The Official 2013/14 Thread for the English Cups & Football League

[rich76]

So, footy season starts tomorrow. Can't see another thread for this, so here goes...

Been a good sporting summer for us Brits... Murray wins Wimbledon, Lions win in Australia, Froome wins the Tour de France, Justin Rose wins the US Open, the Ashes are going England's way right now...

(just nod and smile if you're not with me...)

And I went to watch Bournemouth v Real Madrid a couple of weeks ago... a very surreal experience. Only 5 years ago, we were deducted 17 points and almost went out of the Football League. Next thing I know, Ronaldo, Kaka, Modric etc are swanning around the place (they were awesome, and beat us 6-0).

Anyhow, here are the fixtures for the opening weekend;

Championship
Burnley v Bolton
Bournemouth v Charlton
Barnsley v Wigan Athletic
Birmingham v Watford
Doncaster v Blackpool
Leeds United v Brighton
Middlesbrough v Leicester City
Millwall v Yeovil Town
Nottm Forest v Huddersfield
QPR v Sheffield Wed
Reading v Ipswich Town

League 1
Bristol City v Bradford City
Carlisle v Leyton Orient
Crawley Town v Coventry City
Crewe v Rotherham
Gillingham v Colchester
Peterborough v Swindon Town
Port Vale v Brentford
Preston v Wolves
Shrewsbury v MK Dons
Stevenage v Oldham
Walsall v Tranmere

League 2
Bury v Chesterfield
Cheltenham v Burton
Exeter City v Bristol Rovers
Fleetwood Town v Dagenham & R
Newport County v Accrington
Portsmouth v Oxford United
Rochdale v Hartlepool
Scun-thorpe v Mansfield Town
Southend v Plymouth
Torquay United v AFC Wimbledon
Wycombe v Morecambe
York City v Northampton


And here are the fixtures for the first round of the Capital One Cup;

Barnsley v Scun-thorpe
Birmingham v Plymouth
Bournemouth v Portsmouth
Brentford v Dagenham & R
Brighton v Newport County
Bristol Rovers v Watford
Bury v Crewe
Carlisle v Blackburn
Charlton v Oxford United
Cheltenham v Crawley Town
Colchester v Peterborough
Doncaster v Rochdale
Exeter City v QPR
Gillingham v Bristol City
Huddersfield v Bradford City
Leeds United v Chesterfield
Leyton Orient v Coventry City
Middlesbrough v Accrington
Millwall v AFC Wimbledon
Morecambe v Wolves
Northampton v MK Dons
Nottm Forest v Hartlepool
Notts County v Fleetwood Town
Oldham v Derby County
Port Vale v Walsall
Preston v Blackpool
Rotherham v Sheffield Wed
Sheffield Utd v Burton
Shrewsbury v Bolton
Southend v Yeovil Town
Stevenage v Ipswich Town
Swindon Town v Torquay United
Tranmere v Mansfield Town
Wycombe v Leicester City
York City v Burnley

[carom]

Common Brentford!

Not going to Port Vale, but hoping to make the D&R match. Definitely going up this year!

[rubecube]

I love that Plymouth, Torquay, and Exeter are all in the same division again. Gives us a whole whack of Devon derbies.

[d_phaneuf]

another big thanks to Bein Sport (and the CRTC) for buying up the rights to show the championship here and then not putting them on tv

[GirlySports]

if anyone has sportsnet world today.

Shortwood Utd vs Port Vale Fa Cup First Round

Who are Shortwood Utd?

[GirlySports]

my favourite stat so far is that the field is sloped 7 feet from one side to the other.
Shortwood are downslope this half and are down 1-0

[Locke]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

my favourite stat so far is that the field is sloped 7 feet from one side to the other.
Shortwood are downslope this half and are down 1-0

That is awesome! Finally, the coin toss means something!

[carom]

I suppose this could go in the Swindon thread, but this is as good a place as any.

Mark Cooper: Swindon Town will reimburse fans after FA Cup exit

Swindon took 305 supporters to Macclesfield's Moss Rose on Saturday, with the most expensive ticket in the away end costing £18 - meaning the League One club will have to pay out up to £5,490 in refunds.

Cooper apologised to supporters after the game and told BBC Wiltshire on Monday: "We've agreed to cover the cost of the fans that travelled.

"Not because we're creeping, it's a gesture of appreciation."

I would like to see more of this

[GirlySports]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24911709

Joint boss John Evans hopes Shortwood United's run to the FA Cup first round will inspire other non-league clubs.
The Southern League Division One South & West outfit exited the competition on Monday after losing 4-0 to Port Vale.
But they attracted a club-record 1,247 crowd at Meadowbank and have claimed around £100,000 in prize money.

[GirlySports]

another one today on Sportsnet World

SIXTH Division Brackley town against Third Division (League One) Gillingham. This is a replay! Brackley Town actually were unfortunately to draw in Gillingham, giving up a late equalizer.

[GirlySports]

heh there is also a slope on this field but it's from far side to near side so it favours no one.
Also there is barely a fence behind one of the goals. If a shot goes over that fence, that ball is lost forever.

[GirlySports]

The little guys win!!

The keeper was amazing. Plus the manager used zero substitutes! These were his best 11 and most of them had gone to work during the day!

[devo22]

Capital One Cup quarterfinals were played yesterday and today:

17 Dec, 19:45 Leicester City 1 - 3 Manchester City
17 Dec, 19:45 Sunderland 2 - 1 (aet) Chelsea
18 Dec, 19:45 Stoke City 0 - 2 Manchester United
18 Dec, 19:45 Tottenham Hotspur 1 - 2 West Ham United

Semifinals will be played in January. The draw is

West Ham United vs Manchester City
Sunderland vs Manchester United

... Manchester derby in the final it is ^^

[cam_wmh]

Best case scenario for United. Don't want to play an away leg at the Eastlands.

[rubecube]

Has there been a more disappointing summer signing than Soldado?

[rubecube]

What an absolutely pathetic performance.

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Has there been a more disappointing summer signing than Soldado?

Sigh. Fellaini?

[Addick]

Originally Posted by rubecube

What an absolutely pathetic performance.

That must have been tough to digest. I think the really worrying thing for you lot is how comfortable it looked for Arsenal and it wasn't even our strongest squad.

Hindsight is 20/20 but I'm starting to think that Spurs should have started to prepare (i.e. bring in new players) for the departure of Bale the summer before he left.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Addick

That must have been tough to digest. I think the really worrying thing for you lot is how comfortable it looked for Arsenal and it wasn't even our strongest squad.

Hindsight is 20/20 but I'm starting to think that Spurs should have started to prepare (i.e. bring in new players) for the departure of Bale the summer before he left.

Yeah but to be fair, how many chances did Soldado shank? I counted at least 3. And I agree with the second part. More importantly, they should be trying to replace Modric. We still haven't found a replacement for him.

[Bagor]

It's obvious that the Rumbelows or whatever the hell it is called now is a priority.

Not a good season.