04/25/24
May 27, 2003
Wolves back in the Premiership!: Midlands club Wolverhampton Wanderers completed the roster of clubs that will compete in next season's English Premier League with a smashing 3-0 win over Sheffield United in the First Division Playoff yesterday. Good for them. Long may SpoFiers such as trox, Fat Buddha and BigCalm rue this day. Look inside to find out why.
posted by worldcup2002 to soccer at 09:57 AM - 13 comments
I am very happy for the Wolves and their supporters, which includes a good friend of mine. Makes up for their swoon last last season. I bet it is a bonus for Wolves's supporters that West Brom's stay in the EPL was short-lived ;) Where's the "rest of the story" WC2002? :)
posted by scully at 11:36 AM on May 27, 2003
what I don't get is the trophies these teams were getting on the weekend. hurrah, you have been promoted. but what did you win? you only proved you were worthy of 3rd place and the promotion slot that entails. I guess what I am asking is - did Portsmouth and Leicester City (and the other 1&2 finishers in the other divisions) also get trophies? Is this 3rd place/promotion trophy something that would be passed on to the winner of next year's promotion playoff? yes, it would look silly to win something (ie the playoff) and not have some sort of physical manifestation of the victory. but 3rd place? 3rd place trophies? cannot understand....
posted by gspm at 12:05 PM on May 27, 2003
terrapin: Hahaha. I was baiting FB and BC and trox to provide the "story", but it doesn't look like I nabbed them. However, it looks like I hooked two other fish. Hee hee. I just noticed that Paul Ince, former Liverpool player, is captain of Wolves, and may or may not come back to the EPL at age 36. Can't say I blame him, but it would be fun to see yet another ex-Liverpool player lining up against the Reds. I must say that Wolves will need someone with his fiery commitment. Also Dave Jones, Wolves's manager, will be lining up against Southampton, the team he formerly managed, and left under murky circumstances. Meanwhile, the Wolves doubters are already lining up.
posted by worldcup2002 at 12:06 PM on May 27, 2003
I just wanted to keep my pub free of an army of wolves supporters and keep it Arsenal and Liverpool friendly (the predominant groups of supporters who go there now).
posted by trox at 12:13 PM on May 27, 2003
What would be really funny, and completely impossible given the system, would be to see an American sport adopt the promotion/relegation scheme. Triple A baseball teams up, MLB would never go for it in a million years, although MLS might if it broke up the current common ownership, maybe they would fit in better in the international system.
posted by billsaysthis at 12:59 PM on May 27, 2003
Or how about the CBA merging with Arena Football, and their teams playing for promotion to the NFL where, conversely, the bottom-feeders would drop down? Hoohoohoo!
posted by worldcup2002 at 01:19 PM on May 27, 2003
Woops! I meant CFL, not CBA. Is there a CBA? What the heck is that? Basketball? Minor league basketball + arena football, now that, that would be classic.
posted by worldcup2002 at 01:23 PM on May 27, 2003
I thought Sheffield would pull it off... Did they even show UP?
posted by StarFucker at 02:31 PM on May 27, 2003
Much as I loathe Wolves, their supporters, and Jones, with his stupid schoolboy tie, it must be remembered that the murky circumstances were a gross calumny. The case was thrown out of court and his tosspot accusers completely discredited. The little toerags were trying to make a buck out of someone whose soul motivation was to help them. Odious.
posted by Fat Buddha at 03:13 PM on May 27, 2003
CBA is a basketball league. Some players end up in the NBA as injury fill-ins on short contracts.
posted by gspm at 04:11 PM on May 27, 2003
Fuck. Fuckfuckfuck. Fuckity fuck. Can you tell I'm not happy?
posted by salmacis at 06:25 PM on May 27, 2003
I'm in the unusual situation of not knowing any Wolves fans, so I'm not too bothered either way. I'm glad that we don't have to suffer Neil Warnock's interminable moaning. The premiership already has Graeme Souness (football's very own Mr. Grumpy), and Gordon Strachan. One more would be too much to bear.
posted by BigCalm at 03:16 AM on May 28, 2003
Bunch of bastards. I hope they go straight back down. No doubt their "supporters" will be expecting them to qualify for Europe having hidden their "You've let us down again" banners under their seats at Cardiff. Just to rest my bile ducts for a moment they deserved to win as The Blades were bleeding awful yesterday. I can't see Wolves surviving in the Premiership with the overpaid, ancient, drunken bunch of mercenaries they feature. Looks like Mad Jack will need to get his wallet out once more and buy some players less than 30 who aren't always pissed or in court. (Can you tell I'm not happy about this?)