Even though the Champions League Final on Wednesday is commonly regarded as the conclusion to the European season there are still games of some importance this weekend. The French and Scottish Cup Finals are scheduled and final promotion spots will be decided in England.
The league play offs go off in rapid succession Saturday, Sunday and Monday with the the last promotion spot to the Premiership being decided first.
Hull City and Bristol City will play the biggest game in their club histories for the right to be showered with vast amounts of money, and to be installed as next season’s Premiership relegation favourites.
No matter the outcome history in one form or another will be made.
Should Bristol win out then the father and son combo of Gary and Lee Johnson will have won promotion from all four divisions. Manager Gary will match Neil Warnock’s having initially helped Yeovil gain promotion from the Conference and then the former Division 3. Last season it was Bristol stepping up from League One and now a very real possibility of the biggest step of all.
If Bristol do win then son Lee will actually go one better than his Dad. He will be the first player ever to gain promotion through the four divisions all the way to the top.
On the other hand Hull City have been around for over a century but have never made it to the top flight. What’s more on Saturday this will be the team’s first ever appearance at Wembley – old or new.
On Sunday either Doncaster Rovers or Leeds United will join Swansea and Nottingham Forest in next season’s Championship. Both games this season finished in 1-0 wins for the away side so goals may be in short supply.
Doncaster may have been formed nearly 130 years ago but there has not been a lot to celebrate in that time. A few lower league titles and the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy two years ago has been about it. When relegated a decade ago they did set a high water mark for league losses – 34.
Just after the relegation chairman Ken Richardson decided that there was a way out of the club’s financial difficulties. It involved an attempt to set fire to the club’s ground and to collect the insurance money. Just like the club Richardson went down – to prison rather than to the Conference.
I am the soccer analyst for the Fox Soccer Report and appear twice a week - every Monday and Friday at 10:00 EST. I have also been a regular contributor to the Fox Soccer Channel website since the summer of 2004. Over the last twenty years I have contributed to various radio and television programs throughout North America as well writing about the game for newspapers, magazines and websites.
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