One Last Stat

This is it. Due to injury it looks like I’m done with MNF. We’ve been collecting stats for over 10 years, so it’s only fitting that I sign off with the ultimate All Time table.

The table below includes everyone who played 20 or more games since July 2007. As expected, I’ve played the most and lost the most too (you can see why I had to arrange my own game!).

Tid tops the table with most wins, MOMs and votes so smashes the total points (that’s what going in goal late in your career does for you!).

Johnny C has some fantastic stats in second place including most assists and a very high win percentage. The best win percentage and goal per game ratio goes to Josh L though!

Those who remember Lewis H playing will not be surprised to see he has the highest MOM percentage and highest average votes per game.

Dan P is the top scorer by some margin with over 2.5 goals per game in over 250 games!

Finally, Steve B takes the prize for most own goals. He’s not doing so good right now so I’m sure that stat will cheer him up! Get well soon Steve!

It’s been a pleasure to play on Monday night and be able to help keep such a good game running for such a long time. Thank you to everyone who has been involved. I’m sure Dan P, Ketan and Hanson will keep it going and the standard will only get better. All the best!

Rank	Player	P	W	D	L	G	A	OG	MOM	Votes	Total	Win %	Goal Ave	MOM %	Votes Ave
1	Tid	323	173	21	129	257	178	17	30	393	790	54%	0.80	9%	1.22
2	Johnny Craig	302	172	19	111	494	400	10	24	351	738	57%	1.64	8%	1.16
3	Chris Woodhead	326	149	24	153	178	109	19	22	388	732	46%	0.55	7%	1.19
4	Dan Peel	254	140	15	99	656	357	4	27	348	670	55%	2.58	11%	1.37
5	Josh Franklin	296	130	23	143	595	353	1	19	329	631	44%	2.01	6%	1.11
6	Hanson Hart	247	137	19	91	458	294	3	14	244	551	55%	1.85	6%	0.99
7	Ketan Mistry	287	132	19	136	327	238	4	15	244	542	46%	1.14	5%	0.85
8	Aaron Baraclough	219	105	14	100	138	79	11	20	250	494	48%	0.63	9%	1.14
9	Henry Ward	344	115	26	203	73	87	13	13	203	472	33%	0.21	4%	0.59
10	Steve Butler	254	106	13	135	0	6	20	14	207	446	42%	0.00	6%	0.81
11	Chris Johnston	222	96	14	112	98	66	6	15	196	417	43%	0.44	7%	0.88
12	Joel Hart	196	88	14	94	597	220	3	14	206	410	45%	3.05	7%	1.05
13	Tony Charles	201	95	8	98	45	53	7	5	130	333	47%	0.22	2%	0.65
14	Paul Beardsley	170	82	9	79	172	145	1	11	138	322	48%	1.01	6%	0.81
15	Zac Davison	109	56	14	39	199	94	0	9	134	269	51%	1.83	8%	1.23
16	Michael Asante	142	67	8	67	20	49	2	8	102	252	47%	0.14	6%	0.72
17	Russell Beardon	77	40	10	27	131	77	2	12	146	248	52%	1.70	16%	1.90
18	Peter Woodham	124	67	9	48	245	135	0	8	97	248	54%	1.98	6%	0.78
19	Tom Peel	105	46	5	54	223	109	4	10	124	231	44%	2.12	10%	1.18
20	Sam Sherlock	101	41	15	45	178	106	0	5	104	206	41%	1.76	5%	1.03
21	Simon Shaw	117	54	6	57	22	28	5	5	87	206	46%	0.19	4%	0.74
22	Daniel Johnston	95	42	10	43	64	50	1	5	93	192	44%	0.67	5%	0.98
23	Liam Pickering	101	40	10	51	99	78	2	8	94	192	40%	0.98	8%	0.93
24	Jonathan Breslin	86	36	11	39	38	34	2	8	87	178	42%	0.44	9%	1.01
25	Nathan Peel	105	43	10	52	41	48	7	5	75	176	41%	0.39	5%	0.71
26	Jonah Clarke	68	34	5	29	96	46	1	6	87	166	50%	1.41	9%	1.28
27	Sam Shaw	51	29	3	19	75	33	3	10	90	161	57%	1.47	20%	1.76
28	Sam Lumsden	69	30	3	36	53	63	0	4	66	133	43%	0.77	6%	0.96
29	Chris Russell	57	30	4	23	130	64	0	6	59	129	53%	2.28	11%	1.04
30	Ethan Craig	56	26	5	25	42	42	2	5	66	128	46%	0.75	9%	1.18
31	Matt Charlesworth	88	44	4	40	79	55	2	1	35	128	50%	0.90	1%	0.40
32	Dave Thorn	69	20	3	46	4	13	3	4	76	123	29%	0.06	6%	1.10
33	Nathan Gathercole	60	25	3	32	125	46	0	5	62	120	42%	2.08	8%	1.03
34	Lewis Hodgson	35	18	3	14	94	38	2	7	69	115	51%	2.69	20%	1.97
35	Andrew Bull	55	23	3	29	107	37	3	4	57	110	42%	1.95	7%	1.04
36	Felix Kalou	55	29	3	23	38	26	1	3	35	99	53%	0.69	5%	0.64
37	James Clarke	41	15	6	20	78	24	1	5	57	98	37%	1.90	12%	1.39
38	Mick Fowler	41	21	7	13	28	18	3	1	33	83	51%	0.68	2%	0.80
39	Martin King	43	15	5	23	9	20	2	2	40	77	35%	0.21	5%	0.93
40	Chris Giles	38	13	2	23	17	6	2	3	41	72	34%	0.45	8%	1.08
41	Mike Crozier	29	16	2	11	57	20	0	4	31	69	55%	1.97	14%	1.07
42	George Fearnley	37	12	5	20	28	24	0	2	36	67	32%	0.76	5%	0.97
43	Ivan George	24	15	1	8	9	4	1	3	32	66	63%	0.38	13%	1.33
44	Josh Lightowler	29	19	3	7	78	48	1	1	22	64	66%	2.69	3%	0.76
45	Adam Brier	26	14	1	11	43	15	0	2	30	61	54%	1.65	8%	1.15
46	Gavin Hercules	25	11	4	10	75	26	0	1	25	52	44%	3.00	4%	1.00
47	Izaac Clarke	24	12	0	12	34	8	2	3	18	45	50%	1.42	13%	0.75
48	Jon Mather	32	12	1	19	4	11	0	1	15	41	38%	0.13	3%	0.47

 

Donuts

On a mild Wednesday night back in March, the Wheels, Ox and I had just had the fortune to experience some intense bass near Hyde Park courtesy of a frustrating Animal Collective gig, and we were reflecting on the evening down at Sandinista. We got chatting with a couple of lads who had opted to see Kasabian instead that night. One was more of a Hip-hop fan, keen to espouse his love for the local scene and the demise in the current quality of the genre.

Commenting that, for me, Hip-hop is all about the production, I asked him “who’s your favourite producer?”

“Got to be J Dilla”

“Was he in Slum Village?”

His eyes light up, excited that I might have heard of “Jay Dee”. I have MAW to thank (“Kenny Dope” in particular) who included one of their tracks on a fantastic “Stop, Look, Listen” compilation.

So we chatted about his work, etc… ending with him recommending I check out “Donuts”. It’s a simple premise. 31 “joints”, beats, tracks that are mostly less than 2 minutes long. No MC, no lyrics, just samples and re-edits, and of course, J Dilla’s unmistakable production.

Anyway, I finally got hold it the other day. And it’s good. It makes me want to have a party just so that I can drop a couple! Check out the following, it’s the longest track on there:

J Dilla – Workonit

“Donuts” is not on Spotify yet, but you can check out some other J Dilla offerings. Unfortunately he passed away due to a blood disease, just three days before Donuts was released in Feb 2006.

I like to join the dots, so if you want to find out more check out this his wiki page. He worked with some of the better sounding Hip-hop legends out there, and no doubt he’s been missed.

Monday Night Football Awards – 2008

While everyone else is out playing the game, I thought I’d use the night off to finally write up what was a fabulous evening back in July this year.

The plan behind the awards was simple – dress up, get together, have a laugh etc… away from the irritating “black bits” that haunt the Goals turf. WAGs were invited, and we had a special compère; none other than Mr Anthony Mills.

Josh kindly accepted my offer for him to stage it at his house. He provided a fantastic venue; a raised patio along the back of the garden made for a perfect platform, and we got a couple of gazebos together to cover all eventualities.

Nothing could have prepared us for the mid-afternoon storm however. As we tried to erect the covering, it started to team it down with hail, soaking to the skin in seconds. Thankfully, the evening stayed dry and was certainly good enough to be outdoors.

Gradually it all came together. Jane put on a great spread, there was plenty of drink (no surprise), Mike set up the sound system and I rigged up a projector to the laptop. All we had to do was wait for everyone.

Mills and I had prepared a slideshow presentation for the Awards. At the last minute we decided that using look-a-likes for the presenters as they walked up would be a good idea. It would be funny. However, I was worried when Mills decided that for Natalie we had to use a picture of Margaret Thatcher. This would be dangerous.

Natalie was due to present the first award, and to be honest, how she reacted could set the whole tone for the night.

I was forgetting one major factor though. Mills.

After thanking Jane and Josh for hosting the night, he reminded everyone that they had recently had work done to the house. “Jane would like point out that the ‘Wet Paint’ sign in the bathroom is not an instruction”.

So when it came to introducing Natalie, I wasn’t really worried, and I was right not to be. She took it well (although I maintain that it was all Millsy’s idea!). Each award was introduced with more cutting remarks and witty pictures – Tony’s “Parker from Thunderbirds” and the “Ketan and Conrad” pose stood out.

So to the awards themselves….

Statistical Awards

Attendee of the Year

Player who has played the most games

Tony Charles – 40 games

He even played the day he got back from Barbados!

Performance of the Year

Player with the most votes in a single week

Chris Russell – 12 votes on 17/03/2008

Sam L, who presented this award, was the only player not to vote for him that week!

Winner of the Year

Player with highest percentage of Wins (since December 2007)

Aaron Baraclough  – 75%

Most Man of the Matches

Player with the most Man of the Match awards (duh!)

Josh Franklin – 5 out of 35 games
Mike C tried to present this without a voice – t’was funny

Consistent Player of the Year

Player with the highest percentage of weeks with a vote

Johnny Craig – 62.86%

Players Choice

Awards voted by the Players

Most Improved Player of the Year

Steve Butler

Also nominated:
Henry Ward
Michael Asante
Sam Lumsden
Simon Shaw
Steve Butler
Tony Charles

Young Player of the Year

Players 21 years old and under

Chris Woodhead

Also nominated:
Aaron Baraclough
Ketan Mistry
Sam Lumsden

Player’s Player of the Year

Johnny Craig

Also nominated:
Chris Woodhead
Josh Franklin
Mike Crozier
Peter Woodham
Steve Butler

This one was close!!! There was literally nothing between Josh and Johnny… it took some weird mathematics for me to decide the result.

Special Awards

For the Special Players…

Cecil Barouille Award

For being lazy and late in 2008!

Cecil Bardouille
Of course! He gets to present it next year!

Outstanding Achievement Award

Dave Foster
Now retired, but was a top player.

Goal of the Season

Not awarded on the night but the regulars all agreed on this one

Dave Lovett – 28/01/2008

The standout goal was in the game on the 28th Jan. Both teams were bang on equal. Never more than a goal between them. It was 9 – 9 with only 2 mins left.

The Reds had the ball and with some good movement forced a save from Tid. It feel kindly to Cecil – surely the game was his! But no, he blasted it over the bar!

Then somehow Dave Lovett picked up the ball on the right and scored an absolute stunner in to the top left corner to win the game. I remember jumping on his back!!

Monthly Awards

Player of the Season Autumn 2007

Josh Franklin

Player of the Season Winter 2007

Nathan Gathercole

Player of the Season Spring 2008

Johnny Craig

Player of the Season Summer 2008

Peter Woodham

Player of the Year 2008

1. Josh Franklin

2. Johnny Craig
3. Ketan Mistry

Josh was deserving winner. He scored loads of goals and got loads of votes. He did have one barren run, but as they say, form is temporary, class is permanent.

After the awards, Mike C hooked up the decks and played out the tunes long into the night. It was superb.

Bring on next years!!

For more photos, go here: Awards Photos

The Shandy Man goes on his travels

You may know that Adam has had the good fortune to get a break from work and go over to New Zealand. He’s gonna watch some cricket, explore the country etc… before heading over to Oz and then Thailand.

What you may not know is that he is blogging the whole thing here: http://meshandy.blogspot.com. He’s not updated it for the while, but there’s still plenty to read. I expect he’s just having an adventure somewhere at the moment.

Prince

It’s been three weeks or more since we were in London on a reasonably warm summer weekend.

Our job was to escort Frank and Edith (Rachel’s parents) on thier trip to see “The Sound Of Music” in the West End. The bonus was that Prince was in town, and I’d got us tickets!

So after a fantastic pre-theatre meal at Clos Maggiore, we bundled the in-laws into a cab headed for the Palladium, while we took the tube out to Greenwich and the Millennium Dome the O2.

We had good seats – actually great seats – about 10 rows back from the start of the lower tier at the front of the symbol platform, meaning we were just above level with the stage. It took us a while to walk all the way around to our entrance, but once we got in we were pleasantly surprised to see Beverly Knight belting out her stuff!

I have to say that I’ve always rated Bev, ever since we were fortunate enough to see her at a free warm-up gig at the Underground in Leeds. One of my top gigs ever that one. To see her perform again was a bonus, particularly as the line up for the Prince shows was unpredictable.

Prince himself was superb – the NPG on fire! They played a fair range of material; quite a lot from the recent albums, the funky James Brown style stuff which got me moving even though I wasn’t familiar with it, and the classics – Cream, Kiss, Let’s Go Crazy and the incomparable Purple Rain. There were about 4 encores – but still we wanted more.

So it was a good job we had tickets for the aftershow. Except of course, Prince’s reputation for being unpredictable meant we couldn’t be sure whether he would turn up. As it happens there had been an announcement on the 3121 website saying that he wouldn’t be performing! It’s a good job we hadn’t seen that…

After a interim drink we turned up to the Indigo about midnight. First impressions were that it wasn’t quite full and it was a small venue. It was full of “fans” who had taken up position on the dancefloor facing the black curtain waiting for something to happen. Knowing that there was every chance we wouldn’t see Prince perform any more songs, Rachel and I had a drink and a dance and tried not to get our hopes up.

Just as I was saying to Rachel that “I’d be quite happy if Bev came back on you know”, the curtain opened and who should be there but Ms Knight with her band. Class.

Still most of the crowd seemed like they were disappointed – they wanted the little prodigy.

About an hour later they got their wish. Price sneaked on stage to join the band and “jam”. To be honest it was more exciting than it was impressive, but the anticipation continued to build.

No sooner had he arrived, then he was gone. Beverly clearly looked ecstatic before announcing that Prince had requested she repeat “Piece of my heart”.

He then appeared again during the solo, swiftly followed by the rest of his band. Soon there were two bands on stage – seamlessly playing together. It was amazing, truly talented musicians who understand the dynamics of a group performance, all conducted by the purple one!

I honestly didn’t think it was going to end – we were still there at 3.30am! Legend!

Maybe we were lucky, but it was one of the best gigs I’ve been to in a long time!