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To the pub? @The Palace Fan, @JoshBRFC and @Toinho can join me because they are young dads that need a bloody good night away from humming kid's TV theme tunes in their head, being able to have a conversation without getting interupted every few minutes and bitching enough about their kids to talk me out of parenthood. @The Palace Fan Starts the evening with a round of Guinness. Something smooth and easy to sup as the three dads ease into the night's sesh and vent their frustrations. @JoshBRFC determined to make a night of it, raises proceedings and orders a round of Jagerbombs to go with the Madri's, the new Peroni, he says. Spirits are high. It's only 8:30pm. This is gonna be a messy night. Happy days. @Toinho gets a text off the missus. Realising it's his turn to get up with the kids tomorrow at 4am, he convinces the other Dad's to save the hangover, no one wants to deal with kids with a hangover. They all agree, no one wants that tomorrow. Toinho in a desperate attempt to save face, promptly returns with four Fosters to 'even the rounds' as the last one. Game over. Shame, but it was nice to catch up with the boys. Hopefully do it again in 9 months time when they are free again. To the car wash? These 3, easy decision. @DeadLinesman@Devil, @MUFC I kindly remind the Dirty Scum fans that they lost a bet following Leeds' surprise 2-1 win at Old Trafford. A bet's a bet. They can wash my car and dry it with their 1999 prized Treble winning 'And Solskjaer has won it' shirts whilst I watch and play Marching On Together in the background. All three blame eachother for the embarassing situation they are now in. @DeadLinesman ,with no recollection of making the bet, moans at @Devil, who subsequently points the finger at @MUFC. Hands held up, he admits it was his idea. He agreed to the bet because he thought it would be 'funny' to see the soap suds dripping all over my feet. Deadlinesman and Devil, with slightly bemused looks on their faces, slowly move away from MUFC, muttering expletives. Sounds like 'bertie gunt', whatever that is, from here. To the cinema? I have a great idea. I'll choose three people who watch a lot of great movies and we'll become 'The Cinema Club'. Each week, we'll go the cinema and a different person of Cinema Club will pick the movie for us to watch. Obviously, because I'm picking the three people to be in Cinema Club, I will pick those who always watch amazing movies. Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller, Western, ah, this is gonna be amazing. @Mel81x, @nudge and @Tommyget the call. They love the idea, fair play Lucas, well up for that. First pick is Mel's. "It's a Bollywood classic", he says. @nudge looks at @Tommy, then both aim a concerning stare at me. I can read their minds, "Who the fuck invited him?" they say. Fuck. Cheers Mel... To your favourite restaurant? I invite @RandoEFC, @Stan and @Storts I call these three to join me because lets face it, we all support clubs that are playing shit and are a chore to follow right now. What better way to get over the constant disappointment than eating at England's finest Italian, Capello's, to reminisce over the good times we had. @RandoEFC plumps for the Steak, rare, just like the days when Everton kept their manager for more than a season, a la Moyesy. "Them were the days" he chirps. "Baines, Arteta, Felleini, Cahill...Tony Hibbert, what a team!" None of us know what to say so we smile politely. @Stan orders the 'Dilly Ding, Dilly Dong' Pizza with extra underdog sausage topping. "Remember that 2015/2016 season boys? Champions, best season ever!" he shouts, gaining a glaring stare for some reason from @Storts @Storts somewhat put off by Stan and struggling to think of anything good about Spurs other than David Ginola, decides to try the Lasagne, despite not going near one for 18 years. We chuckle like innocent schoolgirls as he orders it. To a desert island? Seeing as Kirsty the Sunderland fan, Vicki the Kiwi, and the female poster who was a bloke using a burner account are not options, There's only three people I could possibly select here @CaaC (John) Experience. He's done it all, been everywhere, fear's nothing. A man's man. He will be the huntsman and will provide the food for me to cook and work my magic. (And judging by the food pics in John's photos, the bar is low) @Bluewolf Can he build it? Yes he can. We will sleep like babies in the little huts he's made from the Island's raw materials and we will attempt (several) escapes off the island on his homemade rafts His piss taking humour will also act as a deterrent for keeping us sane when John starts repeating himself to us for the 4th time in the day. Last but not least, @Pyfish . The ultimate Games Master, he will provide the evening entertainment to keep us going. You think Place Your Bets and Gloryhunter are legendary, you've not seen anything yet. "I've got a new one for you all" he says. "We used to play this back in Grimsby, it's called 'Naked Circle'. Now then, whose game?" Silence falls across camp...

Hey everyone, At the end of February, the ownership of the forum will be transferred to @N U F C. Due to financial reasons (Liz Truss, Putin), I can no longer support the forum. @N U F C offered to pay the monthly server fees out of his pocket, although I felt uncomfortable with someone paying the full £60 per month and not owning the forum. I appreciate all the help and support everyone has provided over the last few years keeping the forum running under my ownership and I hope it can grow and achieve bigger and better things. Thank you. --- @N U F C will be implementing some new ideas over the coming months too, which I'll let him announce when he's ready.

My wife and my baby boy visiting me in Germany

Oh fuck off. If you want to come back, then come back and post. Nobody needs this feeling-sorry-for-yourself shit, everyone has their own crap to go through, you're not unique in this regard. Autistic or not, a little bit of self reflection doesn't hurt.

Yesterday, they rescued two persons that spent over 11 days under the rubble; it's nothing short of a miracle to me, as like you said, the more time passes, the more unlikely it becomes. Heart melting video.

Glad to hear you are doing well. You say you've grown, but you come back on and expect us to ask you life updating questions? Why not just have your say, and then add and carry on conversations around the forum? Between this, and John's files, we have a two for one for: Stalker Thread of the Year Narcissism Thread of the Year.

Age on sign up? Somewhere in my mid-20s I think but I wasn't as active then Age now? 41 Kids when you signed up? None How many kids now? None ... yet Married then? Nope Married now? Yes The first member you liked and respected? I can't honestly think of one person but the discussions around the time were quite heated. I remember a lot of the folks here now that I liked. Your favourite member now? Too many to call out here but I'll try @Dr. Gonzo @Happy Blue @Lucas @nudge @Rab @nudge @Stan @Tommy @Batard @DeadLinesman @Cicero @Spike @Beelzebub etc (apologies to anyone I missed). Where did you live when you first signed up (parents, friends etc..)? Shuttled between Miami and Orlando - Out of college Where you at now? Bangalore (Bengaluru) Life goals then? I wanted to stop working for 15 hrs a day even though it really did a lot of wonders for my discipline now when I look back at it. I also wanted to do an acoustic bar circuit but couldn't find someone to play with consistently. Life goals now? Finalize house payments and stop working in IT within 10 years. Member you most disliked then? Can't call out anyone specifically again. While I may have had one heated argument somewhere along the way I don't think I truly dislike anyone. Not having that kind of discourse on a forum makes it rather dull and this place has had quite its share of non-dull moments. Member you dislike now? No one really. I used to think Teso was a bit overboard till I realized that's just his way of communicating. Forum highlight in your time on the forum? Some that come to mind. That Dwight Yorke post by @The Palace Fan. The time Cannabis tried to round up some folks to party with them on a thread and had them going for a bit. (think it was around the WC time). @Batard's Mafia Wars. The thread where we found out Africa was a country. Etc. etc. Biggest world event that happened in the year that you signed up? I honestly can't remember. Your football teams league position the year of your sign up? Once again honestly can't remember but it was right around Houlier's end as mentioned above. Their position now? I think this is best left unanswered but its been a good ride. Country you live on sign up? USA Country live now? India Oh and happy forum anniversary @Devil

To the pub? 1. @Tommy 2. @Faithcore 3. @Rucksackfranzose I had many different options here, but in the end, I'll settle for the German connection so we can make plans on how to take over the world the TF365 anglosphere, all while enjoying actual proper beer and complaining about everything else. Doesn't get more German than that! To the car wash? 1. @DeadLinesman 2. @Happy Blue 3. @MUFC Bet all of them would look great in a mankini. To the cinema? 1. 2. 3. Nobody. Leave me alone, I just want to watch the movie. To your favourite restaurant? 1. @Dr. Gonzo 2. @Whiskey 3. @CaaC (John) A good evening out with people who'd appreciate good food and a shitload of drinks afterwards. Also, John needs to eat something else besides chicken. To a desert island? 1. @Bluewolf 2. 3. A no brainer. The only man who could build a luxurious island shelter with his bare hands, while also tending to the garden and hunting for food. Don't need anyone else. Two's company, three's a crowd

Pub It wouldn’t be @Toinhoand @DeadLinesman because they would have to change a shitty arse nappy within ten minutes. Car wash @Whiskeybut only if he is blindfolded and so I can tell him my car is Hamilton’s F1 rig. Cinema I’d take @Tommy to the theatre because it’d be enjoyable watching him cry tears of joy and cum everytime a piece of dialogue is blown out of by a distorted bass drone from a Hans Zimmer soundtrack in the newest Nolan film. Fav restaurant @CaaC (John)I just think it’d be a nice break from box wine and boiled cabbage. Island @MUFC I’d hit him over the head with a coconut and take his porn collection for myself.

Welcome back. There have been a few changes to the forum to help limit the number of resources we're using to help keep the forum afloat. As standard everyone can still use the forum normally and post wherever they want, although I've changed a few things: There is now a 30 second flood control which includes things like the unread content tab (every refresh is a new query to the db) Signatures have been disabled The number of reputations you can give out is now 2 per day (this one seems dumb but the reputation table on the database is the 3rd biggest one which surprised me when I was looking at ways to cut back) Previously donators could upload images and videos to the server although this has been limited to just images under a new subscription scheme. All of these things will be available or be unlimited through a subscription (not mandatory but it will help with costs) that'll hopefully help balance the costs vs the resources battle we've had since we moved off our original server. ___ Discord will still exist alongside the forum since it seems to work better for live events like F1 although, for the most part, the Discord will be tidied up to accommodate the fact the forum has returned. I've also added a new payment option called Stripe which is an alternative to PayPal and lets you subscribe to the forum without creating any new accounts. The donation button has been removed as I'm hopeful that the £3.50 is low enough to get more people on board and help keep the forum funded on a monthly basis.

WE ARE IN THE QUARTER FINALS!

Age on sign up? I think I was 16 or 17 when I signed up on the first forum. Age now? 34 Kids when you signed up? 0 How many kids now? 0 Married then? Nope Married now? Yes The first member you liked and respected? Probably @LFCMike or @DeadLinesman or @Toinho Your favourite member now? I don't wanna make anyone feel bad by naming anyone else. But also @Tommy, @LFCMike, @DeadLinesman, & @Toinho Where did you live when you first signed up (parents, friends etc..)? With my parents Where you at now? At my own place... in a different fucking country Life goals then? Getting as high as I possibly could Life goals now? I want to move to a house I actually like Member you most disliked then? Idk, it takes a lot to get me to truly dislike you over the internet. Was Voice of Reason on the old forum? Or Weird World? Those are good shouts. The dickhead blueshite who said racist (yet also so ignorant it wasn't even accurate) shit to me is also worth a shout. Member you dislike now? lol no comment Forum highlight in your time on the forum? When a bunch of Americans pretending to be Italian decided to download lots of gay porn to their computers so they could send it to @Spike to call him gay. Biggest world event that happened in the year that you signed up? I dunno Your football teams league position the year of your sign up? It was somewhere at the end of Houllier's time, I think? So not great, but not terrible. Their position now? Fuck off with this question Country you live on sign up? England Country live now? USA

Results - Round Three We have a winner! Last night's draw between Bologna and Cremonese means that @nudge and @Bluewolf failed to pick a fourth consecutive winner, and @Lucas is the Last Man Standing in the Serie A leg for this season courtesy of Roma's 2-0 win at Spezia on Sunday. Congratulations! Final scores for this round: 7 points (4 correct picks + 3 bonus points) - @Lucas 5 points (3 correct picks + 2 bonus points) - @nudge and @Bluewolf 3 points (2 correct picks + 1 bonus point) - @Beelzebub 1 point (1 correct pick) - @Whiskey, @Stan and @...Dan 0 points - @Dan, @Michael, @Redcanuck, @DeadLinesman, @Viva la FCB, @Tommy, @RandoEFC, @Rick, @Rucksackfranzose, @Pyfish, @CaaC (John) and @6666 Next round takes us to La Liga. I will launch tomorrow and the first game for Gameweek One will be on Friday.

He's certainly one of the top 5 personalities in brazilian history. If Brazil is associated to football all over the world, this is due to the art of Pelé. RIP.

Results 2/3 weeks late on this due to a lot going on in the real world but here goes! As ever, when I forget to do results, if you drew a game, I've kept you where you are unless it's the most recent game. The posh graphics for some reason aren't working for fixtures and results so let's go old school for this set! To make it easier, here's a watered down version of the results. @nudge - Won 6-1 with Bayern > Won again @Lucas, @RandoEFC and @CaaC (John) - Won with Arouca > Lost to Rio Ave @Tommy - Lost to Hannover > Drew with Holstein Kiel Pyfish - Lost to Bradford > Won with Bradford > Lost to Northampton @Stan & @Bluewolf - Lost to Brighton > Lost to Aston Villa @Toinho - Lost to Real Madrid @Rucksackfranzose - Lost to Greuther Furth > Drew with Darmstadt @Viva la FCB & @Coma - Won with Darmstadt > Drew with Greuther Furth @Dr. Gonzo - Won twice with Liverpool @Beelzebub & @Mel81x - RB Leipzig won so Mel moved to Leipzig > Leipzig won again. @DeadLinesman - Won with PSG Table The standings table is looking a lot worse for me as all the teams below me now have considerable games in hand over me and not that many points behind! Fixtures And that's it for November - see you again in December - with some of you not back in action until January! And again, the graphics don't work so back to the trusty Excel for this week!

RESULTS Another bumper one as I forgot to post the midweek results. Same case as always, if your team played twice and they drew the first game, I've kept you at your first team. @Viva la FCB's Darmstadt beat their highest opposition in DfB Pokal so therefore he stayed with them, where they then faced @Coma's Holstein Kiel which resulted in a draw so both players can have a choice of where they play next out of those two teams. @nudge's spell at Lubeck ended after 14 games after a loss to Mainz in the cup, however the silver lining is that Lubeck lost their next league game anyway. Mainz then went on to win their league game 5-0 so a good start to nudge's new team! @Toinho drew against Cadiz but then lost to Atletico so he now moves to them. 2 more wins for Real Madrid and for @Beelzebub makes it 11 games for them together now. St Pauli lost out to Freiburg in the DfB Pokal so @Mel81x moved up a league where they then beat Werder Bremen. It was two 1-0 scorelines for @Stan and @Bluewolf as they beat West Ham 1-0 with Liverpool, before then being beaten 1-0 by Nottingham Forest. As for @Rucksackfranzose, his Paderborn team beat Werder Bremen in the cup, before drawing with Braunschweig back in the league. @Tommy lost to Dusseldorf, who then went on to win their next game - hopefully back on track for Tommy now? 30 points from 10 games for @Dr. Gonzo with Napoli keeps him top of the table after a 1-0 win over Roma. I choose to stay with Grimsby after a draw with Bradford, @DeadLinesman won again with PSG, and the bottom three of @Lucas, @CaaC (John) and @RandoEFC drew their game. And here's the next bunch of fixtures which I'll hopefully do the results on time for!

The final scores for the last round of the season: 10 points (7 correct picks + 3 bonus points) - @Stan 9 points (7 correct picks + 2 bonus points) - @nudge, @DeadLinesman, @Michael, @Bluewolf, @6666, @Rucksackfranzose 5 points (4 correct picks + 1 bonus point) - @RandoEFC, @Rick 3 points (3 correct picks) - @Whiskey, @Tommy, @Redcanuck, @Lucas, @Viva la FCB, @CaaC (John) 2 points (2 correct picks) - @Dan, @Storts 1 point (1 correct pick) - @...Dan, @Pyfish Thanks everyone for taking part!

Apologise for not doing this sooner but Hi, I'm Juniper (middle name but means youthful) I'm 33 and originally from Denmark but have lived in the UK for a very long time. MY links to football are through my father as you can imagine English football is massive in Scandinavia. Although I have a chosen team I do like all teams so don't discriminate other teams, I really like the culture and buzz of the English game. Hej og du er velkommen til at stille rimelige spørgsmål.

An utterly insane final Gameweek has seen this round draw to a close. @Tommy was up first on Friday, and watched on in horror as Real Betis went 2-0 down to Elche in the first 10 minutes. However, a second half which saw Elche receive three red cards and Betis receive three penalties, one of which was missed at 2-2 in the 88th minute, culminated in a 95th minute decider from another penalty taken by Willian Jose to deliver @Tommy the victory. Saturday, next, and @Dan was the fifth competitor across three separate Gameweeks to be let down by Real Sociedad, as they were defeated 1-0 in their visit to Valencia. The outcome of this round hung in the balance until Sunday night, where Sevilla, backed by @6666, pegged back Osasuna twice at home, before conceding a decider in the 85th minute. No tie break required! @Tommy wins the La Liga 2022-23 edition of Last Man Standing, congratulations! The final scores for this round are as follows: 8 points - @Tommy (5 correct picks + 3 bonus points) 6 points - @Dan and @6666 (4 correct picks + 2 bonus points) 4 points - @nudge (3 correct picks + 1 bonus point) 1 point - @Beelzebub, @Michael, @Redcanuck, @Whiskey, @Lucas, @Stan, @Bluewolf, @DeadLinesman, @Viva la FCB, @RandoEFC, @Rick, @Pyfish and @CaaC (John) (1 correct pick) 0 points - @...Dan, @Rucksackfranzose and @Storts The next round (Ligue 1) will be launched later on this week.

Bit late but here's some pics of my trip to Krakow, minus the Auschwitz one's I'd already posted seperately. All the snowy pics are from a day trip to Zakopane, in the mountains. Amazing place. Apologies for the spam, just skip if you like

To the pub? 1. @Tommy 2. @nudge 3. @Rucksackfranzose 4. @Faithcore One day when I do get to Germany I'd love to grab a pint and some food with you all. I dont even know where nudge is at these days but the same still applies! To the car wash? 1. @MUFC I have the feeling he'd do a spotless job 2. 3. To the cinema? 1. @Tommy 2. @nudge 3. @DeadLinesman You three have good taste in movies and would know to shut up and watch it and talk later To your favourite restaurant? 1. @Devil-Dick Willie 2. @Coma 3. @CaaC (John) To a desert island? 1. @Bluewolf 2. 3. As nudge raised the point, he can build shelter and provide for me. Im not gay but hey I could learn If hes into it.

To the pub? 1. @Spike 2. @DeadLinesman 3. @Machado To the car wash? 1. @nudge 2. 3. To the cinema? 1. None of you peasants 2. 3. To your favourite restaurant? 1. @Viva la FCB 2. @Tommy 3. @Toinho To a desert island? 1. @Spike because the fat cunts corpse could feed us for many nights 2. @Stanis festively plump too 3. @DeadLinesman good entertainment/emergency food.

RESULTS Another round with a double set of results! Same as always - if you had 2 games and you drew the first, I keep you at the original team unless you've told me otherwise. In midweek, Grimsby lost so it was a return to Barrow for me, who then got a 3-0 win at the weekend so I remain there. 11 goals scored in 2 games for @DeadLinesman as PSG win 7-2 and 4-3 in the Champions League and Ligue 1. It's a move to the Bundesliga for @Beelzebub as Real Madrid lost out to RB Leipzig in the Champions League before Leipzig then won in the league. Atletico drew, so @Toinho stayed put automatically, before then losing out to Cadiz in La Liga. Another good week for Napoli and for @Dr. Gonzo as they add 2 more wins to their collection making it 12 wins in 12 now! @Mel81x stayed with Freiburg, won in the league and now faces Qarabag in the Europa League next. Arouca beat Sporting so @CaaC (John), @Lucas and @RandoEFC get an important 3 points. @nudge is on the move as Mainz lost heavily to Bayern - is this the start of another long streak? @Coma and @Viva la FCB opted to team up and they drew again! @Rucksackfranzose chose to stick with Paderborn and then lost, so he's now with Hamburger. Meanwhile, Dusseldorf won so great news for @Tommy. @Stan and @Bluewolf are on the move again, this time to Arsenal. Dr. Gonzo starting to build up a lead at the top now having only lost 1 game so far this season.

I haven't shared this before but ive never been so depressed about the future of this country. I have a fairly stable job that pays well but if my mortgage was up for renewal I'd have to sell as there's no way I'd be able to make repayments at 6%. I live in what was until about six months ago an attractive place for people in there 20's and 30's to buy because we have fast trains to London. Not any more. There's so many houses up for sale either because landlords have had enough or people need to downsize urgently. I've already had to make 'smart sacrifices' with my quality of life in preparation for the energy bills to come in but were so reliant on electricity its really difficult to do so. I've never needed to live on credit cards but I think by next year that's a likely situation. I've never been anxious about the future but this is the first time I'm beginning to feel it. Even when Brexit happened and Covid started I felt confident that 'in five years things will change' but I don't get that vibe any more. I feel I may have been naive and over estimated the competency of all the top seeded politicians in this country. It saddens me the things we used to take for granted my Son may not have the luxury of doing when he grows up. Like shopping trips to America because the £ was so strong and drinking regularly in the choice of any pub/club. Pints were close to three pounds when I was 18. They're now around seven pound + where I grew up and I know my yearly wage hasn't doubled. That's a minor example but you get my drift.

RESULTS And finally, it's time to definitively wrap up the fourth season of Gloryhunter! Our Gloryhunters have been through the mill this season, with twists and turns in almost every fixture. Let's see how it all finished... If you drew a game, you've remained at the same team for the next fixture so it'll say 'Stays with ***' even though you've drawn. For @Bluewolf, @Coma, @Dr. Gonzo, @Lucas and @nudge, they were just fresh off winning the Premier League however a loss to Brentford meant that they couldn't go on to win the FA Cup and the Champions League too, ending their seasons at Brentford without playing another game. @DeadLinesman, with Lens, had two games remaining of the season and won one 3-0, and the other 3-1 but it still wasn't enough to seal the Ligue 1 title, as they came runners up to PSG by one point. @Stan stuck with Elche after the last fixtures and stayed with them with 2 more draws and a win sandwiched in between. Next up is @Viva la FCB who, with Dortmund, had their eyes on the title with just the last game of the season to go. Dortmund ended up drawing which handed Bayern the title. Viva finishes the season bottom of the Gloryhunter table although they did play a lot less games somehow. @Beelzebub and @Mel81x 's last game was with FC Koln where they handed Bayern the title with a 2-1 loss. Over in Poland, @Rucksackfranzose's last game with Gornik Zabrze ended in a draw as well, as did mine with Liverpool who ended with a 4-4 draw over relegated Southampton. @CaaC (John) and @RandoEFC, with Napoli, signed off their season with 4 points - a win and a draw. @Tommy closes off his season with a 4-0 defeat to Greuther Furth, and @Toinho rounds off his year with a final win with PSV. TABLE The final table of the season! Congratulations to @nudge who adds a Gloryhunter Title to their trophy cabinet. PPG Not that it makes any difference as there's no prizes for it, but here's the table if everyone had played the same amount of games, balanced out by points-per-game. Overall Gloryhunter Table And it's the end of another season, so here is the OVERALL table for all editions of Gloryhunter. Season Five of Gloryhunter will be started in the next couple of weeks.

Here is the final table for 2022-23 Second place in the Eredivisie round sees @nudge complete a clean sweep of top three finishes and round off a dominant season at the top of the standings - congratulations! @Dan's 2 points in the final round are just enough to keep 2nd place ahead of @Stan, who rockets up the standings to finish on the podium having given us just the second double-figured score of the season in the final round. At the other end, @Rucksackfranzose scored 90% of his season tally in the final round to drag himself off the bottom of the table and leave @CaaC (John) as the lowest scorer of those who entered every round. It was also a quiet season for two-time champion @Viva la FCB. Thanks to everyone who took part this season - see you in August!

Right so I figured out how to turn my screenshots into a JPG which saves me typing things out in full. So time to say congratulations to @DeadLinesman who won this round of the Last Man Standing League last weekend! Lens defeated Strasbourg 2-1 in the first fixture of the weekend last Friday. @Whiskey and Lille were shocked by a 1-0 defeat at bottom club Angers on the Saturday while Reims could only salvage a 1-1 draw at home to Brest, meaning that @Stan was unable to stretch his winning streak to four. The points for this round are as follows: 7 points (4 correct picks + 3 bonus points) - @DeadLinesman 5 points (3 correct picks + 2 bonus points) - @Whiskey, @Stan 3 points (2 correct picks + 1 bonus point) - @nudge, @Dan, @...Dan, @Pyfish, @Storts 1 points (1 correct pick) - @Redcanuck 0 points - @Tommy, @Michael, @Lucas, @Bluewolf, @6666, @Viva la FCB, @RandoEFC, @Rick, @CaaC (John), @Rucksackfranzose, @N U F C I'll launch Round 6 which takes us either to Portugal or Holland (I forget which one comes first) ready for next weekend so no picks needed for this weekend.

I only have one crazy story from my time in China that I haven’t shared, and this one doesn't involve breaking any laws. While I was in China, I was promoted to school manager after 6 months. One of the perks of this was of course more money, but I was also paid to travel around the country for company events and meetings. It was just before New Year’s Eve in 2009 when I was having my last round of interviews, and this time it was with a gentleman that was second in command at the entire company, and lived near the HQ in Texas, but traveled to China often. During the interview, I asked him his thoughts and predictions on the upcoming National Championship game between my alma mater, University of Alabama, and the University of Texas. He got all excited with the change of topic, spoke highly of the mighty Longhorns (UT) and how he was going to attend the game against Alabama, and finished it off by letting me know that he himself had gone to University of Texas, so he wasn’t just a ‘bandwagon’ fan. I laughed and told him that I went to the University of Alabama myself and was excited to watch the game illegally in China, to which he laughed and finished off the call by not only offering me the job, but also proposed a friendly bet that at our next meeting, the loser of the game would have the pay for the bar tab for the winner. Simple enough; I wanted the job and therefore I agreed. (In early January of 2010, Alabama and Texas play for the National Championship, with Alabama winning 37-21). Around the end of January or early February, I flew to Jinan, China, for our annual manager’s meeting. I arrive at this upscale restaurant, meet staff from around the country, and of course, meet the Texas manager with whom I made our wager with earlier. As the night progresses, the drinks start flowing and people are getting absolutely toasted, me included. It was late by now, and I’m sure some people had already headed to their hotel, but at some point, it was just me, my new manager, and Mr. Texas, drinking, laughing, and just having a jolly time. I guess I made a joke about the wager and said something along the lines that this ‘dinner’ didn’t count towards the settling the bet, as he was just going to have the school pay for it, to which I’m sure we laughed and drank more. Well, someone, and I’m almost sure it was Mr. Texas, decided the 3 of us were going to go out and continue the celebration and epic night. Now, I must address one thing for you to grasp the rest of this story. I’m 24 years old at the time, roughly 6’1”, 176lbs, and about as average as can be. My Manager was mid-30’s, probably 6’5”, ex Rugby player from South Africa, and very good looking. Mr. Texas was probably upper 50’s or even 60’s, 5’3” ish, and overweight as you’d imagine most American to be. So, we are drunk, outside the restaurant/bar, and Texas calls a taxi. One arrives, we get in, and Texas either can’t speak Chinese, or just is too drunk, so instead of saying anything or telling us where we are heading, he gets the drivers attention, making a circle with one hand, and using the index on his other hand, make the world recognizable signal for sex. So we go to this place, get out, pay. At the front, there is a counter with prices, but since Texas is paying, we don’t mind them and instead just walk on back to a changing room. I walk to the corner, undress, and put on a robe provided in my person cubby. Once everyone is ready, we walk to a large room where massage tables are lined up, we each pick a table, and lay down. A female comes to me, takes off my robe, and begins to massage me and run my body with some sort of soap. I’m not sure how long this takes, but I know that afterwards my lady takes me to a private stall, and showers off my entire body, only to place a new robe for coverage after the shower. As I walk out of the stall, I meet up with Texas and Manager, and together the three of us are taken upstairs. We are motioned to stop in the hallway. The carpet was dark blue, and the walls were a lighter shade of blue, but the overall look was dark as the lighting was dimmed. As we stand there, a few words of the employees are said, and a line of girls walk out in front of us, maybe 10 or so, and once they are all out in front of us, they remove their robes and stare at us completely naked. Texas is the first to ‘pick’ and walks up and down grabbing, touching, feeling the girls before settling on TWO girls that are right in front of him. Manager goes next, walks up and down the line before choosing on a girl, meanwhile I am left with 7 girls and feeling completely out of my element, so I quickly choose the girl right in front of me. My girl leads me into a room, that just so happens to be beside Manager, who is between me and Texas. In my room, I sit down, ask the girl to sit, and we begin to talk. I’m a conservative guy, so I’m both embarrassed, confused, and honestly, not really to have sex with this girl I don’t even know. She goes to a side table, opens the drawer, and pulls out all the tools and devices one could possibly think of when about to have sex. I ask her again to sit down and talk, and soon after, I hear screaming, both male and female, followed by doors slamming. I quickly robe, walk back into the hallway, to see Texas, naked, yelling as the manager about the two girls. Texas is yelling that the girls refused to have sex because penis was too large. Manager is also out at the time, and we try not to laugh as it’s clear the girls just don’t want THAT, in them. But the manager is obviously embarrassed, and so he begins to hit both girls that refused sex, to which I go back immediately inside my room. Now I’m confused, angry, and just want to head home, but as I try to calm down, I hearing this pounding followed by a loud banging against the walls, and in no time, I realize that Manager and his girl had obviously started the dance of love and were having a blast in doing so. Now here I sit, drunk, and really feeling uncomfortable, so I tell my girl that I don’t want to have sex, which immediately get her scared as she assumes that she’ll meet a fate like her friend(s). I calm her down, and just say that I’ll pay, but I only want to talk. So for the better half of 45 minutes, I sat there in my robe, with a prostitute in her robe, and talked about her time growing up in China, where her family was from, her goals and all that, and I also answered questions about America and my experiences and travels within China. When it was time to leave, we hugged, walked out of the room, and were heading to the counter to pay, where Texas was already waiting, having paid, and based on the smile on his face, having satisfied his needs. The three of us got back into the taxi and went back to the hotel we were staying at and back into our respective rooms, never to speak about the night again.

Reading this without context…….

I usually go to the park and throw rocks at couples.

WEEKEND RESULTS As Stan mentioned a few posts up, this is the biggest weekend update (not including the ones where I forgot to do it) we've had to do for a while with everybody in action for the first time since before the World Cup. Starting with Friday's sole game, and @DeadLinesman's Nice won 3-0 to make it 2 in 2 for him as he chases @Dr. Gonzo at the top of the table. However, @Dr. Gonzo also won so that keeps the gap how it was. It wasn't the only 3-0 win of the weekend either with @nudge's Bayern winning by that same margin against Bochum. @Lucas chose to remain with Manchester United and it paid off with a 2-0 win over Leeds. There were also wins for myself, @Coma and @CaaC (John) & @RandoEFC. @Stan could only manage a draw with Newcastle so can move to Bournemouth if he so wishes. It was also a draw in the A23 derby between Palace and Brighton so @Bluewolf has a pick between there too. RB Leipzig fell to defeat at home to Union Berlin so @Beelzebub and @Mel81x board the coach back with the away team. A swap of dressing rooms is in order for @Toinho as Mallorca lost away to Sevilla. Bottom of the table @Rucksackfranzose now hasn't won a game since 6th November 2022 after Bologna lost to Monza. @Viva la FCB also lost in his first game with new team Frankfurt and now wears the colours of FC Koln. @Tommy also moves, this time to St Pauli. We're back into the European competitions now too with the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League all returning. We love a chance to see people flying between countries!

@Viva la FCB continues winning ways with Darmstadt as they pick up their 8th win for him this season. It was a winning return to Brighton for @Bluewolf with Palace their next opposition. @Coma's first game with Dortmund went well, ending in a 5-1 win for them. @Lucas remains with Manchester United for one more game at least too after their win over Palace. @DeadLinesman starts his time at Nice with a win too to keep up the pressure at the top end of the table. Porto picked up their second 2-0 win on the bounce to give @CaaC (John) and @RandoEFC 3 points. Bayern remain unbeaten in this seasons Gloryhunter with a win over Wolfsburg. It was a 0-0 draw for RB Leipzig against FC Koln so if they wish @Beelzebub and @Mel81x could move. A draw for Newcastle and West Ham means @Stan can either stay in London or move to the North East. Villa have now lost 3 in 3 in Gloryhunter this season and now @Dr. Gonzo moves to Leicester. @Tommy is switching clubs too after Holstein Kiel lost to Kaiserslautern. My second trip to Swindon didn't work out to my benefit so now it's a second trip to Newport. Bottom of the table @Rucksackfranzose can't catch a break as latest team Fiorentina were beaten by Bologna. @Toinho was also on a losing side as Real Madrid were beaten 1-0 by Mallorca. 37 points separate bottom and top. Is this the time for a surge up the table for some, and a fall from grace for others?

This is why Women don't bother coming forward and reporting sexual harrasment. There gets to a point where the victims refuse to testify anymore after the ordeal of all the court procedures. Sometimes it can take forever for cases to be resolved. Even then, other cases are deemed higher priority. It's easy for victims to become despondant. We saw photos. We heard video recordings. She has bruises, blood from her nose. I've no qualms as going on record and saying he is a very, very lucky man. The system is broken. Less than 1% of sexual offence reports end in a conviction. Thousands don't get reported because of the lack of belief in seeing justice. So what hope is there until the Government do something to correct this? We've seen people get off before, and will continue to do. More needs to be done to allow Women (or Men) to have the balls to come forward and feel they have the backing and support to seek justice. As for Greenwood, he's a young man who has got a second chance in life that he's very lucky to have. Rightly or wrongly, he has to take that. That's all I can say about him right now. But whilst he may be innocent in Black and White on paper, there will always be a contentious Grey cloud that follows him now and he'll never escape it.

To the pub? 1. @DeadLinesman - just a good laugh 2. @Lucas - we can reminisce about good old Football League times. 3. @Dr. Gonzo - see #1 To the cinema? 1. @Tommy 2. @nudge 3. @Toinho To your favourite restaurant? 1. @Mel81x - probably the only one on here who would know what a good/bad Indian restaurant will be (if we chose there) so we can act like expert food critics. 2. @Lucas - I'd get him in the kitchen because some of the stuff he's whipped up in the cooking thread looks delicious. 3. @Tommy - he can be @Lucas's sous-chef To a desert island? 1. @Faithcore - he could bring Benson along and he'll get us to out of there. 2. @MUFC - he's a hunter/stalker/predator so those transferable skills may become valuable. 3. @nudge - she'll keep us all in check.

I wish I could have seen him play to fully appreciate his talent, rather than just looking at old clips, it never quite does it justic but there's no doubt he is the older generation's greatest. Three World Cups says it all. The man that made the Number 10 shirt iconic. Anytime I think of Pele, I think of his beaming smile. Loved all over the world. The one thing that sticks out to me is when he said this following Maradona's death... "One day, I hope we can play Football together in the sky" Well now, they can. Rest in Peace, Pele.

RIP. The name synonymous with football itself. Before the internet, before social media, before globalisation, during the time when half of the world's population didn't even have access to TV, and yet still, everyone knew who he was. Incredible influence and mark left in this world. Legend.

Just Google map searched his address... guess which house he lives in...

Over 700 kWh per month wtf are you doing, growing a medium sized marijuana plantation in the attic?

It's been a little while since we went now but here are some pictures from our holiday to Croatia. ...And for a little brucie bonus, we took this shot of Mostar Bridge on a day trip to Bosnia which was an experience. Thoroughly recommend it if you haven't been and all of that was without even getting down to the heavily tourist infected Dubrovnik.

I added the eventual results, so you can compare them to your predictions, if you want to do so. Top 3 teams: 1- Heidenheim 2- Darmstadt 3- Hamburg Bottom 3 teams: 16- Bielefeld 17- Regensburg 18- Sandhausen Match with the biggest winning margin: Regensburg 0-6 Karlsruhe (5th matchday) Winner: Karlsruhe Loser: Regensburg Top scorer: Kleindienst 25 goals Bonus Round 1) Rucksackfranzose 14 points 2) Coma 7 points 3) Bluewolf 5 points 3) Viva la FCB 5 points 5) CaaC(John) 4 points 5) Michael 4 points 5) Tommy 4 points 8- londonerlilie 2 points 8- nawoo 2 points 8- nudge 2 points 8- Stan 2 points That leads us to the Final table 1) @Tommy 224 points 2) @Michael 221 points 3) @Bluewolf 215 points 3) Rucksackfranzose 215 points 5) @Stan 212 points 6) @Viva la FCB 211 points 7) @Coma 203 points 8- @nudge 199 points 9) @CaaC (John) 175 points 10) @londonerlilie 148 points 10) @nawoo 148 points Congrats on winning this @Tommy! Thank you all for taking part. Hope you enjoyed it and would be glad, if you would join next season's edition, as well.

I think the forum will get back to what it was when Discord is tidied up and the main topics of discussion are filtered back onto here. The problem right now is we have so many duplicate threads across both formats that it doesn't encourage everyone to post in one place. Personally, I think both can co-exist fine. The Discord probably just needs to be streamlined so its primary use is for things that require instant messaging like Mafia Wars, Quizes, Football watch alongs, Pub off topic, Mental Health (which is nice as it remains private) etc, whilst the forum takes emphasis for the more thought provoking Football opinions and other stuff.

Week 24 Results St Johnstone 1-1 St Mirren Groningen 3-0 Excelsior Real Madrid 1-1 Atletico Madrid Darmstadt 1-1 Hamburg LA Galaxy P-P LAFC Brisbane Roar 2-1 Perth Glory Chelsea Women 2-0 Arsenal Women Rangers 1-2 Celtic Man Utd 2-0 Newcastle Marseille 0-3 PSG Round-up @N U F C was the clear highest scorer for this round, with 18 points taking him back up to 2nd place and he's now the main challenger for @The Liquidator. Myself and @Bluebird Hewitt both scored 14 points and are now part of the 300+ club. @Tommy and @CaaC (John) both got double-digit scores and overtook @Rucksackfranzose, the former also scoring 14 points. @Viva la FCB scored 14 too to get close up to @Pyfish.

His managements defence was hilarious “they did not wish to negotiate outside of the framework of the agreement” so that’s a very tame way of saying that they wouldn’t bend to last minute demands. Good for Union.

If only a football club was not for sale in the first place...

I just think it's hilarious they've turned WInnie the Pooh into a horror story. I hope he says "oh bother" after slamming an axe into Christopher Robin's head

It's been a while since we had 3 people sharing the matchday winner title. And it was a tight matchday througout since only 2 points separate top spot from 6th. Matchday 11 1) 6666 8 points 1) nudge 8 points 1) Viva la FCB 8 points 4) Michael 7 points 4) Rucksackfranzose 7 points 6) Stan 6 points 7) Bluewolf 4 points 7) CaaC(John) 4 points 7) Tommy 4 points 10) Coma 2 points 10) nawoo 2 points For the second time this season 3 people share the leader's throne. Table after 11 matchdays 1) @Bluewolf 67 points 1) @Michael 67 points 1) @Viva la FCB 67 points 4) @Tommy 65 points 5) @Stan 63 points 6) @nawoo 62 points 7) @nudge 61 points 8- @6666 60 points 9) Rucksackfranzose 58 points 10) @Coma 54 points 11) @CaaC (John) 49 points 12) @londonerlilie 34 points 13) @Relling 24 points