meanwhile Hannah & Megan seems pretty set on the 25 quid consolation prize of finishing the 50th best N&R FL manager in 2006/07!

Aces are high

Breaking News 88888 Manager of week 39

Soozie sausage burst into the prize money scene after week 39 by poking in the weeks best score and surging into the promotion race. What a girl, and a what a week by the lovely Sooz & her Aces.

And NY Eagles did exactly the same thing in the Premiership after scoring 56 points. The old fantasy stalwart Bazz, looks like walking away with some prize dough again.

Quite a way behind these two were Crown Jewells with 45, Savchenko Spurs with 44, Glasgow kiss and Epping 'dog walking' club both with 41 and The Underwriting Cop and Jonny Forskins and the Phullbacks both with 40.

The week's lowest score was Ballhogs with just 4.

Good luck to Liverpool tomorrow

On the grapevine

I recently heard off and saw a couple of N&R FL connected folk in the good old US of A. I was in New Orleans minding my own business in Bourbon Street shopping for antiques the week before last and a bit of a commotion caught my attention and there was Chris Waterman bearing all for some purple beads. Not the way to get on but it certainly has done him no harm at AIG. By the way Chris, the boys want to know where you will be taking them to lunch this year?

I also heard from a very good source that Ged Stimson was in the country playing the role of best man at a mate's wedding. Apparently the page boy job was already taken. I understand the speech was a bit long but his northern monkey charm went down well with the hoy-peloy of Manhattan, NY.

The only problem came towards the end of the evening when Ged was giving the best looking bridesmaid the custominary tongueing but proceeded to fall off his orange crate.

Congratulations baby Plumms

Mr & Mrs Plumms had a baby boy today. His name is Benjamin George Plummer and weighed in at 9lb 3oz. Everyone's doing well and I have baby Charlton kit in the post to the young Addick!

My kinda town

Americans are obsessed by their teeth. When I was a kid I tried every trick in the book to avoid having to wear a brace, but heck if I'd had grown up here I would have been an anomaly in the school playground. Americans have perfect teeth, fact, well at least the ones whose parents can afford it, because those shiny straight choppers do not come cheap.

Americans look at our British teeth with disdain a bit like we look at their burger habits or dress sense I suppose but I never thought my teeth were that bad, straightish, slightly showing the signs of years of drinking red wine, tea and more recently coffee but I'm not a smoker. And I've only got a few fillings, so when I first went to the dentist (recommended to me by Brian Dougal) 2 or 3 years back I thought they would give me the once over and I'd be off. Oh no....

I reckon I see the hygenist bird, her name is Sue and she loves my accent, about 5 times a year for a good old scraping and scrub up. Then the dentist always comes in and sticks his head in my mouth, tuts with derison then runs through them one by one in code shaking his head, before telling me that I should get this done and that replaced and that I should seriously think about getting my wisdom teeth yanked out. No thanks.

Last week I was sat in the chair, in fact I was sat in the chair 2 weeks before that as well, but most recently to have a crown put in - a bloody huge thing too - cost? A couple of g's. Some of it covered under America's wonderfully extortionate and unfair health system, some of it coming out of my bank, by direct debit for ease. How kind.

The first visit was the get a temporary filling he put in a year ago and then drill away for 45 minutes at the poor little peg and then put another temporary crown in while a new one is made. Then last week I was back in to have it fitted and because I am brave, nay stupid and scared of needles, I opted to have good old fashioned mouthwash instead as he played around with this new crown and my exposed nerves for half an hour to get the sodding thing fitted.

Tell you what I've never had a baby before, but don't tell me that it would be worse than that?

And all the time Brian Dougal gets sent gifts and cards for referring me to his dentist. I am not bloody surprised, he saw this particular Brit coming.

Road to Wembley - Blue is the colour

Feedback

Just 2 weeks to go, the scores from the last week of the Premiership season are to come and points from tomorrow's FA Cup final between Chelsea and Man U will count and could make a vital difference. Ah, sorry too late to make a transfer. Deadline was Tueaday!

Well it's been fun, sometimes tough to keep up what with work but I hope you have enjoyed it. I would be interested in any feedback (email me at simon_newport@ars.aon.com) and I do expect to be over in the summer and Keith and I will host a prize giving night.

Cheers
Nobs

Sav wins first MoW award

Breaking News 88888 Manager of week 38
Run away leader Ryan Saveall won his first MoW in week 38, an amazing stat for the champion elect. Sav's score of 53 was only good enough though to share the spoils with Wizzi, who hit the same score in his efforts to stave off relegation. It was Dave's 3rd MoW win and they will share the fiver.

Brighton Blues look like they have done enough to have another season in the top flight. A sterling 47 from the ex-pat Seagull and his son Christian would appear to make them safe. NY Eagles are still fighting for a top 7 place and I wouldn't it past the ex-pat Eagle, who scored 46.

Hannoi Utd kept their challenge in full swing with 45, whilst Underwrting Cop's 45 was enough to take them off the bottom of the Premiership.

In the Championship promotion heading In Tatters top scored with 46, ahead of Nobby's North of Crystal Palarse with 40.

Ready waves the flag

Breaking news 8888 The N&R Premiership - week 38 scores

Savchenko still tops the Premiership with 2 weeks left but Ready makes his presence felt with a solid week while those around him struggled for form. Hannoi Utd move into 2nd , swapping places with Flighty Feet.

In 5th and 6th the two long time challengers cling on for well deserved prize money. Rockstars overtake the Allstars and John McGowan's Roubles FC slip back into the mix in 7th whereas Glasgow kiss drop to 8th.

Just behind the top 8 are NY Eagles and Christian Dailly who can both still have a say in the money stakes.

At the bottom the relegation candidates are unchanged but I Still *ing Hate Chelsea do slip to bottom.

Promotion still up for grabs

Breaking news 8888 The N&R Championship - week 38 scores
Sven & Janas let a slight breath in week 38 as Mark increased his lead over Bollocks to Ballack by 32 points. Jonny Forskins seems settled in 3rd but just 41 points separate 4th from 10th and promotion is all to be played for.

Even my North of Crystal Palarse are in with a slim chance after a good week 38 and the three teams below that are all in with a shout still.

The New Wembley

Takes the big stage tomorrow. The £757m stadium with its magnificent arch has already seen a U21 game and the FA Trophy & Vase finals but tomorrow is the big one. 90,000 will be there, a global television audience of 550 million will also tune in. Find out more on the new stadium here.

Wembley gets ready

Road to Wembley - Man Utd v Chelsea

It was what all the pundits wanted, the big two at the new Wembley. I just hope it won't be a let down as the new Premiership champions take on the old champions.

Our N&R newsletter will be supporting Man U as they are our Road to Wembley team. I know we have fans of both sides in the fantasy league, so for your benefit I will try to stay impartial. Utd have won the FA Cup the most times, 11, while Chelski have won it just 3, the last time 10 years ago when DiMatteo's first minute goal put them on the way to a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough. Of course this is the trophy that Jose has never won.

They also met in 1994 and this is a nice article on what those players are doing now.

I of course as I always do hope for a good game, like last year's classic for starters as I dig into my waffles and pancakes! The game kicks off here at 9am (3pm GMT)

With regards to our Road to Wembley we had just 8 teams with us this year through the 14 rounds to the final starting with Newport Pagnell FC in August and ending with Man United. Romford, Maidenhead Utd and Watford each lasted 3 rounds. Here is the full run down from Saturday's first ever final at the new Wembley and endng with the Extra Preliminary Round played in front of 133 fans back in early August before the season even started:

Final (at Wembley)
Man Utd v Chelsea

Semi Final (at Villa Park)
Watford 1 Man Utd 4
Scorer: Bouazza
Att: 37,245

6th Round
Plymouth 0 Watford 1
Scorer: Bouazza
Att: 20,625

5th Round
Watford 1 Ipswich 0
Scorer: Francis
Att: 17,016

4th Round
West Ham 0 Watford 1
Att: 31,168

3rd Round
West Ham 3 Brighton 0
Att: 32,874

2nd Round
Brighton 3 Maidenhead Utd 0
Att: 5,741

1st Round Replay
Maidenhead Utd 0 Stafford Rangers 2
Att: 1,934

1st Round
Stafford Rangers 1 Maidenhead Utd 1
Scorer: Lee
Att:

4th Qualifying Road
Maidenhead Utd 1 Merthyr Tydfil 0
Scorer: Newman
Att: 711

3rd Qualifying Round
Maidenhead Utd 3 Worthing Utd 1
Scorer: Pickles
Att: 304

2nd Qualifying Round
Worthing Utd beat Romford (score unknown)
Att: 165

Qualifying Round
Romford 3 Leighton Town 0
Scorers: Elbi, Downer, Oxby
Att: 156

Preliminary Rd
Romford 2 Tilbury 0
Scorers: Pyne (2)
Att: 102

Extra Preliminary Rd
Romford 1 Newport Pagnell 0
Att: 133

My kinda town

Ok, you'll like this. Yesterday I did my driving test. And I passed! Which if I'm honest only proved that I can turn left and right and drive in a straight line and then reverse. Oh and I can park too, in a 12ft wide diagonal space!

I still don't own a car here but am very close to deciding to buy or lease one. At the moment I just rent one when I need to, and that's cheap and I was using my UK driving licence to do that. Apparently in the state of Illinois you can only do that so long and I am sure the time limit has passed, so this along with the fact that I might get myself an 1970's chevvy made my mind up that I should go and do the test.

To get your license, there is a theory test to sit first. You pick up the book, learn the signs, stopping distances, how many bottles of wine you can drink before you are under the influence, go to the government building, talk to a halfwit and do the test.

It was multiple choice and I passed with flying colours. The eye-test consisted of being able to see, or at least saying you could see two very bright lights in a machine. The bloke in front was Chinese and could not speak a damn word of English. The woman asked him 10 times if he could see the lights? He looked at her bemused until she said, "Just say yes." He did and he passed. Rather disconcerning and I made a mental note to beware the take-away vans around my way.

Next up is the road test, which is a bit misleading because most of the 10 minute exam is done in a car park and not on the road.

Of course I haven't got a car, so had to get some old duffer of a driving instructor to take me out and he insisted on a lesson first. Understandably so when he charges $80 an hour. Fcuk, when I did my driving lessons with old Ted 22 years ago they were seven quid!

Anyway I amazed myself how I went into complete driving test mode. I held the steering wheel at 10 to 2, I looked in my mirrors exaggeratingly every 50 feet, drove at 28mph with about half a mile between me and the car in front and indicated to go around anything wider than a piece of A4 paper.

Apparentely I was very good and I was allowed to go for my test. This was yesterday and we drove up there, hung around, signed some stuff and then my driving instructor wished me luck and told me I was on my own. Gulp!

Then very bizarrely I had to drive myself to the queue to wait for a test examiner. Even though I hadn't passed my test, there I was, driving. Just lucky that I knew how to, I guess? It was embarassing as the other 'students' were either over 75 or about 16. At 75 you have to take an annual test and in some states you can drive at 15. Illinois is 16 though.

I waited my turn, put the radio on and tried not to think about driving on the right/wrong* (delete as applicable) side of the road and most importantly remembering which way I should turn the wheels if I was parking down a steep hill. This question is the only one you get asked during your test and if you get it wrong it is a straight fail.

Parallel parking, 3-point turn, driving above 28mph not important, turning your wheels inwards when on a steep hill essential and of course if you have ever been to the northern part of Illinois, then you will realise that the highest point is about 50ft!

Then my instructor got in, she was about 25, I drove, she flirted, I reversed, got my question right, parked the car in a gap the size of a Homebase car park and I passed.

It wasn't quite the feeling that I had when I was 18, but it still felt good, even if I joined a couple of 90 year olds in the office to get my license, one of which could hardly walk and didn't speak English and the other as death as a post.

Time now for a road trip.

My personal take on Charlton's relegation

The full article can be found at www. chicagoaddick.blogspot.com

I know this sounds a bit mad, but I actually enjoyed this season! Ok, so it wasn't the normal flying start, then losing more than we win, or winning by boring teams to death, putting a run together over Christmas, 4th round Cup knockout, not winning a league game after Easter kind of giggles we have become used to, but this season, despite the tragedy and the despair, was exciting and I will look back with warm memories.

My first season of being an overseas Addick was 2003/04 and that was tough because I had to get used to supporting the club a whole different way. It wasn't easy, part of my life, a huge part of it, had been cut-off and it was a good season (7th place finish) despite the customary end of season malaise.

However the following season's under Curbishley, 2004/05 and 2005/06 frankly were bloody boring (perhaps the start of 05/06 aside) but the selfish fact was it helped my Charlton-starved brain to adjust to being 4,000 miles away and not seeing every goal, free-kick or corner, either in the flesh or on the box.

I was one of those people, and it seems like centuries ago, that wanted the Curbishley era to end but equally I knew that this season with what he left us with was going to be bloody hard and a 17th place finish would have been considered a success.

Naturally I never expected the kind of circumstances that were going to be thrown at us after Dowie was finally appointed. Although the 'Dowie thing' never seemed right, and by the way the court case started today, there was certainly a new energy amongst Addicks and I saw that for myself at the Fulham away game in October, even though we were in hindsight comprehensively beaten by a far more astute tactician. Not that it did Coleman any good either mind.

Dowie, went and Reed plunged us to depths not seen for decades, and never seen by some younger fans. As is traditional at other clubs we (shock, horror) turned on the board and the players, the media then slung muck at us for "forcing Curbishley out etc." We collectively turned around and thought "fuck you, what do you lot of Mourinho lovers know?"

Just like now the press still can't grasp the fact that our relegation wasn't only caused by Dowie and Reed and I loved it that the media and opposing fans slagged us off, and I thought thank god, no more "nice little Charlton."

Not since Steve Gritt was sacked, were supporters so at odds with each other. The players, with one or two exceptions maximum, did not give a toss and the board, our dear revered board were hapless under extreme pressure.

But they pulled themselves together, had the wherewithal to bring in Pardew and we got our club back. Christmas Eve as we collectively sat in our homes drinking a sweet sherry, there was huge pangs of relief and some hope.

How Pardew reinvigorated us, not just the players, but the fans. Out of all of what had happened - Dowie, Jordan, Reed, being the laughing stock of the press, the Wycombe game, the board's lack of direction, the european coaching model, 3 managers before Christmas and Pards, it had all suceeded in uniting the fans. The old ones, the newer ones, the ones who wished for 'the good old days,' the rose-tinted ones, each of us, we became one.

Not since the 'Back to The Valley' days had the fans and the club been so together. Sure we need to get rid of some useless pieces of crap that have the dishonesty to call themselves Charlton players, but I feel as proud and excited now to be a Charlton fan than at any time in my 32 years of going.

Last night, something remarkable happened towards the end of the game, three sides of the ground stood and sung 'Valley Floyd Road' together followed by a round of applause. In recent months the atmosphere has been some of the best I have seen, heard or witnessed for many, many years.

The Championship and it's teams can enjoy our season on loan to them beginning in August because watch out "nice little Charlton" are coming.

Bloody Sav ruins all of the fun!

Breaking news 8888 The N&R Premiership - week 37 scores
In what I was trumpeting as the closest finish since Greg Harris' Old Etonians pipped Brian Rutter's Woolwich Arsenal to the title in 1919, Savchenko has gone and ruined all the excitement by finishing the N&R FL season like a friggin' steam train. Another top 5 weekly score has Sav 31 points ahead with 3 weeks left to play.

Flighty Feet lead the sprint after him and they have opened a little gap now between themselves and Hannoi Utd in 3rd, although Ready is on the charge after a fine week which saw him move above East Indian Summer.

Rooney & Ronaldo Rockstars hang in there but I worry for long time leader Cristiano's Allstars because they are stuck in reverse after being top 4 weeks ago.

Behind Razor is Roubles FC and Christian Dailly all on his tail and slightly further back but still in gobbing distance is NY Eagles.

In the relegation places Lovejoy zoomed out of trouble due to his MoW award but this dumped Epping 'dog walking' club back in the dog doo doo. 2 Infinity & Beyond also look like they have some fight left in them after an improved week 37.

Will Ballacks run out of juice?

Breaking news 8888 The N&R Championship - week 37 scores

Bollocks to Ballack are slowly closing the gap on Sven & Janas but will they run out of steam or will the season, with 3 weeks scores to come, end to prematurely for Ballacks? After another good score from Wenners, he is now just 30 points behind Simmo and although promotion looks nailed on, we are sure Wenners will be after the main prize.

Jonny Forskins and Thank you 4 the daze remain in in 3rd and 4th. I was wondering the weekend if Oakers will name his team next season 1 year of hurt?

Up into 5th are the mighty Seagulls Party, swapping with Massive Tackle, who if he is not careful will fall out of the promotion race. James has been top 8 since January but is floundering. A point separates 7th from 8th - In Tatters and Incontentia B uttocks with Lamb to the slaughter leading the chasing pack.

Megan & Hannah's Bears remain in the penultimate place prized position, 40th overall!

You couldn't Byatt

Breaking News 88888 Manager of week 37

Alex Byatt stormed to his 3rd MoW prize in week 36. Just 34 points was enough it propelled his Luvvies away from the relegation zone and into 13th place, maybe with half a eye on that magic 7th position, although he may run out of weeks.

4 points short of Alex was Rose's Rovers but then came the big hitters in the Premiership. Ttile chasers Hannoi Utd and Flighty Feet both scored 29, whilst leader Savchenko Spurs managed 27. Another prize challenger Glasgow kiss smacked 25.

Also in the Premiership Goonersmoan scored 26 and 2Infinity & Beyond got 25.

In the Championship promotion race In Tatters scored 28, one less than old chum Panzo who scored 29. Vote Seagulls Party, Ping Pong and Bollocks to Ballack all helped their promotion hopes with good weekly scoring.

Here we go again, Massive Tackle and Brighton Blues all shared the embarrassment of the weeks lowest score of 5 points.

Load of Ballacks

"A German sex toy firm is to pay German football stars Michael Ballack and Oliver Kahn 50,000 euros each after it used their names to sell vibrators." (more)

The stars sued the firm Beate Uhse because it sold special World Cup vibrators called "Michael B" and "Olli K" last year without their permission. The damages - £34,000 ($67,000) for each player - were awarded in Hamburg.

There is no truth to the rumour that a Marsh broker is suing a London sex shop for selling dildo's called Ginger Rabbit.

My kinda town

I had to listen to a current ad being run on local radio here a couple of times because I couldn't believe it the first time round.

Virgin Airlines are now flying direct to Chicago from Heathrow (which is good news) and they have been running television and radio adverts starring Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols and it shows Jones relaxing on a flight talking to his mate about head massages, onboard bar, showers, lie-down beds etc, when he then turns to his mate and says:

"This is great, economy class is only for wankers."

Honestly on prime television and radio. And I could hear the collective "whooooosh" over the whole population's heads after it ended.

Team Challenge - Layton still out front

Sav and Ready are leading Layton Blackham to silverware with just 4 weeks remaining of the Team challenge. They are 20+ points ahead of 2nd place AIG, who were last year's champions.

Just behind them are Willis, being led by our lovely Scottish haggis Kirsty and Aon USA's dysfunctional family comprised of a couple of cheeseheads, a boy from Philly who knows nowt about the beautiful game and a Croat (ditto).

Back in 5th slipping down the table are the drinking group of Aon Re, in 6th is BMS, where both Ash and Wenners are battling for promotion.

Aspen are down in 7th despite Wizzi's fantastic first season, 8th are the mighty Ex-Pats showing the world that England was the inventor of the great game! Behind them are once previous champions Marsh and then after that Razor leads the Lloyds boys from the comfort of his own office. It is said that Richard only goes into Lloyds to pick up his tall vanilla semi-skimmed latte.

Bringing up the rear - Jenks and PK's fave position - is RSA, and last but not least the boys around at JLT.

Brighton still await new ground 10 years on

The saga of Brighton and Hove Albion's search for a new home is the longest in recent English football. Since they left the Goldstone Ground, sixteen clubs have moved into new stadiums. It's now just over ten years since the Seagulls played their last game at the Goldstone Ground which was their home for 95 years. But the club's future is still at risk because of Nimby opposition to their planned new stadium at Falmer on the outskirts of Brighton.

The Goldstone became a retail park after being sold off by a controversial board of directors. To add insult to injury, Brighton had to pay £245,000 in capital gains tax to the Inland Revenue because of the delay in building the new ground. For two years after leaving the Goldstone Brighton had to share with Gillingam, 70 miles away. They then returned to temporary accommodation at Withdean Stadium, a small council-owned athletics facility. Pitches with athletic tracks round them are never ideal for football and £3.5m had to be spent bringing Withdean up to league standard. But its size means the club cannot take full advantage of their potential attendance.

The City Council approved plans for the 22,500-capacity stadium at Falmer, after a city-wide referendum, but the club are still in limbo. John Prescott approved the plans after two lengthy public inquiries. However, neighbouring Lewes Council, whose territory includes Falmer village and a small corner of the proposed stadium, launched a legal challenge. Supposedly in an area of outstanding natural beauty, the Falmer site is a nondescript field between a railway, some university buildings and a road. Falmer parish council tried to claim that residents of East Brighton estates lacked the skills to take advantage of employment opportunities offered by the stadium development.

It was also claimed that Brighton Council only gave permission because they wanted football fans as far from the city centre as possible. The final decision now rests with Communities and Local Government minister, Ruth Kelly, who will rule before July 9th.

In the time since the Seagulls have been homeless, 16 teams have moved to new grounds, with Shrewsbury being the latest at the start of next season. These are clubs who have moved to new grounds in the last ten years are:

Arsenal - The Emirates (2006)

Bolton Wanderers - The Reebok (1997)

Coventry City - Ricoh Arena (2005)

Darlington - Darlington Arena (2003)

Derby County - Pride Park (1997)

Doncaster Rovers - Keepmoat Stadium (2007)

Hull City - KC Stadium (2002)

Leicester City - Walkers (2002)

Manchester City - City of Manchester (2003)

MK Dons - Denbigh Stadium (2007)

Reading - Majedski (1998)

Southampton - St Mary's (2001)

Stoke City - Brittania (1997)

Sunderland - Stadium of Light (1997)

Swansea City - Liberty (2005)

Wigan Athletic - JJB (1999)

Southend United, Grimsby Town, Chesterfield and Colchester all have plans to move in 2008.

The Times Football Rich List

This was in last week's paper. It lists the top 10 owners / shareholders in clubs and also the top 10 richest players.

Top 10 Owners / Shareholders
1. Roman Abramovich Chelsea £10.8bn
2. Joe Lewis Tottenham Hotspur £2.1bn
3. Dermot Desmond Glasgow Celtic £1.25bn
4. Malcolm Glazer Man Utd £1.05bn
5. Trevor Hemmings Charlton and Preston NE £900m
6. Sir Alan Sugar Tottenham Hotspur £790m
7. Randy Lerner Aston Villa £789m
8. David Murray Glasgow Rangers £650m
9. Simon Keswick Cheltenham Town £644m
10. David Sullivan Birmingham City £595m

The interesting one for me and Martin Singleton is Trevor Hemmings. He only has a small shareholding in both The Addicks and Preston. I wrote about him on my blog recently. Randy Lerner is a new entry of course and of course the big question is will Simon Keswick make Cheltenham the new Jack Walker's Blackburn? Keswick is currently on non-executive board member of JLT.

Top 10 players
1. David Beckham Real Madrid £87m
2. Michael Owen Newcastle United £32m
3. Robbie Fowler Liverpool £28m
4. Sol Campbell Portsmouth £27m
5. Rio Ferdinand Man United £22m
6. Ryan Giggs Man United £22m
7. Andriy Shevchenko Chelsea £22m
8. Thierry Henry Arsenal £21m
9. Wayne Rooney Man United £20m
10. Michael Ballack Chelsea £18m

Of course Becks will bring his wallet to the US in August. Michael Owen has certainly earnt his money this season. Not. And Robbie is a bit past his prime. Is it any wonder that Ronaldo is a bit pissed off at 'only' earning £9m a year?

Hot - Spurs

Breaking news 8888 The N&R Premiership - week 36 scores

In the tightest finish in years Savchenko Spurs became the 4th team in 5 weeks to go top of probably the best football fantasy league in the world. Ryan's huge 95 points knocked his title rivals sideways and opened a 33 point advantage over East Indian Summer and previous leader Flighty Feet with 4 weeks to go. Dewbs' East Indians were the biggest climber, a massive 5 places as others faltered.

Hannoi Utd drop 2 places to 4th, Cristiano Allstars stay 5th. Rooney & Ronaldo Rockstars dropped 2 places and Roubles fall out of the prized places altogether. Christian Dailly Football Genius also slipped further behind the top 7 but NY Eagles gained a place and are 25 points off the big prized places.

Glasgow Kiss, the week 37 MoW quietly moved back into the top 7 from 9th. Kirsty was last in the top 7 in February.

At the bottom the biggest mover was London Irish and Hilary and Lovejoy will have their beady eyes on Epping 'dog walking' club, #1 Strugglers, Thieving Chelsea Gits, Brighton Blues and Living in Sin above them.

Wenners closes gap

Breaking news 8888 The N&R Championship - week 36 scores
Bollocks to Ballack kept up the heat on Sven & Janas in week 35. I thought that Simmons had it won but Iron Wenners must have an illegal player amongst his ranks or something as his boys chase down the long term leader. The gap is now just 43, the smallest for 8 weeks.

Jonny Forskins is into 3rd, after a league best weekly score, Thank You 4 The Daze stay 4th but Massive Tackle fall to 5th. Vote Seagulls Party remain 6th but Incontentia B uttocks and In Tatters swap places.

Lamb To Slaughter after wholesale changes are 10 points out of the promotion race, Ping Pong 18, Crown Jewells 25 and Glencoe Hammers 34.

At the bottom Sweaty's Revolution are 23 points behind Megan & Hannah's Bears for the rather embarrasing title of the 2nd worst fantasy manager.

Pucker up Kirsty

Breaking News 88888 Manager of week 36

Kirsty's Glasgow Kiss och-ayed da noo'd back into the prize places in week 35 with a super 99 point score. It was the Glasgow lass' best score of the season and the 10th best overall.

Savchenko Spurs stormed back to the top of The Premiership after a 13 week absence after hitting their best score of the campaign, a sign of a champion as Ryan hammered 95 points and sits in pole position with just 4 weeks left.

NY Eagles notched 95 and goes into 10th, but it was East Indian Summer who made the biggest impact by climbing 5 places to joint 2nd and Dewbs is the man on form after moving up from the lower half of the table in recent weeks. Mark's 88 points was identical to Dougs' Living in Sin. London Irish helped their relegation chances by scoring 85.

In the Championship Jonny Forskins and the Phullbacks enhanced their promotion prospects with an 83 whereas work mate Wenners, kept his Bollocks to Ballack on the tail of leader Sven & Janas with 82.