The Alternative League One Team Of The Year

You've more than likely seen the League One team of the year, announced on Sunday evening, that consisted of, Kelvin Davies, Inigo Calderon, Gordon Greer, Jose Fonte, Dan Harding, Anthony Pilkington, Elliott Bennett, Adam Lallana, Alex Chamberlain, Bradley Wright Phillips & Craig Mackail Smith.
In this special blog I'll pick my best of the rest, the players that didn't get into that team but in my eyes weren't far off or perhaps deserve the mention. So sit back, enjoy and feel free to agree or disagree with me.

Goalkeeper- Alex Smithies of Huddersfield

Now this could have gone to a number of players, Dagenhams Tony Roberts or Bournemouths Shwan Jalal. However I've opted for Huddersfield Town stopper Alex Smithies. He has been solid all season in goal for the Galpharm outfit, pulling off some great stops in that time and being named the League One player of the month for February for keeping three clean sheets as Huddersfield continued to stay unbeaten in the league in 2011. His fine form has seen many other clubs with higher reputations sniffing around him and has been called up to the under 21's on numerous occasions.

Left Back- Dean Lewington of MK Dons
I'm not a particular fan of Dean, but this player has been consistent for a number of season's now and has had another great season in Milton Keynes. He leads the Dons every week and always puts in a captains performance with some crunching tackles and he even manages to find away forward, bursting down the left to deliver some great crosses to the heads of the strikers. He should be noted for his goal scoring as well, three goals from left back this season which isn't a bad return, nothing but good words to say about him performance wise.




Centre Back- Craig Dawson of Rochdale

He's been simply solid this season, after being sold to West Brom and being loaned back to the Dale for this season, he's helped them push on to what would be yet another magical season should they get into the play offs. At the heart of the defence he has been solid and has added eight goals to his name this season as well, being noted as a player that likes to get forward. After being named the player of the year in league two last season, he's lived up to the bill in a higher league and retaining him in essence has been one of the main reasons why Rochdale have been so good this term. Unlucky to not be in the real team of the year.

Centre Back- Peter Clarke of Huddersfield Town

I know what you're thinking, is this gonna be the Huddersfield show ? The fact that no Hudds players made the team is a shame in itself especially considering the fact that they're unbeaten in 2011. Clarke has formed part of a rigid defence that has been one of the hardest to break down. Being solid in the centre and with good aerial capabilities is always a good sign and Clarke has both of these qualities, which is why he deserves to be in this team.

Right Back- Frank Simek of Carlise United

Inigo Calderon was by far the best left back in the league this season, but i had to dither between Simek & Abu Ogogo for this one, seeing as though I'll be adding a couple of Dagenham players in later on I thought this one ought to go to the American. He's been fairly consistent this season down the right and hasn't really made any mistakes, as I said it's hard to replace Calderon, but Simek has been solid for Carlisle and probably worthy of his place in this team.

Left Midfield- Dean Cox of Leyton Orient
Again, I'm not a fan of him due to his attitude he showed against us this season, but performance wise he's quite worthy of his place. He's been terrorising most full backs all season with his skill and dazzling pace, whipping excellent balls into the box, not only have assists been a major feature of his game (18 in total), goals have too. He's averaged a goal every four game for Slade's men and played a significant part in their run early in 2011 which is why this wing wizard fins himself in my team.

Centre Midfield- Romain Vincelot of Dagenham & Redbridge
I don't care if you accuse me of bias here, but he has been simply excellent this season. This small Frenchman can be accredited of playing a major part in the Daggers survival should they pull it off. His constant battle and willingness to make every tackle and never give up on a ball have been a trademark of his game this season. The real thing about Vincelot is aerial prowess, scoring 11 goals from midfield, 9 of which have been with his head I believe. The fact that he is a paltry 5ft 10 inches and he can out jump players well over 6 foot is testemant to his belief and passion. A great player who fully deserves his place in my team.

Centre Midfield- Gary Jones of Rochdale

This man is probably Mr Rochdale, the 33 year old has been an ever present since re signing in 2004, being especially good under current manager Keith Hill. Gary holds the Dale midfield in place and his experience has shown through this season, their record appearance holder hit a wonder goal against Southampton at St Mary's back in September and described it as the best he's ever struck. He has been their top scorer this season with an outstanding 17 goals and his battling in the middle shows that he is probably a stand out candidate for his spot in my team.

Right Midfield: Danny Green of Dagenham & Redbridge

Now I'm sure some will disagree with me on this one, being a Dagenham supporter, you may say I'm being biased, but without this man, the Daggers would be deep in the mire. A fantastic tally of 12 assists in the league is phenomenal considering the Essex club's current position, his fantastic deliveries have become a trademark with several Championship clubs sniffing around the Bishop's Stortford man. Another great feature to his game, are his goals, 9 in the league this season, the best of which was probably his free kick against Notts County, he has also become reknowned as a great penalty taker, scoring all he's taken this season.

Striker: Will Hoskins of Bristol Rovers
This man was the first I had in my head. Will Hoskins has scored 16 goals this season for Rovers and considering their league position of 21st and that they've only scored 43 all season. A great effort by this man who is a fans favourite, a great signing from Nottingham Forest, he may follow in the foot steps of fellow former Pirates Rickie Lambert and Barry Hayles. A truly fantastic effort and a deserved place in this team.


Striker: Jamie Cureton of Exeter City

I said at the start this team wouldn't be made of players from the top 4 or 5 clubs, I've broken that rule with Huddersfield on a couple of occasions, this player could ply his trade there after his fine form this season. At the grand old age of 35 Cureton is still firing in the goals on a consistent level and has propelled the Grecians from relegation fighters into play off contenders. He gets a wide range of goal types and he fits great into this team.

Substitutes, I won't go into detail here:
David Martin (goalkeeper) from MK Dons
Johnnie Jackson of Charlton Athletic
Aiden White from Oldham Athletic
Evan Horwood from Hartlepool United
Francois Zoko of Carlisle United
Matt Ritchie of Swindon Town
Jeff Hughes of Bristol Rovers

I hope you enjoyed my alternative team, feel free to comment who you'd have put in or anything you agreed or disagreed with, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Hillsborough, The debate rumbles on.

In 1989 the most tragic event in English football occurred with the death of 96 Liverpool supporters following a crush at the Leppings Lane end of Hillsborough in the FA Cup Semi Final between Liverpool & Nottingham Forest.  The game was abandoned after just 6 minutes as supporters ran on to the pitch to escape the disaster that changed football and the way it was viewed forever, but was it right. Whilst everyone rightfully remembers those tragic events every year on the 15th April, some still believe it was wrong to take away standing at a top class football stadium.

Debates have raged on for years whether standing should be brought back or not at the highest levels of the English game, even going to Parliament now with several petitions being signed by football fans to bring it back. You have to weigh up the different perspectives though. For one the top bosses have a very valid point, the Taylor report making sure that no standing could be used at high class grounds after the incident because of the potential threat it caused. After all it could have all too easily happened again at some of the older grounds in the country that are in the top two tiers, but the newer ones don't carry that threat so much.



The Globe Arena

 Another factor that should be looked at is the satisfaction of football fans. If you ask a selection of football fans from any league they would tell you that they would prefer to stand rather than sit and in many cases they do stand rather than sit, whether it be at Manchester United or Morecambe. Lower league teams do still of course have the standing as it is cheaper and provides a much better atmosphere to games, even new grounds that are built lower down the pyramid contain terraced sections, Morecambes Globe Arena for example. This is because it brings more atmosphere to the game, it feels more natural, more traditional which is what people like. Even if you are to go up to the Premier League, there is always a section of supporters standing up in a standing area. Why? Because it's what they like, it's what they grew up with, it's how they want to support their team.

There are many safe ways to accommodate both needs. For example one of my personal favourites for this is the away end at Brentford or Southend for example. They have parts for both your needs. The bottom section is dedicated to standing for the more lively, traditional etc whilst the upper tier is for seating. This pleases everyone as it gives a good, safe choice to fans and lets them do what they want to do. This would obviously be a lot harder to replicate for a larger scale, but it is an idea that is well worth looking into. Another idea is one that has been used in German grounds for a while now. Much like the idea of allocated seats, you have allocated standing positions. Each fan is given a ticket number and a little bar to stand at to watch the action, it's perfectly safe as you can't over sell and combines the organisation of seating with the want and traditionalism of standing.

Other arguments that have been heard before is that, because it only happened once, why should it change the face of spectating. Whilst the statement has a point, would you really have risked it happening again, the incident highlighted the problems with standing like that, it also didn't help that it was a high profile game with many supporters trying to cram in right at the start of the match. The organisation of the police was very poor, obviously if their was more security then perhaps it wouldn't have happened, but at the end of the day, there wasn't enough control or security and it did happen.



Standing At Scunny Soon To
Be Gone

 The Taylor report said that all stadiums in the top two divisions had to be all seated, that standing was no longer permitted. This does provide financial concerns for the smaller clubs of the Championship. Take Scunthorpe United for example, only a small club who have been forced into investing money they don't have into seating or face being demoted down to League One, it's simply wrong. Personally I feel that this kind of system should work on the attendances you get on average. Let me explain it too you. Clubs that hardly fill up their grounds, such as Scunthorpe or Preston. They are forced to pay millions for seats that may never be used and just be covered by flags etc, it is wasted money that could be spent on much better things for them and the league. Things like a crush would never happen at Scunny, or hardly any grounds any more, because safety is better and so is security.

One of the main reasons accidents occurred back then such as Hillsborough was because people were able to stroll up on the day and pay a couple of quid to get in. Nowadays that isn't possible at higher class grounds, all tickets have to be bought in advance which ensures no more can get in than is permitted which once again makes it safer.  The organisation is also much better now a days. There is enough space to handle a large amount of supporters and there are more turnstiles to handle more supporters whereas at Hillsborough there were clearly not enough.

You can say that it was a good thing all seater stadiums were introduced because it simply eradicated the possibility of something like this happening ever again. Safety is more important than standing if we're all honest, whilst many people like myself believe standing should be brought back in a safer way at high level, the move they made was correct at the time. The right move was the safe move. These types of fences were removed because of the danger that could be caused and the results speak for themselves. How many incidents like that one have happened since then? None. It was the right move at the time, but with the safety we have now, maybe we do need to look back into it.

However, what we have to remember is the long term consequence of this event. You can argue one way or another whether it was a good or a bad thing to abandon standing in the top two tiers, but these events will never and should never be forgotten. It is a reminder to what can happen at football one of the greatest spectacles in the world can brought down with one person falling that triggers a snowball effect. The 96 that died that day will never be forgotten by anyone, regardless of what team you support, no one ever deserved that.

RIP the 96.