The trouble was that this has been a rather high-scoring season for the bottom of the table and depending on the results of today's matches, any two clubs from Blackburn, Wolves, Birmingham, Wigan and Blackpool could have joined West Ham in being relegated.
The nerve-wracking relegation saga really began last Sunday. We'd already won our match against Sunderland and so on Sunday afternoon, Mum and I were listening to the weekend's other matches on the radio on our terrasse. We wanted West Ham to beat Wigan, Birmingham to lose to Fulham and Blackburn to lose to Man U. Having gone 3-0 up on Wigan, West Ham proceeded to lose 4-3. Man United, having just been declared the most successful team of all time, in the known Universe (well, in England, anyway), couldn't manage to beat Blackburn. At least Fulham did what we wanted.
Today, though, was Premier League D-Day, according to the BBC website (surely R-Day?). By the time I checked the scores today, mid-shopping, Wolves were 3-0 down to Blackburn, Blackpool were beating Man U (sounds like a variation on the Sports Illustrated jinx to me), and Wigan and Birmingham were drawing their matches. If everything had stayed like that, we would likely have been relegated on goal difference.
The nerve-wracking relegation saga really began last Sunday. We'd already won our match against Sunderland and so on Sunday afternoon, Mum and I were listening to the weekend's other matches on the radio on our terrasse. We wanted West Ham to beat Wigan, Birmingham to lose to Fulham and Blackburn to lose to Man U. Having gone 3-0 up on Wigan, West Ham proceeded to lose 4-3. Man United, having just been declared the most successful team of all time, in the known Universe (well, in England, anyway), couldn't manage to beat Blackburn. At least Fulham did what we wanted.
Today, though, was Premier League D-Day, according to the BBC website (surely R-Day?). By the time I checked the scores today, mid-shopping, Wolves were 3-0 down to Blackburn, Blackpool were beating Man U (sounds like a variation on the Sports Illustrated jinx to me), and Wigan and Birmingham were drawing their matches. If everything had stayed like that, we would likely have been relegated on goal difference.
And then came the desperate goals. The Wolves managed to pull two goals back — not enough for a draw but it at least looked a little less embarrassing. Luckily for us, Birmingham and Blackpool ended up losing too and so even though Wigan won, thanks to their late goal, we were safe, while Birmingham and Blackpool went down with West Ham. If Spurs hadn't scored a winning goal against Birmingham in extra time, though, we would have ended up on the same points as Birmingham.
We would also have had the same goal difference — hopefully, the next criterion used to determine who stays up wouldn't be alphabetical order. (Incidentally, the names of the bottom seven clubs in the Premiership this season all begin with b or w — my initials — coincidence? I think not).
This was all rather stressful at the time and having been fairly good on the shopping front for the past few weeks, I indulged in some retail therapy, including a new skirt. I do blame my football-related nerves for going ahead. I must remember not to go shopping this time next year when my consistently inconsistent team will no doubt be in the very same position.
This was all rather stressful at the time and having been fairly good on the shopping front for the past few weeks, I indulged in some retail therapy, including a new skirt. I do blame my football-related nerves for going ahead. I must remember not to go shopping this time next year when my consistently inconsistent team will no doubt be in the very same position.
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