Football recap - September 2023

All the football matches I went to in September. (Numbers continue from previous posts.)

Game 17: Caerau Ely 3-0 Trefelin BGC 

Reason for going: it was a Friday evening cup game, and I hadn't seen an evening game at Caerau Ely since they had the floodlights installed.

Point of interest: the club had printed some programmes because some "ground hoppers" had phoned up and said they were only coming if there was a printed programme. I don't know if the hoppers turned up or not, but I got a programme.

Game 18: Pontypridd United 1-0 Barry Town

Reason for going: one of Barry's closest away games of the season.

Point of interest: I'm not a great believer in nominative determinism, but the referee was called Mr Pratt. He didn't have a good game. Ponty's winner was a contentious penalty.

Game 19: Taff's Well 1-1 Carmarthen Town 

Reason for going: I like going to Taff's Well. They have a proper clubhouse with the walls covered in memorabilia and club history. 

Point of interest: There was a goal scored at both ends of the pitch for a change - I have seen far more goals scored at the top of the fearsome sloping pitch than at the bottom. 

Game 20: Barry Town 1-4 Connah's Quay Nomads

Reason for going: This was the only Barry home game I could get to this month.

Point of interest: Connah's Quay Nomads have always been a hoofball team full of elbows and shoving at corners. Except they have evolved. This was one of the best footballing displays I've seen by a Cymru Premier team and they dominated Barry as easily as the scoreline suggests. Also it was very hot and I think this is the first time I've seen a game halted for a drinks break in September.

Game 21: Shrewsbury Town 0-2 Bristol Rovers

Reason for going: It was my nephew, Zac's, birthday and we went with a bunch of his mates instead of having a party.

Point of interest: This was my fifth game in September, marking a new high point for games in September for me. (The previous record was 4 games.)

I didn't get to any more games in the final two weeks of the month - but I did manage to see the Meadow again, through the train window on the way up to Manchester for a work event at the very end of the month!

Reflecting on 2021 - allowed back to football

In lieu of going to a football game on Boxing Day, here's a review of 2021 from a soccer perspective.

I didn't attend any football matches in the 2020-21 season, meaning it was the first season in over a quarter of a century where I didn't attend a single game. I missed out on my annual trip to see Shrewsbury play Bristol Rovers in Bristol, and then Rovers got relegated so Shrewsbury won't be playing them this season. At the end of the season I blogged about how it didn't really feel like it had happened. 

Just about the only football that I had in the spring!

In the summer of 2021, the delayed European Championships were held. They were still called Euro 2020. Originally I was going to go to some games - in the before times. But then had opted for a refund. I had to console myself with watching on TV, collecting the stickers and completing the wallchart that accompanied an issue of When Saturday Comes. It was the first time I had ever completed a wallchart for an international tournament. A small achievement. 

Just before England fluffed their chance

England had a glorious chance to win the competition - helped by playing most of their games at home in Wembley. Other countries (cough*Wales*cough) had to schlep all over Europe with fans unable to travel to support them. Despite all the advantages they were afforded, England were beaten by Italy in the final, which was made more memorable by ugly violent scenes as ticketless louts kicked their way into the ground.

But in July, a new season kicked off. I went to see Barry play a friendly in Bristol (so I have seen one game in Bristol this year!) and then the games started to rack up. I went to 11 games in August -  a new record for games in a month. 

I watched Barry play away games in Aberystwyth, Cefn just outside Wrexham, and Flint, where I think I might have seen a picture of my paternal grandad on the clubhouse wall. I also saw several Grange Albion games, in one of the local leagues, watched Poole Town three times with my friend Steve, and went with my brother and nephew to watch Shrewsbury earn a creditable draw at Hillsborough against Sheffield Wednesday. 

For many clubs in Wales, the season had started earlier than normal - a precaution in case restrictions came back into place in the winter. That has proven to be prescient as just before Christmas the Welsh Government mandated a ban on spectators at sporting events. The FAW responded by putting the top three tiers of Welsh football on hiatus until January. I had reached 31 games for the season just before the spectator ban came in, which neatly took me to a total of exactly 400 games recorded on the Futbology App.

At this point it is impossible to know when the restrictions on supporters will be lifted and when I will be checking in at matches on Futbology in the New Year. Shrewsbury have a big game in January 2022 - a third round tie at Anfield. However, I feel it's unlikely I will go given the current infection rates. It may not even take place when scheduled, because covid is causing a lot of postponements at all levels of football at the moment.

And, it's not as if I'm missing out. I have seen Shrewsbury play at Anfield not too long ago. This time when the teams meet there will be no replays, so if Liverpool aren't as lucky as they were last time, with the own goals and dodgy VAR decisions, it could be memorable. 

End of a football season that never really started for me

Yesterday, Shrewsbury Town played their last game of their Football League One season. I have felt increasingly disconnected from football over the course of the season. It's an equivalent conundrum to the old philosophical question about trees - if two teams play football and nobody's watching, then does the result still matter?

Fenced off from football

Shrewsbury finished in 17th, a slot they inhabited for most of the season after climbing out of the relegation zone under their new manager, Steve Cotterill. They maintained that position while the manager was in hospital recovering from Covid-19, including a stint in intensive care. So it has been a difficult season, with very few positives. They reached the third round of the FA Cup, and so I watched their game on BT Sport. But the rest of the season has passed by without me really noticing. 

The one occasion I really felt a pang of missing out was back in February, when I couldn't go on my annual trip to watch Shrewsbury play Bristol Rovers. I blogged about it at the time. I felt that pang again this past weekend, when I realised that Barry Town were playing TNS in Oswestry on the Saturday and then Shrewsbury were away at near neighbours Crewe Alexandra on the Sunday. In pre-Covid times, that would have been a perfect double-header weekend for me.

The initial cancellation of the season and early days of the UK lockdown back in 2020 meant several of my plans to watch football matches got nixed. I had planned to go up to Sunderland to watch Shrewsbury play in the Stadium of Light for the first time in April 2020, but that game never happened due to Covid. This season's match was restricted too. If Sunderland win the play-offs and go up to the Championship at the end of the season, then my chance to see Shrewsbury play them in the league will probably disappear with them. (Similarly, Bristol Rovers got relegated, so no February trip to that game next year either.)

The Euro 2020 games last summer got postponed. I had a ticket for a game at Wembley and for a first ever trip to Hampden Park, but have since cashed those tickets in for refunds. The games are likely to go ahead with very reduced capacity this summer and other people who held on to their tickets are now being told they can't go. 

The other summer event that I missed was Barry Town's trip to the Faroe Islands for a Europa League game. I would have loved to have gone on that away trip, and I would have probably taken my Mum with the hope we could connect with some of my Grandma's family. We went to the Faroes as a family when I was 12 and I have always wanted to go back. 

Obviously the Euro 2020 games and the trip to the Faroes would have been quite big events. But I feel equally sad at missing out on trips to the Memorial Stadium and end-of-season double-headers of meaningless games. 

It has been over 14 months since I last went to a football match and this is the first season where I have not been to a single game since I started chronicling my football matches in 1992. I miss it sometimes, and I'm not really convinced that the season has happened at all. 

Missing football

Shrewsbury Town played away at Bristol Rovers today. It feels like they always play this game in February. I was at this fixture the past four seasons, but this year the travel restrictions due to the pandemic broke my attendance run.

Back in 2017, I went to this with my friends Steve and Sara. We met my Dad and my brother, Dave, at the ground. We all sat in the rickety temporary stand at one end of the ground protected from the elements by tarpaulin.

This was the game when beforehand a Bristol Rovers fan hilariously described Dad as being "stuck on transmit" - a story I told to open my tribute to dad at his funeral. (And it's still one of the best descriptions of him.)

In 2018 I drove over to the game on my own, and met Dad who had come down on the supporter's coach. I think that was the last league away game I went to with him. It was the season when Paul Hurst took Shrewsbury to the League One play-off final. Shrewsbury won at the Memorial ground for the first time in almost 50 years.

In 2019 the match was on Valentine's Day. My friend Stewart was my football sweetheart in Bristol. Stewart is the guy who succinctly summed up the Memorial Ground as looking like it had been built out of leftover bits of other sports stadia.

After the match in Bristol I drove straight to Barry for the evening kick off game there. I was very excited about achieving my first "twofer" - two games on the same day. But then the Jenner Park floodlights blew up, so it ended up being a "not-quite-twofer". I blogged about the frustration! 

And then last year the game was on Leap Day. It was the fifth Saturday game in my quest to see five Saturday games in February. I saw two more games that season before the pandemic hit and stopped me from attending any football matches since. I drove over with John, another Shrewsbury fan who lives in Cardiff.

Thinking about all these games I realised that although I miss watching football, what I really miss is going with people. I have shared a Memorial Stadium outing with several friends and family members over the past few years and those memories are all good ones, even if the results haven't been. In fact, the football is secondary to the memory-making.

Watching football gives opportunities to connect. It was something I shared with my dad. It's something I still share with my brother. Friends who don't normally support Shrewsbury have sat in the perilously creaky away stand in Bristol while the wind bit through us, for no other reason than that I would do it for them if they invited me to watch their team (and I have braved a few away ends with them).

The photos I picked to illustrate this blog post show my point. I have some photos of the game and the ground. But I prefer the photos of us. They capture what really matters about being at those games.

Five Saturday February - a footballing mission

It was a rare one. A February with 5 Saturdays in. I decided I wanted to try and see a game on all 5 Saturdays and I'm delighted to announce I made it!

Saturday 1 February

Game: Grange Albion v Merthyr Saints, South Wales Alliance Premier Division

Score: 1 - 1

Grange conceded a late penalty to blow the chance of a third home win on the trot. This game also saw me achieve the status of number one fan on the Futbology App and the number one for their ground as well. 

(OK, it was a low bar, but hey....)

Saturday 8 February

Game: Barry Town United v Connah's Quay Nomads, Cymru Premier League

Score: 0 - 1

The evil battle giants of North Wales benefited from having the most one-eyed ref I've seen in a long time. A ridiculous red card for Barry striker Kayne Maclaggon got overturned on appeal and the ref was subsequently demoted from the Premier League list.On the plus side, David Cotterill (pictured), former Wales international, made his debut, and hit the post when he took a free kick with his first touch of the ball. 

Saturday 15 February

Game: Cardiff City v Wigan Athletic, EFL Championship

Score: 2 - 2

My friend Sara offered me her ticket as Storm Ciara was wreaking havoc, and Wigan weren't exactly a great proposition. Cardiff found themselves behind twice and then missed a gilt-edged chance at the end to seal the win.

Saturday 22 February

Game: Barry Town United v Caernarfon Town, Cymru Premier League

Score: 1 - 1

Another weekend, another storm, this time Storm Dennis. All the action happened in about 60 seconds of the second half as Barry finally converted their pressure into a goal, only to concede almost straight away from the restart. I went with my friend Mehmet, who is originally from Turkey and who I met in my Welsh class. It was his first game he had attended since moving to Wales.

And finally...

Saturday 29 February (Leap Day!)

Game: Bristol Rovers v Shrewsbury Town, EFL League One

Score: 0-1

The Memorial Stadium is an odd place. Last year my friend Stewart observed that it looks like it's been built out of all the bits left over from other stadia. The executive stand looks like it's been stolen from a race track, and it was advertising Chepstow race course as well. 

I sat with a new footballing acquaintance called John in the "permanent temporary" away tent. The alternative is the away terrace which isn't covered.

It looks OK if the sun is out. We had icy rain just before kick off, and intermittently throughout the game. However, Shrewsbury won! And I think it's the first time they have ever won on a Leap Day, so a little bit of club history there.

And some personal history too: a Futbology badge when I checked in!

So that was my 5 Saturday February! I managed it, despite the best attempts of the weather. The next February with five Saturdays is in 2032. Hopefully football will still be around by then. If Shrewsbury and Bristol Rovers are in the same division 12 years hence they will probably be playing at the Mem on one of those Saturdays - this was the third year in a row they had met there in February.

Bucket list floodlight failure - the lost "twofer" opportunity

One of my main hobbies at the moment is going to football matches. I made it to 30 games last season and so far this season have been to 25. It would have been 26. Technically it's 25.16666666 games.

It's been on my (saddo) bucket list for a while to do a "twofer" - two football matches in different grounds on the same day. I've done two matches on the same day before - back to back Olympic matches in the Millennium Stadium back in 2012. But never two in different grounds.

Last Saturday the stars aligned. Or, at least the fixtures did. Shrewsbury were playing at Bristol Rovers just across the bridge, kick off 3pm. And Barry Town, who I've been following this year, had an evening televised game, kick off 7.30pm. That's a do-able schedule and I resolved to do it.

My friend Stewart lives in Bristol and was joining me for the match. I successfully found his house, met his delightful daughter, Delilah, for the first time, and then parked quite near the Memorial Stadium in plenty of time for the game. Too much time, really, because it's blinking cold in the Mem. The away end is either an open terrace, where I almost died of exposure once, or the scaffolding and canvas temporary stand that has been there since before 2003. I think it's probably the oldest temporary stand in the football league; it certainly feels like it. I call it the perma-tent.

We didn't have much to look at so we messed around with selfies.

Although I moan about the away end, the rest of the ground isn't much better. There are two home stands that look like gazebos, the home end is one long terrace adorned with cider adverts, there is a large stand on side with the executive boxes in that looks like it should be at a race course or a cricket ground, and another giant cantilever stand that runs for the middle third of the pitch opposite it. The dug outs are the opposite side of the players' tunnel, and even they are mis-matched with one part of the visiting dug out slightly lower than the rest. Stewart said it felt like a stadium built out of left over bits of other stadia. To me, it reminded me of when I tried to build Lego buildings when I was younger and by the end any colour, size or shape brick would do to try and finish it.

Before the game there was a minute's silence for Emiliano Sala. While I do understand that this is a tragedy that has happened within the wider world of football, there is part of me that thinks that generally the public observation grief is getting out of hand. Emiliano had no connection to either club. I'm not sure why there was this need to silently contemplate the fragility of life and the inevitability of our own mortal demise here, but we did, and it was observed impeccably.

Shrewsbury were wearing a nifty black kit, started the game really well and led 1-0 at half time. There was a bit of needle in the game and a couple of players were lucky to stay on the pitch. Last year I saw Shrewsbury win here courtesy of a goal created by Alex Rodman. He now plays for Bristol Rovers and, naturally, he headed home the equaliser in the second half.

The game carried on being niggly and bad-natured. A Shrewsbury sub, Greg Docherty, had to leave the field for persistently bleeding from a head wound, and was replaced by hometown hero Dave Edwards, making his second appearance in his second spell at the club where his career started. A few minutes later Dave was sent off for a desperately stupid two footed lunge tackle that would have been daft in any game, but in one where players had been warned for most of the match about their kicking and shoving, was a nailed on red card. To be fair, if he had been on the receiving end of it, I would have been baying for blood. Shrewsbury hung on and it finished 1-1.

I dropped Stewart home, got back on the M4, dashed back to Wales through the spray, enjoyed not having to pay a toll, and pulled up by the Gladstone Road turnstiles at Jenner Park at about 7.15. The twofer was on!

Once I was in I had to walk around to the other turnstile to buy a programme. This meant I could get a picture of the bigger stand that I normally sit in. I also bought some chips. I had to wait at the chip van, though, so only got to a seat as the teams came out. I then stood through my second minute's silence for Emiliano of the day. I don't have a photo of it because, and I'm slightly embarrassed to admit this, I was still eating my chips. Stealthily. Like a chip ninja. A respectful chip ninja.

Barry were entertaining Bala Town in the second phase of the Welsh Premier League. This is the section of the league where the top six teams all play each other again. Back in August I saw Barry beat Bala 3-2. Bala had three men sent off in that game, including one player who must have said something extremely rude to the referee after Barry striker Kayne Maclaggon punched the ball into the net for Barry's third goal and neither the referee or linesman saw the handball. I was hoping this game might live up to that excitement, especially as it was live on S4C.

Fate had other ideas.

Bala scored from a poorly defended free kick on 14 minutes. As the Barry players trudged back to kick off one set of floodlights went out.

The players stopped. Managers started milling around. Flashing blue lights behind the clubhouse alerted us to the fire brigade arriving. This was all very entertaining to the Barry Ultras who sang the theme tune to Fireman Sam, the Super Furry Animals song 'I've Got a Fire in My Heart for You" (which is a regular in their repertoire, to be fair) and then an impromptu version of 'We Didn't Start the Fire' by Billy Joel.

"We didn't start the fire
It was Barry Council
With the Dodgy Wiring"

Meanwhile S4C were desperately trying to fill air-time. As they set up pitchside to interview the managers, and it seemed, just about anyone they could, a chap ran out with an additional spotlight. It was quite humorous, as if he was going to try and replace the floodlights.

The warmth of the chips had worn off. I went up into the clubhouse as I was getting cold again and bought a cup of tea. Quite a few other fans had the same idea and the Ultras sang "We can't see youo sneaking out" as people began to drift out of the stands.

The Bala players came back out, providing a brief glimmer of hope the game would recommence, just before the stadium announcer said the game was off.

So that was my "twofer" well and truly busted. No tick on the bucket list. The double entry on my list of games will always be one game and one abandoned game for the 9 February 2019. I've seen 76 goals so far this season, but only 75 will count in official statistics.

I walked past the Bala players on my way back to my car. They were warming down. It's a long bus journey from Bala to Barry to play just 14 minutes of football. And they will have to do it all again in a few weeks time.

2017-18 football season review - new records in the modern era

With the World Cup over, I no longer have an excuse for not writing my season review of 2017-18.

2017-18 was a record high season for me in the 'modern era', which for me is any time after about 1996. I went to 30 football matches, the second most I've been to in a season ever and the highest number since 1993-94. Along the way I saw the champions elect of England, I went to Wembley twice, and I saw Wales blow their best chance of making it to a World Cup since that time they lost a qualifying play off to a bunch of juiced up Russians.

As per previous seasons, here are the overall stats:
Season: 2017-18
Total games: 30
Most goals in a game: 8
Fewest goals in a game: 0
Total goals seen: 81
Number of football grounds visited: 7 (2 of which I’d never visited before)

In previous years I gave a little pen picture of each game, but that would be exhausting for 30 games. Instead, I'm just going to do a rough overview and then give out some awards.

I went to thirty games for three main reasons.

1) Shrewsbury Town had their best season in a generation, spending a lot of the season in a promotion place before slipping to third in the final weeks of the season. They went to Wembley twice - in the Checkatrade Trophy final and in the play-off final.

They also had a sell-out televised third round FA Cup game, which included Joe Hart's return to his hometown club. I saw them win away at Bristol Rovers, I saw them beat Walsall for the first time in many encounters, and I even saw them win on my birthday, against Oxford United.

2) Football is a people activity. My friend Sara is a season-ticket holder at Cardiff City, and so are most of her family. But sometimes they can't all go to games and they invite me along to fill a vacant seat. I saw five games with them this season. My mate Steve sorted me a ticket in the away end of Cardiff City Stadium to see QPR, and we also went to a couple of other more random games. And my mate Ben came with me to a couple of matches, and I went to see him play in the Welsh League a couple of times. Until he decided to swap sunny South Wales for some place called Los Angeles, California. What was he thinking?

3) Barry Town are back in the Welsh Premier League. I decided to go along to one of their first games, and ended up there five times over the course of the season. It's a nice atmosphere, it's affordable, and the games usually had a decent number of goals. There's a hard core of fans who sing throughout and I really like that. And you get unexpected stuff like this.

THE AWARDS

Best team: Without a doubt, Manchester City. I have never seen football played like that.
Best moment: Seeing Shrewsbury win with a late, late, goal at Bristol Rovers, courtesy of an unpredictable bit of skill from Alex Rodman. It was the first time Shrewsbury had won at Bristol Rovers since the 1960s. I'd driven over there on my own. The weather was crap. The stadium is crap. The game wasn't great. And then there was THIS!
Second best moment: Ben Woodburn. The dream was still alive! Russia, here we come...
Biggest disappointment: After two trips in a season, Shrewsbury have now been 5 times to Wembley. I have been 5 times to watch them. I have seen them lose 5 times. That's all you need to know about Shrewsbury's season, really. Ultimately, after being surprise candidates for promotion, they ended up with nothing. Here's a suitably dismal photo.

Most frustrating game: Shrewsbury's 0-0 draw against West Ham in the FA Cup. Live on TV and West Ham were poor. Shrewsbury's Stefan Payne missed the one chance that fell to him that would have won the game. This was my only 0-0 of the season. But I did see Alan Shearer and Ian Wright in their temporary TV studio. Later they got their make up done.

Strangest goal: Kevin de Bruyne against Cardiff City in the FA Cup. I saw this from behind the goal and he made an absolute idiot out of the whole defence.
Most memorable miss: Neil Maupay for Brentford against Cardiff. I was again stood behind the goal and I have absolutely no idea how he missed. Cardiff then almost immediately went up the other end and scored a second goal to seal their win.
Most touching moment: It's unusual for a visiting player to get a round of applause from the home fans when his name is read out. But Joe Hart did when his name was read out over the tannoy when West Ham came to the New Meadow. Then the rest of his team-mates got booed. As you'd expect.
Strangest scoreline: STM Sports 4 v 4 AFC Lwydcoed. I went to see my mate Ben play for STM Sports in the Welsh League Division 2. he got subbed off when STM were winning and we watched his team score one and concede two goals in the last 10 minutes of the game. I took this photo of him in action, along with a STM Canine Superfan who had made his owner bring him along.

Most unusual match up: Wales 'C' v England 'C' at Jenner Park, down in Barry. I have now seen Wales, Wales B, Wales C and Wales Under-21s play. Read a full review here.
Best crowd: Has to be the Barry Town fans. They always make me laugh.
Unlikely moment of fame: I went with my friend Steve to see Cardiff Met play in a post-season play-off against Barry Town. The game was live on Sgorio. And so were we at one point!

And finally, the most stupid thing seen at a football match: This sign by the concession stands in Wembley!

And that's it. Roll on next season.

Football watching - the first quarter decade

I've been logging the football games that I've been to since the 1992-93 season. It was my first year at VI Form College and I got into going to football in a big way. I was helped by my Dad being a keen fan of football and got the opportunity to visit a number of grounds near to where we lived in Shrewsbury. I saw 29 games that season, mainly Shrewsbury Town, but also games at Wrexham, Telford, Bridgnorth, Crewe, Walsall, and strangely, Cardiff City's Ninian Park. Little did I know that I would end up living barely a 20 minute walk away from that now-demolished stadium for a good chunk of my adult life.

Here's a graph of my game attendance from 1992-93 through to the 2016-17 season.

The blue line marks all the games I went to in a given season. The red line is the number of Shrewsbury games as a subset of that total. There are three seasons when I was a one club man, but most years I've been to a few more games. For most of the noughties the other games were Wales Internationals, but there have been others. Recently, thanks to my friend Steve, I've been to quite a few QPR games and some Poole Town games as well. And my friend Sara, a season ticket holder at Cardiff City has helped me catch several games at the new CCFC Stadium, built opposite where Ninian Park used to be.

My record high point of 37 in 1993-94 is probably going to stand for all time. I joke that year was BC - Before Cathy. But it was also a year when I possibly should have spent more time concentrating on my A-levels, rather than going to football matches. Ah, the freedom of youth! And I had my Dad seeking out more games for us to go to when Shrewsbury weren't at home. That's how I went to a Shifnal Town game.

I still like going to football matches with my Dad. Last week we froze in the permanent temporary marquee that is the away end at Bristol Rovers. Shrewsbury's late winner warmed us up a bit.

In this 25 year span, I saw Shrewsbury 149 times, and a total of 269 football matches. These are small beer compared to the numbers racked up by serious groundhoppers, but still a lot more than many people manage. The average is dragged down by seasons like 2009-2010 when I only went to two games. I have seen at least one Shrewsbury game every season, literally just the one in 2005-2006.

In the process I have visited 59 different football grounds, ranging from Elgin to Plymouth, Norwich to Newtown, and including a MLS game in Salt Lake City. Several of the grounds have disappeared. Ninian Park, obviously, the Gay Meadow, which I loved and can picture clearly in my mind's eye even after ten years in the new stadium, the frankly horrible Vetch Field, and even the original Wembley.

In total, I have seen 148 different club sides. I expected it to be higher given the number of games, but I have seen some clubs a surprising number of times, and I'm not counting International or Representative teams. Some of the teams I've seen no longer exist, disappearing through mergers or just going bust. A number have reformed lower down the league. I am counting Wimbledon prior to the move to Milton Keynes and AFC Wimbledon, founded by fans in protest, as the same club. It's my list; my rules.

Here's a table of the teams I have seen most often

As you'd expect, Shrewsbury lead the way. I'd been to more Cardiff matches than I thought when I totted them up. I haven't seen Bridgnorth play since 1994-95, but I did see them 9 times over three seasons in the 90s. Torquay place quite highly, thanks to the influence of Cathy's cousin, Adam, who supports them. Inter Cardiff won't be improving on their position. They disappeared in a merger with UWIC several years ago. UWIC then evolved into Cardiff Metropolitan. I have seen Cardiff Met play, but it's not the same club at all.

The top ten will change next year. I've already seen QPR lose narrowly at Cardiff this season, so they will move up to joint 5th. And I've mentioned how I've seen Bristol Rovers again, so they will be on their own in 10th.

In 2016-17 I went to the highest number of games for 20 years (14), but that was a precursor to a real renaissance in matchgoing this season. The game at Bristol's Memorial Stadium last Saturday was my 20th of the season so far. I have plans to see Shrewsbury again on my birthday and they are also one game away from another Wembley appearance in the football league trophy, which I will really want to go to. If they get to Wembley it will be the fourth time I have seen them play there. They've lost all three previous games, so they are due a win. I feel I am due a win too.