The Opponent: Cheltenham Town.
The magic of the FA Cup has arrived with the short journey up the road to Cheltenham. My last visit was the first game of the Di Canio era a few years back. We lost 1-0 and some fat oik at the train station on the way home said to me, “You lot are going down man”. Chuckle.
In 2006, a house valuation web site rated Cheltenham the most desirable property location in Britain. In 2014, The Daily Telegraph newspaper named Cheltenham as the best place in the United Kingdom to raise a family. The unemployment rate in Cheltenham was 2.7% in 2010 compared to the UK national unemployment level of 7.9%. So if burglary is more your thing, there is more on offer in Cheltenham than just the football.
Last Time Out – Saturday 1st November: Cheltenham Town 0 York City 1 - Diego De Girolamo scored his third goal in four matches as York beat Cheltenham to seal their second win of the season. The Italian striker, on loan from Sheffield United, steered home Michael Coulson's pass to give the visitors a deserved half-time lead. The Minstermen then had to withstand a second-half rally from Cheltenham. Away goalkeeper Aleksander Cisak did superbly to twice deny Byron Harrison, while Terry Gornell sent a free header wide for the hosts.
Starting XI - Saturday 1st November - Carson, Brown, Deaman, Elliot, Vaughan, Hanks (De Vita), Taylor, Richards, Braham-Barrett, Marquis, Gornell.
They have served us both – Steve Abbey, Harold Bailey, Paul Benson, Billy Brae, Alan Churchward, David Dangerfield, David Elsey, Brian Hughes, Gary Marshall, Nobby Newberry, Michael Rose, Billy Tucker, Bobby Weale, Ken Skeen, Willie Penman, Kaid Mohamed, Dai Jones, Charlie Henry, Arnold Darcy, Shane Cook, Aaron Brown, Martin Blackler, Jim Barron, Kevin Amankwaah, Andy Wollen, Mike Summerbee, Michael Pook, Harry Morris, Reg Jones, Dave Hockaday, Fred Edmonds, Jamie Cureton, Geoff Chalkin, Steve Book, Ray Baverstock, Kevin Baddely
The Odds – Cheltenham 13/5 Draw 5/2 Swindon Evens
The Son Says – Buzzing from a late winner on Tuesday, he predicts a 3-1 win on our travels.
The Prediction – Must admit I have been flat out this week so know nothing about ticket sales. I'm going for a 5-1 win, Smith x3, Williams and Kasim. 888 from the mighty Robins in a crowd of 3’345
And Finally – In 2012, Left Wing mouthpiece, The Guardian, found that at the end of 2011, 41 multi-millionaires lived in Cheltenham, which was the fourth-highest rate in the UK of multi-millionaires per 100,000 people at 35.44.
