It is incredible to think that we are already in March and that for many clubs the season is coming to a close. For Arsenal it figuratively came to a close when they dropped more points in an entertaining 1-1 draw versus Manchester United yesterday. For FC Deportivo Galicia and our dreams of promotion we must wait one more season. With only four more games left, promotion is mathematically impossible. For Gillingham promotion is still mathematically possible BUT relegation is a fear. Two wins in twelve (admittedly two in three) have realistically killed any chance of League One next season. That’s football.

Meanwhile our intrepid traveller and vlogger, Darren has been busy again and this week even took his assistant, Thunder. Let’s see what he has been up to recently. He says, “…vlogging at Nuneaton yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting another Darren A(cton), the joint manager of Nuneaton Town

What a top fella he was, and I had the bonus of being joined at the match by a slightly less top fella, Thunder (Robin Atkins), and Daniel, son of Thunder. (Ed’s note – Magni? I will get my coat!)

Was a great game, and also, a nice change to watch the footy, in the sunshine, and also, being able to ditch the orange coat….what was even nicer, was the people at the club…..and the food and drink they gave us at half time.

Feel free to click on the link and have a look at the vlog

Clare is still very occupied with the women’s game and send me her recent newsletter that I have promised to spotlight. If you are interested in the growth of the women’s sport, please register with her for regular and interesting updates.

She explains the inexplicable….

The start of the women’s UEFA Nations League has taken centre stage in the last couple of weeks and the opening matches provided plenty of excitement.

A mixed bag for the home nations but highlights included:

• 1-1 draw for Wales against the very strong and experienced Sweden. A really excellent result and a marker of Wales’ improvement and ambitions
• 3-2 win for Northern Ireland over Bosnia and Herzegovina with 2 late strikes by Simone Magill
• 1-0 win for Republic of Ireland over Turkiye.
• 1-0 win for England over current World and Nations League champions Spain, at Wembley. And more importantly, a really strong performance.

Here’s a quick run down of how the Nations League works.

There are 3 Leagues: A. B, and C. League A is the top 16 teams in UEFA, B the next 16, and C the rest of the developing teams. There are 53 teams in total.

Within Leagues A and B there are four groups of four teams. The top team from each group in League A plays off in a semi-final then final for the title. The bottom team in each League A group gets relegated to League B next time around. In return, the top team in each group of League B gets promoted into League A. The same is true at the bottom of League B and the top of League C. So it’s a proper league system but with a short knockout phase to determine the overall champion. It’s really quite elegant.

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