The Weather.

I was just perusing this blog thing, and looking at events this time 'ish last year - funny how history repeats itself with the weather... postponement after postponement.. and I can just hear Celtic Eddie re-iterating the "told u so" syndrome/argument of reducing number of games !... ;-)

From 18th Jan 2009

"Never thought we'd play again ! ... 7th December - postponed... 14th December.. postponed... 21st December.. we played one game.. 4th Jan... postponed... 11th Jan - postponed... and after Saturday night'sridiculous downpour, my optimism for kicking off the season took a damper, and I was feeling a little downtrodden with the thought of postponing yet another week... but.. no, the pitches were actually playable ! Hallegoddamnluyah!.... "

From 26th Feb 2007

This rain sure ain't playing ball.. why on Saturday through the night into Sunday morning..? WHY !?

I rang the Groundsman at 8h45am : conversation was very simple..

- "pitches are playable..?" (ok, so this was wishful thinking)

- "waterlogged pitches"

- "no way games can be played?"

- "no way"

- "sure?"

- "sure"

Result as all of you know is that our games were cancelled.. again. Putting pressure on the fixture list..

From 29th Nov 2006

Christ - the rains were slightly overwhelming over the Saturday night.. and continuing on the Sunday morning. Phone calls started trickling in too as of 9h30am.. are the matches on..? From 10am to 10h35am, I wasn't allowed to leave the flat for the stream of phonecalls coming in from managers, the referee agency, etc.. And then I got to Barn Elms, and saw..

All games ended up being cancelled - pitch 1 at Barn Elms and the Barnes Common pitch due to lakes on the pitch, yes lakes.. pitch 2 & 3 at Barn Elms due to waterlogged pitches which would prove too dangerous to play on... coupled with torrential downpours and lightening - guess its not a good idea to play soaked to the bone with lightening crashing all around you..

The only game that took place was that of Auckland and Madras who found a pitch the referee was ok with playing on (only had a 6ft square 8 inch deep puddle in the middle of one of the halfs), with proviso, of clean ('ish) tackling.. no need to detail the ball movement when played on the ground.. or lack of.

Result Auckland 0

=========================

Ahhh - the weather !

2009-2010 Remaining Fixture List

Click on the File and will get biGGER

New beginning.. but old season.. 2009-2010

Well, its been many many months since i blogged something... reason was never heard anything from anyone about reading or missing this blog.. and, like buses, 3 people ask about it today... so, starting again..

You will find weekly scores and tables, and possibly some comments..

Why the Hammy bridge pic..? cos its bloody closed.. but what a lovely bridge.

Scores:

Celtic 0 Madras 0

Bob 1 Barnes 0

WKK 5 Subbutteo 3

Bloods 3 Lisbarnes 1

I understand Barnes missed a penalty (courtesy of Neil.. had to mention it ;-) ). Subbutteo also missed one vs WKK in 1st half which would have given them 2-1 lead. Saved by Allan (interestingly enough, he was the Barnes keeper for many years..). Even I played a full game - thanks gaffer :-) , and have to say, felt good. If only my legs were 10 years younger ;-)

Bloods vs Lisbarnes was a double header so counts as 2 games (game cancelled back in November). Oh, and I should mention Doz's 2 goals which is (for me anyway) a lovely moment as it was James's anniversary on the 4th, and his best mate scored ! twice... how could that happen!?..

Perhaps I should take this opp to mention the teams no longer with us from last season... for historical purposes obviously.

Ladbrooke Groovers (who won the James Rettie Cup) - Said, their manager retired.

Hendrix who folded the team a month or so before the end of last season (had been in the league since its onset 8-9 years ago or so..) - sad moment in many respects, but a few of their players have joined other teams.

And Lokomotiv who - last minute and by email - decided not to partake for this latest season. Much respect was felt.. Kinda pissed off at the last minute thing cos i had to do all the preparation again.. anyway.. glad I could get that one in !

And a new team Sporting Subbutteo, carrying on the tradition of great football team names ! And I have to say, a very nice team to have in our midst for their friendly manner. Good to have you on board guys.

We have 8 teams rather than the usual 10; but I feel that works better.. main reason - no need for afternoon games !! god that's nice ! and possibly, u guys appreciate that too..

And my usual comments on the spirit.. this season has been the best ever - so thanks guys, thank you managers, I hope this means you are also enjoying more than ever.. famous last words right - all going to kick off next week..

OK - well, that's the end of the first blog of the season - better late than never...

Have a good week.

THE END

Guys,

The last game was played.   

Celtic 7  Groovers 4

which means the final table standings are as above..  which means the winners are 

SPORTING LISBARNES

... equalling their league standing from last season !  But a much closer affair this time around.

CONGRATS THE LISBARNES !!!  2008 - 2009 WINNERS OF THE BARNESALONA LEAGUE !!!

Well done to Celtic for making them sweat in the last couple weeks, only 2 points behind.. if Celtic had beaten them on 26th April, rather than lose 1-0.....

And behind in 3rd, a whole 12 points behind (12 points !) are WKK, with Groovers settling in in 4th place, with Loko right behind them (with 1 point margin - I hear that some Loko players helped the Groovers in their win 2 weeks ago... I won't say anymore except what great sportsmanship...)  The Bloods in 6th place with 25 points, followed by Madras & Barnes, both with 20 points (but with Madras edging ahead on goal difference), Uncle Bob in 9th place, and our friends Hendrix in last place with no wins.... but with one draw.

STATISTICS

GOALS

We scored a total of 506 goals in League and Cup group stage, playing 220 games, with 44% of games won, and 12% drawn, and an average of 2.3 goals/game.

BEST ATTACKING

Celtic scored the most goals = 70 in the league + 11 in the cup stages = 81

Lisbarnes scored 60 in the league and 17 in the cup = 77

WKK came third with 47 goals in the league (same as for the Groovers) and 16 in the cup = 73

WORST ATTACKING

Hendrix with 15 + 3 = 18 (though they folded in April)

Uncle Bob with 19 + 5 = 20 (they nearly folded - thanks Terry for taking management on !)

Lokomotiv with 29 + 4 = 33

BEST DEFENCES

Lisbarnes conceded the least = 23+8 = 31

WKK conceded 26 + 10 = 36

Celtic conceded 27 + 14 = 41

WORST DEFENCES

Hendrix conceded the most = 68 +12 = 80

Groovers conceded 56 + 8 = 64

Uncle Bob conceded 42 + 21 = 63 (21 goals in 4 cup games ain't bad..!)

Well done to the Groovers for winning the James Rettie Cup, and for Lisbarnes as finalists.

Congrats to WKK for winning the Barnesalona Cup, with Celtic as runners-up (nice to see that rivalry still at play in big games!)

Well done should also go to Barnes and Madras for coming in 1st and second of their cup groups, and hence getting through to the semi's of the James Rettie Cup ( I believe some memories need to be erased for Barnes at the semi's... thats all I will say on the matter). 

We have lost Hendrix who have been with Barnesalona since its conception, so that was very sad news for all concerned.  I do hope some of the players will look to join other teams - always nice to see familiar friendly faces.

We will lose the Groovers, as Said has finally decided to hang up his management boots, and hopes to have an easier job playing next season for an existing team.

We have however gained a new team, who gave up playing in affiliated leagues, due to the unfriendliness they encountered from opponents in those leagues - they have waited one year and will now join us.   I have no doubt they will fully appreciate the friendly (but competitive) league we have.

There are many other anecdotes/stories that I can think of, but for fear of missing others, it would be would be great if anyone would like to post comments on stories they feel should be aired for posterity on this last season.   I can't recall all of them !  

I'd like to say that I thoroughly appreciate all the hard work put in by ALL the managers and assistant-managers, and fund managers, and all those who help organise the teams on Sundays.  Seriously great job and often thankless I imagine, but I hope you get something out of it ! 

I'd also like to mention my greatest pleasure....  that of seeing managers and teams's willingness to dismiss / discipline / educate their players/teams on the importance of playing with sportsmanship.  You all know who you are, and you are all GIANTS in making those calls.  Its been my biggest challenge since I've taken on this league, and I've seen this spirit increase in size and shape ! Perhaps maturity on all our parts has beared its fruit !  I don't know !  And it doesn't matter !  Its just great to see it taking shape.. I could harper on, but this league is not about me, its about you guys, so I will stop there. 

By the way, I will be looking to join a team next season.  I've found some boots that fit (taken me bloody ages since the last pair I bought 10 years ago!).  If you need to figure out whether I'm any good, please could I ask for Dorian from WKK, or Saf from London Bloods to let people know how bad I was !   Did I ever mention Enfield Town were after me 10 years ago..?

Awards night to follow.

League Standings

League

from 5th April

Celtic 4 WKK 1

Loko 1 Bob 0

Madras 1 Lisbarnes 3

from 12th April

Barnes 2 Lisbarnes 5

Bloods 0  WKK 2

Hendrix 0 Loko 2

Easter weekends are really no joy for kicking a footy as everyone seems more intent on eating chockie!  Hence, the quagmire of chasm last minute detritus that was experienced in the week running up to the weekend regarding fixtures!  Well done to Barnes and Lisbarnes for playing on Sunday. 

CUP FINALS

We had both the Cup Finals and a league game being played today.

CUP FINALS

The James Rettie Cup

Groovers 2 Sporting Lisbarnes 1

Lisbarnes scored the 1st goal, even with Groovers tactic of looking to contain them in the 1st half.  Groovers pushed then for an equaliser and got one in the 30th or so minute.  1-1 at half time.  Groovers decided to then take the game to them by pushing forward a little more, and they were rewarded with a 2nd goal, which was very nicely taken.  Some very nice football from both teams - good competitive game, a good one to watch.  And the weather was decent !

The Barnesalona Cup

WKK 5  Celtic 2

A good contest between old rivals - score didn't reflect the game in so much as the last 2 goals for WKK were scored in the last 10mns.  WKK scored 2 in the 1st 15mns, the 1st coming in the 1st 5 mns, but in true Celtic style, they fought back and scored a goal to bring them back into the game.  2-1 at half time.   In the second half, it was very much equal between both teams, but WKK scored again.. 3-1 to WKK.  Celtic were awarded a penalty for a hand ball, Eddie cooly placing the ball in the back of the net, with 15-20mns to go.    But, WKK took their chances in the counterattacks, now Celtic were pushing up to secure themselves another goal, by placing ball in the net twice in the last 10mns or so.  Another good competitive game played.   Weather not as nice as the morning game though :-(

All awards and medals will be given at the end of season awards ceremony - date and venue to be confirmed.

Congrats to both the Groovers and WKK; and well done the runners-up Lisbarnes and Celtic !

LEAGUE GAME

We also had one league game, which finished 

Bloods 3 Bob 1

Didn't see the game so cannot make any comments !..

Have a good week.