Thetownend.com

Done, and done.

Sober again, but don't worry.

Monday night I will be smashed starting the barnet one!

Huzzarh!

Head says no but heart says yes, So I reckon 1-0. but could go either way.

COYR

Yay! :D

Im going,1st game since the begining of last season I think.

Go me!

Nearly gave up on you Sugg, we are capable of getting a win but will need to be at our best for 90 minutes and not just 45, for that reason I'm going with a 2-2 draw.

Fackin' daytripper coming out for the glamour of Wigan.

Itss going to be great, or underwhelming. I don't know.

I feel the same way as for the Hudds game.  Don't expect us to win, but if we play well, much stranger things have happened.

Late night positivity says we'll take it 2-1 although it might just end up back at their place.

2-0 loss, both goals in the second half after we have a good first.

Never thought for one minute this game would sell out. It must be that we are expecting a win as it can't be that the extra 6,000 want to get a glimpse of Wigan.

2-1 to Wigan.

Paolo's boys march on...Swindon 2-1 Wigan!!! C.O.Y.R!!!

Oh just seen the pikies trying to be well pikies...not paying their police bill, maybe the money from Rooney will help  :D

Loads of changes for them.

2-1 win. Benson and Ritchie.

1-1, and annoying replay that we could do without

Think that Wigan will be too good for us - 1-2 to them.

Wigan, although bottom and having a bit of a hard time are Premiership after all. 1-3.

I suppose the crux of the matter will be if Paolo decides to make changes? If we play our strongest team (Benson for Murray) then we could sneak it, however, head says 2-0 Wigan.

Have to be honest and say if I could I would take a defeat today, if it led to a draw on Tuesday, which led to an away win a Barnet in League 2 and a resounding 2nd leg JPT win!

I've got to be honest and say I think we'll lose this, shock results can and do happen but logically we should be beaten.

I'm more excited about seeing a packed CG than us playing Wigan, a win would be fantastic, a draw would be ok and a defeat wouldn't really bother me.

The league and the 2 games against Barnet are much more important, imho.

Positivity is the key

2-0 Connell 2

Really looking forward to it even tho I'm only watching on TV and just to complete the match day experience I already have a copy of the programme  ;)

I can't see us losing even though it's a premiership team so 3-2 Swindon with Benson and Richie sharing the goals

This and the fact that I'm going and so is Mrs B, - her last two games being Leeds (H) and Soton (A) - lets hope she brings us the same sort of performance/luck

i've got my day tripper coat on today. looking forward to this.

I think we will win. 2.0 with Connel & Ferry scoring.

Also i think Wes will save a pen

2-1 Win ferry first goal and West Ham away next round but I am hedging my bets with a 5-0 loss and a weekend off round4

1-3 wigan

I bloody love this competition, days like this are what makes it for clubs like us.  Can't wait to get to the ground.

If the Wigan players turn up with the right attitude we could be a couple of goals down early and the day becomes a huge anti climax, this is a strong possibility.

Alternatively they are relatively speaking, "there for the taking", and we won't get a better chance to beat a premiership side. A full house could inspire a memorable victory.  Therefore I'm a believer today and boldly going for a 2-0 win (Ritchie & Connell

It sounds ridiculous but I'm actually expecting us to win. I have no right to be thinking that way but I am. I feel exactly how I did before the Colchester game.

Wigan are going to have to play bloody well to win today I believe and if they do happen to win it's no major disaster is it? It's the JPT Area Final next then back to the promotion push. Happy, happy days indeed.

Anywhoo...3-0 Connell, Fint, Smith

Sadly I'm still too weak to attend but will be there in spirit and watching via some illegal satellite feed...

2-1 town Connell double

1-2 with some shit ref decisions, diving, "premier league ur havin a laugh", a crazy moment from PDC for the camera's and my steak and kidney pie with chips from the frying fish is nailed on cert

I've got a feeling we're gonna win 3-1 today.

1-2. Late winner for them when they bring on their better players.

If we do happen to win, let's hope we don't have a Leeds-style dip in league form.

I am with Batch, will either be a great day or a complete damp squib..however, I just have three requests

 - we get at least one goal, just so we can all hear what the roar from 14000 sounds like
 - we generate an atmosphere worthy of 14000
 - we get at least one 'we are paolos red and white army' going between the bank and the townend...

I think I would be happy with a little flurry from ourselves and a 1-2 defeat...

also, since I am on the bank, am going to get my flag out from under the bed, dust it off and put it beneath the clock...look out for it...

Yeah, worst case is an early Wigan goal and no town response. I too want to hear a "we are Paolo's red and white army" between the full TE, bank and DRS,   Hearing that youtube video the other day sent shivers up the spine

This,really looking forward to this and i feel it is earmarked for a draw.

UP THE TOWN!

Last game for me before I return to uni.

Providing we give a good account of ourselves and don't bow down to them I'll be happy. I don't like bottlers.

0-2 to Wigan 13,745 crowd with 651 from Wigan.

Can see us playing well, not taking our chances and lose 2/3-1

2-1 defeat.

A gutsy 1-3 loss, the scoreline flattering Wigan with 2 late goals.

It'll be a tough game for us, they're PL but I do think we'll give them a good game, our confidence is high. Should be a decent game as Wigan like to get the ball down and play aswell. We'll score today I reckon.

Nice little signing on present for Wes, be interesting to see how he does today. I can see him being a bit busier than usual

I'm going with a 1-0 win, with an uncharateristic early first half goal (Flint) that we then sit back and defend for the rest of the match!

im not going to lie think we will convincingly win 2-0 with double the amount of shots than them but lets not forget they do play good football  

I dreamt that we went 1-0 up then ended up losing 9-1.

Logic says we will lose, but Football doesn't always worj that way so have a sneaky feeling we will have a chance.

The key for me is a fast start. Wigan are struggling at the moment, and we need to get at them before they settle into the game.

If we can score first, I have a feeling we might be able to win.

If Wigan score first I'm not sure there will be anyway back.

We just can't afford a first half performance like the last three games, as I fear we may be a goal or two behind.


For a prediction, head says we will lose by the odd goal, heart says the opposite.

Just getting ready to leave now.

Come on Town

Mark lawrenson went for 1-1 and mickey thomas went for 2-1. I'm going to be a pessimist and say 0-2.

There is definitely a sense of confidence about this gamne amongst town fans, and if Wigan do choose to play a youthful line up, lets face it their academy and reserve teams arent jam full of great talent, we will have a great chance. The young ones that may cause a stir will be Callum McManaman, but that is about it. An upset could well be on the cards.

I see Gary caldwell is back from suspension. If ever a defender had a 'Steve vickers' esque performance it's him! Let's hope he has one today!

All I know is it'll be a good game. We all know PDC won't let the boys turn up and not give 100%. We're going to play with the same intensity Paolo always demands and when you play like that, a team with a less than committed display stands a high chance of losing.

Paolo's already told them the first 20 minutes are key, we get through that unscathed, our players will take massive confidence and the game is anyone's. I also think our fitness will be at a far greater level than a load of reserves and youth teamers and that could have a huge influence late on.

I'm pretty sure we'll put in a top performance, so it depends which Wigan turn up. Heads says 1-3, heart says 2-1.

Can't wait!

Just about to set out from Worcester with my boy, the last match he went too ( also his first) was Huddersfield, so I think he might be a bit disappointed.
Whats the weather like in Swindon at the moment, we are on the bank

Swindon v Wigan Athletic FA Cup 3rd Round Preview

http://thewashbag.com/2012/01/06/swindon-vs-wigan-athletic/

I paid for my ticket online, and though they've taken my money i've got no other confirmation of the technology. I'm getting a bit nervous i'll get to the turnstyle and not be allowed in

COME ON THE TOWN Richie hattrick' big game player'town win 4-2 keep your dreams to yourself samdy be possitive we can be pissed off after the game not before.tamworth in the next round easy path to the final after that  'i new i shouldnt have started on the whisky before 9am."COME ON THE TOWN"ONWARDS AND UPWARDS

I expect us to lose but I hope we give them a game.

Defeat won't end our world. As always, I just want the players for give the floating fans an incentive to go more often (says he who rarely goes).

Really not sure about this one.  I'm hoping we are going to be more up for it than them and therefor sneak a 1-0 win coyr

I fell asleep last night wearing my unlucky replica shorts from last season, alas I have been wearing them on a matchday which means we will lose. However, I am donning my Northampton jeans which are yet to be introduced to the washing since (despite me telling the Mrs. to do so very succinctly), in a hope to counteract this.

Liked the Washbag links, bought back some very, very fond memories for me. Don't know about all of you old enough to remember those halcyon day days but the PDC revolution has some eerie resonance.....

My head says they will be to strong for us and to lose will be no shame. However, this is the FA Cup and the key will be our defence, get that right and who knows. Also this will be an opportunity for certain players to showcase themselves if we manage to pull this one off.

So I'm going for a sneaky 1-0 to the town. Scorer? Who cares if I'm right.

Bringing my son today who usually is a good omen _ not so bothered about the result just excited that it is going to be a big crowd, the weather`s set fair and I have a ticket....bring it on.  :D

Where are you sitting mate? Are you going to be in Legends beforehand?

I'm absolutely gutted that I won't be there to witness a packed CG, huge atmosphere and a STFC win. I will be cheering the boys on from the comfort of my living room though.

COYR

I hope it's a cracker for those there.

YOUUUUU REDS!!!!!!!!!!!

I'l be happy with a narrow defeat but playing well. No embarrasment loseing to pl side at home.
Never as the words lets concentrate on the league, seemed so true.

Our odds are shortening dramatically, we're pretty much the same to win as Wigan are.

Personally, I'm going to lump money on Wigan because if we win I'll be too happy to care.

I saw 7/4 for Wigan earlier, can't believe they're so high.
But I just can't bet on them.

I've put £2 on Swindon to win 3-1 :)

We are favourites on Betfair. Madness.

Edit: gambling with my newly paid in Student Loan. That's what it's meant to be used for right?  :D

Tenner on Wigan £19.60 profit
Tenner on over 2.5 goals £11.60 profit

Fairly confident on both counts, and if the first one doesn't come in I won't care.

Gutted I can't be there, sure the atmosphere will be terrific. Not so confident about the result, see us losing by 2 or 3.

I'm going to beat the fuck out of anyone who bets on a Wigan win - disloyal cunt.

 :pint:sat in the legends now, it's packed, atmosphere is brilliant. Only Thing that's pissing me off is the bloke in a spurs shirt, this is the county ground not white hart lane.

Go up to him and tell him to remove his shirt or you'll shove it up his rectum - fucking simple solution isn't it

Happy bunny today aren't we!

I bet against Swindon quite regularly, I like having bets that I want to lose!

I'll be happier later. On my way to the game now. 

Town unchanged.

Swindon Town: Foderingham; Caddis (Capt), Flint, McCormack, Kennedy; Ritchie, Ferry, Smith J, De Vita; Connell, Murray
Subs: Smith P (GK), Benson, Cibocchi, Devera, Gabilondo, Magera, Thompson L

Wigan Athletic: Al Habsi, Caldwell, Lopez, Boyce, Mustoe, Watson, McArthur, Thomas, Maloney, McManaman, Di Santo.

Subs: Pollitt, Moses, Sammon, Gomez, Redmond, Dicko, Gohouri.

Some good comments from Roberto Martinez on the Wigan OS.

Out on the piss with the one per ;)son who knows who our manager is. No chance ill get to watch the game now. Was planning to watch instead of get on the piss. I hope to get to work in the morning and see that we've won. Come on town!!! Ps: happy birthday mum ;) x

That's a fairly decent team from them. If their heart's in it, they should win comfortably...

Its is, its not the reserves they promised us! :)

Jesus I am like a fucking kid, so excited!

serious news. I think there is a drum in the drs. this is not a drill, this is not a drill

I've lumped on wigan. Hope we win but it's too good a price to turn down

Oh, and the Irriducibli banner is back, thats not going to look great on the pictures of our last minute winner!

Great to see the Bank open though!

Must be the first time i have sat in a pub watching a home game

Is it just me, or are the Rockettes and Robin a fantastic exercise in killing any atmosphere there might have been?

I was so embarassed I've decided not to bother and have walked home. Fuck that shit.

Going to press the record button now I think. Got a roaring fire going so nice and cosy

Fucking horrible weekend to be on-call. If any servers decide to reboot for the next 90 minutes it can wait.

Anyone got a link?

Teams on their way out. COYR.

Any links to watch the game online?

http://www.firstrow.tv/watch/100791/2/watch-swindon-town-fc-vs-wigan-athletic.html

http://tykestv.eu/channel2.php

good stream.

I found the Norwegian one but it was about 2 minutes behind and poor quality.

We can't get hold of the ball

That Tykes one is the most in time with play. Had a very good quality one on SopCast but it was about 2 minutes behind play.

If anyone else is in Courtenay in the Loiret this afternoon, come and join me to watch the game. Would appreciate the company.I'm in Le Poulbot.

What a chance.

Good chance for us

Pity he didn't hit it first time!

That was close but it felt like it was 1 pass too many.

Southend winning, if anyone's interested in the league today

God we look nervy.

Oxford have crept into the playoff places as well.

We're not the only ones.

going for a piss and a cuppa, expect a goal

We are getting the better chances... but yes, look nervy defending..

Good effort Kennedy

We look ok when we've got the ball

Need to get in their faces a bit more

is sanchez going to be at an empty CG on tuesday then?

dickhead

http://www.firstrow.tv/

Midfield need to start firing again. Poor in that area at the mo.

Connell doing well without much support though

Wigan seem to like that right-to-left cross field pass.

I'm not liking this hoofing it upfield. We can play better than that.

penalty

Fuck.

Oh fuck

Time for Wes to pay back some of that transfer fee

well the optimism was nice for a while.

who predicted the win with a penalty save from Foderingham? Fingers crossed for that now!

didn't look like any contact there to me.

goal on the rebound

What a bummer

fucking idiotic challenge.

BBC bloke reckoned that it was against the run of play?

unlucky Wes

Silly tackle from Flint, Caddis had him covered.

Unlucky Wes

Yep, no need for Flint to go in. Caddis had him covered.

Foderingham did well there and not much he could have done about the rebound other than taking him out for another penalty. Well i suppose he could have saved it but we were unlucky with that.

the way the commentators are licking Wigans backside is awful

Definite pen I'm afraid.

We're not pressing em enough

poor reaction from our players to the rebound.

Good response.

great crosses and pressure there

Good effort Ritchie

We're not out of it by any means

Good stuff from us now... I think we will score today.

great stuff, good reaction from the lads

Jesus we look angry now.

We've had the better chances, just gave away a stupid penalty.

GERT INNN!N!N!N

Get in!

Super super Connell

GOAL! We deserved that 100%

Kennedy is getting some great crosses in

Goal!!!!!!

lush

Havent seen Swindon cross balls in this well for a while !!!

Fucking marvellous, great spell of crossing that...

Bloody gorgeous.

Great five minutes of pressure football there. We have to keep that up.

Flint needs to stay on his fucking feet.

Worried about Flint. The Wigan attackers are watching him dive in - Think there may be another penalty soon.

Southend and Pox both two up

Sure the coaching staff will have a word at half-time, if we can spot it, they sure can.

Really pleased with how we're doing so far.

Benson on for Murray second half

lovely passing move with a great through ball from Ferry to Murray there

Time for a coffee, enjoyed that half

Ferry, Caddis and Ritchie have all shown real class in the first half.

Very decent half. Cracking deliveries from our full backs. A bit more composure and we could have been winning

Was thinking that just as Murray got on the end of a phenomenal piece of quick midfield passing to put his shot just over.

Just what we need to be publicised to higher clubs via the highlights tonight!

Sounds like we are matching them anyway, proud to be a red!

Urhg, I need...a better.........comput.......er................or inter............net....connect.........ion as my stream is very.........stop...........st.............ar...........t.

For the first part of the half I thought we were very panicy, hoofy and had no composure. Despite that Wigan didnt really threatened but everything was going through McManaman who runs his hid old man minus the stupid hair.

My stream being shit did Wes save it or did it hit the post, slow re-actions from our players.

Having said that after the Wigan goal is was like watching a completely different team. We got the ball down, got the wingers involved more and finally started getting some crosses in and go out rewards, great header from Connell.

Then it swung again and Wigan picked up just before half time.

We just need to keep it composed and make sure we keep getting Caddis/Ritchie and De Vita/Kennedy involved in the last third of the pitch.

Wigan 7 shots in first half?? Only the one on target though.

Wigan are poor.

We're a little slow getting there first but when we do get it, we are class. DeVita doing well and some of the crosses going in are absolutely top drawer.

We can do this!!

Not a bad first half, very end to end.

Kennedy getting ripped apart at times, beaten for speed and control by their right winger.

Poor following up after the penalty miss but still a good finish, Connells header was brilliant.

Their keeper looks shakey as fuck!

Agree, their keeper looks dodgy in several areas..

Wigan scoring was almost the best thing that could have happened to Town.

After their goal we played with more urgency & looked a lot better.

We need to get after them a bit more.

Don't think it will b long before we see Benson.


PS. Nice to see the Bank full of Town fans

the drum was false alarm. good half, we are working very hard to keep shape and restrict them. after the penalty we opened up a bit and caused them real problems.

whatever happens now the players can be happy with that 45

Because Hendry Thomas keeps shooting from the halfway line.

Hit post

Those weren't shots, they were conversions.

Wes tipped it on didn't he?

Benson coming on

Benson coming on.

Benson coming on

Murray off

DV Canio: Penalty hit the post.

- I thought we were just holding and keeping everything tight until the penalty, which to me looked like a dive. McManaman and tother forward spent the rest of the time waiting for Flint to dive in
- Impressed at how far forward we defended and how we pressed
- Thought De Vita and Kennedy double teamed their right winger. Thought they looked pretty solid, although Kennedy got caught out a couple of times
- Post penalty we decided to go for it and looked bloody good going forward
- Crossing was phenomenal
- Thought Connell was full of running but didn't link particularly well with Murray, who didn't impress me much. Interesting to see whether Benson comes on for him and can stretch the defence.

I'm so f*cking excited!

Is Benson coming on then?

is Benson coming on?

Not sure, looked like to me he missed it completely.

where is Benson?

Benson came on your face

emerson boyce looks fucking awful. when the ball goes out to the wigan left we look scared

also, why arent Wigan wearing blue?

my stream being shit, I saw Watson hit it, it came up on Sky Sports we were 1-0 down so assumed it went in. Then I saw Fodders go the right way, then the ball was at McManamans feet, then I saw him celebrating.

fitton demanded it

shite atmosphere

On Twitter all it kept saying was that he was putting crosses in, assuming he has been fairly good going forward

found a good HD stream on wiziwig bt it's in Ukrainian

he's been excellent imo

Oh yeah, as a left winger he has been outstanding. It's a shame nobody told him that he is playing left back.

...oh and Matt Ritchie looks like tintin, no?

Sopcast link: sop://broker.sopcast.com:3912/106723

peter fucking walton. that was assault

Oooooh ! Think that might have been a penalty

Good going forward, poor at the back.

Held him down

So which team is in the Premier League here? I'm not seeing any difference. We're the better team if anything.

they have badges on their arms that say premiership. that's how you tell

Nice to see Gillingham getting beaten by Stoke

The way Wigan have been playing recently they look to do a Leeds.

C'mon Town

They should get a fancy FA Cup kit like us.

that wouldn't help identify which team is in the premiership. you're silly

Like that Fjortoft had commented on Twitter...

'Like #stfc player Ferry Not sure about his hair though :)'

Ritchie you dick

That should've been a goal.

oh ritchie. you could've taken a touch!

Blimey, could have done better with that. Waste.

Oh Ritchie :no:

What a miss.

fuck sake tintin...

Does Stuart Pearce live near Swindon as he seems to go to a few of our ganes

It's all Swindon this half. Come on you reds!

Just outside Marlborough I believe.

wigan are struggling to pass the ball out of defence, their midfield is too far from the back 4

We're playing well now, especially Connell bringing others into it

Keep it up

alan mac reckons PDC's got margera to warm up...if he takes off connell i'll be really mad

Cox scores

Hope Magera comes on, think he could score from a set peice

Me an all

Don't think the commentators know quite how good our fitness levels are. If they think we're going to start waining they're in for a shock.

Looks like Magera coming on.

Come on you reds! We can win this.

i'm outraged! unless we win

Would he do OK with the bit of extra time they always reckon you get in the Premiership?

Why

poor Alan Connell :(

WTF!

Being rested with Tuesday in mind? Only thing I can think of.

If we keep making great crosses, Magera should be more effective in air in comparison to Connell

Connells fucked, he's running on empty...

Although I would have left him for at least another 10....

Great Block rubberlegs Flint.

Could have sworn Connell scored with a header

Unless Connell is injured, which doesn't appear likely as he's just sat straight down on the bench, that's a poor substitution.  It's completely unsetlled the team as well.

I'm sure the change was just to freshen it up and pressure their back line. Tiring defence vs fresher forwards. I would have left it personally

The crowd's so quiet

McManamanan their best player by a distance.

Benson is quality. He's going to be ace once fully up to speed.

GETIN!!!

GET THE FUCK IN!

Yesssssssssssssssssssss

Get innnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

YES! A bit of luck but i'll take it!

Woot!

..... :D

yuppers

FUCKING GETTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT INNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Get the F$%&k in there !!!!

Woop woop woop

Surely offside??

Yep he's got a good touch and intelligent with it

WOW!!!

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

Lets not drop deep. Moses will shake them up

Sssshhhh!

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes  :D

Oh Yes! Unbelievable!

exactly. who gives a fuck

worried now Moses has come on.

COYR

and we've just chanted "1-0 and you fucked it up" Kiss of death.

Not me. Getting funny looks from French farmers. ;D

without jinxing moses; all he's got is some pace, we're deep anyway so he should've have too much luck

That should've been another pen.

indeed....

stupid cunt fans!

i'd have given it!

Great play from Caddis... in fact a few of our players are putting on a showcase display here for the watching scouts.

That was a penalty, ffs referee!!!

Funny how prem teams get away with those. If it had been the L2 side, the ref would have thought "typical cloggers" and given it.

he knocked it past and the guy stood his ground, i'd have said that connell being wrestled to the deck was defo a penalty. either way... COYR

Stuart Pearce in the crowd...probably looking at Ritchie and the whole Swindon team really for the Olympics!!

from BBC:

1637: David Wheater equalsies for Bolton from Martin Petrov's free-kick. Could the giantkilling be quashed there? But a shock could be on at the County Ground. Matt Ritchie tries his luck with a left-footed shoot from outside the box and his effort takes a big deflection to beat Ali Al Habsi. Swindon fully deserve to be ahead.

I got goosebumps....games like these are what makes all the fucking shit worthwhile.

We are mostly outplaying a side from 3 divisions above us.

Days like these live long in the memory, enjoy them.

Did Magera come on in the end?

it's hard to tell

Yep.

Regardless of the score, this is wonderful stuff. Very proud Town fan right now.

Yes but you wouldnt have noticed.

Both were pennos Bennett.

Come on Wiltshire Italy, the Spanish Lancastrians don't deserve anything from this.

Goal was officially offside...but that's the luck we have been missing!!

So prepare to remind the Wigan fans of the two pens when they complain about our offside goal. If they can be bothered.

Sorry to be a pedant but that should be Spanish Greater Manchesterians  :D

nah. Bennett was right

Pedantry only works when you get the correction right.

Possibly Horlock, at this moment I don't mind either way.

COME ON!!!!!  This is ace!

Indeed it fucking is!

wigan have been shocking second half

either way - if the spackers who are applying to rules didn't bother with the wrestling one we definitely weren't going to get the latter

Is Wigan not in greater manchester then.....


Not that I am particularly bothered at the moment

Come on you reds!

Sonic, please get some more pants ready...

Get in their QPR!

FT

I tell you what Wigan isn't in....


the fucking FA CUP!!!!

 
GET IN THERE!!!!

FT. Well and truly deserved. Proud to be a Town fan..

It is, but the adjective is Mancunian. Now that's pedantry.

Whatever.

Yeeeeees.

Fucking delighted. Well done Town!

Good result but we were favourites anyway. I would have been annoyed if we didn't win. Wigan were terrible.

Woop - right time for a drink tonight!

Barnet will be crapping themselves after this result..!

Fucking Brill, I'm off for a beer

I got a bit emotional at the final whistle, what a poof  :D

win dedicated to PDC's dad

barnet must be fucking amazed they're still in any competitions!

The Swindon Town Swoodilypoopers would like to congratulate the actual Swindon Town on one of the great games I've ever watched in grainy low-definition on the Internet. What a beautiful win! On to the fourth round!

With you Hertha :pint:

Brilliant, well done town, but then I knew you'd win it  ;)

Managed to get a good link working and saw the whole game.  Ended up kissing Di Canio on my computer screen at the end of the game.  Awesome feeling to see us beat a premier league team!!!!

Caddis MOTM for me followed closely by Ritchie

COYR

I have to walk through that graveyard again tonight...something tells me I will be declaring my love for Swindon rather loudly there again!

Maybe I should make that a matchday routine ?

was the winner offside?

I was such a proud Town fan before this but now...words can't describe just how massively proud I am right now.

Deserved win and we never gave Wigan a clear cut opportunity.

We are immense!! Round 4 here we come!!

 :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

GET THE FUCK IN!!!

Think Benson got a head on every single ball that was played up to him 2nd half, quality.

hatrick for Cox today!

Fantasy football. Who needs Fat Lucas? We've got Fab Wes. Could only have been bettered by replacing the commentary with a fascinating analysis of the US economy.

Hertha?

Anyway time to get merrily rat arsed... show do we want in the next round!

all we need it suggwillsugg.

Superb performance from all our lads. A few showed they could step up a level or two easily.

Swindon manager Paolo Di Canio: "I'm very happy for all these people [fans]. We can make something special for these fans. I want to dedicate this win to them and also my father [who died recently]."

I think I love him a little bit.

Can admin please knight SWS? A win and a profit, best possible result

Wife working today so I'm home alone with two boys.  Just back from a soft play area in Sandhurst.

So what happened?

Benson was offside but it wasn't given so technIcally the answer is 'no' as the goal counted... In fairness the ref saw the deflection but couldnt see Benson was offside and the liner saw he was offside but didn't see the deflection...

watch the inevitable highlights later. Nobody on here telling you will do it justice

we need to tie him down to a long term contract because the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal try to sign him on the cheap in the January transfer window.

He's been consistently on great form this season.

The blind leading the blind...

Result of the round?

Could the BBC not come up with a better photo than the Swindon one on here, some fat lads and what appears to be a derelict ground, nice

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16454953.stm

Wow! Wow! Wow! I really didn't think we'd do that!

- Benson goal was definitely offside
- We were unlucky not to get one if not two penalties
- Connell was knackered but we lost our outlet when he went off. Magera played much deeper and had little influence on the game (except for wasting the last 3-4 mins in the corner)
- Caddis must have run miles today! The amount of ballsl played behind the midfield for him to run on to were too numerous to count
- Benson looked very 'intelligent' up front. He took up a number of good positions and looked a handful
- Wigan offered no threat down our left in the second half
- McManaman ripped us a new hole in the first half, but was anonymous in the second
- Flint stayed on his feet in the second half and looked a lot more assured
- Jeremy Wray looked happy. His good lady was a bit of a hottie too!
- Noticed Fitton sat behind Wray, wearing a Swindon scarf
- PDC with a tear in his eye at the end

That was a really good performance. Hope we don't let this distract us from the league though!

Gutted I couldn't make today cos of work. Pdc is a hero. Bring on a brilliant away day

Unless Rovers do the unthinkable in a little while, most certainly.

Nice to hear fitton was at that game

Just in the car - Words do not describe!

That's the way the car radio (BBC Radio Five) just described it.

This is happening to us, isn't it?  We're almost famous for being shit in cup competitions and getting rolled over by non-League clubs.  I'm finding this a little hard to take in.

Then again, it's only Wigan.  Maybe we'll get a proper Prem club in the 4th Round?

and my other team won it in the last minute = potential heart attack

Absolutely superb and thoroughly deserved.  A real team performance.  Very very proud to be a Swindon fan this evening.  I wonder if the result might lose Martinez his job?

This is Swindon. We'll get knocked out by Stevenage.

Whens the draw for the 4th round?

(that sounds good doesnt it!)

tomorrow

Top Story on SSN.

Happy days.

Great being a town fan at the moment, I love Swindon town and I love Paolo.

4th round, thats not happened for a while.

Love it, love Di Canio, love Swindon.

this time last year we were playing Oldham tomorrow and wouldnt win for a further 18 games!

Sorry got carried away  :D

That team to me looked even more dominant than the Swindon Town of the 80s. Looked to me as if we were 1-2 players short of a great squad.

Not convinced by Murray nor Magera. Thought we looked better up front with Connell and Benson together. Would have loved to have brought Kerroooosh on for Connell as I think he would work very well with Benson.

I was also quite impressed with De Vita. Would be happy to have him battling with Connell and Benson upfront if we do buy Rooney (or another winger).

It's about time someone has noticed what we are doing!!

PDC is da man!!!

To be fair, Di canio has been on almost every football related tv and radio show over the last couple of days.
That will continue tonight

Paolo on SSN now:

http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/FACompetitions/TheFACup/FACupPages/Prize-Fund-Payments

£67,500 for winning today.

And long may it continue.

Lets go for the £1.8 million ! ;0)

They haven't even mentioned it on North West Tonight! Ha!

The last ten minutes in the Town End was very, very good fun. Haven't seen goal celebrations like that since the Charlton play off. A good day out and well deserved.

Ladies and gentlefolks I give you the lucky charm that is Mrs B !

That was fucking brilliant - heroes every single one of them.

Come On You Reds.

Well done Swindon.

After a brill game like that, we'll draw fuckin stevenage away.u

A Wigan fan that lives in Oxford. Chin up son, it can only get better.

https://twitter.com/OxfordLatics/status/155693283908141057

If anyone deserves a big away day at a top 6 prem club it's us.
I'm off to celebrate at work and can't touch a drop of booze :cry:

You had a nice win today as well.  I almost feel magnanimous!

Unbelievable result, unbelievable feeling and thoroughly deserved! Can't get over what an incredible appointment Paolo is turning out to be.

Hahaha lovely stuff.

I had no doubt whatsoever that we'd win today. They expected the L2 side to tire but it never happened.

Absolutely mental! Great game, great crowd and great atmosphere. Wish it was like that every home game!

I watched the game live on Setanta Ireland and what impressed me was rhe quality of the crosses into he box.

Benson looked class - not what I imagined him to be at all. Thought he was a poacher and that was it.

Had a few Guinesses and a bottle of red so I'll sign off with that age old favourite

FUCK OFF OXFORD

Down to PDC's intense training I'd say.

Stanchi?  MAI!!

Stanchi? MAI!!

Stanchi?? Non ti stanchi mai!!!!

As a side note looks like Southend away will have to be re-arranged. Not that it matters tonight.

I never go into a game against opposition from the top flight expecting to win... Full of hope but never expecting.

Adds to the happy feeling.

A good day.

Heh! heh!




Jan's gone nuts 8)

That was fucking ace. We were immense in the second half. Managed to miss the first goal as I was queueing for beer.
I wonder if we'll get a mention on Points West now?

Who wants what in the fourth round?

Deserved to win out there today.

For all of their possession, Wigan created very little. We were patient and the chances came to us. A very accomplished performance in the end and one that has made me very proud to be a Swindon fan!

Onwards and upwards!

PDC wants Man Utd!

Spurs would do for me, or Arsenal, Liverpool or Man U/Man City....

Bristol City would be nice . . . . oh hang on!!

Spurs at home please.

Paolo v Harry, live on Sky, go out in a blaze of glory in a 5 or 7 goal thriller, money in the bank and then back to the promotion campaign.

Happy days 8)

Ritchie pleased with the three points :D

Spurs would be brilliant.  Any London Prem side, in fact, would do me.  The only big side I really want to see us avoid would be West Ham...because then it would be all about the manager and not so much about STFC.

Another struggling prem team at home, one that would be beatable.. maybe Liverpool :-)

Anyone who questions Matt Ritchie's worth to the team should watch the highlights later. Without him, we're 'concentrating on the league' tonight....

Wow what a game!

I guess every man and his dog was there, so I'll try to keep my thoughts brief.

Up to the penalty Wigan passed it around well. We worked overtime to keep shape and keep it tight, and this restricted us going forward but also restricted Wigan too. It looked a clear cut penalty to me.

After the penalty we did what we did against Huddersfield. Unleashed hell. Well sort of. We had a good go at them for at least 5 minutes before the goal, raining the crosses in. Connell's goal was a great flick on.

Second half was kind of like a game against any old half decent division 2 team. And that is a massive massive compliment to our boys. We restricted Wigan to very few chances, we could have scored a couple more had Ritchie not bananad over a side foot, and had the ref given what looked like a penalty on Connell (might be wrong).

Sure the goal that won it was a bit fortuitous if reports of Benson being offside are true. But to think this slice of luck was undeserved would be wrong. We were the better team.

Wigan made a fair few changes from the Sunderland game, but once they had all their subs on we'd seen 7 players from the Sunderland squad "grace" the County Ground turf. This was no youth team.

Stand out players. All of them. Even Megera looked up for it and tried to put himself about!

If I had to single some out: Foderingham Ritchie, Caddis, McCormack, Flint..oh I'll just end up naming them all.


:)

The Connell penalty looked a good shout, but the one on Caddis after we scored was so Stonewall you could have issued an anti-Homophobia press statement in its name.

What a result.

Im off for a wank.

Ta Batch, bit of luck with the goal but I guess that evens up the penalty we didn't get for the foul on Connell

whilst my stream wasnt brilliant - I thought Simon Ferry was the best player on that pitch by a mile.

Jonathan Smith was outstanding I thought, but a great job all around!

Ball number 20 tomorrow and I cant wait ........ I quite fancy Liverpool home or away I dont care

Not sure it was, Caddis played it through Moses legs and he just stood his ground, nothing wrong with that afaik

The Caddis one was obstruction. Should have been an indirect free kick.

Top of the bill on the highlights tonight then??

PDC about to be interviewed on BBC Radio Five.

He's not "just stood his ground" though has he, he's turned and basically bent over like some sort of human umbrella.

Ever since The Washbag (I think) pointed out he doesn't give the ball away very often, I've watched him. And he doesn't. Great wee player.

WHat a fucking great game lads !!! So so happy, made them look a right bunch of mugs. We have made a massive statement with this win

I thought it was obstruction, which used to be indirect free kick in the box but I'm not sure if this is still the case.

Being a full house today, I really hope some of those 'fans' come back.

Brilliant afternoon. Really nice to actually turn in a performance with a packed ground.

The ref was shite. I thought both the Connell and Caddis incidents were penalties, probably more so the Connell one.

Wigan also should have been down to 10. Their number 6 was on a booking, went late on Caddis and the ref played advantage. Ok, the play went on for a while but he still should have called it back. At the first opportunity Martinez then subbed him off.

Really pleased for Connell too. Worked hard and thoroughly deserved his goal.

Thought Connell should've had a blatant pen as well. Saying that Wigan should've been down to 10 men, as Thomas should've been sent off for two bookings, who was then taken off.

It was a bit like the Hudders game when they tried to pass, pass, pass but they got nowhere.

Yeah, Hendry Thomas was a very lucky boy. Between that and one/two penalties, I think we deserved an offside goal!

That was brilliant.

Connell was brilliant i though, pity he got subbed off but you could see he was knackered.

Thought magera did ok when he came on.

It wasnt a popular sub, one bloke behind us went absolutely mental when he came on. Just what the guy needs that is..

Fair play to the woman that told him to shut his fucking trap, he was doing my head in

I'll admit I was a bit apprehensive at Magera coming on but he put in a good shift, held the ball up well and helped us waste some valuable seconds at the end. EVERYONE contributed today.

I thought Wigan's game plan was to send us all to sleep after the first 10 minutes!

You are welcome back any time, we need all the fans we can get.

Obstruction hardly exists any more

Nemo I could flick through the recording for a closer look and freeze frame but I can't be arsed :)

I couldn't understand why Connell came off as he was holding the ball up well. But fair play to Magera, he played well when he came on.

We arguably have a bigger if lower key game on Tuesday

Might have to wander up the shop to get some more San Miguel soon, they are going down too well :pint:

I have to pick and choose unfortunately due to money. It wasn't a dig at anyone, just hope people realise what a good team PDC is creating.

God I'm knackered, gave my all this afternoon, totally drained.

I did think I was going to puke in added time I was so tense.

Great display, I thought the two pens that we weren't given were nail on certainties. The effort put in by all was fantastic, really did us proud.

I thought Wigan were just a quicker version than Morecambe - but with slightly higher paid players - all possession and pretty passing but with absolutely no end product at all. (except a fluffed pen)

Connell was my MOM, totally awesome all game, held the ball up well, ruled the skies and scored a brilliant header..... he was clearly fucked when he came off - Magera I thought got stuck in well and really did his part - ruffed up their back 4 and chased down every ball - fair play to the lad....

Was only joking fella.

I'm so pleased Connell seems to be coming good.  I've been willing him to do well since he joined.  He made all the right noises at the time and you could tell his attitude was spot on...and this was borne out by what Grimsby fans were saying about him back then as well.  Could be a very important piece of our jigsaw in the run in.

Connell was my MOTM too. Ritchie, Caddis, Benson and Ferry were also class.

Stood and Sat in Stratton bank today, for the first time ever i think.
Might have already been said but i really felt we beat them without even having to be at our best and that's the best compliment i can give the team.
There's so much more to come from them.
I also like Dicanio's comment that the players had more belief they could beat Wigan than him.
Team is growing

That was awesome

I think he's great, he just needed a bit of time and a bit of a run in the side. He'd be my first name on the team sheet, also think he will link up well with Benson, both of them have a great first touch and link up play brilliantly, I can see us scoring a shed load more goals in the second half of the season

Let's not forget SuggWillSugg, he's instrumental in our success too

Wovers 2-0 down now, no upsets there

On a side note, would that have been the most town fans in the ground since the premiership days??

Great atmosphere today. Someone questioned the atmosphere in this thread, and if they were judging that by the online stream, they got it completely wrong. All 4 stands being open really does make a massive difference.

First half, we were great. Second half, we were phenomenal. The 3 league difference between the two teams could noe seen and if anything, we seemed the premiership team. Sure, Wigan had a lot of the ball at times, but our midfield and defence really limited them as to what they could do with it. Similar to their game against Sunderland to br honest.

After their first goal, we switched on. As Paolo would say, we had fire in our eyes. Our wingers were fantastic, their final crosses were immense as well as their one on one against defenders. Ritchie had a cracker today.

Second half we were even better and Wigan were in the backseat. I thought Connell was spectacular both halves, but was disappointed with Murray who was never really in the game. The introduction of Benson was certainly game-changing and his touches and reading of the game really shows promise. I think near the end, abensons fitness could be questionned which shows he still needs a lot more time in training.

I think we could have had two pens on a different day, but I'll take the offside goal I guess! The atmosphere after the winning goal was incredible. Can someone compare and the winner against Northampton? Also thought Mayer's was okay, ran a lot,  closed down defenders, did just what he had to. His time wasting at the end was so professional too.

Overall, everyone had a good game, but I have no idea why Kennedy got MoM. He was solid, but definitely not amok for me. I'd have to pick Caddis today. His linkup play with Ritchie was a different class to anything else on the pitch. He looked like he could play another whole half after that game, his fitness looks incredible. Real captain performance.

It did sound very quiet on the TV, guess it depended on how many microphones they stuck out

I thought Connell was knackered so it was an easy decision, but by bringing on Magera it offered a lot more height to our attack, Benson and Magera are pretty big guys!  Also helpful on defensive duties, but why the fuck do we bring all players back when we are defending a corner or set piece - leave one up front it does give us an outlet!

Magera keeping the ball in teh corner at the end was the best thing i've ever seen him do. He played a lot more withdrawn the connel was, adding a link between the midfield and benson up front, and a more physical threat to counter watson

Also one more thing. I thought Al Habsi was meant to be a phenomenal 'keeper? From what I saw, Wes was much much better. This guy is really going to be playing at the top level.

Him in the corner was beautiful. Exactly what the players and fans needed.

Tbf to him, Al Habsi pulled off a worldy save in the first half from a deflected effort. He's also been in decent form in the Prem recently. His time-wasting antics today were what pissed me off and he was rightly booked.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=summgE1qzek


Completely thrilled! atmostphere was brilliant, players were brilliant, today was brilliant! Incredibly proud of my team right now, lets get a nice 4th round draw now, get to Wembley in the JPT and get promoted!!!

His distribution was all over the place but he made a pretty good stop from I think Ritchie in the first half that was right in the bottom corner.

Wovers just missed pen to make it 3-2

i was on the bank and some of wigan's youfs who were giving it the big un at the start of the match had me in stiches. Right northern ragamuffins the lot of them. They soon disappeared in the second half. Enjoy the the bus ride home wankers.

I thought their keeper was a real weak link in all honesty.

Tans, was this in the DRS, Stratton Bank End ??

Here's the goals :

http://videa.hu/videok/sport/swindon-v-wigan-21-fa-cup-EwvVDrt2IrfTiHzu

Where I enter the DRS (think it is turnstile 20) the card reading machine was not working, the guy took the ticket, studied it for all of half-a-second and said ok, carry on!!!  What the fuck was happening outside the CGH after the game, more police there (some from Manchester) than we see all season at the games!

As soon as I saw the team, I was disappointed Al Habsi was playing. I thought to myself how on earth are we going to get past him. He was amazing last season.

I did enjoy their chant of how shit must you be to lose to wigan

http://www.skysports.com/football/match_video/0,26719,11065_3472277,00.html
video of jeremy wray on the match report tab

Same happened to the guy in front of me and to my friend and to me. The attendance was only 13k so I think the machines some of them were broken.

Looks like Benson meant it!

I'm going to wait to watch it on the telly, like the good old days!

Complete pricks some fans, Magera showed some true professionalism in closing stages, kept the ball up by the corner flag for well over 33% of injury time by playing it off Wigan players for a throw in and a corner.

when and where?

itv about 1030 tonight

Itv 1 10.45pm main game i believe

Yeah my season ticket failed to register. I got waived through too, but I did notice the green light go on as I did so I wonder if we were counted in "manually".

10:45. Surely we'll be on first!

Cannot wait!  ;D

I fucking loved that.

Loved it.

The misses asked what was wrong when my eyes were teary.

Not only did we beat them, we beat them fair and square. We were the better team.

Loved it

We're going to do the treble this season.  League 2, FA Cup and Johsntones paint trophy!

What's the lowest ranked team to have won the fa cup?

Bless, you gotta love him

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16455580.stm

Not sure if it counts, but pretty sure Tottenham were non-league when they won it in 1901.

In the 20+ years I've been watching, we've caused a cup upset only on a handful of occasions.  Given that this is only the 6th or 7th season in our history that we've played in the 4th tier, I would hazard a guess we may have created a little history today by turning over a team from 3 divisions up for the first time (and someone pls correct me if I'm wrong).  Maybe Paolo's plaque idea isn't so daft.

Congratulations SWS on a well deserved honour.

Just back......i am in heaven peeps.

An outstanding display which should not only make us fans proud but the whole of Swindon.
Alan Mac for me today....closely followed by Flint.
I am so proud to be a Town fan at this moment.............our moment in the sun.

The attendance wasnt announced at the game, would be good to know what it was.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/default.stm

Lead story on the Beeb. Doesn't happen often, if ever.

Starting 3-4-3 against a premier league team just made Paolo my favourite person in the world!

Got a new kitten today  :gay: Named him Paolo Di Catio!

I read on the BBC site that this is the first time we've reached the 4th Round since 1996!!!

Fantastic day today and great to see the CG full.  Apart from their two young lads, I thought they were dire and we dicked all over them in the second half.  Couldn't give a shit if Benson was offside, we totally deserved the win.  I wasn't even slightly concerned that they would come back and equalise.

Either a plum away tie or another winnable home one in the next round please Mr FA.

Brilliant that there weren't any other really big upsets today, so we get all the focus.  Lovely Jubbly.

Chuffed to bits with that today - the whole team put in a huge effort and deserved to win.

No problems with Kennedy getting MOM - he has come a long way defensively, and some of his crosses in the first half would surely have led to goals if Benson or Magera were on.

Special mention to Flint, Smith and Connell - hard to believe they were all playing non-league until recently.

anyone at home in the next round please, as there is no way I will make an away tie.

Great win.
Great day,
I'll be going out now to celebrate my new found knighthood.

Cheers boys.

Quite like Martinez, he did mention the goal being offside but wasn't, well, wasn't a Steve Evans about it

http://www.skysports.com/football/match_video/0,26719,11065_3472277,00.html

Macaris team beat Sheffield Wednesday in the 85/86 season though that was in the league cup.

[url width=900 height=591]http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f208/RWDP1983/STFC.jpg[/url]

So this weekend let us enjoy the attention  :)

3-4-3? are you sure?

It's a 4-3-3 that looks like a 4-4-2.

it's a 442!

Wow! What a game! Certainly the best FA Cup game I've been to.

Also, one of the most assured town games I've seen for a long while.

In summary...

...The whole team to a man played superbly.

In the first half, we were caught out by the diagonal ball from Watson/Caldwell to their left wing. Caddis was left exposed too often and any joy they had came down the left. It's also testament to how well De Vita tracked back and how well Kennedy played.

We didn't close down intensively in the first half, but to be fair, when Caldwell and Watson had the ball in front of their own area they didn't hurt us apart from the diagonal ball.

The quality of our crosses and balls in to the box caused them constant concern - as did Connell's movement.

Murray struggled to get into the game and didn't seem to move into the space that Connell's movement and working of the channels created.

2nd half: great substitution. Benson chased, hassled an lead the line brilliantly. The whole team chased down much more often and we dominated th midfield for spells - with Ferry, Richie and Caddis combining superbly.

Margera isn't a pretty player, but I though he put himself about well and crucially gave us a good outlet for clearances whenever we got pegged back. I appreciate he won't get us many goals per season, but I though he did an important job well.

As ever, Flint and McCormack complement each other brilliantly. Kennedy was solid and even his distribution looked much better. Perhaps wasn't the best games for Murray, De Vita and Smith (although Smith got stuck in and was more effective in the 2nd half).

Wes, Kennedy, McCormack, Flint, Caddis, Richie, Ferry, Connell and Benson were all awesome.

Great to see a packed County Ground - hope the stay aways start coming regularly.


I can't remember ever being so proud to be a town fan!

Was watching a foreign stream via a mates dodgy sattelite setup and thats the formation they showed. I drank a LOT during the game so cant say i remember seeing that formation but it definitley showed it pre kick off.

Watched it the pub fucking top result but the picture kept going. Is there anywhere i can watch it again>

Fuck about? What pub showed it?!

Just got home been in the Sir Dan blah. blah, blah. RED ARMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Attendance was 13,239, I think the ticket readers were not working so the count must have been done manually, still brilliant for the club.

5 of us were all told it was sold out?!?

:D

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/

On the main BBC News page aswell if you scroll down a bit. News tastic!

It whats the beeb and sky sports both have.

Why do the Beeb show a Wigan player celebrating as their main image? They really are pants.

Yes, i sit in r42, it was just behind me

By the way, though I should mention that the Connell "penalty" wasn't given because he was actually offside.

The lino didn't have the flag up long (fear of being lynched!) but the ref actually gave Connell offside - hence why no penalty.

Thought I should clear that up.

We all have our own opinions, but I thought De Vita was a bit of an unsung hero today. He out-muscled and out jumped the chunky right back a fair few times and also mostly gave excellent support to help Kennedy defend.

To be fair, you're quite right. His tracking back and cover work was superb. He posed a limited attacking threat - but he laid it off for Kennedy to whip in with his left - so De Vita did play his role well today.

I stood at my seat at the end and looked around me, at the players and at PDC.

I love being a Town fan.

Had a few after then :D

I think the attendance must have been a mistake but add 1000 onto the number and it's about right. 14238 would account to 3 or 4 hundred unsold away end tickets which looked about right.

 :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump: :wotjump:

PM Dean

What time are the highlights tonight anyone?

I'm sure I read 10.45pm on ITV1 a few posts back.

Cheers mate

Absolutely bang on. Magera was a huge  presence on the pitch that disrupted Wigan and his work at the end of keeping the ball in the corner during injury time was 2nd to none.  This was exactly why Di Canio bought him on.

i also thought he made a couple of lovely flick ons for us too.  Magera will come good. People just to have faith in him to build his confidence

I've seen replays

Connell's header for his goal was rather classy

That was fucking brilliant. We were the better team and totally deserved the win. I can't remember them creating a clear cut chance apart from the penalty.

Everyone had a great game today, Connell gets MOM for me. So proud to be a town fan tonight.

soapy tit wank - just checking cause fink i myt b the 'woman' !!  I'm in row s :-) U sitting on end seat ??

None of the players were bad today De Vita for me was the best I've seen him, Boyce was struggling alot agaisnt him. Smith started a bit dodgy but got alot better. Simon Ferry MOM for me, just didn't concede any possesion at all and got stuck and kept immense pressure on their 5 man midfield.

Yep,

You did well :D

That cunt with the glasses makes me angry..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcnC9-mm5A8

Barry, that's ace :)

If anyone is interested, Benson is supposed to be on TalkSport in a minute.

Can we put that on the front page for a bit :D

Brilliant Barry

It's official

fact

Haha, felt compelled to have some fun. :D

I never realised you were so old though Baz.

Nice one Barry. That made me laugh. Fact!

I don't video well. It adds years to me.

Just home, and read through the thread & all I have to say right now is
"that was fucking brilliant - FACT".

haha, that is awesome

It was the younger lad that I ended up having the spat with as he told me to 'shut the fuck up' ... red rag to a bull ! !
we did a countdown on how long it would take one of them to moan about Kennedy... Inside 1 min... !  Knobheads !

www.thesun.co.uk

We are on the front page of the site!

[url width=800 height=600]http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/7668/sunuu.jpg[/url]

Hes a cunt aswell, its moan moan moan all fucking game...

Yep, we bin listening to it for a few yrs now - always worse when they bin drinking....

What is Sir SWS record now ??

That cracks me up  :D

"~FACT!~"

can I just say - what the fuck!

So what's the punishment if we forget to write "Sir" before "Sir SuggWillSugg" ?

What a day. Nothing else to add.

Emotional from Di Canio - What a Manager we have.

All the part timers today - Get your arses back to the CG. Great seeing the ground full for a change.

Great day today

From Di Canios perspective I'm sure he would love to face Danny Wilson next round and progress to round 5 to meet Sir Harry than take the scalp of West Ham

So should we up the price for FA cup sponsorship next year. or pay the People, to keep our lucky shirts? :)

Hopefully Wray has learnt his lesson and we dont have a white one come out for the semi and final at Wembley.

Should we organise some sort of protective custody for Sir SuggWillSugg? Just in case some rival fans try to kidnap him in an attempt to stop him starting match threads when we play their team?

Troubling thought.

Jealousy from the other end of the A420

Apprently it was a youth team and reserve team squad

Fucking loving all the publicity we're getting. It's all about who Swindon want in the next round tomorrow  :D

I hope we get one of our local teams in Round 4 - Scumbags or Slave Traders or Rovers or Reading.

It's everywhere, top story on MSN, BBC, etc etc, Reminds me of the good old day!

:Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:
It makes today all the more sweeter!

Do we actually want a Man Utd tie away next round.. Or a realistic tie which we could actually win and progress to round 5  ???

The obsession has even got bigger.

I'd love an easy tie to be honest. I know people talk about how we lose to shit teams, but that won't ever happen on Di Canio's watch.

Yeah same here. I really wouldn't mind an easy tie, like Stevenage at home. Crawley would be very interesting.

Stevenage
Crawley
D&R/Millwall
Notts County
Nottingham Forest/Leicester
Brighton/Wrexham

All of those above would be very winnable ties.

We're on ITV right now.

First game up as well :D

Wes had the penalty covered.

"Playing football way beyond League Two standards"

Sounds pretty good.

wow benson was miles offside but hay who cares we deserve some luck :clap:

Well those highlights didn't last long?

Didn't even show the Caddis penalty shout or Ritchie's miss from close range.

Didn't show the Ritchie chance but otherwise a pretty good piece on us.

To be fair they do have another 25+ matches to get through.

In fairness, they've got too much to cover for extensive highlights.

Nice words from Strachan too.

Was rather brief! Was expecting much more into detail.

I think Ritchie's shot may have been going in (the offside goal by Benson). It was seriously directed at the inside post..

We deserved it - all their tippy tappy stuff is a waste of time if they never shoot.

Bring on Manure away next!

COYR

Sod getting man utd next round. I'd rather arsenal - easier to get too and probably the same outcome too

Yeah, shame that - I was looking forward to seeing both of those incidents again. I thought at the time that it was a deffo pen and it would've been interesting to see it again.

Just replayed the coverage again (Sky+) and yes Benson was offside but look at McManaman when the penalty is taken. He steps into the box before the ball is played - ENCROACHMENT.
Missed it first time sat in the DR stand and after they scored the atmosphere was a bit weird - thought it had been saved and the ball cleared only to see the Wigan players celebrating - thought they had all put a bet on a missed pen with betfair ;D

A very fair match report from a Wigan perspective on that This Northern Soul website that we all love!

http://thisnorthernsoul.co.uk/2012/01/07/abject-wigan-slip-to-embarrassing-defeat/

There's no way you can say Benson was 'miles' offside, yes he was a fraction offside but miles is stretching it a bit. I can see why the lino didn't give it, touch and go decision.

As a Scotland supporter I'm disappointed Maloney didn't have more success against a divvie 4 side.

ok not miles but was clearly offside if it was the other way round we would be moaning about it

I'll worry about that when it does happen to us again.

Until then... It was clearly onside.

yep we will take it :D

I want one of the major powers away from home so we can get as much money as possible.

Anyone else just see the highlights from the Reading game - massive areas of empty blue seating, if the fans can't be arsed they got what they deserved!

Run run run run Reading . . . ..

One of Cox's was a cracker, loan deal perhaps :-[

His second was a great strike, 20yds top corner.

Luckily for Simon Cox, Giovanni Trapattoni selects him despite his lack of game time.

If I was in Cox's situation, Euro 2012 would be my focus right now.

Hall of famers today, I heard/saw Parkin and Rowland who was the other one? It got a bit moisy when they were being announced.

Just woke up after a heavy day...fucking ace!

Hopefully a few of the part timers will come back.

Roll on Barnet!

Aha. Here we go again. Are you a kid in your Twenties Costanza ? The money grabbing mentality of contemporary society. When the great Don lifted trophies in the League Cup, League Cup Winners Cup and Anglo-Italian Cup, it was done through effort and pride ; money didn't enter the equation. Next you'll be wanting us to be spending money to get into the Premier League, a bit like......ermmm....Wigan.

I'll bite.

Why can't effort and pride and wanting Town to be financially sound go hand-in-hand?

This may come as a shock to you but the days of a small club like Swindon winning the F.A. or any Cup are slim. So let's make as much money as possible, right?

It's not as if a big day out did Exeter City any harm? Or Burton Albion? Was it? But I'm sure they would have preferred getting knocked out to Bournemouth & Boscombe or Hartlepools United or Workington Town instead of a trip to Old Trafford where they got significant gate receipts. I know Heaven forbid, right!

We're a team that needs money to sustain it's high profile manager and player budget. I've supported and contributed to the club during it's darkest days and won't apologise in any way, shape or form for wanting Swindon to get a pay day out of all this.

I hope you get what you want and we a get a cozy little cup tie against Stevenage... again.

Even children in their late-20's, like me, can patronise.

Hall of Famers interviewed on BBC Wilts were Andy Rowland, Sam Burton and Arnold Darcy. The last 2 were genuinely proud to have been remembered for their efforts 50-odd years ago (AR still a ledg, but more recent). And that's why we support the Town, and why today's hero's will be remembered in 50 year's time whilst last season's wasters won't.

If you had any pride and effort in your posting you'd be able to quote properly.

Old people and technology eh ::)

Looking at the ITV highlights it looks to me like he actually wasn't offside. When the ball is kicked by Ritchie there is a player up where the score is tha0 tlooks to be playing him on if the next closest player isn't.

But we get karma from Benson's goal anyway.

Loved the bit where the commentator exclaimed "This is gorgeous football by Swindon Town!"

 :toocool:

It was though! It was quick one touch stuff that ended up with Murray's shot. Thought it looked even better/quicker live.

Nice complimentary punditry from ITV too.

I would take a big tie (Big Pay Day) every time. We need this kind of financial input to help us achieve our ultimate aim....getting out of this shitty league. Without sounding like a Leeds fan, our brand of football is too good for League 2. We are not a rich club and we like most other clubs in the lower leagues, need the money!

Agreed, would also reward the players for what so far has been a pretty good season (though we haven't achieved anything...yet).

But I don't mind which round the payday comes. We can wait until the semi-final I guess :)

Well, regardless of who we get in the next round you have to savour every moment of days like yesterday.

Moments like when the famous Sports Report music came on yesterday on 5 Live and the very first words mentioned were 'Swindon Town'.

Now that is a moment to be savoured and enjoyed.

Beautiful 8)

Loved when Drury said we play football.way beyond L2 level.

Ditto on the 10:30 ITV news last night, after they did all their "If you don't want to know the scores, turn away now" bollocks - the first name mentioned was Swindon. Great stuff!

Will never ever tire from watching those highlights, think Drury has a bit of a soft spot for us now after punditry he gave us

Haven't yet had time this morning to read the overnight posts so if it's been linked already, I apologise.  But do take a look at the match report in this morning's Sunday Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/fa-cup/8997835/Swindon-Town-2-Wigan-Athletic-1-match-report.html) if you haven't already.  It's a belter.

Seeing the nationals devoting serious space in their pages to Swindon Town takes me right back to the early/mid 1990s.

Yep :nod:

Fantastic - great article, the opening paragraph was excellent :

“Paolo Di Canio!” the County Ground sang in full throated honour to the exultant strains of La donna è mobile and Swindon’s most unlikely idol raised his hands to the skies in almost Messianic pose.

Paolo also makes the front page of the Corriere dello Sport -

http://www.corrieredellosport.it/index.shtml?refresh_ce

"Di Canio, gioia incontenibile: che impresa con lo Swindon" ...apparently.

"Di Canio, overwhelming joy, that company with the Swindon"

Google translate may not be perfect, but the sentiment is clear.

Cant put my finger on what it is but I find the itv fa cup coverage far inferior to the bbc...they jsut dont seem to capture the spriti like the bbc used to....

anyway, another question for those int he TE...how did the bank sound, loud or paltry? Hard to hear when you are in it...

They may have had Moses on the bench, but we have God in the Dugout!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are the highlights online?

I may have missed it during the week but when did PdC claim we were the Barcelona of league two? Smacks of being a bit Leedsesque...

Or was it tongue-in-cheek?

Five live interview

Some here

http://footyroom.com/swindon-2-1-wigan-athletic-2012-01/

On sky sports 1 talking about pdc (sunday supplement) in the next hr

Well the Iaraelites would have been fucked with that Moses because there was no way he was going to part the red sea.

And the obsession gets greater and greater...

 http://paolodiclownio.blogspot.com/?m=1

Have to say I was impressed with Ince and Strachan from usual pundits.

You should try counselling, before you get diagnosed with a full blown OCD....

Youre probably right to be fair, i need to get out more

It is quite flattering, setting up blogs in our manager's honour.

Totally.

This pic will be my wallpaper for a while!


http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16372054.stm

anybody know the official attendance....i have £30 in the sweep and the natives are restless!

According to the BBC match report the attendance was 13,238.

First words spoken on Goals on sunday,

"Swindon Town"
:D

:D

 :)

No you're right, I didn't. That's because I'm a fan of a lower league club and therefore it's a given

I would've have liked a bit more of a reply but you're probably fishing. I'd place my personal Scrooge McDuck sized fortune that if we got Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea or a Manchester club away you'd be front row centre.

My original point was not geared towards "effort and pride" because as I alluded to, that's all Swindon Town fans can grab on to most of the time.

Again, I stand by my point.x

Love the ending.x

A lot has been written how poor Wigan were, and yes for a premiership side they were very poor from an attacking point of view.  Hardly remember Wes being troubled all afternoon.  They had a lot of possession (62%) and knocked the ball about nicely without ever looking like they had a killer touch.  We allowed Watson to run the show, he was sitting just in front of his back four and picking up everything.  The game changed for me when Benson came on, he put the back four under a lot more pressure than Murray did and Watson did not have the time on the ball he had previously.  There was really only one team in it for the whole of the second half and we got the result we deserved.  I seem to remember Morecambe had a similar amount of possession and they got beat 3-0.

There's a fantastic photo of a few Town fans walking by the back of the Stratton Bank on the BBC website yesterday. I can't link directly to the image so you'll have to flick through but it's an excellent image.

also Paolo nuzzling Caddis, how romantic

[url width=640 height=480]http://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/javaImages/36/22/0,,10341~10363446,00.jpg[/url]

Same photo is on that Wigan blog. Great picture.

ah, cheers John

[url width=766 height=511]http://thisnorthernsoul.co.uk/wp-content/uploads2/2012/01/stfc.jpg[/url]

lovely  :headhurts:

that bank looks rank!

Final thought from me.....

loving the white shorts...

Photographers love a bit of grim football stadia though don't they.

There can surely not be a more inappropriate image to sum up yesterday in particular and the club in general at the present time. You would think the club was in Darlington's position, about to play its last game (possibly).

Fucking awful.

P.S. Also loving the white shorts.

Expect to see the back of the Stratton Bank repainted and tidied up...  Can't see the board being happy with that image.

Absolutely terrible.

On another note, The People must doing cartwheels at the moment (from Gary Rose's Twatter)...

[url width=600 height=803]http://p.twimg.com/AiokyeuCMAALUkq.jpg[/url]

Get the local graffiti artists to do a footy mural

Is it just me or is benson proper ugly?

Of all the supporters in the world to be right now being a town fan must be one of the best.  Yes we are a 4th division team but I'm loving this season more than many in a long long time.  Its difficult to imagine one person igniting the passion and desire for football in a town amongst players and fans as much as Di Canio has.  Hopefully this is the start of great things for Swindon, lets hope we can keep hold of our manager for many years to come!

When did Peter Kay become a Town fan / (Walk and all). :)

That photo is fucking ace. We aren't a nice new shiny premiership team, we're little Swindon Town. 125 years of history and tradition. That photo is real life - grimy and perfectly illustrates passage of time and entropy. Everything in the universe tends towards chaos, love, love, love it.

It looks like the poster for a Danny Boyle film.

"Swindon: The Movie"

Starring Tom Hardy as Sonicyouth and Paul Gandolfini as Mexico Red

If it wasn't for the fatties it'd be a great photo.

It's nice being the main story in just about every national newspaper's sports pages.

Absolutely brilliant day yesterday, what a performance. Definitely getting a few odd looks off the locals at the pub I was watching it in, not sure they were expecting to see a dozen or so Town fans jumping up and down like lunatics on a Saturday afternoon.

Well deserved win and am now eagerly awaiting the draw for the next round later.

It shows what a good turn out it was by the Town faithful yesterday - just tuned into Peterborough V Sunderland and see lots and lots of empty seats!

Paolo, it's Paolo,

and its not 3-4-3

Still buzzing from yesterday and nice to see a prediction I made come in, 2-1 to the Town and fully deserved!...2012 is going to be the year for Swindon Town F.C

Any of the top 4 in Prem for me in Round 4, don't mind home or away just enjoy the day!

Onwards to Barnet...

I remember when the Bank had a proper makeover in about 1964, that was when that corrugated iron was put up, also new bogs with drains were installed....looked proper nice with its flagpoles and shiny new Deacon's clock. New turnstiles were put up in Shrivenham Road, so you could access both the Bank and Shrivenham Road.

The back and bogs have not been touched since...

BRILLIANT STUFF!

I saw the match on telly with my dad-in-law. Many norwegians got to see the game cause it was also sent live on Viasat Sport in Norway!

BRILLIANT STUFF!

I celebrated Alan  Connell's goal so hard that my daughter (2 yrs old) started to cry... and had to be comforted...  ::)

 :D

Just read through the 41 pages so not much I can add except we got into the Arkells around 2.45 by which time the stewards were'nt even checking tickets and I didn't even need to put my season ticket into the machine as the turnstiles were just open because of the amount of fans still outside. Great, Great day !

Yep. Here goes and you can have bit more of a reply. And no, I wasn't fishing. If you wish to stand by your point of wishing "a major player away from home so we can get as much money as possible" then, fair enough, even though I may find it negative and irksome. You are alluding purely towards financial gain at the expense of, and without any reference to cup glory, progressing further in the competition or even attempting to win a trophy.

Going back to 1969 I don't recall Danny Williams and the lads, or even Town fans, saying anything similar to your original post. They accepted any draw and just got on with it. If I have missed something then thank fuck their hopes were dashed upon drawing Coventry City (away 4th round) and Derby County (away 5th round). Had we been drawn against a "major player" eg Liverpool, Man Utd or Spurs, then we would more than likely have been eliminated. Our historic day would not have come about. Todays fans would probably not be making their way to the "Don Rogers Stand".

I was making the point that it is a sad indictment on society, especially regarding younger folk, that certain elements of football have lost their perspective, where money, financial gain and materialism are given priority over everything else.

Don't get me wrong. I appreciate that as a loss-making club in a shit division there is added urgency in considering all revenue streams, but, not at the expense of everything else. Talking of prize money, tv revenue etc is fine yet when it replaces talk of cup glory and achievement then surely something is not quite right. We are a fucking football club not a PLC trying to maximise profits for it's shareholders.

I don't get your point in stating that I'd be front row centre at Arsenal, Liverpool etc. Maybe I would. Just as I will be at Forest or Leicester. Just as I will be at Crewe and on Good Friday at Morecambe. Or were you just being presumptuous ?

Perhaps you should have worded your original post a little better. I want to watch my team play at the County Ground, just as I have done since 1968. If by renaming it as the Honda Stadium or WHSmith Bowl, with associated sponsorship, suits you better to fulfill your wish of "getting as much money as possible" then we will have to agree to disagree.

Again I stand by my point which I hope I have illustrated further for your satisfaction.x

football may have changed a bit since 69.

we arent going to win the fa cup this season. we need to make as much money out of it as possible and use that to progress the club.

I dont want us playing in L2 any longer than May this year. L1 as we know is also utter and shite and we dont want to stay there do we?

In the long run we'd have a better chance of progress back towards the championship having made a large amount of extra revenue from big pay days in the cup competitions.

In recent years after big pay days at Old Trafford - Exeter, Burton and Crawley have all progressed their clubs. Two of them currently above us in the pyramid as well.

I don't doubt that football has changed since 1969. Yet if we were to adopt a defeatist and negative attitude, one based purely on financial resources, then what excitement would be left for the fans ? The whole nation was enthralled on Saturday because L2 Swindon beat greed league Wigan. The headlines weren't "Swindon Town win £67,500 in fucking prize money and progress to the next round".

I don't know the intricate details involving financial dealings made by your aforementioned clubs. They may have their own stories to tell.

On the flip-side 2 teams (Southampton and Southend) seem to be doing rather well at the moment. Both have relatively recently been in the financial deep shit. Remind me when they both played at Old Trafford in a cup competition.

Money doesn't guarantee success or even provide security. Ask any Plymouth fan. No, money isn't the key, it's all about financial planning and the "management" of financial resources. I trust our Board implicitly in that respect. They knew what they would be taking on, they knew that they would be operating at a loss and the recent acquisitions of Benson and Foderingham suggest they are prepared to fork out money with no guarantee of a good cup run.

Let them worry about the financial side of things; as mere fans we should be looking forward more to glory and success.

Scandinavians and long dark nights just cause problems. :-[

Hammer, if it wasn't for the fans worrying about the finances of out club we would still have Diamandis knocking around. Whilst I agree in principal with what you say if we are to go out next round I'd rather cash in whilst we can.

I don't think Southampton is a good example btw having being taken over by the Liebherr family (Markus), one of the ritchest families in the world (3 billion euros).

Managed to watch all of the 2nd half on a big screen in a backpacker hostel in Cambodia after streaming the 1st at a shitty internet cafe next door. Superb team performance, a great advert for lower league football and the result was thoroughly justified. Shame about the draw, suspect we'll go out to either side but great to still be in the cup!

Back home after a great weekend in England. Topped off by Saturday. Thought we showed Wigan far too much respect in the first half and they had the ball when they wanted. Although, penalty aside, they never looked very dangerous or had any cutting edge. What did interest me in the first half was the way we stopped Al Habsi distributing the ball out short to his defenders. Clearly in the Premiership, teams will work their way up the pitch from the back and Connell and Murray/Ritchie pressed so high up that Al Habsi couldn't play the ball out short and was forced to belt it forward, clearly something they weren't used to, which I think disrupted them a bit. After they scored, we had a great spell of play and Connell's deft header was no more than we deserved.

Second half, we upped the tempo and got much more posession. Ritchie and Caddis down the right were both superb and I thought our left hand side combo of Kennedy and De Vita was more dangerous than when I had previously watched us. I was thoroughly impressed with Connell up front, who ran himself into the ground. Benson came on and won everything in the air and showed intelligent hold up play, running and passing. Connell and Benson have the potential to form a formidable partnership in this league. They already seem to have a 'connection' playing with each other (the bit of interplay head tennis on the left hand side springs to mind!).

At the back, well we didn't really have that much to do to be honest. Wigan without Roddallega were a bit powder puff. I liked the look of Ben Watson for them in midfield, but thought Simon Ferry was the more productive player.

Overall a great day out, hopefully Forest/Leicester will be equally as enjoyable!

Another final final point from me...

Enjoyed the time wasting in the corner by magera towards the end....I absolutely hate it when teams do that to us...most be the most frustrating thing to experience as a footy fan, so nice to have the shoe on the other foot for a change...

http://www.thefa.com/video/FA-Competitions/FA-Cup/2011-2012/3RP/Swindon-Town-2-1-Wigan-Athletic

Some highlights here (apologies if already posted)

Here's a few clips, the first 2 are just as the final whistle goes apologies for the shaky bit of camera work
the 3rd link is a quality bit from the Townend
Going to be watching these for a while


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnvAa7Je8lY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnvAa7Je8lY)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4-nP_DeCYA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4-nP_DeCYA)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icHUG3tlGmY&sns=em (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icHUG3tlGmY&sns=em)

Southampton are being bank rolled to fuck. Southend arent doing well at all?

I am looking forward to more glory and success but that glory and success is more likely to come with more money behind us. Which is what my last post was all about.

We signed Benson and Foderingham after the 3rd round draw had been made, yes?

Southampton have a combine estimated net worth of £3 BILLION!

Only QPR, Spurs, Man City and Arsenal have more wealthy backers than them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_football_club_owners

And to put this in context our illustious backers have a combined net worth of approx £550m.

I thought it was closer to 1bn

Who are these exactly?

Wray, Fitton, Andrew Black and Sir Martyn Arbib.

Don't think it's as high as £1bn Flashheart, Arbib is worth around £325m and Black £125m.

27. Sir Martyn Arbib £325m

Swindon Town (Last year £325m, 29th)

When Sir Martyn Arbib joined the consortium taking over the Robins in January 2008, some said he was backing the wrong horse. That would make a change for Arbib, whose horse Snurge won the 1990 St Leger. A former City financier, Arbib set up the Perpetual fund management group in Henley-on-Thames in 1974. He sold it for £1.05 billion in 2000, collecting £113m in cash and shares in the purchasing group, Amvescap, worth around £300m at the time. He became Amvescap's second largest shareholder. With previous share sales and other assets, the Arbib family should be worth £325m after tax.

47. Andrew Black £100m

Swindon Town (Last year £185m, 37th)   

A Swindon Town director and member of the consortium that took over the club in 2008, Andrew Black used to make a decent living as a professional gambler backing horses or playing bridge. But he resented the money that traditional bookmakers were making and thought that there had to be a better way of betting.
It was when he met former investment banker, Ed Wray, at a 1999 garden party that he found the better way. Black described his idea for a different kind of bookmaking where punters would post bets of their own online and wait for others to take them on. Betfair was born the next year when the pair raised over £1m in venture capital funding. Its site is working 24 hours a day, seven days a week thanks to a huge investment in technology. Betfair floated on the stock market in October 2010 valued at nearly £1.4 billion. But initial euphoria quickly wore off and the shares have fallen sharply since. The group is currently worth just £788m. Black's stake is now worth £80m. Share sales at the float and other assets add around £20m after tax.

Plus the much smaller backing of Jeremy Wray and Andrew Fitton then it is much nearer the £550m mark than £1,000m

But then if you read the Pox forums then its a very different story, we are hugely in debt and about to go under! :D


They really are obsessed by us over there. I often read it for a laugh.

Impressive how they can turn being one of very few league clubs to turn a profit into a negative thing.

All these "worth xxx million" things from papers/rich lists are a bit pointless though aren't they.

Mainly because
   a) This figure is speculative
   b) This is generally not a liquid figure, but in "assets".
   c) Even if it is liquid it doesn't mean its going to be invested in a football club.

That said, I'd rather we have someone on the rich list than not.

Most important of all those statements.

Apologies for the delay DV, but history suggests otherwise.

Since 1990 twelve teams from the 3rd tier and downwards have played at Old Trafford in Cup matches. You conveniently selected the 3 from non-league who have progressed in the pyramid. You also conveniently omitted Halifax Town, York City and Wrexham who, despite their "Old Trafford payday" have since slipped down into non-league football.
Let's add Bury, Wallsall and Barnet who have made no progress at all.

Which leaves another 3........Bolton, Leeds and Fulham. Enough said about them.

I conclude that an "Old Trafford payday" does not seem to provide the added impetus that you seem to imagine.

Yes, two of your teams currently stand above us in the pyramid; actually all three were until Paolo's Northamptathon. I'd be inclined to put that down to our relegation rather than a sudden upturn in their fortunes.

Finally, and with reference to my mention of Southampton, I do feel that you missed my point: which was, that even teams seemingly deep in the shit can achieve without having to play at Old Trafford. Even if they have been bankrolled, like wot we are.

Ritchie nominated for player of the round.

http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/FACompetitions/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/2012/Player-of-the-Round-3RP

I'm just surprised that it wasn't Jim Rosenthal who voted for him.

Disagree, we wouldn't exist. A day longer & we'd have been given a winding up order by the revenue

My take on the day-

A great performance from all the players for the majority of the game. A couple of them had shaky moments but pulled it together.

I think Bam may have got it together now. His contribution for the short period he was on was very important- disrupting Wigan and playing excellent keep ball in the corner.

As for the draw? Looking at the FA site, a win in the next round nets 90k so a share of the gate at a bigger club than we are with a possibility of a win as well is not something to sneeze at. I think winning against Forest or Leicester is doable.

What are the chances of us winning? A million to one? Someone somewhere said the problem with million to one chances are they tend to happen :D

Folk at work I haven't seen since the weekend keep saying what a result it was- COME ON YOU REDS!

We're currently 750/1 on William Hill to win it outright..

Gotta be worth a quid  :D

Not sure about winning it but think I'll have a few quid on getting to the final ;)

All well and good about the backers and financial clout. But it didnt stop us selling a striker last january for £1.2m and replacing him with one for £70k who was worth about £50k.

Hammer is right. The sport is the interesting part the fans should concentrate on. Its all about the glory at the moment. Its sad that we beat Wigan, and people are jumping to talk about STFC in the Premier League and things like that. We just beat a top flight team, enjoy it and look forward to the draw.

re: attendance.

Is it safe to assume that something didn't go right in counting the attendance?!

BBC have it as 10, 488 - clearly wrong.
Most other places, 13238
Official site has it as 13,935 - seems more realistic. maybe they originally forgot the Wigan fans :)

fucked up my sweep i can tell you!!

I thought someone had said that the entry system went haywire, and that they were manually checking tickets towards the end.

I guess if that was true, it would explain why they took so long to announce the crowd & also why the numbers may not be quite what was expected.

They were letting people in manually, but for me they pushed a button and the light came on so I think I was counted.

But someone said they were waving people through near kick off?

Cant they just tell on tickets sold?....fook me it aint rocket science.

You sell the tickets,and you count how many you sold,now i know my spelling is awfull but even i can add up.

Are attendances reported as tickets sold, or those that actually make it through the turnstyle?

The turnstiles in the Arkells were just rushing people through at 2.45pm and weren't checking either tickets of cards.

Think this should be highlighted to any wannabee match day thread starters.

I put our season tickets in the machine out of habit but the kid just told us to walk through. The gate thingy certainly wasn't working and didn't make its usual unlocking click before you walked through.

I joined the shortest queue at the Arkells and that was still long. Must of been hundreds going through without being checked/counted.