football rambles

 Cambridge took on Swindon in the first round of the Carabao Cup last night in what would have been a League 2 fixture last year. It was a bit difficult to see where either of the teams stand this season with both of them bringing in several changes for this game. I would think that Swindon's aims for the season would be League 2 playoffs and Cambridge's would be League 1 survival, but the chance of drawing a big name in the cup is something that can bring any team some financial stability, especially with fans now back in the grounds. The game itself wasn't a classic. Cambridge are in desperate need of a striker after  Paul Mullins departed for Wrexham. It's anybody's guess to why he dropped down to nonleague to sign for a club with cash to burn on salaries despite being at a considerably lower level ;) Anyway, Cambridge had the lion's share of the chances and Swindon seemed content on the occasional hit and hope. Neither team looked really like scoring and Cam...

Posh went into the game against Swindon a bit out of form and in recent weeks have slipped to 7th after a good start to the season, Swindon on the other hand went into the game in second place and were looking to continue to improve their promotion credentials. Peterborough started off brightly enough, but goals have been hard to find of late and it looked like it was to be no different in this game. Mendez-Laing looked bright from the start, but the Swindon defence, and in particular Jordan Turnbull seemed wise to him. Aaron McLean, making his return to the club also went close early on, but it definitely didn't look like it was going to be the home team's day when Joe Newell was fouled by Swindon's Raphael Branco on 18 minutes in the area. It looked like a penalty to everybody apart from the referee and probably a few blinkered Swindon fans. In fact at the start of the game it looked like Swindon were either very casual or were happy to play for a 0-0 draw with their ...

On Saturday we went to Peterborough v Swindon at London Road. Swindon won 2-1, so at least we will get to see a team known as the Robins win one game this season. The game was also remarkable for the fact that it was the opening of the new Moyes Road stand. We went in there and here are a few views from the new stand.

....... Or in the case of Swindon Town it should be the reappearing robins. Swindon Town have used at least 5 different badges during their history, and most have them have involved robins, from their nickname or trains, their other nickname being the railwaymen and the town is famous for its locomotive history. The diamond shaped crest with the 'S' on it was from 1991 and was supposed to signify a successful outlook for the future, which never really materialised. To me it looks more like the logo of a geeky IT company, something which Swindon is more famous for nowadays. In 2007 the fans voted for the badge with quaters and a train and a robin in it. The towns motto was also reinstated 'Sulubrius et industria', and a very fine badge it is indeed. Funnily enough for a team who have the nickname of the Robins they haven't always worn red and white. They started off in black and white and then changed to red and white quaters when they entered the Southern League in ...