Teams not played before

[slinky_dog]

Not wishing to tempt fate but it’s difficult not to be thinking about league one football next year....

Assuming the next few games go to plan, which teams would be new to us, if any?

Although promotions and relegations are not sorted in any league, Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich are two teams I cannot recall seeing and who are likely to be in league one next year given their current positions? But the statisticians amongst you may recall previous encounters.

And if I were to extend that question from teams to grounds, have we played in Rotherham’s New York Stadium?

[Artemis]

Charlton?

[slinky_dog]

Charlton?

We beat Charlton in one of the league cups I think.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

We have played at Rotherham’s new stadium before. I travelled down with a mate from Newcastle. He is not a Cheltenham fan, but Keith Lowe was his favourite player on Football Manager.

Things I remember from the day:

- I had planned to meet TaxiDave in the pub in the station but got timings wrong.
- The pub in the town centre which had loads of Sky Sports banners in the window. But didn’t have Sky or sell lemonade.
- The great little pub by the canal on the way to the ground, where there were a number of Robins.
- Billy Jones corner driven into the net by Keith Lowe to put us 1-0, much to my mate’s joy.
- The bizarre semi-pro wrestling bouts pre-match / half time from a local wrestling league.
- As we conceded goals on the pitch it also turned sour in the stands. The gobby young fans got in a ruckus with stewards and then the police who came into the stand and there was a lot of pushing and shoving and a fan dragged out. “Justice for the 96” and “South Yorkshire Police, f-cking disgrace. South Yorkshire Police, f-cking disgrace” chanted frequently for the rest of the match.
- Managed to fit one in at the Sheffield Tap when changing trains on the way home.

[Robin]

Wimbledon, Charlton, Sheff Wed and Ipswich would all potentially be new grounds for us. You'd imagine Sunderland and Sheff Wednesday home games would be close to a sell out at Whaddon Road too.

[Jon Palmer]

Cheltenham played Ipswich in the Southern League in the 30s.

Never played Sheffield Wednesday competitively, but there was a friendly at Whaddon Road in the late 80s, which the Owls won 5-1.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Still a strong possibility that Sunderland get promoted, unfortunately. Ipswich probably a big crowd too.

Derby are not safe yet, so if Rotherham or Sheff Wed do stay up, it could be Rooney’s Derby coming down.

[bigdavejambo]

Still a strong possibility that Sunderland get promoted, unfortunately. Ipswich probably a big crowd too.

Derby are not safe yet, so if Rotherham or Sheff Wed do stay up, it could be Rooney’s Derby coming down.

Birmingham?

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Still a strong possibility that Sunderland get promoted, unfortunately. Ipswich probably a big crowd too.

Derby are not safe yet, so if Rotherham or Sheff Wed do stay up, it could be Rooney’s Derby coming down.

Birmingham?

A couple of points ahead of Derby, but a since Bowyer has come in they have put a good run together so should be comfortably safe.

[Artemis]

Charlton?

We beat Charlton in one of the league cups I think.

So we did. 2016, a 1-0 win, thanks to a Harry Pell goal. The Valley would be new territory for us though.

[Fuller]

Still a strong possibility that Sunderland get promoted, unfortunately. Ipswich probably a big crowd too.

Derby are not safe yet, so if Rotherham or Sheff Wed do stay up, it could be Rooney’s Derby coming down.

Birmingham?

We played at St Andrews in the FA Cup in 1990. But they will be safe.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

The weird thing is, whilst we could see games against the likes of Sunderland, Ipswich, Wednesday etc, we are also going to see games against Wycombe, Accrington and Burton..fixtures we would have expected in non-league rather than lookout forward to in the third tier!

[RobinHood]

In theory some potentially big clubs, but not many local teams about judging from some of the current tables.

Bristol Rovers and Swindon both look doomed to relegation, so the closest team next season (unless one of FGR or Newport go up with us) may well be Oxford, although they do have an outside shot of the play-offs themselves. Will be clocking up some milage if we do go up.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

In theory some potentially big clubs, but not many local teams about judging from some of the current tables.

Bristol Rovers and Swindon both look doomed to relegation, so the closest team next season (unless one of FGR or Newport go up with us) may well be Oxford, although they do have an outside shot of the play-offs themselves. Will be clocking up some milage if we do go up.

Good point. The map on here is a good visualisation of what you describe:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/EFL_League_One" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

In case people were unaware, Coventry won at Rotherham on Thursday night to pick up a vital three points.

This does leave Derby and Birmingham much more exposed.

Assuming the bottom two (Wycombe and Sheff Wed) are down, we have:

19. Birmingham. P 41. Pts 45
20. Huddersfield. P 41. Pts 44
21. Derby. P 42. Pts 43
————————————————
22. Rotherham. P 39. Pts 39

If Rotherham do manage to capitalise on games in hand and stay up, then it looks like it would be Derby who we play next season.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Big night for Rotherham, and potentially CTFC, tonight.

As it stands:

Derby - P43 - Pts 43
Rotherham - P40 - Pts 39
Sheff Wed - P43 - Pts 39

Three games in hand for Rotherham, the first of which is tonight.

Personally, with no disrespect to Rotherham, Sheff Wed and Derby would both be much bigger games against much bigger and more famous sides.

I hope Rotherham win tonight and capitalise on their other games in hand, whenever they manage to fit them in.

[Robin]

Oxford is local, Shrewsbury is not far, Wycombe also not a bad away trip to get too. But Sunderland and Wednesday could sell out our away end twice over no issue.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Oxford is local, Shrewsbury is not far, Wycombe also not a bad away trip to get too. But Sunderland and Wednesday could sell out our away end twice over no issue.

And the reverse, it would be nice for CTFC players and fans to travel to Hillsborough or Pride Park.

[longmover]

lets just wait till we're there first

[Shade]

The best thing about away days in League One is not having to climb that bloody hill in Nailsworth.

Hopefully.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

The best thing about away days in League One is not having to climb that bloody hill in Nailsworth.

Hopefully.

They might make it up now Cooper got the boot.

[Jerry St Clair]

Would definitely try to make Sheff Weds. Hillsborough is a spectacular old ground. It feels absolutely massive inside. Although many new Prem grounds are much bigger, they somehow don't feel as grand.

Charlton is a great away trip, too. Plenty of opportunity for pub discovery in east London.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Would definitely try to make Sheff Weds. Hillsborough is a spectacular old ground. It feels absolutely massive inside. Although many new Prem grounds are much bigger, they somehow don't feel as grand.

Charlton is a great away trip, too. Plenty of opportunity for pub discovery in east London.

I would make a weekend of it for Ipswich, and depending on time of year, Blackpool and Lincoln. Lincoln’s Christmas market compares to Munich’s so a winter trip there would be welcome.

Last time I went to the Stadium of Light was to watch an international (England vs Australia) and before that Fulham in the Premier League when Berbatov was playing. First trip there was to watch the Robins in the League Cup (2006 or 2007?). Who else made the trip up for that?

[asl]

I was there. Extra time wasn't fun for those of us driving home and getting up for work the next morning. Le Tellac (sp, probably...Liverpool loanee) scored for them - but how close did Damo come to a late, late, equaliser...?

[Red Duke]

I was there. Extra time wasn't fun for those of us driving home and getting up for work the next morning. Le Tellac (sp, probably...Liverpool loanee) scored for them - but how close did Damo come to a late, late, equaliser...?

I was also there but living in Northumberland at the time so not so far for me.

[horlickfanclub]

Milton Keynes is not far.

[Robin]

Milton Keynes is not far.

Hopefully people still boycott it or have we become tolerant of franchising in football now?

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Milton Keynes is not far.

Not much of a day out though, either the stadium or the town. Went there for a day 15+ years ago for an urban design/planning field trip (mainly so the international cohort could see a British new town) and no reason to go back.

[Jerry St Clair]

I would make a weekend of it for Ipswich, and depending on time of year, Blackpool and Lincoln. Lincoln’s Christmas market compares to Munich’s so a winter trip there would be welcome.

Last time I went to the Stadium of Light was to watch an international (England vs Australia) and before that Fulham in the Premier League when Berbatov was playing. First trip there was to watch the Robins in the League Cup (2006 or 2007?). Who else made the trip up for that?

Good shout for Lincoln. Blackpool is a dump. It sounds like a fun away trip, but it really isn't. The two worst hotels I've ever stayed in are both in Blackpool. The locals are pretty unfriendly in my experience too. The pubs before and after a match and not welcoming. Just say no, kids.

Without wishing to detract from the CTFC focus, I went to the Stad of Light just after it opened for a midweek game with Reading. it was a sellout and we only took about 150. We had three rows of seats allocated to us in one corner with a buffer of two rows of empty seats around us, another row of stewards and a few police. The police escorted us in the concourse, which we were sharing, at half time. It was noisy and intimidating. I'm glad we lost! I've also been there when it's half full and it feels desolate. A weekend in Newcastle is attractive though, obvs.

[Robin]

I went to the Stadium of Light, pretty sure we took around 350 for a midweek trip in that league cup game, was great atmosphere even with 10,000 or so in there.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

I went to the Stadium of Light, pretty sure we took around 350 for a midweek trip in that league cup game, was great atmosphere even with 10,000 or so in there.

I won’t forget some of the funny and odd things from that trip.

We drove up in the morning. It was a few years before I moved to Tyneside and we had never been to North East before. Main memories:
- Receptionist at the Travelodge assumed we were there for the University open day (I was 20 or 21) and started giving us a map of the campus and directions, and was bemused when we said we were here for football.

- Winter garden and Lowry exhibition was very nice but I have never been back.

- As we approached the ground we got engaged by some local kids. They started “where are you in your league” we respond “13th” which they remark “that’s s#!t” to which we counter “you’re bottom with one point”. They try a different tack “is this all your fans just you three” a split second before a convoy of five or so Marchant’s coaches turns in to view, so we just say “and the rest arriving now” and walk off as they stand aghast.

- Pre-match the section of the stand next to the away fans was just full of kids with high pitched hubub like a school playground. When Dance of the Knights started the kids all turned to face in unison with a collective wail. I have never seen the like before or since.

- Post-match we thought we thought we would try and get some food. But we couldn’t find anything which looked like a town centre or anywhere open. We ended up with either a Subway or McDonald’s which we carried back to the hotel room. London or Bristol it was not!

We didn’t think to go to Newcastle or Durham (we didn’t know anything about them or how close they were) the day after and just drove back after breakfast.

[Robin]

One memory I have is arriving in the afternoon after a four hour (or so) car journey. We went into Sunderland town centre for a walk around looking for a pub and a meal, the place was really bleak. Lots of rubbish, some pubs with iron covers over their windows, lots of litter around the place. I've been to some run down places in my life but the town centre was a huge contrast to Cheltenham or anywhere else in Gloucestershire.

I found the locals to be a friendly bunch on the whole, very passionate, totally committed and knowledgeable about football, of course their hatred of Newcastle came up at every opportunity. Watching the Netflix show a few years later just reinforces my image of the fans and club.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Looks unlikely we will be facing Derby next season.

Rotherham are burning through their games in hand like someone getting through cheap matches trying to light a bbq on a windy beach.

Five defeats in a row leave them four points behind Derby, with just a single game in hand.

Sheff Wed are also four points behind Derby. Both have two games left....and they face off on the last day.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

Derby winning currently, so as it stands it is going to be Rotherham and Sheffield Wednesday next season. With Doncaster as well we are going to be very familiar with South Yorkshire.

[RegencyCheltenhamSpa]

More mockers....Derby 2-1 down now!