Players: 40 out of 49. Points scored: 213. Highest score: 9 (Hope Arnold, Haresh Mirani). Average score: 5.32. Predictions of the Week: Paul Bentley (Bristol City 2-2 Middlesbrough), Jodie Kemp (Birmingham 2-3 Reading).

Results: Arsenal 1-1 Bolton Wanderers (1); West Ham United 0-1 Watford (2); Bristol City 2-2 Middlesbrough (1); Chelsea 3-0 Nottingham Forest (11); Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Southend United (6); Birmingham City 2-3 Reading (1); Manchester United 2-1 Portsmouth (14); Blackpool 1-1 Norwich City (5); Luton Town 0-4 Blackburn Rovers (0); Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-3 West Bromwich Albion (0).

Hope Arnold (135 points) and Haresh Mirani (132) share this week’s top score (9) and shuffle a couple of places up the table to third and fourth respectively, but Christine Butters (136) and John Collins (135) continue to lead the way, despite some disastrous Predictorship Cup news for the latter (see below).

Hope manages a highly creditable four correct scores (the ties at West Ham, Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United) and Michael Whitty (27th) reaches a new high with three perfect scores, including Blackpool 1 Norwich 1. Gabe Bevilacqua (13th) and Ted Warland (22nd) also secure new peaks in a mid-table more congested than your average human nose over the winter period.

Some spectacular predicting results in not one but two ‘Predictions of the Week’: Jodie Kemp’s Birmingham 2 Reading 3 and Paul Bentley’s equally outrageous Bristol City 2 Middlesbrough 2, although Maziar Sattari was the only person to plump for Arsenal 1 Bolton 1 and could easily have walked off with the coveted prize.

Six brave souls declared that Tottenham would dispose of Southend 3-1 (and they did!), and another bold selection was a 1-0 win for Watford at West Ham, so we come back to where we started and say well done to Hope and Haresh.

And so to the Predictorship Cup …

There were shocks aplenty in Round 1 of the Cup. Bengal Mumbai F.C. (Haresh Mirani, current league position: 4th) sensationally put out last season’s champions Millwall (John Collins, 2nd) in a 9-7 thriller, so there WILL be a new name on the trophy in May, Ipswich Town (Nick Watson, 5th) succumbed 6-4 to DC Adunited (Patrick Bevilacqua, 15th) and Jersey United (Mike Dufficy, 9th) were sent packing by Newcastle United (Basil Bradley, 31st).

Two other heavyweights, Manchester’s City (Christine Butters, 1st) and United (Hope Arnold, 3rd), stole a march on their high-flying opponents to progress 6-5 and 9-4 respectively while the lowest ranked team in Round 1, Hornets Forever (Mark Davies, 43rd), live to fight another day. Bunch of Losers (Michael Whitty), Living the Dream (Paul Bentley), Sheffield Wednesday (Janet Jones), Watford (David Roberts) and West Bergholt Wanderers (Jodie Kemp) are the other teams safely through to Round 2 and there are five replays to look forward to this weekend.

Here are the full classified results, read by James Alexander Gordon …

The Predictorship Cup - Round 1

1. WATFORD (David Roberts) (17) 5-3 BENFICA (Steven Dunlop) (21)
2. CLAPTON F.C. (Cathryn Harker) (15) 4-4 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS (Pete Yoder) (12)
3. BLACKBURN ROVERS (Sally Moon) (18) 5-5 PETERBOROUGH UNITED (Steve McHugh) (7)
4. LIVING THE DREAM (Paul Bentley) (41) 5-3 WYCOMBE WANDERERS (Stewart Newport) (20)
5. TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (Simon Gold) (32) 4-4 SOUTHAMPTON (Tom Palmer) (26)
6. PURPLE HAZE (Brian Dunlop) (23) 5-8 HORNETS FOREVER (Mark Davies) (46)
7. CRYSTAL PALACE (Dave McAleer) (33) 5-5 PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (Gabe Bevilacqua) (16)
8. LIVERPOOL (Joe Zalewski) (35) 3-7 WEST BERGHOLT WANDERERS (Jodie Kemp) (27)
9. CHELSEA (Dave Taylor) (4) 5-6 MANCHESTER CITY (Christine Butters) (1)
10. LIVERPOOL RESERVES (Saleel Sathe) (10) 4-9 MANCHESTER UNITED (Hope Arnold) (5)
11. MILLWALL (John Collins) (2) 7-9 BENGAL MUMBAI F.C. (Haresh Mirani) (6)
12. SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY (Janet Jones) (24) 5-3 DARTMOOR ROVERS (Jill Taylor) (14)
13. ANKARAGÜCÜ (Matthew White) (11) 4-4 WEST BROMWICH ALBION (Mark Young) (8)
14. BUNCH OF LOSERS (Michael Whitty) (30) 8-3 WINCHESTER CITY (Nicola Savage) (22)
15. IPSWICH TOWN (Nick Watson) (3) 4-6 DC ADUNITED (Patrick Bevilacqua) (19)
16. NEWCASTLE UNITED (Basil Bradley) (36) 8-5 JERSEY UNITED (Mike Dufficy) (9)

Round 1 Replays (ties to be played on February 3-4)

2. WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS (Pete Yoder) (12) v CLAPTON F.C. (Cathryn Harker) (15)
3. PETERBOROUGH UNITED (Steve McHugh) (7) v BLACKBURN ROVERS (Sally Moon) (18)
5. SOUTHAMPTON (Tom Palmer) (26) v TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (Simon Gold) (32)
7. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (Gabe Bevilacqua) (16) v CRYSTAL PALACE (Dave McAleer) (33)
13. WEST BROMWICH ALBION (Mark Young) (8) v ANKARAGÜCÜ (Matthew White) (11)

* Figures in brackets show league position on January 27.

Quote of the Week …

“Every defeat is a victory in itself” - Francisco “Pacho” Maturana, a Colombian international who, as national team coach, took the South Americans to the World Cup finals in 1990 and 1994. In the 1994 qualifying campaign, he famously led Colombia to a 5-0 win over Argentina in Buenos Aires, but the team flopped in the finals, losing 3-1 to Romania and 2-1 against hosts America. Colombian defender Andrés Escobar scored an own goal in the game against the US and was later shot dead for allegedly bringing about “terrible gambling losses to several drug lords”.

Players: 43 out of 49. Points scored: 204. Highest score: 9 (Gabe Bevilacqua, Christine Butters, Rob Molloy). Average score: 4.74. Prediction of the Week: Reading 3-1 Sheffield United (Rob Molloy).

Results: Aston Villa 2-0 Watford (13); Fulham 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur (9); Liverpool 2-0 Chelsea (0); Manchester City 0-3 Blackburn Rovers (0); Middlesbrough 5-1 Bolton Wanderers (0); Newcastle 2-2 West Ham United (0); Portsmouth 0-1 Charlton Athletic (0); Reading 3-1 Sheffield United (1); Wigan Athletic 0-2 Everton (2); Arsenal 2-1 Manchester United (9).

Spread the word and cue the terrible puns: it’s time to toast our new leader, Christine Butters.

The Manchester City supporter cuts through a bevvy of jostling predictors like a knife through you-know-what and becomes the sixth table-topper in what is churning out to be an exhilarating season.

Furthermore, Christine smears a huge dollop of icing on her celebratory cake as one of this week’s highest scorers, joining Gabe Bevilacqua and Rob Molloy on nine points courtesy of bang-on scores from Aston Villa, Fulham and Arsenal.

Two notable achievements in one week: she should milk it for all it’s worth.

For anyone unable to get their hands on the latest table, the top five predictors are now: Christine (130 points), John Collins (128), Nick Watson (128), Dave Taylor (126) and Hope Arnold (126).

With the fixture list throwing together Liverpool (third) and Chelsea (second) on Saturday and Arsenal (fourth) and Manchester United (first) on Sunday, it seemed like a perfect excuse to carry out a bit more painstaking research on the predictions of this week’s 43 players.

Chelsea (won 18, drawn 12, lost 13) and Arsenal (won 16, drawn 18, lost 9) were the favoured teams and would each have racked up 66 points based on the Premiership’s points system. Liverpool (won 13, drawn 12, lost 18) and Manchester United (won 9, drawn 18, lost 16) were lagging behind on 51 and 45 points respectively.

Like four minutes of injury time at Old Trafford, the results are baffling. Or could it all be explained by Arsenal’s recent 6-3 romp at Anfield in the Carling Cup, leading us to believe that Liverpool are not much Kop at Anfield and the Premiership leaders cannot be rated at the Emirates? It would certainly help me sleep better at night.

To round off this piece of inept research, I’ll also reveal the goals each team scored in your 43 predictions: Arsenal 61, Chelsea 57, Manchester United 54, Liverpool 48. Fascinating.

And now to more pressing matters. Nick Watson’s personally-christened Drawomatic Randomizer 32 has been flexing its muscles and has spewed forth the all-important numbers for Round 1 of the Predictorship Cup, which takes place this weekend. The drawmaster used set of balls number 1, chosen by Rick O’Shea of Quorn (currently basking in the glory of reaching the fourth round of the FA Vase Trophy). There was no independent adjudicator.

The waffling article below this one will explain everything you need to know about Round 1. Good luck!

Quote of the week …

“We’ve got a monster around our neck after beating England, but we must feed it” - Australian coach Frank Farina after the Socceroos beat England 3-1 in a friendly in 2003. The England scorer that day? Francis Jeffers.

Round 1 of the Predictorship Cup roars into life this weekend (January 27-28). The draw was conducted by Nick Watson’s marvellous Drawomatic Randomizer 32 - a wonderful piece of technology.

Round 1 features the predictors who occupied the top 16 league positions on December 31 (i.e. the “big guns”) plus the 16 players who made it through the Preliminary Round on January 7-8. The latest Predictorship table shows if you’re still in contention for the biggest prize in Cup football.

The draw produced some mouth-watering ties, with current Predictorship kings Manchester City (Christine Butters) travelling to fourth-placed Chelsea (Dave Taylor) in the televised game and Cup-holders Millwall (John Collins) at home to Bengal Mumbai F.C. (Haresh Mirani). Manchester United (Hope Arnold), last season’s beaten finalists, have a tricky away day at Liverpool Reserves (Saleel Sathe).

The Predictorship Cup works in exactly the same way as the Predictorship. You submit your scores in the usual way and the points you accumulate count towards your Cup score as well as your league campaign.

So, for example, if you score seven points on a Cup weekend and the opponent you are drawn against scores six points, you progress to the next round. It’s a straight knock-out competition.

Replays take place the following weekend. If the scores are level after the replay, the team with the highest number of correct scores in the replay (or over both weekends if they still cannot be separated) will be declared the winner. In the unlikely event that there is still no winner, the match will be awarded to the highest-placed team in the latest Predictorship table.

All Predictorship Cup weekends correspond with FA Cup weekends, with the final on May 19.

Everyone will be gunning for Millwall this time round after they defeated Manchester United in the 2006 Predictorship Cup final. Can the Lions make it two in a row, or will there be a different name on the trophy? (And yes, there IS a trophy.)

Round 1 Draw

1. WATFORD (David Roberts) (17) v BENFICA (Steven Dunlop) (21)
2. CLAPTON F.C. (Cathryn Harker) (15) v WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS (Pete Yoder) (12)
3. BLACKBURN ROVERS (Sally Moon) (18) v PETERBOROUGH UNITED (Steve McHugh) (7)
4. LIVING THE DREAM (Paul Bentley) (41) v WYCOMBE WANDERERS (Stewart Newport) (20)
5. TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (Simon Gold) (32) v SOUTHAMPTON (Tom Palmer) (26)
6. PURPLE HAZE (Brian Dunlop) (23) v HORNETS FOREVER (Mark Davies) (46)
7. CRYSTAL PALACE (Dave McAleer) (33) v PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (Gabe Bevilacqua) (16)
8. LIVERPOOL (Joe Zalewski) (35) v WEST BERGHOLT WANDERERS (Jodie Kemp) (27)
9. CHELSEA (Dave Taylor) (4) v MANCHESTER CITY (Christine Butters) (1)
10. LIVERPOOL RESERVES (Saleel Sathe) (10) v MANCHESTER UNITED (Hope Arnold) (5)
11. MILLWALL (John Collins) (2) v BENGAL MUMBAI F.C. (Haresh Mirani) (6)
12. SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY (Janet Jones) (24) v DARTMOOR ROVERS (Jill Taylor) (14)
13. ANKARAGÜCÜ (Matthew White) (11) v WEST BROMWICH ALBION (Mark Young) (8)
14. BUNCH OF LOSERS (Michael Whitty) (30) v WINCHESTER CITY (Nicola Savage) (22)
15. IPSWICH TOWN (Nick Watson) (3) v DC ADUNITED (Patrick Bevilacqua) (19)
16. NEWCASTLE UNITED (Basil Bradley) (36) v JERSEY UNITED (Mike Dufficy) (9)

* figures in brackets show current league position

Players: 38 out of 49. Points scored: 218. Highest score: 11 (Brian Dunlop). Average score: 5.73. Prediction of the Week: Chelsea 4-0 Wigan Athletic (David Roberts).

Results: Blackburn Rovers 0-2 Arsenal (8); Bolton Wanderers 0-0 Manchester City (2); Charlton Athletic 1-3 Middlesbrough (0); Chelsea 4-0 Wigan Athletic (1); Manchester United 3-1 Aston Villa (7); Sheffield United 1-1 Portsmouth (10); Watford 0-3 Liverpool (3); West Ham United 3-3 Fulham (0); Everton 1-1 Reading (9); Tottenham Hotspur 2-3 Newcastle United (0).

By his own admission, Nick Watson was “p***ed up on booze” when he submitted his week 19 scores amidst a colleague’s leaving bash, but his eight-point haul proves once and for all that getting a bit tipsy does wonders for your powers of foresight. Try it - it might help you too.

Nick has a new challenge on his hands this week: Predictorship Cup holder John Collins, who rises from fifth to a season’s best second with 10 points, despite moving house in India at the weekend. John’s tally is made up of four correct scores (the games at Blackburn, Sheffield United, Watford and Everton) and he becomes the first predictor to reach 30 correct scores. Brace yourselves for some more fascinating facts …

Brian Dunlop is only the eighth name to be added to the 11 points and above club this season, doing just enough to get his name of the list thanks to three correct scores (the games at Blackburn, Manchester United and Everton) and an extremely rare away win prediction for the Owen-less Newcastle at Tottenham. Brian takes a mighty leap from 38th to 24th.

Neil Hayes and Gabe Bevilacqua are also worth a mention for picking up nine points apiece (complete with three correct scores) and Rob Molloy skilfully squeezes his three double whammys into just eight points. These are exciting times for Gabe, who believes the Philadelphia Eagles are on the road to the divisional play-off round. “Only eight teams remain, and I think the Birds have a shot,” he explained enthusiastically. “Fly Eagles fly” - and he’s not talking about Crystal Palace.

And so to those additional facts. Hope Arnold (fourth) is the first predictor to make it to 100 correct results; Mark Davies (46th) is the 49th and final player to reach 10 correct scores; the top 27 predictors at the start of play all submitted their scores in week 19, but nine of the bottom 11 didn’t. I sense motivational issues; Stuart Claxton’s absent streak stretches to 15 consecutive weeks and he continues to do the impossible: make Norman No Mates look good. Someone have a word.

As you’ll see below, the five outstanding Predictorship Cup Preliminary Round ties were won by Newcastle United (who progress at the expense of the Tricky Trees by virtue of a higher perch in the week 19 table), Living the Dream, Hornets Forever, Purple Haze and Sheffield Wednesday.

Those five clubs will join the 11 other Preliminary Round winners and the top 16 sides as at December 31 in Round 1 (January 27-28). The draw will be made shortly. Can you feel the buzz of anticipation?

Preliminary Round Replays

* NEWCASTLE UNITED (Basil Bradley) 5-5 TRICKY TREES (Alex Iskandar Liew)
(Basil Bradley wins on penalties - higher in the current Predictorship table)
* LINFIELD (James Bradley) 3-5 LIVING THE DREAM (Paul Bentley)
* ABERDEEN (Scott Christie) 3-5 HORNETS FOREVER (Mark Davies)
* DONCASTER ROVERS (Sanjiv Sachdev) 5-11 PURPLE HAZE (Brian Dunlop)
* STADE RENNAIS (Ronan L’Heveder) 5-6 SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY (Janet Jones)

Quote of the week …

“In football, if you stand still you go backwards” - (cheer up) Peter Reid, ‘Everton Giant’ (2006), PFA Players’ Player of the Year (1985) and the victim of a reckless challenge in the 1985 FA Cup final that resulted in Manchester United’s Kevin Moran becoming the first player to be sent off in the final. Eat your heart out Motty.

So we knew this was coming for a good long while: Becks was going to quit the Spain thing and put himself out to pasture in MLS, and specifically Los Angeles, home of the meaningless regular season game and underwear-free Britney Spears, respectively. (I can imagine Landycakes pulling him aside at the first practice to explain that “You don’t have to really try here, it’s sweet”) That wasn’t terribly shocking. The shocking part was the number they quoted on the deal: $250 million.

(!)

That’s a lot of dollars. A lot of dollars for MLS (certainly), for soccer (yup), and even for American sports (where your average backup center/ stiff in the NBA makes as much as the top strikers in Europe). Turns out that the number exists mostly for PR purposes; according to the folks at FoxSports.com (and specifically Jamie Trecker, the guy who reported that Jurgen Klinsmann would be the U.S. coach!), MLS is only on the hook for $400,000 per year, with AEG and adidas splitting the rest of the bill.

In terms of the actual footie, I think MLS is going to be surprised at how physical Becks is. MLS is not a terribly physical league, and I see Becks actually shoving some dudes around (and certainly getting tossed once or twice). That’s my prediction on January 11th.

Link:
Who’s flipping the Beckham bill?

Players: 33 out of 49. Points scored: 189. Highest score: 9 (David Roberts, Michael Whitty, Mark Young). Average score: 5.72. Prediction of the Week: Rob Molloy, Michael Whitty (Nottingham Forest 2-0 Charlton).

Results: West Ham United 3-0 Brighton & Hove Albion (2); Manchester United 2-1 Aston Villa (6); Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Manchester City (13); Tamworth 1-4 Norwich City (0); Nottingham Forest 2-0 Charlton Athletic (2); Cardiff City 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur (1); Liverpool 1-3 Arsenal (0); Hull City 1-1 Middlesbrough (2); Birmingham City 2-2 Newcastle United (0); Chelsea 6-1 Macclesfield Town (0).

Quicker than you can say (John Terry’s) sequestrated lumbar intervertebral disc, it’s all change at the top.

Week 10 leader Nick Watson returns to the summit from fifth place but Christine Butters, a whisker away from becoming our sixth different front-runner, and Hope Arnold, a slightly thicker whisker away from claiming her seventh week at the top, join Tractor Boy on 116 points. You wait ages for a three-way tie and then two come along in consecutive weeks.

Week 17 headline-maker Haresh Mirani slumps from pole position to sixth but is thankful to Chelsea for providing him with his solitary point. Elsewhere, there are seasonal highs for John Collins (fifth) and Mark Young (seventh). Mark, David Roberts and Michael Whitty are nine points better off than last week (maybe not the last time the words “Watford” and “Bunch of Losers” will appear in the same sentence this season) and the aforementioned John and Simon Gold each dine out on eight points.

Chelsea v Macclesfield - the facts. Has all the fun gone out of the Predictorship? Twelve of this week’s 33 players thought the English champions would “thrash” the side second bottom of League Two 3-0 at Stamford Bridge and another seven were even less adventurous: 2-0 to Mourinho’s men. Paul Bentley, Steven Dunlop and Janet Jones were the only players to see a Macclesfield goal in their crystal balls and the whole field predicted a total of 107 Chelsea goals (average: 3.24).

This was your chance to throw caution to the wind, stick your big central defender up front and really have a go. Instead, you sat back, soaked up the pressure and settled for a point. FA Cup third round weekend is a time for sixes, sevens, eights and, dare I say it, nines (what was I thinking?) to come out of the closet. I hope you feel ashamed when you wheel out your boring 1-0 and 2-1 scorelines next weekend.

And so to the Preliminary Round of the Predictorship Cup. Sixteen ties, 11 winners, five replays:

1. BUNCH OF LOSERS (Michael Whitty) 9-5 METROSTARS (Paul Dolan)
2. TRICKY TREES (Alex Iskandar Liew) 5-5 NEWCASTLE UNITED (Basil Bradley)
3. SUNDERLAND (Trevor Morris) 5-7 SOUTHAMPTON (Tom Palmer)
4. CYPRIARKOS F.C. (Neil Hayes) 5-8 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (Simon Gold)
5. LIVING THE DREAM (Paul Bentley) 7-7 LINFIELD (James Bradley)
6. HORNETS FOREVER (Mark Davies) 5-5 ABERDEEN (Scott Christie)
7. WATFORD (David Roberts) 9-5 SEATTLE GOONERS (Maziar Sattari)
8. PURPLE HAZE (Brian Dunlop) 5-5 DONCASTER ROVERS (Sanjiv Sachdev)
9. DC ADUNITED (Patrick Bevilacqua) 6-5 WEST HAM UNITED (Wendy Nathan)
10. LIVERPOOL (Joe Zalewski) 5-4 FARNBOROUGH TOWN (Rob Molloy)
11. BOURNEMOUTH (Della Torra) 5-6 BENFICA (Steven Dunlop)
12. CRYSTAL PALACE (Dave McAleer) 7-5 READING (Stuart Claxton)
13. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (Gabe Bevilacqua) 5-3 ARSENAL (Ted Warland)
14. WINCHESTER CITY (Nicola Savage) 7-4 CHELTENHAM TOWN (Rob Dimery)
15. CHARLTON ATHLETIC (Nigel Birrell) 3-5 WEST BERGHOLT WANDERERS (Jodie Kemp)
16. SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY (Janet Jones) 5-5 STADE RENNAIS (Ronan L’Heveder)

Congratulations to the winners. You take your rightful place in Round 1. Matches 2, 5, 6, 8 and 16 will be replayed this coming weekend. The same rules apply: just submit your scores and hope lady luck is smiling on you.

The last time we all met up like this, I asked who is the only footballer to have played in the Premiership, Championship, League 1, League 2, Conference, Uefa Cup, Champions League and World Cup. A gold star to anyone who knew the answer: Liverpool defender Steve Finnan.

It could only happen to a goalie …

In 1975, Manchester United’s Alex Stepney dislocated his jaw shouting at his defenders … Barry Town’s Andy Dibble was hospitalised with chemical burns after diving on the turf … In 1970, Brentford’s Chic Brodie had his professional career brought to an end by a dog. The pitch-invading terrier chased a back pass and leapt towards the ill-fated shot-stopper, sending him crashing to the ground. The damage? A shattered kneecap … American goalie Kasey Keller knocked out his front teeth while pulling a golf bag from the boot of his car in 1998 … Spain’s Santiago Canizares was ruled out of the 2002 World Cup after dropping a bottle of aftershave on his foot … England’s Dave Beasant was sidelined after he dropped a bottle of salad cream on his foot while making a sandwich … Chris Woods cut his finger open wrestling with the string on his tracksuit bottoms with a penknife and was unable to play for England … Former Liverpool reserve ‘keeper Michael Stensgaard dislocated his shoulder erecting an ironing board. He never played for Liverpool again … David Seaman missed the first half of the 1996-1997 season after damaging knee ligaments bending down to pick up his television remote control … Grimsby’s Aidan Davison was felled by a hard-boiled egg during a Second Division play-off game against Fulham … Stalybridge Celtic’s Mark Statham missed a game in 1999 after getting his head trapped in a car door … Estonian shot-stopper Mart Poom once injured his genitals in a charity match - against an Iron Maiden XI. Ouch!

Yes, it’s back! The Preliminary Round of the Predictorship Cup, featuring players ranked 17th-49th in the current league table, kicks off this coming weekend (January 6-7).

The Predictorship Cup works in exactly the same way as the Predictorship. You submit your scores in the usual way and the points you accumulate count towards your Cup score as well as your league campaign. Easy!

So, for example, if you score seven points on a Cup weekend and the opponent you are drawn against scores six points, you progress to the next round.

It’s a straight knock-out competition, with the big guns (i.e. the top 16 teams in the Predictorship as at December 31) joining the 16 winners of the Preliminary Round ties in Round 1 (January 27-28). All Predictorship Cup weekends correspond with FA Cup weekends, with the final coming to a venue (or a TV screen) near you on May 19.

Replays are staged the following weekend. If the scores are level after the replay, the team with the highest number of correct scores in the replay (or over both weekends if they still cannot be separated) will be declared the winner. In the unlikely event that there is still no winner, the match will be awarded to the highest-placed team in the latest Predictorship table.

In a final that miraculously mirrored the 2004 FA Cup Final, the 2006 Predictorship Cup was won by Millwall (John Collins) against Manchester United (Hope Arnold). John bagged a beautiful trophy for disposing of Hope 1-0 in a replay after the first match ended 1-1. Will John make it two in a row or will there be a different name on the trophy? (And yes, there IS a trophy.)

Preliminary Round Draw

1. BUNCH OF LOSERS (Michael Whitty) (36) v METROSTARS (Paul Dolan) (44)
2. TRICKY TREES (Alex Iskandar Liew) (39) v NEWCASTLE UNITED (Basil Bradley) (31)
3. SUNDERLAND (Trevor Morris) (43) v SOUTHAMPTON (Tom Palmer) (27)
4. CYPRIARKOS F.C. (Neil Hayes) (17) v TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (Simon Gold) (32)
5. LIVING THE DREAM (Paul Bentley) (40) v LINFIELD (James Bradley) (38)
6. HORNETS FOREVER (Mark Davies) (46) v ABERDEEN (Scott Christie) (30)
7. WATFORD (David Roberts) (19) v SEATTLE GOONERS (Maziar Sattari) (33)
8. PURPLE HAZE (Brian Dunlop) (35) v DONCASTER ROVERS (Sanjiv Sachdev) (42)
9. DC ADUNITED (Patrick Bevilacqua) (18) v WEST HAM UNITED (Wendy Nathan) (34)
10. LIVERPOOL (Joe Zalewski) (29) v FARNBOROUGH TOWN (Rob Molloy) (41)
11. BOURNEMOUTH (Della Torra) (47) v BENFICA (Steven Dunlop) (20)
12. CRYSTAL PALACE (Dave McAleer) (37) v READING (Stuart Claxton) (49)
13. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (Gabe Bevilacqua) (22) v ARSENAL (Ted Warland) (26)
14. WINCHESTER CITY (Nicola Savage) (21) v CHELTENHAM TOWN (Rob Dimery) (28)
15. CHARLTON ATHLETIC (Nigel Birrell) (23) v WEST BERGHOLT WANDERERS (Jodie Kemp) (25)
16. SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY (Janet Jones) (24) v STADE RENNAIS (Ronan L’Heveder) (45)

* figures in brackets show current league position