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Quirks caused by the Pandemic

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    Quirks caused by the Pandemic

    We've had a few. Willian being the first player to score a Premier League goal in every calendar month. Salford holding the EFL Trophy for just one day.

    Today Harrogate become the first league team to play in the FA Trophy final.

    What other quirky things have happened due to the pandemic disrupting football?

    #2
    At Carlisle we had what was possibly our first sold out* League match, and definitely our lowest ever League crowd on the same day (when we were allowed 1,000 in as a trial event in September). Parochial I know, but an example of where there will need to be some footnotes on things like lowest crowds in future.

    *we had a lock out for a League game in 1994, and we have sold out Cup matches in advance before, but as far as I know that was the first League match we've sold out in advance. We then did it several times in December when the limit was upped to 2,000.

    ​​​​​

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      #3
      If fans aren't allowed into Old Trafford before the end of the season (as spectators at a match, I mean, not like on Sunday) then the highest average attendance of the season won't belong to Manchester United for the first (and one would expect last) time in a very long time.

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        #4
        Athletic Club playing and losing two Spanish Cup finals within two weeks.

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          #5
          Oh, and away from English football:

          The league which has carried on for the highest consecutive number of seasons is the Argentine league – only the English, Scottish and Dutch leagues are older, and those all had to go on hiatus during the two World Wars, which, of course, didn't affect Argentina to anywhere near the same degree. Thing is, due to a combination of the pandemic ballsing up the calendar and a bizarre decision by the AFA to announce about a week before the current top-flight competition kicked off that it would be counted as a cup competition rather than a league championship, by the time in the 2021 First Division championship kicks off in August it will have been a year and a half since the last First Division championship ended (in February last year; the league season finished about a week and a half before we went into lockdown).

          Argentina still has its record going because the lower divisions are playing league football at the moment, but the mantle of most consecutive seasons for a top flight league campaign has presumably passed somewhere else now (I'd guess Uruguay, but I don't know for sure). Not that this is likely to be picked up by very many people because very few people outside Argentina, including people who are generally interested in Argentine football, seem to realise the league title isn't currently being contested.

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            #6
            Originally posted by Patrick Thistle View Post
            Today Harrogate become the first league team to play in the FA Trophy final.

            ​​​​​Were Harrogate allowed unrestricted selection from their current squad? Seems something of an unfair advantage if they were able to use players who've joined this season given the level they're now at.

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              #7
              Jobi1 I presume so. They became the first league team ever to win the FA Trophy so that's one for the pub quiz quizmasters.

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                #8
                Originally posted by Patrick Thistle View Post
                Jobi1 I presume so. They became the first league team ever to win the FA Trophy so that's one for the pub quiz quizmasters.
                Two players who started weren't with Harrogate when they were in the National League.

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                  #9
                  If Concord Rangers had won yesterday it would have been the first time two senior teams from the same town had won the FA Trophy.

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                    #10
                    (not including London, I assume)

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                      #11
                      Or does it rely on the formal distinction between city and town?

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by Capybara View Post
                        Two players who started weren't with Harrogate when they were in the National League.
                        I assume cup-tie rules for players were still in place, so they couldn't field anyone who'd played for someone else in the 2019/20 trophy. Difficult to enforce anything else under the rules

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                          #13
                          Hebburn's 2020-21 Vase quarter-final was due to be played on Saturday, but was postponed because they were playing in the 2019-20 final

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                            #14
                            Time present and time past
                            Are both perhaps present in time future,
                            And time future contained in time past.
                            If all time is eternally present
                            All time is unredeemable.
                            What might have been is an abstraction
                            Remaining a perpetual possibility
                            Only in a world of speculation.
                            What might have been and what has been
                            Point to one end, which is always present.
                            Football echoes in the memory

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                              #15
                              On Saturday there will be 8 clubs in League 2 with an interest in promotion or play-offs. None of them are playing each other. As usually happens on the final day, people will be following other games, to see how the scores affect whichever team they support. The permutations are many and varied.

                              The "quirk", or just a mildly notable difference, is that this won't be happening in a crowd. There won't be a change in mood communicated from fans to players, as thousands of people simultaneously realise that Team X need another goal because Team Y has taken the lead elsewhere, etc. Of course this news will still be communicated from the bench, but that's not quite the same as a crowd chanting "we only need one goal".

                              This is a little disappointing for those who enjoy the comedy/drama of the False Rumour, an occasional treat at this time of year.

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                                #16
                                That's also not including ourselves at the top still needing to win to win the League 2 Championship, we're also not playing one of the other 8. We're hoping Harrogate go on the lash all week to celebrate winning the FA Trophy.

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                                  #17
                                  Originally posted by Simon G View Post
                                  That's also not including ourselves at the top still needing to win to win the League 2 Championship, we're also not playing one of the other 8. We're hoping Harrogate go on the lash all week to celebrate winning the FA Trophy.
                                  I think they did you lot quite enough of a favour against Cambridge on Friday - don't get greedy now.

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                                    #18
                                    Originally posted by tee rex View Post
                                    This is a little disappointing for those who enjoy the comedy/drama of the False Rumour, an occasional treat at this time of year.
                                    You could always try starting a Twitter rumour about how Team A is doing and trying to get Team B's social media team to see it and somehow communicate it to the manager.

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                                      #19
                                      There seems to be a high number of teams undoing a divisional move from the year before: Norwich, Watford, Wycombe, Hull, Northampton, Swindon, Bristol Rovers.

                                      Possibly/Probably: WBA, Fulham, Rotherham, Bolton

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                                        #20
                                        Bristol Rovers were in League One last season.

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                                          #21
                                          Everton and Aston Villa hadn't played each other this season until 1st May, after Covid caused postponement of their Villa Park fixture which is to be played this coming Thursday.

                                          Would have assumed that's the latest ever first meeting of the season in English football history, however, Bromley and Notts Co still haven't met for the first time! That quirk is not pandemic related though, next week's game at Meadow Lane was postponed firstly due to the FA Trophy in January, and then a waterlogged pitch in February, the reverse fixture is scheduled for the final day.

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                                            #22
                                            It may well be the latest "first" meeting due to postponements, but there have previously been very late "first" meetings falling on the originally planned day.

                                            In the early 1920s there were a couple of seasons in which the majority of fixtures were scheduled so that a team would play the same opponent in consecutive matches. In the 1922/23 season the penultimate round of fixtures took place on 28th April with all teams then playing the same opponent in the reverse fixture the following week. The same thing happened the following year, although that year the penultimate round was 26th April. By the following season they decided to spread out fixtures between the same opponents, partly to give some variety and partly to reduce the number of grudges being held over from one week to the next.

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                                              #23
                                              Has there been a previous occasion when World Cup qualifying for the European spots started before the Euro finals have taken place?

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                                                #24
                                                Originally posted by 3 Colours Red View Post
                                                Has there been a previous occasion when World Cup qualifying for the European spots started before the Euro finals have taken place?
                                                Regularly, I remember Ireland playing qualifiers for the next tournament before the current finals, one example i know for sure is beating Cyprus 3.2 in before the 1980 Euro finals.

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                                                  #25
                                                  Regarding first meetings of the season, back in 2000/1 we didn't meet Rochdale until the last week so our last two fixtures were at Spotland on the Tuesday, which was May 1st, then at Home Park on the final Saturday. The away match should have been played in November so there would have been plenty of opportunity to meet before but Rochdale's pitch was particularly ropey that year. I think it got postponed three times in all.

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