Sunderland 'Til I Cry: EFL and beyond 19/20

worst league in the world

cambridge could be promoted today, unbelievable after how reliably shit they've been in the 5 years I've lived here. this area turns into a giant car park every home game and today it looks like it did in pre-covid times.

even a win wouldn't have done it Tim :( But at least fucking Salford City are going miss out as well!

There weren’t any good teams in L2 this year as far as I can tell.

Cheltenham and Cambridge looked big and strong and well-organised tbf.

I’m disappointed but wasn’t looking forward to another playoff humiliation.

pre-emptive yeah didn't want the playoffs either

shame there'll be no Exeter fixture next season tho. if we get FGR any excuse to return to the wonderland that is Stroud tho

I did want the playoffs, a lot, but in the way I often want beer a lot, in the certain knowledge that it’ll be painful eventually.

Wembley ticket secured. Assuming I go to both matches then I'll have seen 4 (four) games in person this season.

EXCLUSIVE: Derby could still be RELEGATED from the Championship after EFL win FFP appeal

this diabolical season could still be saved

Seeing Wembley on the telly today made it all the more remarkable that I'll be there next weekend.

well done on getting a ticket!

I'll wave on the telly.

how can one thread-title keep delivering so much

Good luck Hereford today!

my stepmother is from Hornchurch and has lived outside Hereford for 25 years, suddenly she is interested in lower league football.

Have a mate who's Hornchurch (as said above) so I'll remain diplomatically neutral here

Wembley! I am in you! pic.twitter.com/BsQz1fB88H

— Alan Stephen (@AlanStephen) May 22, 2021

Forest Green vs Newport has been great fun so far.

4-2 at the moment, 4-4 on aggregate, pitch so waterlogged the ball barely rolls.

hah hah what a cruel game the playoffs can be

Brentford are killing Swansea. Inches away from 3-0 already.

Electric stuff

was expecting this to be as dull as ditchwater so I cut the grass instead. Swansea can be absolute pap on their day, it puzzles me how they finished above Barnsley.

It's basically turned into the Ugly Swansea Pressure show since then. There's a red card in this one somewhere by the looks of it

When I first moved to London I worked with a guy who was a Brentford fan so I went to a few of their games and then went all the way to Cardiff to witness one of their regular playoff final defeats, so I'm a long way from counting chickens here.

I didn't exactly 'grow up on the terraces' but Griffin Park was my first ground. I know there are problems with how they're run these days but it'll be amazing to see them in the top division. But yeah, not counting any chickens - they've shit the bed too many times for that.

hah hah I remember the year they finished second in L1 but but got beat in the playoffs. It was the year the prem was formed so there was one less automatic promotion place.

got to say, going to the playoff finals at Cardiff pisses on going to Wembley. the pubs around Wembley are fucking shit for a start.

Pontus Jansson sauntering onto the pitch eating a protein bar and then getting knocked senseless by a goalbound shot from his own teammate is a hell of a vibe

There's the red

Seems harsh.

Didn't look deliberate at all in any of the replays

Congrats Bees!

Nice to see a new name in the PL.

there used to be a Brentford fan on ilx. But haven't seen them post for years.

Swansea. Cost of compo for Steve Cooper and his staff is a stunning 4.5m ...

— Alan Nixon (@reluctantnicko) May 30, 2021

lol wtf... commiserations if this is happening bananaman begins

What a start for Lincoln.

that was coming ..it's been all Blackpool apart from Grant hitting the post.

so hang on, against the odds, Derek Adams has got Morecambe promoted to L1 but now he's going back down L2 to manage Bradford City. Worst of luck to him!

The bright side of Morecambe going up was us not having to put up with Adams for a year at least.

well if Crystal Palace are after a shithousing and Pulisball manager he'd be a much cheaper option than Cooper I hear

we've just signed Ollie Turton and I was thinking where I have I heard that name before and then remembered he was the lad that scored the fastest own goal in playoff final history only 4 days ago. Tbf he was in a bit of a pickle when it occurred and Blackpool fans like him + say he's a consistent performer defensively despite not offering much going forwards and lacking pace. But results suffered a lot when Pipa got injured last season so a fair squad strengthening signing.

sounds like Wagner is going to the Baggies... jeez wtf happened to you Dave? u used to be beautiful

Torquay's keeper scores with the last touch of the ball to take the playoff final to extra time.

Poor old Torkey, out on pens. Guess there was no way to get a police dog to help them this time.

Dean Moxey had now lost playoff finals in three of the last four years (two of them with Exeter).

so Dean is lacking a bit of... never mind

Valerian Ismael to Baggies is looking almost a done deal. He seems like a good manager. He transformed Barnsley from mid-table to relegation fodder dross to a very tight well organised unit that only just fell short of promotion.

will never forget when Barnsley were briefly in the PL and there was a picture in the paper with all the club badges and there in amongst all the iconic designs was this

https://i1.wp.com/worldsoccerpins.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Barnsley-FC-1981-1998-Alternative-Logo.png

https://i2-prod.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/football/news/article12164178.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200b/Logos.jpg

dogs on football badges always looks utterly shite, the Town and Barnsley badges probably had an influence on Northern Independence Party logo as well and look where it got them clowns!

Rhodes has managed to enrage the Wednesdayites by calmly scoring a decent pen against them today. The backstory on this is that he shit it and refused to step up for the pen shootout they lost against us in the '17 playoffs semi. Lol it's certainly not his fault their club's owners were carelessly profligate enough to pay him 5 times what he was worth on a 5 year contract when he was already past his best.

just reading that Derby are offering "zero-money" contracts to players with just their names on and no wage figures, lol a novel approach but it wouldn't even worked in the maximum wage era.