Finally.... a big thank you

Another season gone. Where does the time go?

Keith and I would just like to take this opportunity to thank every single one of you. We now have managers playing this game that live in Japan, Australia, USA, UK, France and of course Bermuda and often Thailand. Our distraught Mexican correspondent came home! Distraught not because he came home, but distraught because he got pipped on the finish line!

Anyway, I think that this shows the reach and the true significance of the N&R FL goes beyond fantasy football. It is about friendship, relationships and mostly about having a bit of a giggle.

This season we had 70 managers, the most we have had since the inception of the N&R FL in 1996.

At the end of that 1996/97 season the N&R FL was won by a joint team of Pete Godfrey and Danny Rose. I believe we had 12 teams that first season. As means of a reference in that season's Premier League Wimbledon finished 8th. I am not saying that Pete and Danny have become Wimbledon, well maybe Dan, but you know what I mean.

Sheffield Wednesday finished 7th that same season, the one where Man U were 90 points behind Newcastle with 6 games to go. King Kevin was not best pleased: I will love it if we beat them!

Anyway by my calculations 29 of the managers that played this year I never knew when I last worked in London (some of you were probably in primary school!!), which is a real testament to the spirit of the N&R FL.

Keith and I would like to give a heartfelt thank you to Mark Simmons for the many hours of work that goes into putting the scores together for us. Mark is seeking a new career, yes he did work outside of fantasy football, so if anyone knows of anything that would interest him (LinkedIn profile here), then he would love to hear from you.

Thanks also to those of you who regularly keep in touch via email and text keeping me in particular in on the loop of gossip and changes in the market, particularly Ged Stimpson, who no longer plays, but is a known voyeur! It is much appreciated as we don't do this for ourselves, it is for all of us to participate in.

Enjoy the rest of Euro 2012, which has so far been the best football tournament for many a year, and I hope to see many of you in the City in July plus I intend to be back at the end of the summer/early Autumn as well.

I will also be in Chicago a couple of times this summer, and I will let you Chicagoans know those dates as well when I have them confirmed. Sadly I have no plans to be in Tokyo nor Adelaide or Sydney. Maybe Paris if Barry wants a romantic weekend!!

And finally our very best wishes to Mr & Mrs Saveall on their imminent arrival. The first N&R FL baby. It makes you proud.

Enjoy your summers and if anyone has any interest in what I am up to then feel free to visit me here: http://www.chicagoaddick.wordpress.com/

Nobby & Ready

Ready reminder

I hope Keith doesn't mind me doing this, but as most of you know Ready left Bluefin at the end of last year and is still in the market pursuing his next career move.

He will be in Thailand for a lot of the summer, but is always contactable.

I know a lot of you have already helped him explore different opportunites but Keith would be an asset to any firm. He has a couple of irons burning, but please keep your ear to the ground if you hear of anything cooking in the London Market.

His contact details are:

Email - keithyread@hotmail.com
Mob - 07854 453508

Thank you.

Save the Date - London market Prize Evening

Unfortunately Ready will be in Thailand, but I am planning on being in the City on Thursday, July 19th and/or Friday, July 20th. I have yet to book flights but if you could pencil this in your respective diaries for a Leadenhall Market prize evening I would appreciate it.

I will confirm as soon as my plans are finalised.

Many thanks
Simon

Euro stat

Everyone loves a stat, this one courtesy of Mark Simmons:

Last time Roy Hodgson managed a team in Europe it was Fulham in 2010. They beat Shaktar (Ukraine), then Juve (Italy) then Hamburg (Germany) but lost to Atletico Madrid (Spain) in final.

So this time as we have now beaten Ukraine, we can beat Italy and Germany and hopefully he has learnt so we can beat Spain.

Photograph of the week

The Premier League manager merry-go-round continued yesterday after Harry Redknapp was shown the door at Spurs. Redknapp's stock has fallen as spectacularly as Facebook. The best English manager, a shoe-in for the national job just a few months ago, he is now back in his Poole retreat working on another tax form with his dog.

From the bottom up - manager by manager part 9

The final part of the blow by blow accounts of how you each got on and the real business end of the 2011/12 N&R FL.

Who were the top 8 Div 1 prize winners and who took it all? I think you'll be surprised.

In 8th was Super, Super, Sav, Super Savlyuchenko. And like his namesake Andriy came to the fore in the big moments and grabbed the last prized place usurping Neil Reynolds and Alastair Bigg on the way!

It was the first time in 40 weeks that Ryan had been in the top 8. A couple of dips into the transfer market in the last couple of weeks took Ryan around the outside of the track and he overtook his competitors in the final furlong. Devastating if you were Neil or Alastair (51 weeks in the top 8 between them) but wonderfully skillful if you are Sav.

Sav has got an exciting summer ahead of him and this 50 notes will help towards some nappies.

Just 7 points ahead of Sav was Paris Eagles. 4th last year, 5th the season before. 7th place was Barry's 8th top 10 finish and he was another one who cleverly made some late changes to his line up to push his way into the top 8 in the last fortnight. Barry did spend the first two weeks top but had to settle for 7th and some more Euros will be on the way to Paris.

In 6th was Tanus Terriers. Lee was a force all the way through the season. Hitting 6th in week 6, he then bounced around the top 8 for the next 34 weeks including week 11 on top. Lee made his transfers well and was only 6 points from 5th place. Great season and a potential title winner in the future.

5th was Dewbs, an improvement of a place on 2010/11 and joint his best effort in 2006/7. Financial Bale Out actually had a shocking start to the season. 2nd bottom in week 1, but he eventually cleared himself from the relegation battle and made his way to the other end of the table.

By week 22 he was 8th and from then on there was no looking back. He did get to 3rd and was always on the coat tails and he even managed to keep 3 transfers in the bank. Another fine season for Dewbs and some deserved prize money.

In 4th was another manager who one day will have his name engraved on the N&R FL trophy, of that we have no doubt. Runner up last year, 4th this Ken's Magnificent Eleven has a terrific season especially after such a bad beginning. Still in the relegation zone in week 11, he improved but then made some festive transfers and his luck got better.

Ken definitely had a tale of two seasons because after Christmas his form was superb and without doing the sums he probably 'won' the 2nd half of the season.

3rd for a while, he then spent a few weeks at 5th before powering into 4th with 3 weeks to go and that is where he stayed. Another 125 quid to the Cobbett Foundation.

Steve Black is about the best closer we have in the N&R FL. Guinness & eggs may as well not play the first half of the season and I think his missus must pick his team, because once he has entered the transfer market and sorted out a fresh strategy year after year he storms up the table.

This season he actually started pretty well. 8th in week 6, but then he fell to 18th in week 15. But he got himself together and strung some wonderfully consistent weeks together and was back in the top 8 by week 26 and then it was just a case of could he take it to the top.

He did in week 35, peaking a little early and was pushed back to 2nd, then 3rd but was 2nd again in week 39 and went into the final week as one of 3 potential winners.

But 3rd it was to be and he was pipped for Runner Up by just 6 points and the Championship Title by 8 but it was another joyous run by Steve, our man in Atlanta. Well done buddy.

Runner up Greg Foulger will be devastated. He held top spot from week 36 to 39 and from 20 to 34, more than any other manager but despite this being Boys on Tour's best ever  N&R season, he will have to go home with the title of only Runner Up!

Greg had an indifferent start but was moving back to the UK from Mexico City at the time. Once settled he got to work and swiftly moved into the top 8 by week 11. He was to 9 weeks later and at one point was 65 points ahead of 2nd.

That lead was slowly eroded away as Steve Black, Ricky Wood, Ken Cobbett and Lee Horne all buzzed around him pecking at his lead like a blackbird.

In week 36, he dropped to 2nd behind Steve Black and we held our breath but he regained the lead 7 days later only to lose it in the last 7 days finishing 2nd by just 2 points in one of the closest ends to a N&R Championship Title we have ever seen in 16 years!

The winner then was a man who was never top until week 40, the final week of the 9 month season. He did only spend one week outside of the top 8 and was 2nd and 3rd a lot.

No bridesmaid dress for this man though, but a shiny tiara and the Championship Title, a very sparkly trophy and £250 for the 16th N&R FL Champion..... Ricky Wood and his Woody's Round Up.

Well done Ricky. After promotion last season Ricky won the title by just 2 (TWO) points from Greg Foulger and 8 from Steve Black.

Not one MoW but one superb consistent season for the man from Gravity and he joins a long list of N&R Champions. Congratulations Woody and we look forward to you buying us a drink soon.

The N&R FL Roll of Honour

A couple of new names will be engraved on to this year's trophies. In fact we are pushing the boat out this summer and will ask Tiffany to design 4 trophies for us.

Ricky Wood in just his second season won the prestigious N&R Championship trophy after winning promotion last season. 

Rosie Dalton was crowned N&R FL Div 2 winner and RSA will lift the 12th N&R Team Challenge Trophy.

Finally Kate Chillman collected the N&R Cup after beating John Hardiman in the final.

Congratulations to Ricky, Rosie, Kate and RSA.

16 years of Champions:
2011/12 Woody's Round Up - Ricky Wood
2010/11 To Elland Back - Rob Munden
2009/10 Hannoi Utd - Keith Read
2008/09 Gooner win league - Neil Reynolds
2007/08 Tally.Wacker.co.uk - Paul Kelleher
2006/07 Savchenko Spurs - Ryan Saveall
2005/06 Ping Pong Yo-Yo - Suzie Syrett
2004/05 Ginger (not so) Athletic - Peter Doyle
2003/04 Chang Noi's Ham Yai - Keith Read
2002/03 2Infinity & Beyond - Barry Plummer
2001/02 Read 'em & weep - Keith Read
2000/01 Brighton Revenge - Jonathan Poole
1999/00 Cowboys Ride Again - Brett Davey
1998/99 Millennium Buggers - Richard Taylor
1997/98 Flo's Champs - Godfrey, Rose
1996/97 Flo's Army - Godfrey, Rose

N&R Cup Finals
2011/12 Kate Chillman bt John Hardiman
2010/11 Neville White bt Rob Munden
2009/10 Keith Read bt Scott Morgan
2008/09 Neil Reynolds bt Feldbruegge/Malloy

Team Challenge Winners
2011/12 RSA - Foulger, Cassell
2010/11 QBE - Wright, Richards
2009/10 Bluefin - Ready, Saveall
2008/09 Willis - Baillie, Sheron, Kennett
2007/08 BMS - Wenman, Reddy
2006/07 Layton Blackham - Read, Saveall, Thomas
2005/06 AIG - Waterman, France, Dewberry, Barwick, Higgs, Ryan.
2004/05 Marsh - Simmons, Doyle
2003/04 Marsh - Simmons, Doyle
2002/03 Allianz - Jenkins, Day
2001/02 Avon - Godfrey, Rose
2000/01 HSBC - Waters, Murrell, Ready

From the bottom up - manager by manager part 8

Andy Cassell's Bagpuss' season ended in disappointment. Andy was one of 8 managers that led the famous N&R FL Div 1 table at one point in the season. He was top for 3 weeks in November, but also hung around the top 8 from week 8 (when he was MoW) until week 34, and his collapse was pretty remarkable.

Andy finished in 14th place, his lowest place since the end of last summer.

Harry Houdini will be a little disappointed with 13th after 9th last time out. Tim also spent time at the top - 5 weeks and was top at Christmas. Sadly when the decs came down so did Tim falling to 3rd, 5th, 8th and them out of the prize places never to return. I did think he had an outside chance to make it back into the prizes around week 38, but it was too late.

Last season's champion Rob Munden had a decent attempt at the title again. To Elland back got to 7th and buzzed around the top 8 for the majority of the season. Sadly no dough this year for Rob, just a N&R Cup semi-final to show for his efforts.

Ready pops' chart of positions (I got this from a 14-year in Thailand) was all over the place. Top 8, bottom 4, relegation battle, top half, eventually Hannoi Utd settled into a mid-table mo-jo which he will be disappointed by. He made a good late run for 8th place but ended up 42 points short, or not so short.

Room with a view ended 10th, a fine season for another one that gained promotion last season. Alastair was in the prized places more than he wasn't, so he will be annoyed about ending 10th. 2nd was a high, and he was never lower than 11th. Alastair occupied 8th for 4 of the final 7 weeks, and 7th once, but just couldn't sustain the challenge. Bloody good effort though.

Gooner win League, another previous N&R Champion, was also all over the board. 30th at one point, 2nd at another. Neil only spent 12 weeks outside of the top 8, and lived in it from week 28 all the way through to the final week. Gutted.

Two MoW's and a superb overall effort, where he often showed title form, sadly for Neil he fell at the final hurdle.

Bulldog spirit

I was pleasantly surprised by that. I thought England started both halves with good intent and showed a lot of industry. Often it was a little backs-to-the-wall but white shirts bravely threw themselves into shot after shot. The type of character that makes an Englishman cheer but a Spaniard or Italian whince.

There were some good performances, in particular Parker, Welbeck and Young. Oxlade Chamberlain also showed patches of fearlessness. I did think Johnson was poor though. Sadly after we took the lead we played so deep we were almost playing in Volgograd whilst the French were in Donetsk.

From the bottom up - manager by manager part 7

Francey's Keep the faith struggled to make any real impact on Div 1 this season. He dallied a little with relegation, only ever got as high as 10th but will do it all again next season, when he might even make a transfer.

Bix's Whitened Smut had an up and down season, pretty much bumping from the edge of relegation to the edge of promotion. A poor start (34th) and then up to 8th at the midway point, there just wasn't enoug activity in the transfer market from Neil and ended just 20 points from safety.

20th after 3rd place last year, this was John McGowan's worse season since 2006! Despite being Runners Up in the League Cup, Loads of Roubles was active as always in the market, did make 8th in September but in what would have surprised and pleased the title challengers, John's own challenge just never camek, this after 5 consecutive top 8 finishes. Champions of Europe though, eh John?

Good on paper had a steady season after promotion from Div 2 last season. A bad start but he soon improved and even hit over a hundred in week 26 peaking at 13th. Mark did get a little to close to the relegation zone for comfort but ended up 68 points clear.

Bingo FC was another promoted manager that comfortably held his own with the big boys. In fact Wardy started the season on fire. he was 2nd after 5 weeks and spent all of the first 10 weeks in the top 8. He then had a mini collapse and found himself in the bottom 12 for three weeks in January but 6 transfers out pay to any worries and the it was a case of whether he could push himself back into the top 8. He couldn't.

Richard, so good they named him twice, Richards was another to come up last year and was another that started the season so well. ThE DrEaM FacTorY hit the early heights of 7th but mostly were outside knocking on the door, quite loudly over Christmas, but without more transfer activity Rich just couldn't get close to the top 8 and ended up 17th.

How's about Bollocks were one of the few teams that managed to fight their way out of relegation. As low as 30th at one time, Pete used all of his fantasy skills to get himself out of trouble and the twice-champion ended up in a decent 16th, one place better off than last season.

FFC 4Ever were another who spent a fair bit of time in the bottom 12 but ended up being too good. Promoted last season (8 of 10 that will play another season in the top flight), Steve won a couple of MoW's but was just a little inconsistent and played a real mid-table mediocre season. Not to be sniffed at however. Fulham have done it for years.

2011/12 - Who won what?

36 winners and all for an entry of 25 notes. A better return than your average building society and betting shop!

This is a full list of the winners. Congratulations to you all.

N&R Div 1

N&R FL Champion - £250 plus coveted title trophy

RICKY WOOD

Runner Up - £175

GREG FOULGER

3rd - £150

STEVE BLACK

4th - £120

KEN COBBETT

5th - £100
MARK DEWBERRY

6th - £80
LEE HORNE

7th - £70
BARRY PAULL

8th - £50
RYAN SAVEALL

N&R Div 2
Winner - £100 plus trophy
ROSIE DALTON
2nd - £60
GRAHAM WARD
3rd - £50
DANIEL WEEKS

4th - £45
BARRY PLUMMER

5th - £40
HILARY FLYNN
6th - £35
BRETT DAVEY

7th - £30
SOOZIE SAVEALL

8th - £25
KIRSTIE BAILLIE

Also Promoted: Andrew Shepherd, Geoff McCormick, Michael Stout and Paul & Christian Long

N&R Cup Winner - Trophy
KATIE CHILLMAN

Light & Bitter League Cup Winner - £40
KEN COBBETT

Light & Lager League Cup Winner - £40
DANIEL WEEKS

Penultimate Overall League Place - £25
DANNY ROSE
Team Challenge Winners - Trophy
RSA

Best Weekly Score - £30
PETER GODFREY AND GRAHAM WARD (TIED) £15 each
Worst weekly score - £30
MARK SIMMONS

Ready's Benfleet Bet FA Cup Prediction Competition - £30

RICKY WOOD

Manager of the Weeks - £5 or shared equally if any one week was a tie

Brett Davey 4 (one shared) total winnings £16.66

Ryan Saveall 3 £15

Dan Weeks 3 (one shared) £12.50

Greg Foulger 3 (one shared) £12.50

Neil Reynolds 2 £10

Graham Ward 2 £10

Hilary Flynn 2 £10

Rosie Dalton 2 £10

Steve Merchant 2 (one shared) £7.50

Neil Bixby 2 (one shared) £7.50

Peter Godfrey 2 (one shared) £7.50

Lee Horne (one shared) £7.50

Ben Guarino (one shared) £6.66

Kirsty Baillie 1 £5

Keith Read 1 £5

Tim Harris 1 £5

Ken Cobbett 1 £5

Peter Doyle 1 £5

Michael Stout 1 £5

Alastair Bigg 1 £5

Tony Murray 1 £5

Soozie Saveall 1 £5

Danny Rose 1 £5

Andy Cassell 1 (shared) £2.50

Barry Plummer 1 (shared) £2.50

Henry Williams 1 (shared) £1.66

As always what we would prefer is to take your entry money for next year from this year's winnings or we can offset anything less against it.

I am more than happy to transfer winnings online to bank accounts or I will hand out to those that are at the end of season prize giving.

All non-British resident winners will get paid in local currency at the exchange rate on xe.com.

The N&R Div 1 relegation battle

The relegation battle from Div 1 was a bit more of a closed shop than a battle. No less than 4 managers spent the whole of the 40 weeks in the relegation zone and frankly deserved their fate.

Some others, me included, simply once they got there could not find a way out. Only one manager was out more than he was in and was actually top of Div 1 for 6 weeks but he (and you know who you are) once again failed to build on a good start.

So, who were the 12? In fact there were 13 as two manager's tied for 23rd place and we had to separate them the fairest way.

To read who which 12 managers will ply their trade in the lower division of N&R FL next season read on....

From the bottom up - manager by manager part 6

Bottom then of the N&R FL Div 1 was a team named the CHAMP19NS - 20 in May. Unfortunately for mr Simmons like his Red Devils he came away empty handed, but to make matters worse he finished rock bottom of the Div 1 table. Mark picks his team and and his transfers solely from the Man U squad, which, as evidenced, is not as easy as it looks. But at least when you get thrashed 6-1 by your noisy neighbours it does give you an unssailable worst weekly score, which did win Mark a prize.

Mark spent just 4 weeks holidaying outside of the bottom 12 and ended up 27 points adrift of his nearest competitor.

Who was.... Ted Striker. Oakers loves a bit of Airplane, but his team barely got of the ground last season. Al kept Mark company in the bottom two for the majority of the campaign. This season will be a real disappointment for Oakers after having one of his best ever last time out (10th in Div 1). Oh well, beer will vanish any memories.

In 33rd was Sainsbury's Maggotts LMFC, which even now I have no idea what the name means. Pk is a previous Champion (2007/8) and after a little sojourn he will be troubled to find out that he has lost his touch (although not late at night in Fuego's). Pk was one of three managers to spend the whole of the 40 weeks in the bottom 12 and Paul Robinson in goal didn't help.

Neville White goes back to whence he came after just one season for Still not a chance in the top flight. The jump in class was just too much for the very class casualty man, and after sitting 18th in week 1, the rest literally was down hill. Franz Klammer style.

31st was one of our now two Japanese correspondents, Giles Crowley. Giles and his erotically beery eyed team of Asahi Kirin Sapporo Saki Eight bounded back into our lifes last summer and because of his record in N&R FL, he proudly took a Div 1 place. Clearly a little ring rusty (whatever that means) Giles started ok but we soon realised it was all smoke and mirrors for the dross that was to come. 28th in week 3 and then the game was up. Hopefully Shinji Kagawa will have more success.

Neil Wallis was 3rd in Div 2 last season and one or two of us thought his Bobby Z is world class would cut it in the higher level. Er, no bottom after week one, Neil dabbled in the transfer market but to no avail and was forever swimming against the tide. Back to Div 2 you go mate.

My Serbian friend Davor had a disastrous season. Non Calculated Risk wasn't risky enough and he will drop back down to Div 2 after being promoted last season. In week 1 Dav was in 8th but the 7ft 2 inch former netbasketball player got a serious nose bleed and from week 3 he was fighting a relegation battle without ever looking like being successful.

The most shocking of all the relegations was that of Two points, two flats and a packet of gravel. Kennett is always quick out of the traps but this year's collapse was one of his greatest. 3rd after the first week of scores, but then 1st in week 3 but not just for a blink of an eye, Ian was top for 6 weeks, one of only 8 managers who spent any time at the summit.

After week 10 Ian slipped off the top but was still a challenger, well except for the fact that Keith and I know his squeaky bum, is more squeaky than others! By week 16 our erstwhile Everest Base Camp Trekker (right) was out of the top 8 and a one-way ticket to the relegation scrap.

Yet it was another 8 weeks before he finally arrived at the arse end of the table but that only lasted for a fortnight but it is then that he should have rolled out some transfers, but he didn't and with others around him improving, and Ian's secret, his side were back in the doo-doo in week 30 and in the final 10 weeks his fate was dished out to him.

27th, 15 places below last season's final placing was Nobby Jnr, and at least I will be a big fish in a small pond next season! I was pretty rubbish to be honest, despite making all my substitutions and having access to everyone's team! After spending 38 weeks in the bottom 12 I got what I deserved. See you on the other side.

Huw Thomas and Travelodge Kettles (the best team name in the competition) rejoined us this season from xx but also struggled and was another to drop through the trap door. Huw was 6th at one point and in the first half of the season was safely in midtable. Yet come (18) Huw got wrapped up in the bottom 12 and found it hard and in fact impossible to keep his head above water.

25th was the Sweatmeister and We are all Keith Lemon. Lee was bumped up to Div 1 during the summer mostly because of sexual favours, and quite simply he was over-promoted. After 15 or so years as a N&R manager Lee knows his limitations and I suspect will be happy to be mixing it with the mix of youth and uselessness in Div 2 next time out.

Now, drum roll please...... in joint 23rd came Henry's Socceroos, another Oz based manager and Chris's Brox Banditos. Both sides finished with 1,378 points and therefore tied for the last relegation place. How do we split them? Easy. Who was in the bottom twelve the most often. Back to that in a moment.

Henry started well and was 8th in week 2 but then despite make some inroads into the transfer market, he found himself in the middle of a relegation battle. More transfers saw him move out for a fair number of weeks and in fact he was joint MoW in week 31. He again got his nose out of the water with just a week left but in week 40 got sucked back in to finish joint 23rd.

Chris' season was kind of opposite. He started poorly but at week 18 moved out of the relegation places after 3 months. He then set to battling against the drop and was then out more than he was in. In week 39 he was 19 points adrift but an excellent final week hauled him level on points with Henry.

Weeks in the bottom 12:

Socceroos 23

Brox Banditos 21.

So Henry who missed out by just 4 points last season drops this time around to N&R Div 2.

Photograph of the week

30,000 Irish fans were in good voice yesterday but they couldn't prevent a more technically gifted Croatian side from beating them 3-1 in Poznan. Davor I am sure had a couple of Rakia's last night to celebrate!

The Euros 2012

During the 52-year history of the European Championships there have been more turn-ups than any other national competition. Czechoslovakia and Greece have both been champions as have Denmark, who were only in the finals because Yugoslavia was beating itself up at the time. Belgium, Hungary, Sweden, Turkey and even England have each made it to the semi-finals. Yet almost everyone expects nothing from Roy's England team at this year's event. And that maybe *big maybe* is our most potent weapon.

I was interested to read, because I had forgotten, that only 4 teams played in the finals up until 1980, and only 8 before 1996, when football came home. In fact the participants in those earlier competitions gives a real lesson into the wars and break-ups of communist states and this along with television are probably the reasons for the bigger finals today.

I personally like that UEFA allow small, less powerful nations to host and share the competition. It is as much Ukraine and Poland's as it is anyone elses. Although France have it in 2016 when the competition again expands to 24 teams, giving middle ranked countries a better chance of qualifying.

In 2020 Turkey are favourites but the Republic, Sotland and Wales have submitted a joint bid as have Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Unfortuntely but not surprisingly the venues for Euro 2012 has put a lot of supporters off travelling. Ukraine is hardly family friendly and 5,000 is the highest number of England fans I have seen expected to be in the country, but not necessarily at each game. Donetsk and Kiev are 10 hours apart by road and depending on how far the team progresses England will almost certainly play all their games in these two cities.

Like everyone else I will be watching it from the comfort of my own home or the pub. The games all kick off here at lunchtime or mid-afternoon.

Jermaine Defoe is the latest England player to leave the camp after his father died. No replacement has been named as he is expected back in Krakow. Like other Addicks I am no fan of Defoe, but there is no doubting his impact from the bench.

In a roundabout way I was hoping to see an experimental squad, and by hook or by crook that is what Roy has ended up with. I do think we will be hard to break down and Gerrard and Parker will be key in the middle. The highlight hopefully for me will be watching the fearlessness of Alex Oxlade Chamberlain.

I am plumping for a Holland v France final. RVP to be top scorer and Russia to be the outside bet.

As for England, the country for once doesn't expect, and I think we are wise not too.

Shirt sponsors

Charlton have just signed a very drab sponsorship deal with an air conditioning company. The logo looks like it belongs in the Conference South. It got me thinking, who were the worse sponsorships of all time?

I found a top 10. Here they are, and one will be very familiar to some of you..

10) AC Milan: Pooh

The sponsors: 1960s band Pooh were dubbed 'the Italian Beatles' before a quick-thinking jeans company squeezed in to nick the name. Their tie-up with Milan, which began in season 1981-81, is commonly reckoned to be the world's first shirt sponsorship.

Impact on the club: Hardly flushed with success. MIlan didn't win a thing of note until switching to the disappointingly normal Opel in the 1990s.

9) FC Nurnberg: Mister Lady

The sponsors: Fittingly for Nurnberg, being sponsored by a clothes shop with teenagers proved a bit of a trial.

Impact on the club: Relegated and promoted under Mister Lady in the last two seasons, the club is now backed by energy firm Areva.

8) Denmark: Dong

The sponsors: The energy firm has sponsored the Danes since 2004, though their contract expires next season.

Impact on the team: FIFA world ranking drooped from 15th to 38th under Dong, though has recently recovered to 26th.

7) Roma: Wind

The sponsors: Italy's third-largest mobile phone company trumped rivals to become Roma's backers in 2007 and will carry on until the end of the season - when it will be Gone With The Wind.

Impact on the club: Have been Serie A runners-up and Coppa Italian winners with the Wind at their backs (or fronts) but are currently in mid-table.

6) Clydebank: Wet Wet Wet

The sponsors: Hairgel-loving local soul/popsters the Wets backed the Bankies from 1993-1997, the period which saw them spend 15 weeks at No.1 with Love Is All Around - eventually deleting the single to give someone else a chance - while frontman Marti Pellow developed a nasty heroin addiction.

Impact on the club: Spent much of the sponsorship in the doldrums, then recorded a record low attendance of 29 in 1999 before going out of business in 2002. Now reborn in the lower leagues.

5) Brighton: Nobo

The sponsors: Cocky suppliers of flip-chart easels and office products. Once had a board at the ground reading 'Nobo Supports Brighton'; cheeky rivals allegedly added the letters d and y to the sponsors' name.

Impact on the club: Relegated to Division Three in the second year of the sponsorship and remained there throughout, losing in the Wembley play-off final as Nobo shrunk away.

4) Club America: Bimbo

The sponsors: Bimbo was the first Mexican firm to introduced sliced bread, which is colloquially known as 'pan Bimbo' in the country. They've been backing Club America since 1995.

Impact on the club: Though they're Mexico's richest side, Club America are decidedly not the best thing since sliced bread - they've not won the title with 'Bimbo' on their shirts.

3) Oxford United: Wang

The sponsors: Computer firm sponsored Robert Maxwell's side from 1985-1989. The Us then wore the name of Maxwell's academic books company, Pergamon, until the Fat Man went swimming in 1991. Wang fared about as well, filing for bankruptcy protection in 1992.

Impact on the club: Won the League Cup as a promoted side in the first year of the sponsorship but, once Maxwell had lost interest having bought Derby County, were relegated in the final season.

2) St Johnstone: Bonar

The sponsors: A local weaver of yarns for the carpet trade, the unfortunately-named Bonar backed the Saints to celebrate their diversification into artificial turf. They've recently supplied useless NFL team the St Louis Rams with a new practice pitch.

Impact on the club: As you'd expect from getting a Bonar, things went upwards for the Saints. They won the Scottish First Division in the first season of the sponsorship and reached the Scottish Cup semis (no giggling at the back) in its final year.

And the most embarrassing shirt sponsor of all is...

1) Lyon: Le 69

The sponsors: They might be all but killed off Liverpool's Champions League hopes, but at least if the Anfield club had to sport their local dialling code on their shirts it'd only say 0151. In Lyon's case, things were slightly different in the early 1990s...

Impact on the club: Despite their sniggersome sponsors, Lyon were promoted and consolidated in Ligune Une under handballer's pal Raymond Domenech - possibly because opponents were transfixed by their kit.

The Euro according to Blackadder

Baldrick: "What I want to know, Sir is, before there was a Euro there were lots of different types of money that different people used. And now there's only one type of money that the foreign people use. And what I want to know is, how did we get from one state of affairs to the other state of affairs"

Blackadder: "Baldrick. Do you mean, how did the Euro start?"

Baldrick: "Yes Sir"

Blackadder: "Well, you see Baldrick, back in the 1980s there were many different countries all running their own finances and using different types of money. On one side you had the major economies of France, Belgium,Holland and Germany, and on the other, the weaker nations of Spain, Greece, Ireland, Italy and Portugal. They got together and decided that it would be much easier for everyone if they could all use the same money, have one Central Bank, and belong to one large club where everyone would be happy. This meant that there could never be a situation whereby financial meltdown would lead to social unrest, wars and crises".

Baldrick: "But this is sort of a crisis we are in now, isn't it Sir?".

Blackadder: "That's right Baldrick. You see, there was only one slight flaw with the plan".

Baldrick: "What was that then, Sir?"

Blackadder: "It was bollocks".

Euro 2012 - who to support?

For our Scottish, Welsh and American followers:

http://worldcupwithoutus.com/

Rosie comes up smelling of flowers

N&R Division 2 - week 40

Despite Pimp my side and Daniel Weeks pushing Dalton Worblers all the way, it was the Worblers who took the Div 2 title by 20 points. Congratulations Rosie.

Pimp my side finished runner up and into 3rd in the final week was Dynamo Chicken Kiev, who overhauled 2Infinity & Beyond.

One time league leader Pure Irish ended 5th  with Alchees Lubes 6th and bouncing back after relegation a year ago Gooner go up were 7th. Another lady relegated last season Glasgow Kiss picked up the last of the prize money in 8th.

Promoted were Full Metal Jacket, Barceloner both in the first seasons and the Chicago possee of The No Hopers and Brighton Blues.

Kiwi Fantastic, Sons of pitches and Conan Destroyers are each consigned to another season in N&R Div 2.

A full blow by blow of each Div 2 manager follows.

In the media - Rio and what footballing reasons?

One of my favourite writers, Henry Winter in the Daily Telegraph writes:

"Roy Hodgson is a good man and a good manager but his claim that “footballing reasons” lay behind Rio Ferdinand’s original omission from England’s Euro 2012 23 was a total nonsense then and an utter insult now."

Read full article here.