Whitey Grandad

You could see that??? We couldn't see anything :-(.

We had two seats in row B too! We were just to the right of the left-hand goalpost as you looked upfield, so we had stand support & drainpipe, goalpost, goal net, goalkeeper between us and the action. That and the slope of the pitch meant we were looking at the game from about knee-height. And we were getting wet from all the drips. Had a good view of our three goals, though, which made up for the poor view but as to what was happening at the other end, it was all a bid of a blur. I had one senior and one full-price but £18.50 was a lot for a seat with no view.

It's ironic that I was dry-side but my view was blocked by a big drainpipe.

Yes, that did occur to me after I had hit 'submit'. :-( So... That'll be next year then!

That would be next season then

When is the final?

The other rule is 'always play your best team'.

The other.

What is the trophy anyway, a tin of paint?

It all started to go wrong when the home clubs kept all of the gate money. Then Sky came along and the rest is history....

You are probably right. The Woolston to Fareham link is usually being worked on at the weekend.

Any night except Wednesday and I would be there. It'll have to be Sky Plus for me.

Whe you put it like that it's amazing how far we have come since the end of last season. We have Lambert and Connolly for less than we sold Dyer and McGoldrick, and their desire and hunger is quite refreshing.

Is that you on the left in the dress Wes?

The important question is... If you had to pay good money for him, would you buy him for the club?

Standard adult of £20 - £22 (category C). I think it might have been a special offer of 2 successive games for £30 total. Basic adult tickets range from £20 to £30 depending on location and the category of the visitors, so their prices are not bad, but we are talking about 'Wigan'.

The 7-days no longer apply: 'the suspension will now be automatic as opposed to the current seven day rule.'

Indeed you are quite correct. For temporary (not season-long) loans written permission has to be given by the lending club by 12:00 noon on the Friday before the date fixed for playing the round in order for the player to be 'eligible'. As for disciplinary procedures and bans, I believe that these only apply to games for which the player is 'eligible'. Of course, if Trotman were to collect a fifth booking and therefore a ban, what is there to stop Southampton asking Preston for written permission knowing full well that he is banned from playing the next match for which he would be 'eligible'?

Matches tend to go to the team that wants it the most.

Interesting point that. He is eligible to play as he is officially on loan at Southampton. As far as I know, any other 'understandings' about not playing against the club that holds your registration or not getting cup-tied are unofficial and cannot be written into the loan agreement.

Murty for me, every time.

So they said, whoever 'they' were. I'm perfectly happy with our present situation and there are very few old boys from recent years that I would like to see back - apart from Walcott, that is, if he could stay fit.

Draws I would have preferred.... Home to anybody. Away to... Bath City, Gateshead, Barrow, Cambridge United (for old times' sake), York City, Hereford United, Exeter City, Port Vale/Stevenage, Carlisle/Morecambe, Barnet, Accrington Stanley, Staines, Rushden & Diamonds, Nortwich Victoria, Aldershot, Wrexham, or even Kettering Town. Can we draw it again? Best out of three?

That's one way of looking at it. But confidence builds upon success. One school of thought would have been to rest Connolly for last Friday but starting the game and scoring those two goals will have done him a lot more good than staying at home and 'having a rest'. And who did I want? 'Any lower-league team at home, or if it's away then some proper football ground that I haven't been to before in some interesting part of the country'. I was wrong all all counts.

Right result, wrong route to get there.