Blow by Blow - Division 2 - the lower echelons

Well the lowest of the lowest echelon was dear old Peter Doyle. Ginger Rabbit inexplicably forgot that he could make transfers and thus despite a promising start was bottom of Div 2 by December and that is where he stayed. Doyley's worst ever finish and remember, because Pete does, that he was N&R Champion in 2004/5. In saying that he was a winner this year collecting £25 prize for Penultimate Place. C

When Alex Boswell and I shared a few beers earlier this year here in Bermuda I am sure he told me that he was going straight back to make some transfers. A slight problem was that he went from here to Edinburgh to watch the rugby and thus probably killed the few brain cells that he had left.

Alex never got out of first gear but as the season came to a close he gradually slipped nearer to the bottom and ended up 67th overall. Nothing to be proud off there. D

Chris Minchell's first ever season and he ended it as the worst newcomer. Sorry Chris, but it is true. Nonetheless please don't be despondent, even Doyley once won the N&R title you know? D+

Chris was only 6 points worse than our next new manager Paul Keaveney. From the AIG stables of up and coming London Market insurance talent, Keavo struggled to make his mark despite somehow being 4th in week 2. He even named his team after one of the rules, and now has to raid his piggy bank to buy the whole team the losers curry, normally the job of Chris Waterman. D+

 

Sarah Sheron disappoints me sometimes. She showed so much attitude and promise in those early seasons. There was early season encouragement though just as there was last year, but a complete lack of activity in the transfer market saw her fall head over heels down the Div 2 table to finish 32nd or 64th overall. Sarah's highest place was 9th in week 12. C-

Rutts, what is there to say about Rutts? Never a believer in the Arsene Wenger mould of spending any money in the transfer market. All 12 options still sat there at week 40 and like every single other manager who was the overall worst bottom 10 (except for one) he paid the price for not making any transfers. Still, we will welcome the Fac guru back with open arms next season. C-

 

Oakers was relegated from Div 1 last season and did his very best impression of Wolves by flying through Div 2 to end up 29th. There is no where to get relegated to (yet) but it was disappointing by Al even though he did better his last year's score by over a 100.  

And it all started so well for the Chelsea boy too. 7th in week 5, and even at Christmas still on the periphery of the promotion pack but it was only downhill after that. C  

Mark Sterry however was active in the transfer market. Mark busily moved players in and out but could never put a run together and ended the season where he pretty much started it but did improve on last year's finish. B-  

We welcomed Martin Singleton to the fold this season. Martin is one of longest serving managers stretching back to 1998. Martin spends his life travelling around the UK, occasionally stopping in Preston to see his beloved North End. Martin ended up in 27th or 58th overall and improved as the season grew after a dodgy start. C+

 

Our man in Oz, Henry Williams was controversery relegated on the last day of the season a year ago and he was a pre-season favourite for promotion. He began the season like he was going to run away with the league, and was the first Div 2 leader. Up until week 10 he was still in the mix but as the season progressed he needed some flesh blood and with the likes of Odemwingie still in his starting XI his any promotion hopes diminished. C

 

Another relegated manager was Neville White, who won silverware a couple of seasons ago by winning the N&R Cup. No silver this year I am afraid. Like Martin Singleton as the season went on Nev did start to make some inroads up the table with some good transfers but he was a long way from making an immediate return to the big time. C+

Team Challenge Trophy - Miles Smith hang on to triumph

Miles Smith's team of Sweaty and Luke swept to the title of the 2012/13 N&R Team Challenge Champions. This despite a late rally from QBE, who ended Runners Up.

QBE were winners two years ago and last year's winners were RSA who came 3rd. Gravity, who are also previous winners ended up 4th with Bluefin 5th despite having the champion in their ranks again.

AIG's motley crew were 6th even though they had the most managers in prized positions - Guarino, Patel, Barden and Bigg. For the record Paul Keaveny will be buying this year's curry.

In 7th was Aon Benfield's Fac mob led again by Neil Reynolds. Rutts brought up the rear.

8th was the dynamic duo of Godders and Dan and JRP, just ahead of Aon's Global collection of studs somehow working in unison despite being in 3 different countries.

10th was Tokio led by Brett and Neil with the wooden spoon going to Gerling.

The final table will be sent with the final scores and table. The only company fantasy football trophy for insurance professionals is currently being engraved with the name of Miles Smith on it!

Penultimate Place - The Ginger Nuts

Fair play to our friendly Ginger Rabbit. Up until week 37 Michael Stout's No Hopers occupied the Penultimate Place for 31 of the previous 34 weeks yet Pete's Forest Green Gingers improved just enough to snatch the £25 prize.

Incredibly one of the other Penultimate Place holders during the season was Champion Ollympic Games, in week 2. Cobra held it in week 1 and the only other occupiers of 68th place were the Preston Pie Muncher, Archdukes of Hazard and The Billion and a Half Dollar Man.

Congratulations to Pete and this is how it finished:

69. The No Hopers, 1,090 pts

----------------------------------

68. Forest Green Gingers, 1,102 pts

----------------------------------

67. Morgan & Hannahh's Newco, 1,144 pts

66. Cobra, 1,170 pts

65. Limited to £50m, 1,176 pts

Arsene knows what he's doing

Week 40 - MoW

The final MoW was won by Danny Rose, who signed off a really mixed campaign by winning a fiver. 83 points was 3 more than Rutts, whose 80 points was an even bigger surprise than Danny's.

Only in MoW winning week 24 did Rutts get a bigger score than he did last week. I am sure a Psychiatrist somewhere will make sense of that!

Another flop this season, in the nicest sense, was Rosie Dalton and she hit an impressive 73 which was also her 2nd best score of the season. In fact Rosie finished the season very strongly winning MoW in week 38 but still got relegated.

Champion Ryan Saveall hit the next best score of 72, Nobby scored 68, Lee Horne 65 and Aaron Barden 63.

Notables were Mark Simmons 62, Ben Guarino 57, Alastair Bigg 55, Ricky Wood 54, Steve Black 52, Jason Syrett 48, Hilary Flynn 46, Luke Sloan 45 and Greg Foulger 36.

The two lowest were Mark Gregory 19 and Mark Sterry 17.

N&R Cup Final - Cupper Harris

A closely fought N&R Cup Final but it was Tim Harris who took the honours and will be presented with the coveted Cup in the summer. Tim beat Luke Sloan 48-45 in the final to make it a tough final week for Luke.

Congratulations to Tim.

N&R Cup Final Result

Luke Sloan 45-48 Tim Harris

The Season's Best Weekly Score - USA! USA!

There were joint winners of the £25 Best weekly score. The prize will be split into US$ as Atlanta-based Steve Black and Chicago-based Paul Long both showed the boys and girls back in Blighty how to do it both scoring a season-high of 119 points in week 21. Well done to you both.

Brett and Rich Richards had the 3rd best score of 110. Rich also weighed in with a 108 in week 36.

The top 10 best weekly scores were as follows:

Top 10 Best weekly scores:

1= Steve Black, week 21, 119 points

1= Paul Long, week 21, 119 points

3= Brett Davey, week 21, 110 points
3= Richard Richards, week 21, 110 points

5. Graham Ward, week 21, 109 points

6. Richard Richards, week 36, 108 points

7= Alastair Bigg, week 21, 107 points

7= John McGowan, week 21, 107 points
9. Richard Nathan, week 21, 106 points

10. Mitesh Patel, week 21, 105 points

N&R League Cup winners

Back earlier in the season we had the N&R Div 1 and 2 League Cup competitions.

The 69 teams navigated themselves through the rounds only against teams in their own league and this what happened:

Div 1 League Cup Final
Ollympic Games 46-30 The Jager Squad

Div 2 League Cup Final
Bardzo lubię nie musieć nic 55-51 Leave Myarsealona

So, Ryan Saveall and Mark Simmons (that bugger always wins money) were the 2012/13 N&R League Champions and they collect a prize of £40 each.

The Season's Worst Weekly Score - Danny smelling of Roses

There were some dreadful weeks this season, but in all honesty compared to other years when the top 4 or 5 scores have each been minus, we all faired pretty well especially when you consider defenses in the Premier League have generally been the worse for a long time.

Only 13 times in fact did a manager score less than double figures, although Danny Rose did it twice as did Micahel Stout. Brett Davey maanged to get the 3rd best and 3rd worst weekly score.

So then, congratulations, which I think is the right word, to Danny Rose who was just pipped to the prize last season by Mark Simmons. Here are the top 10 Worst weekly scores.

Top 10 worst weekly scores
1. Danny Rose, week 30, 1 point
2. Danny Rose, week 39, 5 points
3. Brett Davey, week 3, 6 points
4= Michael Stout, week 3, 7 points
4= Neil Wallis, week 24, 7 points
4= John Hardiman, week 27, 7 points
4= Brian Rutter, week 39, 7 points
8.  Mark Dewberry, week 2, 8 points
9= Kirstie Baillie, week 3, 9 points
9= Paul Hodges, week 24, 9 points
9= Michael Stout, week 30, 9 points
9= Ian France, week 30, 9 points
9= Peter Doyle, week 31, 9 points

MLS Expansion

I wonder what Paul Kemsley thinks about Sheik Mansour wading into the American soccer scene waving handfuls of greenbacks? Kemsley, a business associate of Tony Jimenez, has spearheaded the romantic revival of the New York Cosmos and the formation of Mansour's joint venture with the New York Yankees will be a real blow for the self-confessed Spurs nut and former director.

Cosmos with Pele, Carlos Alberto and Eric Cantona all on the payroll have poured a lot of money into the rebirth of the iconic 1970's franchise including a proposal for a gleaming new stadium in Belmont Park.

Which makes New York FC's approval as a MLS expansion team all the more stranger and hurried is they lack any plan for a stadium, something that has been compulsory for other MLS teams. In fact NY FC haven't even announced a temporary venue, although Flushing Meadows in Queens was named in the press release, it doesn't appear any more than a suggestion.

Cash is obviously not a problem for either the Yankees or Manchester City's owners and Flushing Meadows is already a super sports venue with the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the current venue for the U.S. Open tennis tournament and Citi Field, the home of Yankees' rivals the New York Mets, all in it's confines. The timing of the announcement does perfectly usurp the Cosmos' first ever start to a season in August in the NASL.

The North American Soccer League pioneered soccer in the days of such legends as Giorgio Chinaglia, Pele, Franz Beckenbauer, Colin Powell, Mick Flanagan and of course the legendary Laurie Abrahams! After an almost two decade haitus in 2011 the NASL was sanctioned as the 2nd Division of professional soccer in the United States and already one side, Montreal Impact, have moved to become a MLS side.

The future now of the Cosmos, who are also joined by another old favourite Tampa Bay Rowdies in the NASL, is now unclear, mainly because the people behind it may well decide to take their money and their ambitions somewhere else.

Realists will look beyond the romantic razmataz of the Cosmos, and suggest that New York FC is a lot more sustainable. The MLS though are thrilled at the prospect of a city rivalry that can be found in established football cities all over the world. Nonetheless the New York Red Bulls, owned by the dynamic Austrian energy drinks company, have struggled to get many of the 20 million New Yorkers across the river to it's impressive new stadium in New Jersey half an hour away.

The Red Bulls despite the star attraction of Thierry Henry and Lloyd Sam average only around 18,000 not helped by the franchise having no or little success in it's 18-year history.

Ironically despite the MLS encouraging it's larger cities to buy-in to the professional soccer journey, prior to LA Galaxy's recent success trophies and cups have pretty much been the domain of teams in the smaller, less lucrative markets. My boys Chicago Fire can't even buy a trophy!

Finally on the New York FC thing, the only other team owned by a major international football club is Chivas. Their Mexican parents in Guadalajara are said to be extremely keen to rid themselves of the Californian club with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim rumoured to be interested in jumping on the U.S. soccer bandwagon. No doubt MLS commissioner Don Garber will be all over that like a cheap suit.

All eyes are now on David Beckham as it sounds that he will almost certainly go through with his agreement to purchase a new MLS expansion team. The pre-agreed fee was $25m and New York FC cost $100m, so that alone will further propel Posh & Becks up the rich list.

I read, but can't find the link, that New York was always closed to Beckham and Miami is the clear favourite, which I would think would suit any lifestyle decision the Beckham's have to make. certainly the south-east of the country could do with a professional side and it would be welcomed by the millions of Latin Americans that call Southern Florida home.

N&R Weekly Predictions

And that was that. Both of us ending up in debt to the bookies. Me by 73p and Ready by oodles, so I am the winner, kind off.

This were our final useless selections:

Nobby
Man C v Norwich HOME No
Liverpool v QPR HOME Yes

Newcastle v Arsenal AWAY Yes

Stake: £2
Potential Winnings £5.11
Balance -£0.73

Ready

Man C v Norwich HOME No
Swansea v Fulham HOME No
Tottenham v Sunderland HOME Yes
Stake £2
Winnings £6.54

Balance - £12.87

Week 40 overview

And so the curtain closes and in week 40 as 18 clubs went through the motions, just two played for the ultimate prize - the finish 4th! #thebestleagueintheuniverse.

Week 40 was one for goodbyes though. We Fergie watching that shower of shit that had only won 38 trophies in his time ship in 5 goals at West Brom. That will do for a few N&R FL teams.

Then it was David Moyes turn to say farewell to the Toffees, Rafa said good riddance to the ungrateful Chelsea fans. Bring back Glenn Hoddle all is forgiven.

Michael Owen gave his hamstrings a run out for 10 minutes at Southampton and got a great send off to be fair to the little fella.

QPR and Reading gave a powder puff wave to the Premiership and in QPR's case, it might be for a long time. Wigan at least paraded the FA Cup.

Paulo Di Canio wrote a list of 11 players that unbeknown to them will not be at Sunderland next season.

Meanwhile Alan Pardew hid under his jacket, but deep in his pocket he had an 8 year contract held close and Brian Kidd made the most of the last time he will sit in the dug out at Man City.

Finally Tony Pulis deep down knew that he was taking charge of Stoke for the last time.

The Final week, this is what happened:

Sun 19 May 2013 - Premier League

Chelsea 2 - 1 Everton
Liverpool 1 - 0 QPR
Man City 2 - 3 Norwich
Newcastle 0 - 1 Arsenal
Southampton 1 - 1 Stoke
Swansea 0 - 3 Fulham
Tottenham 1 - 0 Sunderland
West Brom 5 - 5 Man Utd
West Ham 4 - 2 Reading FT Wigan 2 - 2 Aston Villa

Tue 14 May 2013 - Premier League

Arsenal 4 - 1 Wigan
Reading 0 - 2 Man City

Average attendances

How did your team do in the average annual attendance table?

Whilst on average Premiership crowds were up by 4% there is an underlying turning of backs in Europe on football matches as TV satuation becomes almost complete. In fact Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters' Federation, believes that away supporters are particularly in danger of being priced out of grounds.

"We will be watching very closely what happens next season, when there will be a major increase in media revenue under the new television contracts," Clarke told BBC Sport.

"The Premier League clubs will be receiving so much from these contracts that they could let almost everybody in for free next season and still have the same amount of money coming in as they do now.

"Certainly if the match-going fan does not get the benefit of the clubs' extra media revenue, the reaction could be significant."

See the list of all clubs average and biggest and lowest attendance in 2013 here.

New England kit

So after 60 years with Umbro the English FA moves the kit manufacturing to Nike and what do we get? A kit that I could have designed and one that is identical to West Germany's 40 years ago. How much do Nike pay their Creative Designer?

Quote of the week

Former Wimbledon goalkeeper Neil Sullivan who was between the posts for David Beckham's halfway line goal in 1995 on David Beckhan:

"He just picked it up and hit it. I just realised it was going beyond me and it dropped beyond the crosssbar and that was it. The whole Manchester United team at the time were special but I didn't expect anything like that. He's had a phenomenal career and he's a superstar on and off the pitch. I made that boy but I think he would have done alright without me."

Brilliant.

Photograph of the week 1

Champions League and Europa Cup champions for a week. Rafa Benitez maybe the most hated man in Stamford Bridge but today he will ignore the boos and just think of the golden handshake and the nice addition to his CV.

Despite for large parts of the game being second best Chelsea beat Benfica in Amsterdam in added time after Branislav Ivanovic rose brilliantly to head home a Juan Mata corner to give Chelsea yet more European silverware.

Shanked

N&R Division 1 - Week 39

Ollympic Games have this thing sewn up and are 39 ahead of Guinness & Black who look like being runners up again! 4 top 3 finishes in 4 years but no silverware for Steve.

Gooner win league remian 3rd with Too Big to Fail in 4th and Blue Euro Champs 5th.

Up to 6th from nowhere is Armitage Shanks, who were fighting relegation earlier in the year! Tremendous effort from Tim, which has really shaken the table up.

Brox Banditos manages to stay 7th and OJ's Red Army are just in 8th but Woody's Round Up are back out as are We are the Darts.

Loads of Roubles and Jager Squad still have a chance I would say of grabbing a prized place.

More drama at the bottom after months of it being the same 12, the fighters amonsgt the pack were reeling others in and with just 1 week left in week 39 Brighton Blues and John Terry loves a choc ice both clamber out of the relegation zone.

For John Terry loves a choc ice it is the first this season that they have been out of the bottom 12! Incredulous. As for Brigthon Blues it is the first time since before Christmas and will put a smile on Paul's face after a tough week being a Seagull.

The managers that have dropped into the bottom 12 are Pure Irish and Boys on tour. Both have been nearer the top than bottom this season. Greg was top in week 17!

Both now face the ignominy of relegation along with the others - half of whom have been gone for a while but I would say any two of these will drop:

19. Hannoi Utd.........................................1,528

20. This Game Should Be Played on Paper...........1,523

21. John Terry loves a choc ice....................1,521

22. Brighton Blues.......................................1,520
---------------------------------------------------

23. Pure Irish...............................................1,514

24. Boys on tour..........................................1,513

25. Bingo FC...............................................1,500

Close, soooo close....

N&R Division 2 - Week 39

What a battle! With just one week left Sloan Rangers and Aaron Barden are neck and neck both on 1,671 points at the top of Div 2. Moral Hazard are just 5 points behind them. This is how the top 5 look:

1. Monster Smash...... 1,671
1. The Sloan Rangers..1,671
3. Moral Hazard.........1,666
4. Jager Bombers........1,641
5. Mobotinho..............1,640

The top 12 remain the same although Bardzo lubię nie musieć nic hurdled Aniseed Twists and From SE6 to SB04 are 16 points behind them.

At the bottom Forest Green Rangers had a bad week and lost their Penultimate Place to Div 1's No Hopers.

Chopper Harris

Week 39 - MoW

Tim Harris collected another fiver for a MoW performance in the penultimate week of the season.71 points blew away everyone else and scorched right into the top 8 of Div 1.

Paul Long's battle against relegation continued with a fine 64, Neil Bixby and James Down scored 62 and Wardy 57.

Paul Hodges scored 56, Soozie 55 and John McGowan 53. Two managers battling for promotion - Andi Turner and Nobby - both hit 52 as did Huw and Rich Richards and Dewbs scored 52.

The weeks lowest scores were Danny Rose's 5 and Rutts 7.

Photograph of the week 2

Former England captain David Beckham is to retire at the end of the season. The 38-year-old signed a five-month deal at Paris St-Germain in January and donated all of his salary to charity.

Beckham facts

Age: 38
115 international caps (a record for an outfield player)
Captained England 58 times
Won the Champions League, six Premier League titles and two FA Cups with Manchester United
Won the La Liga title with Real Madrid
Won Ligue 1 with Paris St-Germain
Won 2011 and 2012 MLS Cup with LA Galaxy
The only English player to win 4 championship titles in 4 different countries

Frank Lampard

Frank Lampard has not always been everyone's cup of tea, but no one can knock his professionalism or his record. This article by the BBC's Ben Smith encapsulates Lampard as a man and as a footballer very well.

Definitely worth a read.

And some stats.

Frank Lampard

Apps: 607

Goals: 203

Bobby Tambling
Apps: 370

Goals: 202

Top Premier League midfield scorers

Frank Lampard – 165

Ryan Giggs – 109
Paul Scholes – 107

Matthew Le Tissier – 100

Steven Gerrard – 98

Who has he scored goals against?
FOURTEEN GOALS
Aston Villa

TWELVE GOALS

Bolton Wanderers

TEN GOALS
Blackburn Rovers, Portsmouth

NINE GOALS

Everton, Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur

SEVEN GOALS

Liverpool, Manchester City, Sunderland, Wigan Athletic

SIX GOALS
Manchester United, Newcastle United, Southampton, West Bromwich Albion
FIVE GOALS
Stoke City, Arsenal, West Ham United

FOUR GOALS
Derby County, Norwich City

THREE GOALS
Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Charlton Athletic, Ipswich Town, Leicester City, Macclesfield Town, Reading, Wolverhampton Wanderers

TWO GOALS
Birmingham City, Blackpool, Huddersfield Town, Lazio, Watford, Wycombe Wanderers

ONE GOAL
Anderlecht, Atletico Madrid, Benfica, Bordeaux, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Fenerbahce, Hull City, Leeds United, Levski Sofia, Middlesbrough, Monaco, Napoli, Olympiacos, Sheffield United, Southend United, Swansea City, Valencia, Viking Stavanger

N&R Cup Semi-Final Results

So we have two N&R Cup finalists after the week 39 scores.

N&R Cup Semi-Final Results

Peter Godfrey 38-44 Luke Sloan

Neil Addington 49-71 Tim Harris.

Luke had another inspirational win and will play Tim who with the week's best score was guaranteed victory over Neil Addington.

Hard luck on Godders and Neil but the N&R Cup Final has all the makings of a great game.

N&R Cup Final

Luke Sloan v Tim Harris

To be played over week 40.

N&R Cup Quarter Final Replays

We have two winners. Luke had a terrific win against Ricky and Neil won away at champion-elect Ryan Saveall.

N&R Cup Quarter Final Replays

Ricky Wood 32-44 Luke Sloan

Ryan Saveall 44-49 Neil Addington

Revised N&R Cup Semi-Final Draw

Peter Godfrey v Luke Sloan

Neil Addington v Tim Harris.

Champions!

Aon Benfield 3-0 Marsh & McClennan (held at The Valley)

It is said that it is always harder to defend a title rather than to win one, and Aon Benfield know this only too well having twice previously won the Lloyd’s Community Shield. However, last Wednesday, Aon Benfield put in a performance of such domination to retain the title, and in doing so becoming the first Company to achieve this feat in over a decade, that it would be a disappointment not to go on and win more titles.

On paper the two sides appeared evenly matched, that was until the game kicked off when it was clear that Aon Benfield were the better side. So much so that all the initial play was in the Marsh half. And, it wasn’t too long before the first chance fell to Dominic Cavalli who could only drag his effort wide from ten yards out. Lee Samways and Dom Farmer were causing havoc down both flanks, supported superbly by overlapping full backs in Jamie Topping and Matt Foreman. Indeed, it was a deft chip over the top from Foreman, after more great work from Farmer, that left Michael Chukwuma one on one with James Cook in the Marsh goal. Chukwuma was first to the ball lofting it over the keeper from the edge of the area and in to the empty net and it was 1-0 and his fourth goal of another great season. Marsh were struggling to get a foothold in the game and when they did venture into the Aon Benfield half they would be met by the formidable centre half pairing of Wes Perry, playing in his third final, and James Ishmail marshalled admirably by Chris Peck in the Aon Benfield goal.

The 2nd half started in much the same way as the first with, Captain, David Tilley and Dan Dunlop continuing to dominate possession and dictating play in the centre of the park. Cavalli, playing in a more advance position than normal, and Chukwuma were linking up at will and it took Aon Benfield only 6 minutes of the half to double their lead with Cavalli driving across Cook in to the far corner from Samways inch perfect through ball. Marsh almost struck back immediately after Peck fumbled a free kick then Foreman cleared the resulting rebound off the line. However, on the hour, the game was over a contest as Farmer was rewarded for his fine efforts with Aon Benfield’s third after being put clear by Dunlop. His shot beating Cook at his near post.

Mark Bannister came on for the injured Samways and was in to the action early setting Cavalli free but his effort was high and wide when he really should have done better. Tilley then had the opportunity to cap a man of the match performance with a goal of his own but choose to square to Cavalli instead. Alas, Cavalli’s finish didn’t match the quality of the earlier run and he was soon withdrawn to make way for Dan Rutter. Elliott Stone came on for Dunlop and Kevin Glanville replaced Dom Farmer as the game drifted towards its conclusion.

When the referee blew for full time it was met with satisfaction rather than elation. This is squad which goes about its business in a professional manner with a desire to win and to win well. This particular performance was years in the making and capped another excellent season. A season that has seen several of the squad selected to represent the Lloyd’s of London Football Team and two in particular, Lee Samways and Michael Chukwuma, selected to represent them on their forthcoming tour to Miami and Houston.

Aon Benfield represented by: Chris Peck; Jamie Topping (Phil Wheeler), Wes Perry, James Ishmail, Matt Foreman; Lee Samways (Mark Bannister), David Tilley, Dan Dunlop (Elliott Stone), Dom Farmer (Kevin Glanville); Dominic Cavalli (Dan Rutter), Michael Chukwuma. Subs Not Used: Jonathan Forwood, Matt Dieu de Bellefontaine, Dan Harwood

Goalscorers: Michael Chukwuma, Dominic Cavalli, Dom Farmer

Thanks to Dominic Cavalli for providing the report. Dominic works with Brian Rutter and John mcGowan in the UK FAC Broking Team. Another interesting snippet is that Lee Samways is the nephew of ex-Spurs midfielder Vinny Samways.   Finally I can only dream of someone with the name as exotic as Matt Dieu de Bellefontaine playing for Charlton. Imagine the songs....

Announcement

On May 4th N&R FL voyeur Ged Stimpson and his other half brought a beautiful little girl into the world named Charlotte Sofia.

I have seen a picture and she is already almost as tall as Ged.

Congratulations to my favourite Northern Monkey and his two lovely girls.

2012-13 prize money announcement

As a reminder, this is what's at stake. Some of you can go and take another look at that watch you promised yourself, the rest of us can just be envious.

N&R Div 1

N&R FL Champion - £250 plus coveted title trophy
Runner Up - £170
3rd - £140
4th - £120
5th - £100
6th - £80
7th - £60
8th - £50

Bottom 12 teams relegated to N&R Div 2.

N&R Div 2

Winner - £100 plus trophy
2nd - £60
3rd - £50
4th - £45
5th - £40
6th - £35
7th - £30
8th - £25

9th, 10th, 11th and 12th placed also promoted

Cups

N&R Cup Winner - Trophy
Div 1 League Cup Winners - £40
Div 2 League Cup Winners - £40

Other

Team Challenge Winners - Trophy

Penultimate Overall League Place (2nd worst score) - £25
Best Weekly Score - £25
Worst weekly score - £25

Manager of the Week

£5 or shared equally if any one week was a tie

Prizes will be paid in GBP or in local currency based on current exchange rate.

Goodbye Wigan, it's been fun

It was a real shame to see Wigan go down last night. After bringing the romance back to the FA Cup on Saturday the Latics finally ran out of legs cruelly being rolled over by a rampant Arsenal in the 2nd half.

Wigan's defensive frailties finally came home to roost and you can't let in over 70 goals and not expect a relegation battle even though they are so good to watch going forward.

If I was a Wigan fan would I have taken the FA Cup winner in the last minute over Premiership football? Yes, I probably would. It takes a lot out of a fan being in a relegation battle every year and I suppose I am just a big fan of Championship football.

I can't see a well-run club like Wigan doing a Wolves, especially with David Whelan at the helm, yet with their best players almost certain to leave as well as the enigmatic Roberto Martinez then I think next season maybe one of re-stablising the club.

The Championship is stuffed full of big, ambitious clubs with more clout and larger fan bases than Wigan. Although Wigan financially will be in a better position for sure than most.

I welcome Wigan to the Championship but I am going to miss them in the Premiership. Wigan were one of the teams that made watching the PL from the outside interesting. A nice break from the normal certainness and bootlicking. Thanks Wigan, it's been a pleasure.

Super Wigan win the Cup

Fairy tales still exist as Wigan deservedly beat Man City on Saturday to lift the FA Cup.

It was the Latics first major trophy in their 81-year history when BEN WATSON'S last-minute goal won the FA Cup final against Manchester City at Wembley.

Roberto Martinez's side produced a performance full of attacking intent and verve to fully deserve this historic win against firm pre-match favourites City, who had Pablo Zabaleta sent off six minutes from time

Substitute Watson, who has missed much of the season after breaking his leg in November, sent Wigan's fans into ecstasy with a near-post header from Shaun Maloney's corner at the very moment the board went up to signal three minutes of stoppage time.

The goal was just reward for Wigan, whose drive and intensity was in sharp contrast to the desperately lacklustre display served up by City as last season's Premier League champions end this campaign empty-handed.

It completed a miserable day for manager Roberto Mancini, who lasted just 2 more days before being given the sack by City's rich Arab owners.

Meanwhile David Whelan vanished his own Cup Final memories, when he was stretchered off with a broken leg playing for Blackburn in the 1960 Cup Final.

Whelan was raised in Wigan and has overseen their rise through the divisions and their move from the run down Springfield Road to the DW Stadium.

Good for him and bloody good for Wigan and their fans. Who said the FA Cup was dead?

N&R Weekly Predictions

Finally a winner for Ready in week 37. He is now only a tenner in debt to the bookies and I have a massive quid-27!

Nobby

Aston V v Chelsea DRAW No

Norwich v WBA AWAY No

Man Utd v Swanse HOME Yes

Stake: £2

Potential Winnings £29.04

Balance £1.27

Ready

Fulham v Liverpool AWAY Yes

Man Utd v Swansea HOME Yes
Stoke v Spurs AWAY Yes

Stake £2

Winnings £10.69
Balance - £10.87

Photograph of the week

A picture can speak a 1,000 words can't it? Roberto Mancini sacked before the end of the season due to his lack of communication with executives and owners. City now seeking an holistic approach. Michael Appleton is out of a job....

Week 39 overview

The games that made up week 39. The penultimate week and plenty of points scored.

Wigan deservedly won the Cup, apparently Man City's owners think another manager can do better with a big cheque book. They should look at who was sat on the bench next to Mancini, he would win them the league I have no doubt.

Meanwhile the results in the PL conspired to give Wigan a huge hill to climb to stay up.

Fergie time came for  last time at Old Trafford as he bid a sad farewell and David Moyes finished off with a home win over the Hammers.

Sun 12 May 2013 - Premier League

Stoke 1 - 2 Tottenham
Everton 2 - 0 West Ham
Fulham 1 - 3 Liverpool
Norwich 4 - 0 West Brom
QPR 1 - 2 Newcastle
Sunderland 1 - 1 Southampton
Man Utd 2 - 1 Swansea

Sat 11 May 2013 - Premier League
Aston Villa 1 - 2 Chelsea

Wed 8 May 2013 - Premier League
Chelsea 2 - 2 Tottenham

Tue 7 May 2013 - Premier League
Man City 1 - 0 West Brom
Wigan 2 - 3 Swansea

Sat 11 May 2013 - FA Cup Final
Man City 0-1 Wigan

Miles Smith lead into last furlong

With just 2 weeks left Miles Smith are 24 points ahead of QBE and look destined to pick up the cherished N&R Team Challenge Trophy.

Gravity are 3rd ahead of RSA, who slip a place.

Bluefin despite Ryan's antics are down in 5th with AIG, who I think have changed their company name at least 3 times this season, in 6th. The fact that Ben, Mitesh, Aaron and Kate are all high-performers only highlights how difficult it is for a larger team to succeed and also highlights how pony the others have been. Or maybe it is because they are missing Francey....

In 7th is Aon Benfield, another big squad, with JRP slipping to 8th. No excuse for Pete & Dan, quite frankly.

9th is Tokio with the mighty Aon United up a place to 10th headed by the luminary Nobby. HDI Gerling bring up the pile in 11th.

The league table is attached to the week 38 scores in the email.

Cumbrian Challenge 2013 Walking with the Wounded

Exactly one year ago to the day, N&R pro Ian Kennett along with 11 others and the amazing Sherpa guides arrived at Everest Base Camp, completing a 10 day trek in aid of Walking with the Wounded in support of an attempt by a 5 man team of wounded soldiers to summit the big one. Having seen first-hand the indomitable spirit and courage of these guys Ian thought it was about time he got off his expanding backside and did something else to support them.

So, in one weeks time Ian along with three other (younger and fitter) hardy souls, (including Charlie Russell, a serving Ghurkha office seriously wounded in Afghanistan who led the trek in Nepal) the lads are attempting the Cumbrian Challenge – a simple 33km , 10 hour race/trek in teams of 4 , covering 10 peaks and a mere 2327m of altitude gain.

Walking with the Wounded raises funds to finance new qualifications, courses and further education for those who are seriously injured. It enables the blind, the burn victims, the mentally injured, the amputees and all the other wounded personnel to rebuild their lives and to return to the work place.

The team would be very grateful for any support you can give and you can do this by visiting our Just Giving page

https://www.justgiving.com/Ian-Kennett1/

Please remember to tick the gift aid option.

Thank you in advance for your kind support.

Regards

Ian Kennett

Let the Games begin

N&R Division 1 - Week 38
Still the top 4 remain unaltered. Ollympic Games are 37 points clear and 2 weeks from lifting the title.

Brox and Blue Euro Champs switched places and Woody's Round Up has snuggled himself into 7th place 9 points ahead of OJ's Red & White Army.

We are the Darts lead the challengers but it needs a couple of big weeks to see a shake up happen, yet with the Cup Final and games in hand to play anything is possible.

Smashing it up nicely

N&R Division 2 - Week 38
Monster Smash lead by 9 with 2 weeks left from Sloan Rangers. Moral Hazard is 3rd and Mobotinho is up to 4th. These 4 are still within reach of the shiny silver trophy.

Jager Bombers lost a place, Addington Bears are 6th, stwike him centuwion vewy woughly 7th, Anfield Second XI 8th and the next four - DTF FC, Leave Myarsealona, Aniseed Twists and Bardzo lubię nie musieć nic all in the promotion places with Nobby's From SE6 to SB04 the only team who could possiby break into the top 12.

At the bottom Forest Green Gingers become the N&R Penultimate Team after moving 2 points better off than Michael Stout's The No Hopers.

Smelling like Rosie

Week 38 - MoW

I'm not going to lie, but we are a little fond of Rosie Dalton, who came to such prominence last season by waltzing to the Div 1 title. The second year, often the hardest, has been a lot tougher mixing it with the big lads at N&R's top table.

Rosie with 3 weeks left is a cert for relegation back to Div 2, but in week 38 she rescued some pride and scorched to the MoW award. Good enough reason for her to cancel any prior engagements and hang with Nobby & Ready at the End of Season Drink Up to collect her fiver.

Rosie scored 49, 4 more than Huw, Ken and Ben which could easily be the cast of Rainbow. Our very own Zippy scored (Richard N) and Bungle (Godders) both scored 42.

Aaron Barden hit a 44 as did Tim Z Harris and Andi T made out with a tricky 43.

Lee Horne and Barry Paull both scored 42 and James Stiff, Ready and Waiting, Sweaty Nutz, Soooooz Semi and John McGrind all made out on 41. A soft porn flick starring that group is according to Ready already in production.

Bringing up the rear (cough, cough) was Mark Sterry who inserted a 16.