Ohmisterporter

Not a problem Jamie. All the photos I have seen show the horses standing still. Geoff.

An interesting stat that was mentioned in the commentary is that Blackpool become the forty-fourth team to play in the Premiership since it started. With ninety-six teams in the league as a whole, almost half have been in the Prem. Amazing when we consider it to be a closed shop for the bigger clubs. It just raises the question "What happened to all the money?". Geoff.

Blackpool 3 Cardiff City 2 Well done Blackpool, what a fantastic season! For a small club without a multi-millionaire backer the team have done us proud. Hard luck Cardiff City, but you'll be back next season I don't doubt. As I gently float earthwards from cloud nine, I am wondering about the reputed ninety million pounds that Blackpool will get from membership of the Premier League. What an obscene amount of money for playing football. How can clubs go into administration when they are used to dealing in sums like this? I hope the Oystons have their feet on the ground and back Olly, but not at any price. William Hill are offering odds of 10,000/1 against them ending the season as Premiership champions. Worth a bet? Geoff.

We may be about to find out. I can't believe the season we have had. I started off hoping we'd avoid relegation, now we are one game away from the Prem. Which we are just not ready for by the way. If we go up we will be straight back down. And I'm a fan! But thanks to the team for a great season. Geoff.

I forgot to mention that the Champions were Halifax Town. Remember them? Some of us think we are on a rollercoaster with our teams, but I doubt many can compare with the fall of this club. Geoff.

In the Unibond First Division North playoff final Colwyn Bay beat Lancaster City 1 - 0 with an 88th minute penalty. At the end of the regular season City, who had led most of the season but tailed away at the end, finished second twenty one points ahead of fifth placed Colwyn Bay. Still, everyone knew the rules at the start of the season, so better luck next season to City. Fingers crossed for Blackpool now. Geoff.

Jamie, I hope your other half is on the mend. Nice to see you making progress again. Is the Kirtley 0-6-0 the Slaters' kit? Geoff.

Yes indeed, and that's the beauty of the play off system. Without it the season would already be over, promotion wise. If Blackpool can't beat Forest I think that's it for us this season, but it has been a terrific season for a little club with 'normal 'funding. Geoff.

Clear enough. Can they do worse than Lancaster City? Points deducted for administration, they ended the season on +1 point. So they left an opening for someone to 'better' that. The Premiership are now talking about sixteen million quid parachute payments for relegation. That should help cushion the fall a little. How the hell did they get into this mess in the first place? Geoff.

Why will they start next season on minus ten points? They have already had nine points deducted this season. Come to think of it, why is it minus nine in the Premiership and minus ten in the other leagues? Good win on Sunday, I think Avram Grant is an underated manager. Geoff.

I'm starting to like the look of these things. Better have a lie down. Geoff.

Blimey! That's a trek for the away team isn't it? Geoff.

Well, the record for the FA backing the referee no matter what has reached a new level of daftness. Charlie Adam playing for Blackpool against Leicester was tripped in the penalty area with the score at 2-1 to Leicester. Barmy ref strides up and shows Adam the yellow card for diving. Patently obvious that the defender had his arm on Adam's shoulder, and replays show that Adam was tripped. Even if was accidental there is no way the yellow card for diving could stand. A ref with a bit of gumption would have rescinded the card after watching the replay, but no. As this was Adam's tenth yellow of the season he now misses two games. I think there is an element of punishing the player for past misdemeanours. On another note, Blackpool have hit the woodwork eighteen times this season, more than anyone else in the Championship. Just think, if those shots had just swerved an inch or two in flight, they would have missed altogether. Geoff.

Not sure about the priorities for payouts here. Creditors, including other clubs, come low down the list. From my own experiences I think the outstanding wages to employees came first, followed by HMRC, the administrators took their slice, and creditors got a share of what was left. The latter can well be just a few pence in the pound. IIRC the company pension scheme was frozen on the day the administrators took over. I know that my last employer went into administration and by the time the whole thing had been wound up the administrators fees came to around six hundred thousand pounds. That would have been enough to keep the business solvent. OK I know there is more to it than that, but even so I was not a happy bunny. Geoff.

As a matter of interest, which is the lowest placed team to have won the "Champions" League? Bearing in mind that IIRC only England, Spain, Italy and Germany have four entries the others have two. Geoff.

I have just read that FIFA are thinking about having teams qualified for the Champions League only if they are financially viable. I think they mean only open to teams that are solvent through gate receipts, football kit sales etc. and not handouts from wealthy owners. In that case I'm not sure who would represent England. Anyone know a truly solvent team? Appart from the likes of Evostick United of course. Geoff.

The way to watch the Football League show is on I-player. If your team has a bad game it doesn't matter how late you watch it! The QPR penalty on Saturday was iffy,ball strikes arm, probably 50% of refs would not have given it. Unfortunately we had one of the others. Geoff.

Cracking model Ken. I'm still digesting the Christmas cannonball pudding! But one day...... Geoff.

Just to put the record straight, Stobart has about 1000 lorries whereas both Wincanton Logistics, and Tibbett and Britten have around 4000 each. Even so, more freight by rail has to be welcomed. Geoff.

IIRC in Rugby League the hooter blows at the end of time, allowing for stoppages, and play continues until the ball goes dead. It's then up to the attacking team to keep the ball in play until they can at least get a shot at goal. If they score the ball is dead anyway. I can see the obvious disadvantages with soccer, but RL is a much more physical game with a lot of deliberate body contact and they manage all right. The obvious difference is that the RL disciplinary committee absolutely will not tolerate arguing or physical contact with the referee. And the "only the captain talks to the ref" rule is enforced, in the main. To his credit, I've seen John Terry trying to do that for Chelsea. Geoff.

I wonder if I could borrow his sofa? Geoff.

Good luck with this Jamie, I shall be following the build with interest. Green Ayre was my local station, and I bunked the shed several times. I didn't know it was called bunking in those days, just mooching around when we were kids. The first loco number I collected was 46410 on Green Ayre shed, that must have been about 1955. I suppose you have seen the usual railway books for the area? Railways around Lancaster,by Ken Nuttal, and Ron Herbert's book The Working Railway. Also Binns' Little North Western Railway has a few old photos. The Rev Bob Jackson produced a book about the electrified L-M-H lines but I never bought a copy. The shed is under Sainsbury's now and Greyhound bridge is a road bridge and much changed. IIRC the hand crane on the grassed area where the station stood came from Hornby. Great name eh? It cost one old penny to ride from Green Ayre to Castle station, passing the engine shed. Some of the windows in the later units were frosted, which made it difficult to see out. If you were lucky the ticket collector wouldn't bother you and it was possible to go back and forwards all afternoon for a penny. Pleasures were a lot simpler in those days. The coal merchant in the station yard was, I think, Laycock. They may have had their own POW coal wagons. There was a wooden wagon in their livery at Steamtown at one time, painted grey or blue with white lettering. Green Ayre shed was very compact, cramped even, with access to the shed via the turntable. I often thought it would make a good model. Geoff.

I am a Blackpool supporter and can't believe the position we are in at the moment. Nor can our manager Ian Holloway if you listen to his post-match comments. Sometimes I don't know if he is having a laugh or he's the greatest tactical genius in the Championship. How many other managers see their team win and then make seven changes for the following match? As far as Posh sacking Ferguson goes, when Grayson left 'pool I was sorry to see him go because he took us to promotion and cemented us in the Championship. Now Holloway has moulded mostly the same average players, with a few additions, into a top six outfit. Probably the Peterborough board are hoping new blood will turn things around. Geoff.