Why am I sending you an extensive highlights package from a League One men’s football game ??! Has she finally gone mad, you might wonder. Maybe, but that’s beside the point. Life in the countryside is somewhat slower than living in the city, and Tottenham have predictably kept up their terrible record, so I’ve been on the look-out for some pace, something that reminds me that football still is exciting and unpredictable. Well, this weekend has delivered.
I don’t watch a lot of lower league football but every once in a while a story like this comes along and I get reminded, not of why I should watch more of it because there’s not enough hours in the day to follow all the different football leagues, but of what football is about, really.
The fact that two business conglomerates like Manchester City and Real Madrid battled it out in the semifinals of the Champion’s League last week is not very interesting. That City so convincingly won is worth talking about simply because they played really well (and because the CL trophy is the one thing that has eluded Pep at City for so long now), and Real seemed unable to do their trademark thing of grafting their way back into the game to win it. But, ultimately, seeing two teams with such huge budgets (and questionable backgrounds, and multitude of trophies already lining the shelves) play each other, not that interesting. Upon hearing League One side Sheffield Wednesday’s story however, I was immediately hooked and needed to know more
They came from 4-0 behind in the first game, to make it 5-5 on aggregate and then win 5-3 on penalties. Now this is going to get me interested to see more for myself! That is in itself a remarkable feat, not to mention the fact that they’ve already had such a full season behind them, playing 46 games in the league plus cup games. It’s rare to not be invested in some way before going into watching a football game. I don’t know much about Wednesday beyond its history, being one of the oldest clubs in the world. But sometimes it’s a good position to be in.
Not having a single stake in this game I had the opportunity to just lean back and seeing a great story unfold, featuring some really good football. The fact that I already knew the end didn't matter, I wanted to see it for myself. It’s the unscripted madness of the game, all the potential that the game holds and all the different directions that it can go in. Of course you become invested as you go along, if the dramaturgy plays out well. You quickly start identifying who the different characters are - what’s their style of play? Is there are clear-cut hero, and a villain? How are the managers dealing with the drama? And this game does not disappoint on any of those points. It’s well worth the investment of the 21 minute watch. This football game is so well-crafted it could not have been done better if it was scripted lol.
I love the way manager Darren Moore is so cool afterwards, especially considering what a week he must’ve had. In the wake of their 4-0 loss in the first game against Peterborough, he was the target of racist abuse, which the club immediately dealt with. Then he had the small matter at hand of trying to get his team back into the tie, and he talks about long nights analysing match footage, and trying to find ways to motivate the team. It obviously worked, which the players credit him with beautifully during his chat in the changing room after the game. I love his energy. He gives off very different vibes from what is more typically shown. Rather than just pounding his own chest and shouting, he’s present in the moment, and he asks his players to be as well. Coming back like this is no small feat, making a whole team believe the way that you can tell they believed in themselves, in the collective, that night. And the fact that he was going to celebrate the win with some jelly snakes is very wholesome <3
Maybe we will see some sort of version of this in the CL final? Inter will be taking on City, and the fact is that Jack Grealish, ONE of City’s top players and not even their best one, cost as much as Inter’s whole squad. It’s hilarious, distorted and absurd. The League One playoff finals take place first though, at Wembley on 29th May, 3pm BST! Sheffield Wednesday will go up against Barnsley, a team they’ve lost to twice this season - but not in a playoff final … More unscripted madness please!!
In the same vain:
[WOMEN] There was DRAMA in Glasgow yesterday, as Glasgow City won the SWPL with a 92nd minute winner from Lauren Davidson against Rangers at Ibrox, forcing the trophy to make a u-turn en-route to Celtic Park. A draw or a win for Rangers would’ve meant that Celtic had won their first title on goal difference, as they were up 2-0 against Hearts, which was a weird position for Rangers to be in (I heard that some of the home support even clapped when City scored because it meant that Celtic wouldn’t win lol, these ties run deep). The confusion amongst the Celtic players, as the crowd reacted to a last-last minute disallowed goal by Rangers (because for ultimate drama, of course) was sad, but the turnout was amazing. Very exciting times from what could be considered the birth place of modern football (← I wrote about this, have a look!).
To keep up with all the latest on the Scottish women’s football scene and Scottish ballers, follow How’s Your Touch newsletter![WOMEN] Another stoppage time drama was put on in Manchester, as Manchester United went head to head with Manchester City in a game where the momentum swung around, decided by a stoppage-time winner from Lucia Garcia. This means that they are still in the title race, even though it would take last-placed Reading to beat Chelsea on the final day for that to happen. There’s a lot to say on the rise of these men’s-team adjacent clubs, access to money and resources etc, and it’s also exciting that a team that didn’t exist five years ago is now battling it out at the top of the WSL.
[WOMEN] Hammarby - Rosengård wanted in on the drama too!! A saved penalty by Anna Tamminen in the 94th minute salvaged a point for the Stockholm team.
[MEN] Dortmund have a chance to win the Bundesliga in their last game at home against Mainz 05 next weekend, after Bayern München lost 1-3 to RB Leipzig. This would be Bayern’s first season without a title since 2012!!