oops, bye bye Arsenal... bye bye half your team...

Barcelona have won.

Car Expert

Woo!!!2-1 to Barcelona!!

Wooo

Oh yeah!!!!!!!!!! *starts dancing with Nicki*

The poll for the top 20 football matches will be published tomorrow, so keep an eye out for that!

Car Expert

Will do babe x

I think, ultimately, the best team won on the night....

I think Arsenal got very tired towards the end......a shame for the Arsenal fans here on forums...

I think they did everything they could, but it didn't help that they appeared to be playing the ref as well.

Not sure about that

i. Barcelona scored and should have been 1-0 up when the goalie was sent off

ii. Arsenal's goal came from a free kick which arose from a blatant dive by the Arsenal player

I felt the Ref had a poor game...

In the end they ran up against a heavy pitch, heavy rain, a one man differential and a superior team. It was bad luck, but then I would say that as a Liverpool supporter...

Well, yes, I agree that the ref made mistakes which caused problems for both teams. But he let Barcelona get away with some dreadful fouls, and booked Henry for a clean challenge where he got the ball.

I'm very pleased that Arsenal played as well as they did, and held out for as long as they did. I'm not surprised Barcelona won, as I expected them to do, but I'm sorry that the game was irrevocably altered by the sending off, even if it was the correct decision.

Good news for Tamworth fans - they will be playing Conference football next season as Canvey Island have officially pulled out.

The big question is: will Scarborough be safe too?

Car Expert

Yeah! I'm so glad Arsenal lost! I've got lots of gloating to do now...

Matt

The poll can be found here.

Car Expert

Woooo! Go Canvey! Heeheee

Scarborough could well be safe...anyone know when the appeal is heard?

RE: Champs league...

Interesting game! I felt the referee was simply not good enough. Not allowing advantage to be played (could simply have booked Lehman then, as he wouldn't have denied a goal-scoring opp) was a glaring error. He was picky, blowing for everything! There *were* some very dubious tackles that went unpunished, but some even more dubious diving by both teams - though Arsenal clearly benefitted initially. I though Eboue was lucky to still be on the field - groin-hgh tackles are certainly not part of the game and his reaction to being booked was less than pretty!

I do feel the best team won, but am disappointed that wasn't the Premiership team (I guard against calling them English!).

Henry's reaction to losing smacked of sour grapes - he can whine all he liked about poor refereeing decisions, but he had the chances to put the game safe and didn't take them. Arguably, the two worst decisions happened before the Barca goals were scored! Wenger at least appeared gracious in defeat.

Interestingly Sepp Blatter today thinks the ref should have taken more time over the decision the red-card Lehman (presumably not quite as long a time as Sepp himself has taken...that would be a lot of injury time )

Arsenal have called a press conference for 14.00. Fingers crossed (need an emoticon for that!).

23rd May, but Scarborough have until the end of May to satisfy the Conference that they can stay in the league if Altrincham go down.Talking of Henry, he has decided to stay at Arsenal until 2010!

Car Expert

Bad luck to Leeds and Halifax for losing in their play-off matches.

Car Expert

Good news: Altrincham have been relegated to the Conference North!

Car Expert

Of course, this isn't quite such good news if you're an Altrincham fan!

(CE, I know what you mean!)

thankyou! keen halifax supporter here i was there...and it was SO exciting...and i screamed myself hoarse. hmm. oops. my singing teacher wasnt TOO pleased with me...but it was incredible. for all us small town shaymen supporters used to standing up in our little stadium up north, leicester was huuuge! and so professional we felt quite swamped. was funny how many of the town supporters couldnt cope with sitting down! incredible. and such and experience xxx

Hey good on you, nice to see a proper local fan (especially female). Perhaps you'll win the division next season.

We (husband, No 3 son and I) are going to Reading to see England B vs Belarus tonight. It's No 3 son's first trip to a football match, and is a slightly early birthday treat for him. We're in Row E, behind the goal at the north end, so may be on camera at some point. I can't quite see myself making a 'Forums England Supporters' banner, however.

No 3 son is slightly disappointed that Aleksander Hleb, his favourite player, isn't in the Belarus squad, but I hope his disappointment will be assuaged somewhat by his Hleb Arsenal shirt he's getting for his birthday.

It was in Leicester's stadium - cool!

6-0!!!

It was only against Jamaica, though, so it probably was expected.


And sorry for the confusion, but Scarborough is now the team who have been relegated to the Conference North, and they will start the season with a 10-point deduction, meaning Altrincham will be playing Conference football next season!

Car Expert

I want to see England win the Cup, but I have a feeling we won't

I can see Holland doing well, I also think Spain will do rather better than in previous World Cups. I think Brazil will be there or thereabouts. You can't write Germany off either, especially with home advantage.

Not sure France will do that well, and I have a feeling Italy will go out quite early too.

I'll make a guess that it will be Spain that lifts the Cup on July 9th, but of course time will tell.......

Have I heard Spain? hehehehe...

Well, here we have a said about our team, that is "We played as never and lost like always"... but we keep supporting our selection!!! although with teams like Germany, Brazil, France... specially with Brazil! and I like so much Argentina's playing...

I've got a feeling about Portugal going quite far this year, and Brazil too of course...but obviously England will win!

Matt

Are you watching Holland-Australia in a friendly match?

Portugal!!!!! yes!!!!

Here is the complete list of each league (Premiership -> Conference North/South) of who's moved up and down, and any points deductions that there might be for the new season:

1. Premiership | Promoted: Reading; Sheffield United; Watford
2. Championship | Relegated: Birmingham City; Sunderland; West Bromwich Albion | Promoted: Barnsley; Colchester United; Southend United
3. League 1 | Relegated: Brighton & Hove Albion; Crewe Alexandra; Millwall | Promoted: Carlisle United; Cheltenham Town; Leyton Orient | Rotherham United deducted 10 points
4. League 2 | Relegated: Hartlepool United; Milton Keynes Dons; Swindon Town; Walsall | Promoted: Accrington Stanley; Hereford Town
5. Conference | Relegated: Oxford United; Rushden & Diamonds | Promoted: Northwich Victoria; St. Albans City; Stafford Rangers; Weymouth
6. Conference North | Relegated: Scarborough | Promoted: Blyth Spartans; Farsley Celtic | Scarborough deducted 10 points
7. Conference South | Promoted: Bedford Town; Braintree Town; Fisher Athletic; Salisbury City | Cambridge City and Havant & Waterlooville deducted 3 points
8. Ryman League | Relegated: Canvey Island

Car Expert

I wonder where Reading will end up next season. A Champions League place maybe? Unlikely I know!

Car Expert

Do you live in reading?

Nope, East London. Leyton Orient is my local team, so I sort-of support them as well. I hope they do well in League 1 next season!

Car Expert

Why do you wonder about Reading then...?

My dad supports them, and I've been there before, and it's a good place to visit.

Car Expert

Cool.

There's a good high quality group of Barbershop singers there. They've come third in national competition for several years now. Except last time, a few weeks ago.

Here is the draw for the 1st round of the Carling Cup:

North

1. Chesterfield v Wolves
2. Stoke v Darlington
3. Port Vale v Preston
4. Burnley v Hartlepool
5. Sheffield Wednesday v Wrexham
6. Bury v Sunderland
7. Hull v Tranmere
8. Blackpool v Barnsley
9. Huddersfield v Mansfield
10. Carlisle v Bradford
11. Rotherham v Oldham
12. Scunthorpe v Lincoln
13. Accrington v Nottingham Forest
14. Grimsby v Crewe
15. Leeds v Chester
16. Doncaster v Rochdale
17. Stockport v Derby
18. Leicester v Macclesfield

South

1. Cardiff v Barnet
2. Milton Keynes Dons v Colchester
3. Swindon v Brentford
4. Crystal Palace v Notts County
5. Hereford v Coventry
6. Swansea v Wycombe
7. Peterborough v Ipswich
8. Bournemouth v Southend
9. Brighton v Boston
10. Cheltenham v Bristol City
11. Millwall v Gillingham
12. Southampton v Yeovil
13. Birmingham v Shrewsbury
14. Plymouth v Walsall
15. Bristol Rovers v Luton
16. QPR v Northampton
17. Torquay v Norwich
18. Leyton Orient v West Brom

Ties to be played in the week beginning 21 August

I wonder if Orient can beat a {former} Premiership side again!

Car Expert

New Fixtures out!
2006/7 Fixtures

Only Prem, Champ and Leagues 1 & 2 at the moment. Presumably because we're still not 100% sure who will be playing in the conference next year!!

Reading have got Middlesbrough first and Blackburn last... interesting...

Chelsea v Liverpool will be interesting for a first game!
EDIT: Oops, that's the Community Shield!

Car Expert

Juventus have been dropped two divisions
(while AC Milan, Fiorentina & Lazio drop one)

Car Expert

Charlton go to the Madjeski on 18/11, the game against Reading at the Valley is on Easter Monday. Won't be teaching that day, so I should be able to go to that game CE! (to hopefully see Reading lose.....)

The verdict isn't until 9th July

Oh yes, so it is!

I hope Charlton lose

Car Expert

.....knowing Charlton's tendency to shoot themselves in the foot when in a good position, we probably will!!!

Anyway, on a slightly more serious note, I think Reading are good enough to stay up this season. Indeed, I think all 3 promoted sides look quite good, which will make more established sides look over their shoulders.....

*looks over shoulder*

Yes, I hope Reading do stay up. They haven't signed any new players yet, unlike Sheffield United and Watford...

Just realised there's a Paul Robinson who plays for West Brom!

Car Expert

And just as I say that, Reading have signed a South Korean international player (Seol Ky-Hyeon) from Wolves!

Car Expert

Bit late I know but. . . . .WE HAVE A NEW MANAGER!

Not sure whether Ian Holloway will be cause for or but I'm sure we will soon find out.

I have a feeling Ian Holloway will do very well for you. He did very well at QPR on limited means, and I think he'll do equally well at Plymouth.

And look who has just got a friendly against Real Madrid later this month!! I read it in The Express that they wanted to use the hotel that we had booked first, so for moving to another 5-star hotel (oh the hardship ), we got everything paid for and a friendly match into the bargain! Shame it's in Austria but hey!

This will be the season for S######horpe, Peterborough, and Chelsea to rock the football world!

Huh? How dare you blank me you miserable automated swine? What unacceptable rudeness.