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April 27th, 2025 - 7 finals and a thrilling end

Dolbeth was very aware of the term that Scolari and then Fernando Santos coined in the long runs of the Portuguese national teams in international competitions…adapted to Sheffield F.C., the team had 7 finals to play and if they were to pull a league win miracle, they would also need support from the other teams to beat Radcliffe. The first game of these “finals” was an easy one, or at least the boys made it look easy. Against 17th placed Workington it was a one-direction affair and the 5-1 was a fair result. Next at home, the last place and virtually relegated Warrington Rylands should have been a similar result but despite a similar domination as in the last game, the boys were not able to score one single goal and with 5 finals to go, it was now a 6 points difference to the top.

April began with the fifth final was at Nantwich Town, against a team trying to get out of the relegation zone. The home team was out of luck and Sheffield won with ease by 0-4 and with Lund scoring a hattrick. Better than this, the teams at the top had all lost points and now with the playoffs mathematically secure, it was “only” 3 points difference to the top. 3 days later, another final, this time in the Home of Football against 14th place Morpeth Town without much to play for. Sheffield needed the win and again they were the better team but could not score despite a close to 3.0 xG. Basically, this defeat made the dream of direct promotion a lost miracle. Still there were 3 games to be played prior to the playoffs and the morale needed to be kept high.

The last 3 games were supposed to be solely for getting the points, maintaining form and preparing for the playoffs, starting with a result that was better than the exhibition against Matlock Town but that result and the fact that all teams seemed to be losing points, saw Sheffield at half-time while winning in the following match against as virtually second placed, just one point away from the leaders Radcliffe who were having an even worse end of the season than our boys in the previous game. It ended up being a draw and although mathematically possible Sheffield needed to win the last game of the regular season away at Guiseley, which they did in a 3-4 thriller and wait for all 3 teams above on the table to lose their games. It was not meant to be and Bradford Park Avenue ended up stealing the last spot in the last game on a very very tight table.

Cronica Leonina!

São sempre as pequenas coisas…no campeonato aqueles empates contra os Casa Pias da vida fazem com que a 4 jornadas do fim e apesar de menos 1 jogo, estejamos praticamente fora do campeonato, já que o Porto tem 8 pontos de avanço. Depois deste último jogo em Portimão, quase que ia partindo o televisor. Va la que na Europa estamos nas meias-finais, vencemos os Vikings sem problemas e agora temos os turcos onde jogava o Quaresma. Outro traidor! Que seja ano de Europa e que pelo menos fiquemos a frente dos lampiões!

March 21st, 2025 - Not always fair

Since Sheffield was in the top 5 with two thirds of the league games played, the expectation from the fans was more than just getting a mid-table finish and more and more in the tune of achieving a playoff spot. The next few games against some “weaker” opponents would tell how realistic this was. It could not have been better against Bamber Bridge away, without any injuries or suspensions and after the initial 15 minutes, when the home team managed to score, it was all Dolbeth’s team finishing the game with 1-3, which could easily have been 1-4 or 1-5. Next team on their path was relegation battle contenders Ilkeston town and the boys bottled it there, similar to the game at Bamber Bridge, Sheffield started out slow and soon were losing by 2-0…the problem was that this time, despite a good dominance, Dolbeth’s boys only managed to score once, leaving 3 important points on the table, against a weaker opponent.

Dolbeth was furious after that game but 4 days later the team answered very positively with a 0-5 thrashing of Lancaster City in one of the best games of the season. At this point the top 5 seemed more and more certain as the gap to the 6th place was now a full 9 points…but remembering the end of last season, we really had to wait and see. The beginning of March saw the boys travelling to Whitby for another expected win…and it was a difficult one after starting well and being 0-2 in front, it was only Dawson, making us remember the good old days that from the bench scored the winning strike for a 2-3 win. Unfortunately, in the following game, which should have also resulted in a win, not even Dawson was able to save Sheffield from another unfortunate loss of 2 points.

In a month with 6 games, the team started feeling the long season and some injuries here and there started having some impact in the last 20-15 minutes of the game, that was clearly visible in a slim win against Liversedge by 2-1. After so many games with the bottom half of the table teams and still in 5th place, against Marine sitting second in the league, a better exhibition was needed at the Home of Football if Sheffield wanted to grab the 3 points. And the boys clearly came out to shine on this one, especially in the first half, the dominance was complete to beat a team fighting for the title for an outstanding 5-0. Despite the good run with 7 games for the end of the season, Dolbeth and his boys were still in 5th place. If the playoffs were almost a certainty, the title seems to be a mirage although looking at the xG and theoretical points table Sheffield would be 2nd and “only”2 less than 5 points away from Leek Town and two more than the league leaders Radcliff. Who said football was fair?
 

Cronica Leonina!

Aí estes empates fora. Casa Pia e Rio Ave não pode acontecer! Ainda estamos na corrida e são apenas 3 pontos até aos morcões, mas os próximos 9 jogos são todos finais. Na Europa mantemos o nível e fomos a Espanha comer os caramelos do Osasuna…agora temos uma equipa dos Vikings! Para ganhar!!!

February 14th, 2025 - Is the worst over?

2025 started with some injuries and some bans as well as a new face in the team. As was expected, Dolbeth was not happy with the left and right backs and there was a lack of central midfielders after the Hodgkinson abandoning the club a month ago. At Hyde, Zico Asare the new right back, coming from Maidenhead but without club since the summer, made his premature debut, but Hyde United playing home and with a new coach took home the win mostly due to the inability of the visitors to score. Despite the negotiations in the background the first home game in the Home of Football on a tough fixture against 6th placed Worksop, there were no new faces…but this time very dramatic win was achieved with Pennant scoring at the 93’ minute. Now there was a bit of a dilemma…the next game was for the local cup and there was this point of discord as Dolbeth clearly did not favor the competition while the board wanted to win the cup.

It was all resolved at a diner table and Sheffield did field the strongest team possible on a frozen pitch against Stamford, but despite the dominance the game went into penalties and Sheffield was out…Dolbeth said leaving the field “Well, it was not meant to be…” with a mixture of a smile and a wink. Back to full focus on the league, the next game against saw the second new face arriving at the club left back Harrison Dunk that left Cambridge United, after 13 seasons at the club, as well as the extension of the loan of our goalkeeper Luke Hewitson. The game itself was a rather dull affair and a lucky win who did not convince Carlos, given the next two fixtures against the 1st and 2nd placed teams in the league, with whom Sheffield had lost on both occasions in the first round.

Radcliffe sitting on top of the table and playing home was the most difficult game of the season and in all honesty in the end it came down to conversion of the chances…2-1 for the home team a very unfair result. Sheffield F.C was really struggling with attack and the next game with 2nd placed Leek Town was a poster for exactly that, our boys were the best team and had two goals disallowed only to concede the last minute. It could only get better but at this point of the season there were too many games against high table opponents, so the win against Farsley and the draw against Basford United, sitting 6th in the table were not seen as bad results. For the previous two games, Dolbeth also managed to bring the veteran Matty Lund to cover the depth on the midfield area. Still 14 games to go and despite having lost ground to the top, there was a 7-point cushion to the non-playoff spots and the theoretically most complicated games were now behind!

Cronica Leonina!

Sempre a mesma coisa...chega o Natal e parece que deixaram de saber jogar a bola! Primeiro jogo do ano e pimba empate em casa com aqueles marroquinos do Farense. Com os morcões tumba derrota por 0-2 em casa e depois de perdermos uma taca das caricas com o Braga, voltamos a perder pontos com eles no jogo a seguir…já vamos em 3º, ainda falta muito campeonato, são apenas 3 pontos e ainda temos a Europa, mas já estamos a patinar! Acordem meninos!

Thank you for your comment

Well, I think for Dolbeth, staying at Sheffield F.C. is a question of honor.

These divisions are a lot of fun due to the fact that every team seems to be able to win against any team at any time.

December 30th, 2024 - Firm Top 5

On a complete high with 7 straight wins and climbing the table, the uncensored was that all these 7 adversaries had been mid to low table teams and the challenge on weekday 14, promised to be different. Marine was fighting for a spot on the playoffs and playing at home they had a bit of an edge. The game was a disaster defensively as despite same number of shots and even xG, the game finished with a 4-1 defeat…the run was over. Hopefully it would be just a one-off as next game at home was a fan’s day sponsored by same company on the new Sheffield F.C. shirts: Strongbow an English cider with more than 60 years of existence. Asking for a comment, Dolbeth said “I prefer wine…but I am getting used to this thing, its sweet and fresh. I mean, we should pack the stadium, with 5-pound ticket, you get two ciders, what more can you ask for?”. The game itself was rather dull and despite being the better team, Sheffield had a hard time in front of goal, leading to a new defeat…at least some of the supporters were happy with the free alcohol.

The boys returned to the wins in the local cup with a solid win away at Ossett United and to the league at home Sheffield managed to pile on the disgrace of the last place Warrington Rylands in an unconvincing fashion. At this time, it was already clear that Dolbeth was looking into bringing a few new boys into the team, given the discontent of some of the less used players, including Kieran Kennedy who was loaned out and Hodgkinson who expressed the desire to leave the team. It was also around this time that there were some rumors later confirmed by the manager that Stratford Town want him to manage their team. His response “Not a chance!”. The league was entering the final stages of the first round and until the end of December there were still 5 games to be played. The first one home resulted in a decent 2-0 win over Nantwich Town…

December and the cold weather were something that Carlos Dolbeth hated even more than the English food and it would now be a bunch of games in snow and dirty fields with the risk of injuries and strange results. Still against Morpeth Town a win 2-1 does not tell how superior Sheffield was and at Matlock Town even resting some players from the starting XI, Sheffield managed to grab another comfortable win. At the start of the boxing day the team was only 2 points behind the leaders but this was always going to be a strange part of the season and after a lucky win against away against one of the title contenders, Sheffield faced the other side of the coin at home against Guiseley, one expulsion and two disallowed goals was too much to avoid a loss in the last game of 2024, still keeping the team in the top 5, 3 points away from the top.

Cronica Leonina!

Não sei se andam a drogar os jogadores, já que aquele Varandas com o consultório de medicina pode andar a fazer isso, mas o que não deixa de ser verdade, a equipa parece transfigurada desde o ano passado. Até vamos em primeiro. Chegamos a Novembro sem derrotas. Verdade que nestes últimos jogos também foram só adversários que não têm onde cair mortos, especialmente aqueles clubes na Europa. Mas não deixa de ser extraordinário…vamos ver se passamos o Natal!

November 18th, 2024 - A league as priority

After finally breaking the poor form with a win against Basford United, 3 days later Sheffield F.C. played the 3rd qualifying FA Cup round against Vanarama league team of Blyth Spartans. Dolbeth’s boys had already done enough in this FA Cup, and it was unlikely that they would pass Blyth and given the number of games in a row, a more rotate team was fielded. It ended up being a good display in the first half but after the break Blyth a superior team managed to get the result to go through. After a good 7-day break it was back to the Cups with the FA Trophy home against Matlock Town and there will a refreshed team, Sheffield F.C. probably made the best game of the season so far winning 5-1. Four league games against theoretically (and judging by the table) easy opponents followed and the expectation was that our boys could make at least 9 points.

First against Bamber Bridge in the Home of Football finally a clean sheet and a good performance making a relatively easy “3-0” win. Again, home against Ilkeston Town, a team struggling in relegation spots, Sheffield F.C. managed to dominate again the game but the 2-1 ended up being a bit short for the number of shots (26, 11 on target). The trip to Lancaster to play against the 15th placed City, happened after a rare one-week interval (which was really appreciated) and yet again showing that the first month was a bit of a rough patch, the boys managed to grab the three points. This part of the season was game-packed and 3 days later Sheffield played the last league game before another cup match. At home against Whitby Town was an even better game with a stunning and rather fair 5-0 victory with Mintus scoring a hattrick and climbing to the top of the goal scorer’s table.

The last game of October was another FA Trophy round against another theoretically beatable team but where Dolbeth fielded again a rotated squad. Sheffield was down 3-0 after 10 minutes and you could see that Dolbeth was not unhappy to leave the cup behind…but not that way! With some changes the game ended up in a 4-3 defeat. There was still one cup left but prior to those two further wins in the league, totaling now 7 straight and putting Sheffield F.C. 3rd in the league…but not everyone was fully satisfied. The supporters were still a bit sore due to some fan favorites that left the team at the end of last season and from the board came the message that Dolbeth could not always field weaker teams in the cups. With that in mind and taking the opportunity to show their new jerseys, Sheffield did go with the strongest eleven on the first round of the Northern Premier League Challenge Cup against Grimsby Borough which resulted in an easy win.

Cronica Leonina!

Eu não quero lançar já foguetes porque já se sabe que o Natal acaba sempre por ser complicado em Alvalade, mas continuamos em primeiro na liga! Sim eliminados da taca, que ninguém quer saber e depois com os lampiões fomos roubados e perdemos, mas mesmo assim vamos em primeiro e ainda demos 4 batatas no Boavista. Até na Europa ficamos em primeiro na Taca da Conferencia! Mas vamos ver…Janeiro sempre complicado, ainda por cima com dois jogos com o Pinto da Costa!

September 27th, 2024 - Increased difficulty

It was not the first time in their history that Sheffield F.C. was in the 7th tier but it was long ago and most of the supporters would not even be able to say when. In this level you could already recognize some teams like Farsley Celtic, Redcliffe, Marine or Guiseley and once again only one team would go into direct promotion and 4 others into a playoff for a second spot. According to Dolbeth, the objectives of Sheffield were to get to the Top 10 of the table. Sounded like a complicated target but with so many faces it could be possible. The first game of the season was away at Worksop and the team fielded no less than 7 new faces in the starting 11, with a complete overhaul of the defensive sector, but it did not start well and nine minutes in, Sheffield was down 1-0. The team reacted with one of the players retaining their spot from last season scoring (Mintus) as well as the other stricker Pennant, making an unfair halftime scoreline of 2-2. The second 45 minutes were much tighter but Dolbeth’s boys scored one single goal to make it the first 3 points of the season.

The first home game was exactly what the fans wanted, a total domination from beginning to the end and a lot of goals on 5-2 galore with Mintus scoring a hattrick, so it was very surprising how in weekday 3, we got a trashing away at Gainsborough. Truth be told, Sheffield was the better team, but still it was a 0-3 loss. Carlos was not happy and knowing that Cup season was starting in the next game, didn’t please him either…so it was as expected a second-choice squad that played this first FA Qualifying round and manage to win against a rather lackluster Sutton Coldfield Town. The following game for the league was not the best for a rebound from the first loss of the season, Radcliffe was touted to be the best team in the league and so far, had won all 3 games, without conceding a single goal. Well, they definitely did not keep a clean sheet on this one but although a very even game, Sheffield did not manage to win against this organized side.

It was not perfect, especially in defense and that is why probably despite hating team changes after the start of the season, Dolbeth went into the market to find Luke Hewitson on loan from Barrow. Three days later the new goalkeeper already started in a very good second qualifying round of the FA Cup which saw Sheffield F.C. defeating Stafford Rangers by a clear 3-0 and achieving the minimum desired by the board to this competition. Now this was a time in the season where games were one after the other and just 3 days later, there was a game away at Leek Town, a team playing very well at the start of the season and once again defense was terrible to the point of Dolbeth throwing a chair at one of the players…3rd defeat in a row! The following game against Farsley Celtic was almost a carbon copy and another defeat (although playing with a rotation squad) and only finally against Basford United away did the team see a win, 1-6 and a position in the mid of the table after weekday 7.

Cronica Leonina!

Surpreendido pela positiva…especialmente depois daquela pré-época e de não termos ido buscar nenhum jogador que se apresente, pensava que estava mais uma vez o caldo entornado. Mas não, entramos no campeonato a vencer, fomos empatar ao Dragão, vencemos o Braga e na Europa mesmo cagado la vencemos mais uma equipa do Turquestão e vamos para a fase de liga onde temos um sorteio com alguns marrecos de Gibraltar e das Bósnias da vida. Sera que aquele presidente com cara de apito fez algum vudu na equipa?

August 9th, 2024 - Awards and changes 2

After a good few weeks going to the beach and reading “Record” every day from top to bottom, Carlos was not looking forward to being back in England…the reason being that in the 2024 Euro Portugal lost in the round of 16th against the winners…England. It was therefore understood that some mocking would be carried out by both the Sheffield F.C. supporters as well as some of the players. At the end it was mostly cheerful and only a large English flag on the manager’s office made for a good laugh. That said, not everyone at the club was happy. Around 12 players left as their contracts ran out, but Dewain Sewell had another year on his deal and was relegated to the U18 squad. Both him and his agent were not happy, but it was understood that with another 4 stickers on the squad, one had to go.

In the meantime, no less than 7 new players joined the squad, put together with another 4 new faces hired during the holiday break, that meant that half of the team was new. Also, the coaching staff had some changes with Carlos Dolbeth feeling the need to bring someone from Portugal to be the assistant manager. Using his contacts at Sporting, Carlos Dolbeth managed to convince the U-19 assistant manager to come to England, also using some of the new budget generated by the climbing of a step in the English Pyramid. One thing that was quite different this time was the quality of the opponents in the pre-season. Excluding Atherton Collieries, all other teams were from divisions above what Sheffield F.C. is used to face.

This naturally meant that all around wins were not expected, still it gave the chance to create some chemistry in the squad and get an idea of the starting eleven. While last year there was some inconsistency on both midfield as well as on the defensive side, players like Snowdon from the Leeds United Academy or Kershaw from the Stoke City Academy, looked to be what the team needed, still in an interview close to the start of the first official game of the season, Dolbeth was clear that “Yes, I am happy, but now on the wings I see the team less balance…in both defense and offense. I am confident in a good season, but anything can happen”. Finally, the summer telenovela was over, and Dewain Sewell was sold for a whooping 25,000 Euros. Amazing fee for a club of Sheffield stature and for a player which was not even part of Dolbeth’s plans.

Cronica Leonina!

Mas isto será para sermos competitivos ou levarmos na boca outra vez? Não despediram o Amorim porquê? E estas contratações? Nem um gajo que eu conheca…tudo a preços de saldo…mas ninguém mete a mão nisto. Mais uma época para ficar em quarto? Dos três grandes fomos os que compramos menos depois de uma época como a que se viu. E os resultados já ai estão. Na liga Europa tivemos para ser eliminados por uma equipa que deve ser da Chechénia. Enfim agora na segunda ronda apanhamos outros miseráveis e a coisa parece estar encaminhada…

Yeah next step in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. We will go step by step, I am going to build the team as good as possible but I doubt we will get to another title or promotion this year.

There are certain things on FM that are quite puzzling, like expanding a stadium to the tune of 150 seats…even when I cannot fill it on a constant basis. 

🙂

une 23rd, 2024 - Awards and changes

Sheffield F.C. got the automatic promotion but Liversedge did deservingly get the second spot after beating two teams in the playoffs. It was an interesting season also on the individual point of view league wise, as the player with most Players of the Match Awards was from a team that finished 15th place in the league and Sheffield although winners had little placement of players on individual level. That said, Luke Billam ended up winning the Player of the Season award while the top average rating of the champions was from David Dowson, who only started in 15 matches and scored his 22 goals mostly coming from the bench and getting a close to one game per 90 minutes on the field. Quite an achievement for a 35-year-old stricker.

Carlos Dolbeth also won a couple of monthly awards as well as Manager of the season but on the individual level it was really the attack that made the title a reality, Dowson and Mintus on the front and Luke Billam on the right side were crucial. Already preparing a new season, Carlos Dolbeth signed a new 1-year deal which included the promise to expand the capacity of the stadium to 1850 seated spots and an increase of 60% in the wage budget for next season. Prior to going to the beach in Portugal for a well-deserved, although short vacation, interviewed by the local paper while waiting for an Uber, Carlos left the following message to the supporters “Yes, look, there are around 10-12 players who were informed that we would not need them for next season…it’s not personal, but we need reinforcements to be competitive in the next season, especially in defense and midfield. I wish them all good luck, but their future is not here!”

Some new faces started showing up the clubhouse including the first ever money transfer from the club in many years. Terell Pennant was did cost less than 3000 pounds but at 21 years old and coming out of Leicester youth academy, a lot was expected in the way of goals. Among others Kamga was also someone that will occupy a problematic position in the past season, defender left as well Joe Dixon was also up for the attack. On the first day of the new season, it was visible that the team was not fully sorted out, there were players that had only one week left on their contracts and maybe the most surprising thing, Dewain Sewell who partnered up well in the second part of the last season with Mintus up front was put in the transfer list…

Cronica Leonina!

Estava tudo a correr tao bem na Europa…estava, até tínhamos vencidos os alemães do leste em casa com um golo do puto moçambicano…mas não, la no Leipzig tínhamos de perder. Se tivesse sido isso, mas a época a nível nacional foi de lembrar tempos em que não ganhávamos nada! Quarto lugar? Isto não pode ser admissível para uma equipa como o Sporting! Mas não há quem meta a mão nisto! Epá vão buscar alguém que perceba de futebol! Estou farto!

April 27th, 2024 - Champion without wins...

7 points in the next 6 games would be enough to secure the title and the automatic promotion that escaped Sheffield F.C. for many years. But it was not as easy as expected. The last 6 games were mostly against teams of the top 6 of the table and on top of that some of the most influential players had a bit of a clash due to the lack of left backs in the squad with coach Dolbeth. All of that ended up in a lackluster performance away at Belper Town which saw the team lose two games in a row for the first time this season. A left back was bought short notice, and the squad was not showing disgruntlement in the following game home against second placed North Ferriby, so a different result was expected. It was in fact better and Sheffield went to half-time winning 2-0, but a dreadful second 45 minutes ended up in a fair draw.

It was by far the worse period of Sheffield F.C. all season. 3 games without a win. That said it was still an 8-point advantage with 12 points to go but you could see that the smile on Carlos Dolbeth face was a bit more nervous than at other portions of the season. The following fixture was again a though one, Consett playing home were in the 5th place and needing the points to secure the playoff. And yet again a poor exhibition especially in the second half, ended up in another loss and a forth game without a win…but also the two other teams with a slim chance of achieving the title last their games, so despite the poor form, a win or even a draw against Pontefract Colleries, curiously the first team that defeated Sheffield F.C. this year, would be enough to secure the title. This time Sheffield F.C. played much better and were by far the best team…still only a draw in the end.

1 point in the next 2 games was enough now to secure the title. The first chance to put an end to the bad stretch of results and lift the team was against 14th placed Stocksbrige Park Steels, a team with nothing to win or lose anymore. Again it was much harder than anyone was expecting, the home team scored earlier and the first half was very even, when Sheffield F.C. woke up in the second half of the game but Dawson managed to miss a penalty and it was only in the 89th minute that Mintus managed to score to draw and finally after a bunch of unsuccessful games lift the championship! It was a party in Sheffield, for once it was not United or Wednesday to celebrate and Carlos Dolbeth got drunk on good Portuguese red wine! The last game of the season was a home celebration where a lot of reserve players had a chance to get some minutes and receive the league medals. The result should not have been important but another defeat giving Sheffield F.C. the title for just a single point with a horrible finish…

Cronica Leonina!

Nesta altura já dissemos adeus ao campeonato e com 4 jornadas para o fim e no 4º lugar acabamos por ter uma época lamentável, absolutamente lamentável! Por alguma intervenção divina e por mais estranho que pareça a Europa pode salvar isto tudo. Tínhamos passado a Lazio (que são uns fascistas) depois com o West Ham perdemos fora e pensava que tavamos feitos, mas não em casa o tanque sueco marcou dois e viramos a eliminatória. Agora falta a meia-final com aqueles alemães da bebida que da asas…passando esses, há Liverpool ou Roma. Quem sabe, já vi coisas mais estranhas no Entroncamento!

Well lets hope we dont waste it all in the end…

March 22nd, 2024 - So close I can taste it!

There was now more time between games, and it seemed that the reinforcements brought during the small winter break were a complete success. Sheffield had nevertheless only 4 points over the second place Liverstone and it was clear at this point that the objective was the first place which was the only one to give direct promotion. That meant that the game away to Liverstone was a almost a title decider. Sheffield entered strong, even better than in the first round and went to the break with a 0-1 advantage…but as the second goal was not falling, Hodgkinson saw a red card and the visitors saw themselves playing with one less player. The true color of a champion team came at this point when the visitors rallied and made the 0-2 to put 7 points difference on the top of the table. The following game was a clear and expected victory in the Home of Football and for the first time this season, Carlos Dolbeth, during the press conference confirmed what everyone was already expecting “We are candidates, and we will win the title and that I am sure!”

From day one, Carlos Dolbeth became not only a fan favorite but also a local media favorite. His style of always being open to talk to the press and call it like he saw it was a breath of fresh air and this also contributed to the healthy atmosphere at the club. February ended with 4 points gathered in 2 games where Sheffield had to play without the two starting central midfielders (one due to injury and the other suspended). That made for two rather pitiful displays which did not affect negatively the table position, in fact adding another 2 points advantage to Liversedge who was now 9 points away! On the field everything was going well, but Carlos had some concerns which he was quite vocal about. Namely why was the food so bad in England and “…what the hell is this stuff that people eat during the games? Where is my bifana and beer?”

Food aside, the run continued for Sheffield F.C. in the away game against Bridlington Town where the 0-4 result was better than the exhibition which confirmed mathematically that at least the playoffs were secure. The next couple of games were at home and with Hodgkinson already available against a weak team of Winterton Rangers and during a fan day with a lot of goals and another 3 points Sheffield F.C. continued on a roll. Unfortunately, the run of 14 games without a loss could not last forever and despite a good performance at weekday 32 against mid-table Hebburn City finally an unfair loss. This left the club on the verge of the title. There are only 6 games left and the distance to now second placed North Ferry is 12 points, so the expectation is that within the next 3 games the first place is secured…but you never know in football!

Cronica Leonina!

Isto não cabe na cabeça de um tinhoso…vencem o Porto em casa para depois irem perder com o Braga. Eu tinha dito que a concentração era na taca, mas já nem isso vamos lá. Só mesmo na Europa e até foi a rasca em penalties com a Lazio, ou o Lazio. Agora veem os camones do West Ham, eu vou ver já que aqui estou mais ou menos perto. Valha-nos isso já que o campeonato, estamos reduzidos a uma luta pelo terceiro lugar com o Braga. A venda do Israel? Nem estava cá a fazer nada!

February 2nd, 2024 - Some new faces

You could see from the onset that Carlos was not enjoying being away from home shortly after Christmas. In an interview he said that there was still much more codfish that he wanted to eat and that having to fly to Manchester on the 26th of December, especially with the cold and dark setting in at 3,00pm, “uncatholic and stupid”. But the show must go on and some changes were being prepared in the background. Would we see some new faces, joining the club? Not in the first game home against Brighouse Town which had all the marks of two teams that did not want to be there and finished in a boring 1-1 result. Prior to the last game of the year Carlos Dolbeth announced that he did not count on 4 players for the rest of the season including Luke Mangham from the strickers, greatly giving roar to the rumors that new faces would be shown in 2024. It was nevertheless clear to everyone that the last game of the season was again a poor performance of a heavily rotated team where the only positive thing was the result.

The new year came, and Carlos Dolbeth looked happier to have been a few days in his home country where he forged two new signings for the team (working remotely!). Right back Tommy Williams, a player who didn’t play in the last 2 seasons but had his youth years in the Sheffield Wednesday school jumped right into the starting eleven for the first game of 2024, while the central defender Ethan Young, released by Scunthorpe United started from the bench on a game so boring that the first highlight came at minute 67…ending of course in 0-0. During the second week of January two new faces arrived in Sheffield, goalkeeper Mac Chisholm and stricker Dewain Sewell, a young player that seemed to have a lot of progression. Both were already in the starting XI together with the other two that had arrived the week earlier and at home against 5th placed Dunston, it was clear that some chemistry was missing in the first half…which was compensated by individual actions in the second portion of the game with Sewell already putting his name in the scoresheet.

It was known that Sheffield F.C. had a few players that did not count for manager Carlos Dolbeth, but there seemed to be little interest in the market except for Mangham and Ed Hall, a stricker and a goalkeeper that had very few minutes this season and with the new arrivals would not play another match for the club. The month of January ended with another two fixtures, first away against Cleethorpes Town where the efficiency of the oldest club in the world built a 0-4 result that proved that all acquired players were an asset to the club while in the second and last game at home, against last placed Grantham Town, there was a little scare after the visitors scored first from the penalty spot. The result was soon reverted and at half time the score was already 4-1. The three points finally gave Sheffield F.C. a cushion to second placed Liveredge who at this point seemed to be the only team that could also fight for the title and automatic promotion.

Cronica Leonina!

Pior do que a mediocridade de estar em quarto lugar e perder todos os jogos contra os lampiões e os ladroes do Norte acaba por ser não contratarem um único jogador no mercado de Inverno. Onde esta a estratégia? Onde esta o director para o futebol? Onde esta o planeamento. Bando de paspalhos! Tem sorte que eu estou aqui em Inglaterra se não…epá isto agora só pode passar por concentramo-nos na Liga Europa, na Taca e planear a nova época, de preferência com um novo treinador…entretanto apenas o Edward parece saber jogar a bola!

December 26th, 2023 - First Loss

Sheffield F.C. entered the Home of Football Stadium in the 14th round of the league, still without losses and leading the table. Belper Town was the adversary and a team that they had played twice this season, for the FA Cup home game and replay. The end result of 4-2, with 3 goals from the strickers shows that it was a relatively easy game which continued their invincible run. The run on the Northern Premier League Challenge Cup on the other side came to an end…maybe for good as these are just games pilling up. Presenting a second-choice squad Sheffield F.C. was still the better team and managed to dominate most of the match but let in 4 goals and after a 4-4 full time result did not manage to get the better of Harborough Town in the penalty shootout.

Entering December on the 15th round Sheffield needed to play away, facing the second team on the table and Vanarama experienced North Ferriby. This was in theory one of the hardest games of the season and the reality proved that this was not like most goal galore games until now. Very tight, even defensive, the game ended up being a 1 goal difference affair, with Sheffield F.C. once again coming up with the w. The next game wasn’t easy either as even at home we faced another team in the top 5 of the table and it was once again the veteran stricker, David Dowson coming from the bench at half time that gave the 3 points to Sheffield F.C. But the tough games at the start of December did not end there, as 4 days later a visit to Pontefract, saw Carlos Dolbeth facing the 3rd placed Colls…and for the first time this season Sheffield seemed to be the worse team on the field, resulting in the first league loss at matchday 17!

One loss was not the end of the world, and the team only had another 3 days to prepare for the next game at home. Carlos decided to field some rotation players due to the number of fixtures in December which turned out to be the right move as Sheffield trashed Stocksbridge Park Steels by 5-2, with David Dowson, this time playing the full 90 minutes and scoring a hattrick! Shortly after Christmas and already with flights booked to Lisbon, it was another complicated visit to Ossett United, which did end up being a dreadful first half, but a fully controlled second 45 minutes to keep the form going and Dowson scoring once more from the bench. Not happy that there was a thing called Boxing Day, Carlos Dolbeth was at least satisfied that the first place in the table after the first round of the season was secure for now!

Cronica Leonina!

Esta mediocridade estava a dar cabo de mim, mas parece que agora lhes deram qualquer coisa para tomar que a equipa despertou para a vida. Na taca ia dando m*rda, mas os putos la salvaram aquilo contra os ilhéus. No campeonato finalmente duas tareias com aquele tanque da Suécia a marcar uns golinhos, afinal o matulão até sabe jogar…pena o resto. Liga Europa em primeiro, meias-finais da taca da liga. Já estou a gostar! Não quer dizer que o Varandas e o Amorim estão perdoados, até porque ainda vamos em quarto no campeonato, a 12 pontos dos tripeiros, mas vamos dar mais umas jornadas! Já agora, Feliz Natal verde e branco!

November 24th, 2023 - On Top

“Another cup?” shouted Carlos Dolbeth hearing that next he would have a double feature game with middle of the league Ashington. For the league away, followed by Northern Premier League Challenge Cup at home. “It’s the last one, there are no more cups!” said the President of the club apologetically. “Well in three days and with the boys tired, we have to field two teams and for me that Cup is irrelevant” decided Carlos. And so it was, despite the two different teams, the result of both games ended up being the same 2-1 victory and always coming up from behind after an early score from Ashington, the only difference was on how much superiority was shown in the league game compared with the Cup.

Another 4 days and it was back to the league for the 6th and 7th games of the month against two middle of the table teams with “funny” names. Two more or less comfortable wins later and after 10 games Sheffield was yet to lose a game, but Carlos Dolbeth was getting tired of the rainy weather and missing the Portuguese cuisine already. On its free time he roamed the region in search of talent together with its scouting team. Besides the good results, he had an eye on some new faces in January…if there was budget for that. November started with a 10-day brake followed by a home thriller which could have been avoided, had the defense been more on top. If there is a weaker side to this team it must be the back four. It is only that the capacity to score winning goals in extra time (as in this game against Bridlington Town) has been so far enough to keep on winning…

The 12th round was anticipated to be an easy fixture for Sheffield F.C. The game was away, but against Winterton Rangers who were dead last on the table and only had amassed 2 points. With that in mind the team rotated the starting 11 which ended up backfiring as after 15 minutes, Sheffield F.C. was two goals down…it then scored 4 to make it 2-4 at the half, only to have to comeback once again as Winterton Rangers score 3 goals from outside the area to make it 5-4, saved in the last second by a goal from Toor to get the draw and 1 point. It was not good but there were another 2 games in the next 6 days and the team was again on the verge of fatigue. The first of the games was again for the local cup with Stanford Rangers away, a team that was normally in the Vanarama divisions and a league game with a tough opponent also away. In the end Sheffield F.C. continues their cup run and grabs 1 more point, which leaves them still without league losses as league leaders. Still, something that came as a good surprise is David Dowson, age 35, having played for Sunderland almost 20 years ago, had been hired as a backup stricker and in that function has come from the bench and scored on numerous occasions, having one goal every 108 minutes! Carlos is so impressed that he became a beer companion in long after training talks about the good old days…

Cronica Leonina!

Esta tudo a fazer-se para saírem em Janeiro! Só pode! Se não qual seria a razão de apenas jogarem bem na Europa. Liga Europa 4 vitorias em 4 jogos, no campeonato mais uma derrota em casa com o Moreirense e um empate em Barcelos com o Gil Vicente. Depois o tanque sueco e o anão Goncalves parecem ser os únicos que conseguem marcar golos. O St. Juste uma nodoa autêntica, o Adan na baliza já devia ter sido despachado para a terra dele. Varandas RUA!

October 13th, 2023 - Cup Extravaganza

Carlos Dolbeth knew that success came at a price and for a team of semi-professionals, the number of games at the moment was excessive. Playing twice a week a few weeks in a row had a negative impact and for the FA Trophy the decision to use a second team was a risk that Carlos was more than willing to take. Away against Sutton Coldfield, 2 injuries and 2 cancelled goals later, Sheffield F.C. had their first loss of the season. Well at least they could concentrate now again on the FA Cup where the 2nd Qualifying round home against Rushall Olympic from Vanarama National South would probably be the end of the line. But this team really had the strong spirit of Carlos Dolbeth and against a stronger opponent, Sheffield had the luck of scoring earlier (Mintus of course) and seeing Rushall be denied by VAR twice…a full stadium and more money in the pocket for the best run of Sheffield FC in the Cup for more than 100 years!

Finally, back to the league, Sheffield had an easy win 3-0 at home prior to visiting Dunston, the other team of the league with 4 wins in 4 games. This was a real test, and the game was always very even with Sheffield FC taking the lead but conceding to go into the last few minutes with 1-1. Sheffield scored again at the 88th minute but conceded shortly after for a fair 2-2 result. There was not a lot of time to waste as the 3rd Qualifying Round for the FA Cup was just around the corner and this time, we were facing Alfreton Town, another team of the same level as Rushall. Could Sheffield FC pull another miracle at home? Almost, almost. At home again with a full stadium Sheffield managed to come from behind a draw the game in the last minutes to force another replay.

In the replay, this time the team was not able to find the net and despite not having shown a difference in terms of quality to Alfreton, their 1-0 loss put an end to a good FA Cup run. Done with (almost) all cups, it was time to get back to the league with a very tired team who was going for the 5th game in 19 days. And yet again it was not against a team where Sheffield could rest players. Liversedge was second in the table and were yet to lose to the competition this season. It ended up being a game that was of total control in the first half and a bit of too much relaxation in the second but winning nevertheless to maintain Sheffield invictus. Finally and against the weakest adversary Sheffield barely saved themselves from a first defeat after playing with many 2nd string players and only scoring to draw in extra time against Grantham Town. After 7 rounds Carlos Dolbeth and his boys are on top but there is a lot to play for and the table is packed.

Cronica Leonina!

Recuperação? Mas devem estar a brincar! Vencemos o Farense a rasca e o Torrense para a Taca das caricas e já falavam em recuperação…pimba derrota com o Famalicão e vamos em nono lugar. Sim os resultados na Europa são bons, vencemos o Toulouse e o Betis sendo que os israelitas que aí veem a seguir são fraquinhos. Mas com este treinador nunca se sabe… Ate Portugal tropeça, como há dois dias que empataram com a Islândia mas este Sporting do Amorim não tropeça, cai das escadas!

September 7th, 2023 - Flawless

1304 supporters showed up at Home Football Stadium to see Carlos Dolbeth coach the oldest club in the World for the first time. In a game for the FA Cup Extra Preliminary round (which should give you an idea of how many hurdles we would have to go through to win such a trophy), Sheffield F.C. faced a team from a tier below (from the 9th tier of English football) which had a Portuguese player. Abdul Djalo was a midfielder that left Sacavenense Academy to join Manchester United, but after two seasons in the U-18 team, went further and further down the English league system and now found himself with 21 years old in a semi-professional team with little expectation of improvement. The game itself was dominated by Sheffield, but it was clear that with so many new faces, some chemistry was still lacking and the 1-0 was a bit of a disappointment after around 21 shots (7 at goal). Still, it was on to the next preliminary round…

In the first league game the crowd did not reach 500 as this was against the newly promoted team of Newton Aycliff, trained by an ex-Sunderland player which hadn’t had any real success in his 20+ years as a coach. At home and with the stronger team, it was the debut for many players and the two, arguably best players, Mintus on the attack and Billam on the left, made the final 2-0 result and the first 3 points of the season for Sheffield F.C. In the following week, there was the preliminary FA Cup round and against Chasetown, a team of the same division as Sheffield F.C. but in another series, the result was short for the quality of the exhibition. Nevertheless, the team advanced to the next round and pocketed 1680 pounds.

While the first away game at Brighouse Town ended up in clear victory for Sheffield F.C. who at this time were climbing not only in the table but also in the bookies odds of reaching promotion, the last game of August was the first real challenge. Stockton Town was a tittle contender and had 2 wins in 2 games, so the game was even with many goals, nice strikes from outside, penalties, drama, injuries, but in the end, Sheffield was never behind on the scoreboard and managed a 4-3 win, to finish August with 5 games in 5 matches Billam as best player of the month and Dolbeth as manager of the month. One thing that was clear was the amount of fatigue setting in and September started with another 2 Cup games. First and finally the 1st Qualifying Round of the FA Cup against Belper Town from our division. Playing again with home advance, on paper Belper Town was a weaker adversary, who only managed to get 1 point in 3 games in the league, but they were touted to have the best player in the division, right winger Zack Goodson who had already 2 goals and one MoM award. Fate would see Sheffield having to play a replay match after a bit of misfortune in the first match, where despite dominating, the team suffered early and just after scoring to draw and already in comeback form, saw one midfield be dismissed with a red card. The replay round was even more thrilling with a final 2-3 win of Sheffield despite, in this case, counting on the misfortune of Belper Town who missed a penalty and never really saw their top star contributing enough. The second qualifying round is already in less than 2 weeks.

Cronica Leonina!

Eu disse logo que com estes caramelos não íamos lá. O jogo com os lampiões ainda dou de barato até porque ficaram 3 penalties por assinalar, mas com o Rio Ave o Paulinho marcou logo no início e depois jogamos o resto do jogo a defesa como uns conas. Claro o calendário também era f*dido, mas no Dragão mais uma vez o Pintinho e a sua mão na arbitragem, so marcava faltas para um lado e cartões nem vê-los. Pelo menos aquele tanque sueco até parece jogar alguma coisa, mas este Amorim…rua já! Bem a culpa não fica só com ele, porque o Varandas ainda pior!

Thanks. Well, yes this deserves a bit of a context (if you are not portuguese) and maybe i should have done that initially.

Carlos Dolbeth was unintentionally funny commentator of the Sporting CP tv channel which at the time was favorously cheering a Sporting president (Bruno de Carvalho) who ended up being a phony and an idiot. Shortly after that guy lost the presidency, Carlos Dolbeth also left the tv channel.

The save is only on Sheffield FC and Carlos hypthetical career there, but he will follow the Sporting team and see what they are doing. Always with the same critical tone.

Hope that explains it a bit better

August 5th, 2023 - Are we ready?

Dolbeth started working hard for the get go. His “no fucks given” style was weird but refreshing. First order of business was meeting the local press, with whom Dolbeth stated from the start “I am also a reporter! Here is my certification” and with phrases like “You were still in your fathers’ balls, and I was already doing journalism”. He did not make a lot of friends in the media… Also, the coaching structure was improved with a scouting department where Dolbeth was over the moon to be able to hire Rommy Bocco, a 48-year-old Benin international, with whom Carlos could speak about the wonders of Africa. Despite two partnerships with Championship clubs, Rotherham and Sheffield Wednesday, it did not seem that any prospects were willing to move to the south of the city…

Carlos had a dilemma. Despite his 50 years plus work as a sports journalist, he was never a coach or a manager, so where to start? 4-4-2 was always a typical British formation, relatively straightforward, so he believed this was the path to the team’s success. But not with the players at hand…half of them were too fat, too slow, too clumsy, etc. The youth team, a disaster, only one Goalkeeper worth being in the first team as a second backup. It was off to the market, “selling” for free no less than 10 players and releasing another 8 (would have been more if another three did not have semi-professional contracts). To counterbalance and always rely on the scouts who bought 10-20 new suggestions every week, a total of 15 players arrived at the club on loan or semi-professional contracts.

It was hard to impress Carlos, but two new hires stood out, left midfielder Luke Billam, who had not played in the last 2 seasons but had Championship experience (at least at U23 level) and the stricker Darnell Mintus that despite his young age played the last few seasons in these lower divisions at a good level. The friendlies had already been scheduled, so Carlos had no influence on the choosing of the adversaries, which left the team playing two teams he knew (Hearts) or heard about (Billericay Town) which resulted in loses and a few other teams which seem to be a bunch of recreational players that played together after work…those were mainly wins. Unsure of the preparation of the team and the quality of the other clubs in the league, Carlos Dolbeth was skeptical.

Cronica Leonina!

Eu não digo? Epá mandem já embora o Varandas ou quem for que tratou do mercado! 3 jogos amigáveis, um com os miúdos em que parecia que estavam a jogar contra uma equipa do mesmo nível, depois uma derrota com o clube de onde compramos aquele Fresneda ou Fresmerda e no final uma vitoria contra uns mancos da Holanda…ainda por cima o primeiro jogo do campeonato vai ser com os lampiões. Não tenho fé nenhuma nesta equipa.

July 3rd, 2023 - Not Wednesday nor United

Carlos Dolbeth arrived in Manchester at 3,30pm and as advertised, a person was waiting for him in the arrivals hall. There was no limo, but he got picked up in a 10-year-old Volvo with a driver that spoke little to no English. Already cursing himself for not having stayed home and went to the bar to see the Sporting B game, the car stopped after an hour, not in Sheffield but in a small outskirt town called Dronfield. “Where the hell are we? Where is the big stadium?” as soon as he said, the car door opened, and Richard Tims greeted him with “Welcome to Sheffield F.C. Carlos!”. Puzzled Carlos looked at the football pitch that looked like something from the Portuguese 3rd division and said “Oh, hello, this must be the academy or the training center, no?”

“No, no, this is our stadium…you know the history of our club, don’t you?” Richard said. “Well, are you actually Sheffield United or Sheffield Wednesday?” inquired Carlos. “We are neither, we are the oldest club in the world, Sheffield F.C. I am sure you heard of us…,” said the president. Seeing a vague expression of confusion in Carlos face, he continued “Our club started having informal “football” games in 1855 and the first recorded football game in history was played by us in 1860 against a club nearby, Hallam FC, the second oldest club in the world. Not just that but the first written association football rules, were drafted by us.”. With disbelief on his face Carlos answered “I had never heard about you or your club prior to this morning. What exactly do you want from a Portuguese radio presenter like me? And in what division do you play nowadays? 4th league?”

Looking worried Richard shot “Look, we want someone with your passion, the same passion we see on the YouTube videos when you were defending Sporting. We need that. We want you to become our manager. We don’t have a lot of money, but we will pay for a flat, a car, gas expenses, 4 flights back home per year and 1500 Euros”. Seeing Carlos face in disbelief, Richard added “and you can eat and drink at the club restaurant every day for free…by the way, as you asked, we are in the 9th division of English football”. Carlos did not know what to say, he was paid the same amount in his radio job, but the food, housing and drinks was something else. Besides, he was tired of doing the same lame radio show for years now. “If you provide me Sport Tv to see the Sporting games, we have a deal”.

Cronica Leonina!

Então, mas acham mesmo que com este plantel vamos lá? Se na época passada não conseguimos e ainda por cima vendemos o Porro (que corre pa caralho) e o Ugarte. Não temos estratégia de mercado! Fomos buscar um chaimite sueco aqui a Inglaterra, o Trincão que no Barcelona nem para o banco ia, um espanhol qualquer do Valladolid (ou Salamanca ou outra terra qualquer) e um dinamarquês que jogava num clube italiano que eu nunca ouvi falar. Epá podem encomendar as faixas de campeão, que isto esta entregue ao Benfica este ano. Pelo menos despacharam o grego (que se via grego para jogar a bola, hehe).

June 29th, 2023 - A stranger calls

Carlos Dolbeth was born in Nova Lisboa (Portuguese Ultramar Province), nowadays Luanda (Angola) in 1954 but with the Carnation revolution in 1974 and the subsequent independence of Angola, he soon came to Lisbon where he became a journalist, mostly in the sports section. During many years he was only a voice of some relatively unknown sports radio and Portuguese music programs. He never hid his love for Sporting Clube de Portugal and when the club started a tv channel (SportingTV) during the Bruno de Carvalho presidency in 2013, he was invited to have a weekly commentary on one of the many, very biased, programs. Soon he gathered a small following with various Youtube clips, due to his borderline demented comments…

But as it is well known, Bruno de Carvalho would not last long as a president of the club and leaving in shame, the new presidency also wanted to have a “classier” approach to the SportingTV channel and Carlos was left without a presence on TV since 2018. He went back to Radio Amalia (a Portuguese music/popular radio with little market share) until in July 2023 he got a call on a +44 number. Initially he disregarded this as a scam call of some sort but after the third call in 10 minutes, he picked it up and before he could say “Who the fuck are you?” on the other side a man called Richard Tims said in a perfect sounding British English “I am the president of Sheffield F.C. and I have been waiting to give a job to someone with your passion for more than a decade!”

Carlos was puzzled…” Sheffield United wants me? Or is it Sheffield Wednesday? To do what? A radio show?”. In a bit of a broken English Carlos answered, “Is this a joke?” but from the other line Richard Tims answered “You can go now to the airport and there will be a BA flight to take you to Manchester and from there a car will pick you up and drive you to Sheffield. If you leave now, you will be here by dinnertime, and we can discuss the contract and the conditions. Is this reasonable to you?”. Still taking in all the information Carlos told himself that worse comes to worse he had the chance to Old Trafford, so he answered “Yes, sure, I will be on my way”

Cronica Leonina!

Aquele Varandas e o Amorim até parecia que tinham feito alguma coisa de jeito, mas esta última época, um miserável quarto lugar, saída da taca bem cedinho…safou-se a participação na Europa, podíamos ter ganho aqueles mafiosos italianos nos quartos, mas já se sabe que a UEFA não gosta do Sporting. Depois venderam os putos que faziam falta como o Palhinha, o Nuno Mendes e o Matheus Nunes para irem buscar umas m*rda como o Rochinha e um grego que não jogava um crl…não se podia esperar melhor.