League 1 climax most exciting in England?

Tomorrow, we make the short trip to South East London. Destination; The New Den, home of Millwall Football Club. The buzz ahead of this encounter is huge, as the race for second place and the fortune it brings, gets set to climax on the final day of the season.
The excitement is phenomenal; as only Norwich have secured a route to the Championship, one of five teams will take the other automatic spot tomorrow afternoon. So here is how it pans out:

Leeds Utd currently sit in 2nd place on 83 points. They are the only team in the fray with fate in their own hands. A win on the final day of the season will seal automatic promotion for the whites, but they must overcome Bristol Rovers at Elland Road to achieve this. The Pirates sit in 9th place after losing their early spot in the playoffs and on paper, Leeds should take all 3 points, but we all know that 90 minutes are played on the pitch and not on paper. So bearing this in mind, what can happen if Leeds and Bristol Rovers share the spoils?

Millwall and Swindon are hot on the tails of Leeds United, holding 3rd and 4th spot respectively and joint on 82 points. With these two teams meeting at The New Den, both players, management and supporters will be keeping a close eye on the game at Elland Road. If Leeds slip up, there is EVERYTHING to play for. And if either team steal all 3 points, with that will come the automatic promotion place. In the event that Leeds draw, and nothing separates Millwall and Swindon, 2nd place remains open to...

Charlton Atheltic, who are in 5th place on 81 points. Though 3 points alone wouldn't be enough to steal automatic, they would need a 12 goal advantage as they travel to Oldham Athletic. So Charlton will also be hoping the Pirates take all the plunder of Elland Road, and that they can swashbuckle their way to 3 points at Boundary Park.

And finally, sitting safely in the final playoff spot; Huddersfield Town are the last team who could take the coveted 2nd spot. Though currently on 80 points, if results go their way; namely a Bristol Rovers victory, a draw at The New Den and Charlton failing to beat Oldham, then Huddersfield could pip the automatic place on the home straight. They will of course need to take all 3 points from Exeter at St. James Park, but also win by 6 goals. 5 wouldn't be enough as Leeds would take 2nd place based on the number of goals scored throughout the season. Such a goalscoring feat could send shock waves at the other end of the table...

There is of course still 1 relegation place to be decided. Tranmere currently occupy the place but are on 48 points along with Exeter City, whose goal difference keeps their head above water. If Huddersfield achieve what they need to be in with a chance at automatic, that would likely sink Exeter to relegation from League 1 if Tranmere manage to gain a point against already relegated Stockport County. Above them on 49 points sit Hartlepool United. Thanks to their goal difference, it would require both Exeter to beat Huddersfield AND Tranmere to beat Stockport to relegate them if they fail to win their final match away at Brentford. Safest bet here is to take all 3 points from the Bees!

Above them and still not safe sit Gillingham. The Gills are on 50 points, and again, if they fail to win away at already relegated Wycombe and the aforementioned teams pick up 3 points, the Gills will be relegated to League 2.

I think football fans across the country will be tuning in to see the League 1 culmination tomorrow afternoon as we are set for what could be one of the most exciting final days of football in a long time. Its a time when heroes will be made and jobs will be lost whilst pride and dignity hang in the balance. I implore you to pick a team and cheer them on until the death whilst watching Jeff Stelling and the lads on Soccer Saturday. Be the 12th man and get involved in a historic day of football!

Of course, Leeds might win and Tranmere might lose, rending my pre-match speech completely void, but I've got a hunch that their could be a surprise or 2 in store when Saturday comes.

January at Swindon Town

You'll have to speak louder, the atmosphere at the County Ground is deafening!

The January transfer window usually brings a flurry of players in and out of clubs. However, January at the County Ground has been strangely quiet off the pitch, perhaps to compliment the storm The Robins are currently kicking up on the pitch!

Now that the transfer window has slammed shut, lets sum up the hello's and goodbye's so far. Though not all restricted to the transfer window, in a busy period a couple could have been missed:

Players Out
Yinka Casal (Terminated)
Anthony McNamee (Norwich)
Alex Revell (Loan End)
Ben Hutchinson (Loan End)
Hasney Aljofree (Terminated)
Lee Peacock (Grimsby)

Players In
Alan Sheehan (Leeds Loan Extension until end of season plus playoffs)
Danny Ward (Bolton Loan Extension until end of season plus playoffs)
Vincent Pericard (Free Agent)
Simon Ferry (Celtic Loan Extension until end of season plus playoffs)

Wilson admitted he failed in a bit to add 3 new names to his squad as deals broke down at the 11th hour on deadline day. Strong rumours are linking two of the names as Scotland Under 21 Captain and Celtic Right Winger Paul Caddis and Portsmouth's 20 year old midfielder Matt Ritchie. Wilson has promised he will be following up his enquiries when the emergency loan window opens next week, so hopefully the latter list above will grow.

In comparison, on the pitch Town's football has been raising the decibel level at SN1 as Town have moved themselves into a very strong position to compete for a playoff spot come the end of the season. This has been aided by another unbeaten streak, this time of 7 games, with just our gutsy fall at Craven Cottage in the FA Cup being the blemish since our poor performance against Bristol Rovers back in December last year.

A certain two men who play off of each other better than Ant and Dec, or even Phil and Fern, have been setting alight League 1. Billy Paynter has bagged 16 goals to his name this season in all competitions, whilst non-league prodigy Charlie Austin has put away 10 in his last 13 outings in a red shirt! A feat that has earned 20 year old Austin a new 2 and a half year deal, putting the mockers on all those rumours floating about telling me the lad wouldn't be helping us push for promotion come the end of the season.

And the form we've found ourselves in hasn't been due to poor opposition. Town have racked the points up against worthy opponents, with the most notable points this season coming from a 1-0 victory over Southampton eons ago back at the start of the season, a 2-2 draw with Charlton at The Valley, and of course the 3-0 thrashing of Leeds United just 8 days ago. That one will certainly live long in the memory of every Swindon Town fan in the first sell out crowd since 2007 at the County Ground.

But its not going to be a cruise to the playoffs at the end of the season, as now we find ourselves coming up against teams in and around our position, and when you are doing so well, teams will come up against you with added vigour as a victory will mean so much more.

Saturday we welcome Charlton Athletic to the County Ground for the first time in League competition since the season of the millennium. One Michael Carrick scored for Town as they fell victim to a 2-1 Charlton victory. In 2007 Charlton made the trip West down the M4 as the teams were drawn in the League Cup. Charlton ran out 2-0 winners as the gulf in class became evident after a battling first half from Town. The likes of Nicky Weaver, Lloyd Sam, Marcus Bent, Darren Ambrose and Andy Reid outshone Town's battlers of Peter Brezovan, Miguel Comminges, Christian Roberts and Lee Peacock.

Hoping for another bumper crowd at the County Ground, as the other half of the ground who turned up for the Leeds game were treated to a Swindon carnival of football in our last game. Keep the performances up and the fans will stay, COME ON YOU REDS!