Bradford City win FA Cup

West Yorkshire was awash with claret and amber after Bradford City sealed an amazing FA Cup campaign with victory over Portsmouth at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. The city of Bradford was flooded with party-goers while neighbouring Leeds, Huddersfield, Halifax etc seemed to have converted into Bantam-heavy support as fans jumped onto the bandwagon of the new number 1 team in Yorkshire after Bradford took the FA Cup away from Leeds as well as taking their Premiership place.

Bradford University have given honourary degree's to the whole Bradford playing squad in honour of their achievements while boss Birch has been given the freedom of the city by the council after his whirlwind reign at the club has seen the club win three consecutive promotions and the FA Cup as well as turning the club from being on the brink of bankrupcy to being one of the strongest and richest teams in the game.

Iker Who ?


I_Cassilas of York City was left frustrated today as the high court refused
to allow him to have his name and nationality changed. Rumours were rife
that Casillas has committed a massive crime and had his passport removed so
he was trying to change his name to flee the country before finding himself
stuck in a prison cell with "Big Dave" and a tub of Vaseline.

Speaking outside the high court York manager Richard Newbould said, "we are
all deeply upset that Iker cannot have his name changed. I was hoping that a
new name might put off that Aussie bloke from Feyenoord who keeps on ringing
me to say "Sell me Iker" and then he rings me to say, "I love you, I really
love you. Please call me back I think we'll be really good together"."

As Iker now is without a passport, Newbould is launching an appeal to get
Iker a special passport to travel oversees for the Inter-Wing Cup games.
Newbould commented, "I think we'll get the special dispensation to get
David - I mean Iker - abroad for the cup games. I'd like to state publicly
that this has nothing to do with me performing oral sex on the person who
ultimatley decides whether he's allowed to go or not. And you can't prove
anything"

Iker was asked about his feelings, but he replied with, "No comment, You
can't prove anything. It wasn't me in that video raping donkeys and eating
shit - and if anyone calls me a donkey raping shit eater I'll sue. Apart
from that bloke who has the video of me - I guess he can call me that, but
any of you lot are liers. Definate liers"

No-one knows exactly what Iker has done, but he's either guilty of the crime
of being a donkey raping shit eater, just being plain shit in goal for York
or for being from Birmingham.

Championship Winning Season - Review

Things did not start at all well for the Derbyshire club, after the first
day of the season, the County players were licking their wounds at the
bottom of the table after a 3-1 malling by arch-rivals and fellow title
contenders Cardiff City. The only highlight was Franco Souza's first goal
of the season in what was to prove a very successful season for him. At the
time, manager Graham Frith was quoted as saying that Derby were just giving
the rest a head start. How true those words were to prove. In the second
match, Derby got back to winning ways, beating Leeds 3-1, with goals from
MOM Jarvie, DiCanio and another for Souza. The third match was crucial for
County, as they played away to Boro, in what proved to be a decider for the
destination of the trophy. After going 1-0 down early on, Robert Pires
snatched a brace and mom as he sealed the win for Derby. Games 4 to 7 saw
County go unbeaten, but with two disappointing draws at Dundee Utd 1-1, and
home to Arsenal 0-0, and with two wins at lowly Man Utd 3-1 and home to
West Ham 2-1. Two further goals for Souza increased his frenzied popularity
with the Pride Park faithful. Game 8 was another 6 pointer, as Derby County
came up against Cardiff again, this time looking for revenge. The match
proved to be a bruising one, and new signing Sol Campbell was red-carded,
but Derby went on to win 2-0 with goals from Doni and Bollan. The half-way
stage was now passed and Derby were within striking distance of the top.
Game 9 saw Derby complete the double over Leeds, winning 5-1, with two more
goals for cult hero Souza. But a more crucial double was about to be
completed in game 10, as Derby welcomed the visit of leaders Middlesboro.
At the start of the match, the tension was palpable amongst the Pride Park
faithful. Both sides had only lost once, with Boro's loss coming to Derby.
Boro were looking for revenge, but no-one was about to predict the rout
they suffered at the hands of a vibrant County. 5-0 was the final score,
with a hat-trick coming from DiCanio, in what was Derby's best performance
of the season. Boro only lost twice all season - both to Derby, and those
defeats made the crucial difference. Game 11 saw a disappointing draw with
relegated Man Utd - a result which knocked Derby off the top and seemed to
open the door to Boro to win the championship. Game 12 saw a comfortable
2-0 win over Arsenal, but with Boro still top. Game 13 proved to be
crucial. Derby playing rivals Dundee Utd, and desperate for a win, whilst
hoping leaders Boro would slip up against West Ham. In a very tense match,
Derby had to wait until the 75th minute to get the decider, with midfielder
Sean Gall getting the winner. At the same time, Boro were winning 2-1
against West Ham, until deep into injury time, when the Londoners snatched
an equaliser. The news was greeted by Derby fans with jubilation as the
result meant that County jumped back into top spot by one point with one
game to play. The final match saw Derby at home to a weakened West Ham
side, in a match that they knew they had to win, as Boro had to play Man
Utd, in an almost guaranteed win situation. The tension was unbelievable
before the match, but the Derby fans quiet confidence was richly rewarded.
Derby went out 3-0 winners, with DiCanio notching up his 10th goal of the
season, and Franco Souza getting his 11th, along with a further goal from
midfield maestro Doni, who also won MOM. It was fitting that Franco would
be the clubs top scorer, and Derby wish him well in his move to Ajax. It
was a topsy turvy tense season for Derby County, but one which will live
long in the memory. Derby County achieved their dream. From bottom of the
3rd division to Prem Champs in 5 short seasons. Will this feat ever be
equalled? Only time will tell. But in the meantime, manager Graham Frith's
achievement will never be forgotten. Well done indeed!

Jubilation at Pride Park

The celebrations went on late into the night in Derby this past Thursday
night, after Derby clinched the Premiership crown for the first time in
their history. It was a truly fairy tale finish to the season for the club,
as they beat strugglers West Ham 3-0 with goals from DiCanio,
Man-of-the-Match Doni and crowd favourite Franco Souza, in what is more
than likely his last game for the club. Souza is on his way to dutch side
Ajax in the close season and it was a fitting way to finish what has been a
successful season for him. A less than happy end to a career was that of
Tomas Repka, who has now retired and was unfortunately injured in the first
ten minutes. However, he was still able to participate in the victory lap,
along with fellow retirees Zidane and Elber. It was a truly memorable
night, and a great way for such illustrious stars to finish their careers.
They will be sorely missed at County. However, that sadness was not enough
to dampen the spirits of the Pride Park faithful, as they saw the ultimate
culmination of five years of revolution at Derby come to fruition under the
control of manager Graham Frith. This achievement will surely go down in
history as one of the greatest - if not the greatest. In five years, the
derbyshire club moved from the bottom of the 3rd division to champions of
the Premiership. A truly momentous achievement, and well worthy of a nights
jubilation.

ARSENAL READY FOR NEW SEASON??

We caught up with arsenal manager Steve Arscott to find out how preparations for the new season where going and to shed some light on the scandal surrounding the the club of late??

hi guys nice to finally speak to you again. yeah arsenal have been involved in a bit of scandal of late involving a few other Brit and euro clubs but id rather not go into it. its all history now as far as I'm concerned so time to start concentrating on whats happening on the pitch.

well what the latest on your transfers at the club surly theres a lot more to come as were looking a bit bare in all areas??

yeah the majority of transfers are with euro clubs and will start to go through on the 6th or shortly after, i am very happy with all my deals but unfortunately it will take some time to get them all through due to strict rules get out but the pbemff commissioners. the arsenal sqd will start to have a new look about it as i try and blood young talent and bring in some exiting young prospects as i try and push this club forward and up wards. in the past we've been all about experience and Ive concentrated totally on results on the pitch which has been working for us as we've won our fair share of silverware but i now feel its time to look to the future and rebuild. this will involve playing 3 players from he youth academy in the hope they turn out as first team players next term. i know this could cost us our prem status but it will be well worth it even if we do have to spend a season back in div1.

so you expect to struggle this term?

well yes of course with out any big name players it will be tough but we will fight to the death to get our selfs in a reasonable position going into Christmas and hope i can put up a good fight and possibly stay up if luck is on our side also. we've had a good few seasons of late and i think its time we rebuild so we can challenge the games elite in a few seasons. this is going to be my 5th season at the club i love and i hope to bring the title to highbury by the time i reach my 8th as the i think the fans deserve it.

thanks for speaking to us Steve and good luck for the season

cheers and id like to ask for the fans patients while we rebuild this fantastic club