SEPTEMBER 2002
£750 Million. 750(seven hundred and fifty) Million quid!
 
I had to say it twice just so I could believe it. The new National Stadium is going to cost 750 Million pounds Sterling. The Stadium is going to be built at Wembley on the site of a, er, National Stadium. It will take at least 4 years and expect costs to be increased by 30% (inflation, depreciation, lawyers you name it they'll pay it.)
OK lets start with some facts:
The Stadium will be in the current site of Wembley Stadium with a new infrastructure for the surrounding area.
The Stadium will hold 90000 spectators and the main feature will be a 'triumph arch' spanning the whole complex.
There will be a temporary athletics running track, which can be erected in the Stadium by raising the floor level and extending it over the front rows of seating.
All International football matches involving England for the next 30 years after completion will be played at the new National Stadium.
The cost of buying the current Stadium and surrounding land for restructure will cost £120 Million.
Demolition costs for the site will cost £80 Million.
Building costs will be in the region of £300 Million.
Lawyers fees and legal costs will start at £90 Million.
Infrastructure of surrounding roads and upgrade of Underground trains will cost £100 Million.

How many more times can I type the word 'Million'?
Right, now for some of my thoughts. Why Wembley? Surely it would be fairer on the whole of the country if the Stadium was central. After all the National team is England, not London. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that all the top FA official live in the south and don't want to travel to the 'dirty' north? Even so, if it has to be in London why not in a purpose built site on the outskirts of London. Nothing to pay for demolition, only outlay for the land to build on. Nothing to worry about infrastructure of area as roads could be built especially for the Stadium, linking to one of the major motorways (and not the north London circular.) That also could be due to the cost of buying Wembley. Sport England has already supplied the money for that and if the Stadium wasn't on that site the money would have to be paid back. Mmmm? OK irrelevant of the location let's take the building itself. A 90000 capacity sounds nice but 18000 are already sold to corporate hospitality. That leaves 72000, almost exactly the capacity of Wembley. Suggesting that the only reason for building a bigger Stadium is to make more money through the corporate side and not for the real fans. Plus, is 90000 too big? Yeah it'll be full for games against Germany, France and Brazil, but most games are qualifying games for World Cup or European Championships. We all know that means Lichtenstien, Moldova, Poland and the like. Occasionally there might be games against teams like Sweden or Turkey but not often. How embarrassing could it be to spend all that money and only have it full once or twice a season? Just look how successful it's been taking the England games around the country. Every game in every ground has been full. The next England game at Southampton was sold out in 2 days. There'll be no more of that for at least another 30 years once it's built. Talking of too big, what's the point of wasting more money on a 'triumph arch'? Triumph of what exactly? England haven't won anything in nearly 40 years. Triumph of Mind over Money over Matter maybe. As ideas go it's up there with putting a running track in a football ground. Fortunately this design means it won't be there when games are played, so again what's the point. England will never get an Olympics again and Athletics is just not popular enough to half fill the ground. But by far the biggest waste of money ever, ever, is all that money spent on lawyers and legal fees. Leicester built a ground for £35 Million. So you could line up a string of expensive lawyers or build 3 Premiership 'grade A' Stadiums, for the same price. Once everything is put in motion the FA are committed to it. Any rise in the cost and it has to be met. So far nothing has been said to who will foot the bill for interest on loans etc, and inflation is bound to put the final cost up more. Two things to think of to put this plan into context. Cardiff's Millenium Stadium cost £200 Million and that is fantastic. The same design and location for the National Stadium cost £500 Million in 1999 when it was first drawn up. I wonder in who's pocket the extra 250 Million quid will go? Money makes the world go round, the world go round. All sing, repeat until end...
 
The proverbial 6 pointer to start the month...
...Ilkeston Town sitting 1 place below Hinckley in 21st had also not won a game yet. Another good performance by Hinckley went unrewarded, how many more times could we say that? Hinckley's injury nightmare had meant that we were without Dave Sadler, Guy Hadland, Richard Mitchell, Zeke Rowe and Stuart Storer was suspended. Despite that Hinckley had plenty of possession and a few chances, but were stunned with 15 minutes to go when Ilkeston broke away and Kiely saw Afandiyev off his line and chipped the Keeper from 45 yards. Freak or what? This spurred Hinckley into action and a desperate last few minutes were rewarded with Justin Jenkins equalising in the last minute to finish 1 - 1. Only a point in a match that we should have had more, but still we weren't playing badly, just not getting the luck. Surely it would change soon?
The next game again was against a team towards the bottom. Welling United although having won a game had only scored 2 goals in 6 games. Hinckley were without Andy Penny and Martin Fox, but Dave Sadler was back into the team. We started really well, for the first 15 minutes the ball was being put wide and Leon Blake was putting in some good crosses. One of which should've led to a goal. Jamie March connected with a Blake cross but couldn't quite keep the ball down. Then Dave Sadler who's pace had been causing problems turned and took the ball past 3 defenders in the area, however when it came to the shot our early season luck caught up with us and he ended up 'topping' the ball into the keepers hands. Then to sum up our season, Hinckley having had all the play, Welling in their first attack gained their first corner and scored the first goal. You could literally see our confidence pack it's bags and go and sit in the bar. Still we kept at it playing the same and creating the chances. Then came the killer blow. Right on half time Sodje picked up the ball for Welling went inside and curled the ball around Afandiyev to make it 0 - 2. When Hinckley came out for the second half they looked like a beaten team, despite changing the tactics everything they did came to nothing and eventually got suckered into the old bang it down the middle and hope for the best. It was no surprise when Welling made it 0 -3 and it was just a question of how low we could keep it down to. Fair play to the boys they kept plugging away and got a consolation right on time as Leon Mitchell scored his first goal for Hinckley United. The players knew they hadn't played well and would need to put this game behind them and start fresh. They wouldn't have to wait long to get it out of the system, because they were off to Keys park just 2 days later to take on Hednesford Town.
Dean Thomas had publicly challenged the players in the local papers to rise to the challenge of the Hednesford match. That they did. In atrocious condition with the wind and rain they more than rose to the challenge. As with other games this season they dominated large periods of the game but just couldn't convert chances to goals. The game ended 0 - 0 but the players had proved a huge point that the Welling game was a 'one off'. Good.
It had to come sooner or later. Hinckley couldn't go the whole season without winning a game. Although against Bath City early on it looked like the game would go the same way as others. We started well and created opportunities only to concede a goal on the break after 30 minutes. It took to half time for the players to recover and Bath could've had more. This time it was their turn to rue missed chances. After 68 minutes Dave Sadler chose the perfect time to reclaim his club goalscoring record as he scored the equaliser, and his 55th goal for Hinckley United. An almost perfect Gavin O'Toole free kick was brilliantly tipped onto the post by Bryant, in the Bath goal, only for it to roll into the path of Sadler who buried it. Almost straight away Neil Cartwright sent in a cross that caused havoc in the Bath penalty area and eventually Andy Penny bundled (?) the ball into the net. Hinckley had a 2 - 1 lead. Could they hold it this time? The ever impressive Leon Mitchell had the Bath defence running rings, however Bath still looked dangerous on the break. With everyone expecting a rough few minutes of injury time Dave Sadler ran through on goal and was scythed down for a penalty. Martin Fox stepped up to calm everyone's nerves and slot home for a 3 - 1 victory. Hinckley's first win of the season too long in coming.
The next game was against the top of the league team Worcester City, who had yet to lose a game. When you're down the bottom, the luck just doesn't go your way. In an open exciting end to end game Worcester were the better team but Hinckley matched them on the night. Either side could've scored but it was Worcester that took the lead. Ex-Bedworth man Adam Webster scored with a 15 yard volley. Hinckley came out for the second half fired up and took hold of the game. Wave after wave of Hinckley attacks surged forward and pressurised the Worcester goal. Danny McDonnell in that goal was having the game of his life. The tragedy struck. A 50/50 challenge between Gavin O'Toole and John Snape ended with the Hinckley midfielder being stretchered off with a broken leg. This forced Hinckley to change formation to 4-4-2 and ironically looked even better. In the last 15 minutes Hinckley forced McDonnell to make at least 6 or 7 top class saves, as well as the shots not on target. Then late on following a high challenge Leon Doughty fell awkwardly and also had to go off with a broken collar bone. The game finished 0 - 1 with Hinckley still attacking up to the whistle. That's the way it goes. Most of the possession and the chances but Hinckley end up losing the game and losing the heart of their midfield with broken bones. With both O'Toole and Doughty out for at least 3 months Dean Thomas would have to move quick to bring in new blood before the game at Havant & Waterlooville.
As it turned out there was no new blood, just young blood. Ashley Hamilton made his first appearance for Hinckley this season. This game was remarkable for 2 reasons. First each team had an U21 International goalkeeper playing for them. Second, each teams first goal was an own goal. Havant took the lead when Simon Dakin played the ball to Farhad Afandiyev, a little too hard. The ball bobbled up off the pitch, hit Farhad on his knee and rolled into the net. Waterlooville then doubled their advantage just before half time. Hinckley would have to turn it around big time to get anything out of this game. That they did, just. They were given a lifeline early in the second half when Ben Price, playing his first game for Havant this season, put through his own net to return Affy's favour. That gave Hinckley the momentum to push forward, but looked to be fruitless until 3 minutes from time when Nick Preston popped up to finish off a classic 'goalmouth scramble'. A final score of 2 - 2 and well dug out by the lads.
A bit of relief from the slog of early league games when Kidsgrove Athletic came to the lane at the end of the month for an FA Cup 2nd Qualifying match. £7500 up for grabs in prize money plus the chance to emulate last season run to the 2nd round. Kidsgrove, who had been struggling in their first season in the Unibond Northern League Division 1, clearly came with the intention of getting a replay. They seemed to have 8 men behind the ball trying to snuff out Hinckley's attacks in numbers. Hinckley had all the possession and plenty of goal chances. Fox, Sadler and Cartwright went close early on but had to wait until the half hour mark to make their mark. When they did it was almost comical. A great wide ball by Stuart Storer found Jamie March and his perfect cross for Dave Sadler was laid into the path of Justin Jenkins who buried it from 15 yards, sending the keeper the wrong way. Description explanation: What actually happened was Dave Sadler over stretched for the cross and miscued the ball. Holmes in the Kidsgrove goal dived to save the Sadler shot, which actually came off the heels of Sadler as he fell over, straight to Jenkins who put it the opposite side to the keeper's dive. Beautiful, trust me. Kidsgrove continued as if nothing had happened. It looked like they were happy to lose 1 - 0, even if it was a cup game. So what happened in the second half was loads of Hinckley possession and a string of missed chances. Jenkins had a shot cleared off the line, Leon Mitchell forced the keeper to make a good save after he dropped the ball, Jamie March struck the post then put one just wide, and Sadler put a chance wide too. It looked like a second goal would never come until the final few minutes. March played the ball into the box and defender and keeper got in each other's way, the ball rolled free for Sadler to take it around them both and roll it into an empty net. Then the third followed straight away. Another low cross by March was met by Sadler, who got infront of his marker, and flicked it into the net. 3 - 0 was a final score and in the end was a fair result, even if it was 2 late goals. That put Hinckley into the next round draw where they were pulled out at home to rivals Tamworth. A joy to be had next month.

OK, still only one win in the league, but really we'd only played badly in the Welling game. We'd been unlucky with injuries and suspensions early on and weren't getting beaten badly just not winning. There is a difference. I've not seen anything myself to suggest we're not good enough, and surely our luck will change soon. Even better Dave Sadler is getting back to full match fitness and already we are seeing the form which persuaded Kingstonian to cough up £10000 for him.
 
In out, Shake it all about
Tim Wilkes left this month. He joined former Hinckley team mate Andy Lucas at Barwell. Having not made it into the first team at Hinckley this season he decided to get first team football in the Barwell revolution.
Also on his way was big money signing Richard Mitchell. Having spent £3000 on him, Dean Thomas held up hands and admitted he'd made a mistake. When Ilkeston Town inquired about him DT let Mitchell go for free. Probably for that amount of money we could've persevered for a bit longer, but apparently he was well paid so on the other hand we've saved some in wage costs.
 
World of Football Stuff
Let's start with some good news. Byron Moreno has been suspended by the Ecuadorean Football Federation for 20 matches. Who? What? Why? When? Well, you may remember Moreno as the Ecuador referee who sent off Francesco Totti, of Italy, for diving and then disallowed a perfectly good golden goal for Italy when they were dumped out of the World Cup by South Korea. (What's a bribe?) It seems during an Ecuadorean League match he played 13 minutes of injury time, during which a team scored 2 goals to come back from 3-2 down to win 3-4. In the same game he also sent off 2 players gave 2 dodgy penalties and awarded a goal only to disallow it moments later. On top of all that in his officially reported that the game only lasted 90 minutes. If he is found guilty of giving a false report he could be banned indefinitely. Moreno said: "If I made errors, I'm only human."
I think he should be banned for saying that alone, I mean, everyone knows that's a huge lie, no referees are human!

Furious Jimmy Litten demanded £50 to return a club's football, after it was booted into his garden and killed 2 prize Koi Carp in his pond. Jimmy saw the ball next to his dead fish (so he didn't have any proof then?) during the FA Cup Preliminary game between Tow Law Town and Matlock Town. Players and officials had a whip round to get their ball back when Jimmy showed them the dead fish in a bag. (So he not only had no proof but also destroyed a crime scene, he could've battered his fish to death in a spurned lover's rage and then thought of the football as an excuse.)

Football addict (and man with no life) Paul Goodwin jetted back from his holiday in Spain (yes Spain) to watch Luton Town play in the Worthington Cup (yes the one with the big black ears.) Season ticket holder Paul, nicknamed Mr Orange by his friends (as if he has any) and has his house painted in orange and blue colours, paid £100 to fly back early for the game between Watford and Luton. Unbelievably he won £500 in a bet on the game that Luton won 2 - 1. Divorced (no surprises) Paul said: "My mates thought I was mad and they tried to stop me departing. But I'm Luton born and bred and this was our most important game for years."
I don't know what's sadder the fact he flew back from his holiday or that Luton's most important game was a 1st round Mickey Mouse cup game!

Premiership side Bolton Wanderers have a fanatical following in a village, in Namibia (Africa for those without an Atlas.) The local school team in Okathitu, 5300 miles from Bolton, walk the village roads in their replica kits and crowd around the radio to catch the results on the BBC world service. They became fans after their school 'twinned' with a local school in Bolton.
I know nothing funny in that, I just thought it was well weird.

P.S. Did anyone spot the battered fish gag? Answers on a postcard please to BBC Swapshop.
 
Coming next Season: A plethora of home games coming up. Newport, Stafford and Weymouth in the league and Tamworth in the FA Cup. We'll be visiting new boys Chippenham in the league and right at the end we go to grizzly land with our whippets and play Gresley in the League Cup.
 
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