Raptor

A year-and-a-half after the saga got underway, it's time for Part III of the story now.

Those who read the earlier parts (if you haven't, the links below are available in case you can be bothered catching up), will know about the shocking end to Part II. Belfast Telegraph man Keith Stuart rounded it off with this post, which serves as a recap of the first two parts.


Part I

Part II

And this is how the story continues...
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Raptor

Colombia, late 2009...

On a warm November evening, with the temperature still breaking the 20°C barrier, Mark and Katie Frost, in semi-voluntary exile in Latin America, ponder over events halfway across the world, back home in civil war-torn Ireland...

KF Another 542 death this week. Most of North Belfast in ruins, and not a major other city without considerable damage too...

MF Awful facts... And this could go on forever... Loyalist military power was greatly underestimated. Their arsenals are massive, their numbers remain a mystery, though it has to be well in excess of 100,000. Compared to that, 542 deaths mean nothing. Plus, that’s the total on both sides.

KF They need to be cut off from everything, but as long as weapons and reinforcements arrive from Britain, it’s a hopeless situation.

MF Do you still believe England supports the loyalist cause?

KF Not officially. But they’re not exactly cutting the supply lines, while they easily could. And Scotland’s just as guilty.

MF It’s not in their interest to have a war going on next door though.

KF It’s even less in their governments’ interest to upset a considerable part of their electorate. Not to mention the fact they would be declared targets themselves if they were seen supporting the Irish camp. And then there’s fractions of the former British Army who still have some scores to settle in Ireland. We know for a fact a fair number of them are in Ulster as we speak.

MF Even the UN and US are clueless as how to help.

KF Gee, UN in clueless/spineless/pointless shocker... Seriously, did you really think they could make a difference? If they were to put a few thousand peacekeepers they’d had to send an equal number of bodybags. The presence of those blue-helmets won’t matter one bit. If they’d be in the way, they’d just die too.

MF It’d be tricky if American soldiers died though. Could change their allegiance in the war.

KF In the States, the Irish lobby is almost as powerful as the Jewish. Changing allegiance to the loyalist camp means a change of President. At any rate no Democrat would turn his back on the Irish. No Mark, this war can’t be solved by International interference. It’s something that was coming all along, and until those who don’t want peace are all dead, fighting will continue. It has to be this way.

MF And that’s the sad truth probably... Meanwhile, we’re here, thousands of miles from home, with our three children. Hell, the youngest hasn’t even seen her homeland yet. She might never do.

KF Ciara will grow up in Ireland. One day, it will be safe to return, and then we’ll all pick up our normal lives again. Until the next upsurge in trouble. The sad thing is that like her sister, she hasn’t had the privilege to first see the light in Ireland. On paper, our daughters are American and Colombian.

MF Well, at the end of the day it’s just a piece of paper. What matters is where your heart is.

KF Nice words Dutchy.

MF Hey, you promised not to call me Dutch again :p

KF I bet you sometimes wish you had never left Holland though.

MF And missed everything that happened in the past eight years? No way.

KF Well, you lost most of what you worked hard for. So in that respect, you’re back to square one.

MF Don’t be silly! I still have my family, and that’s all that counts. Thankfully our direct family back in Ireland and Holland now know we’re alive, even if they can’t tell anyone, or contact us for now. And yes, I do hate how we had to leave Celtic behind, but one day we’ll return.

KF At least Celtic are in good hands, with George taking care of the team, and Locke as Director of Football. Shame we couldn’t let them know we’re not dead. It’s gonna be such a shock when we do go home.

MF They’ll be as shocked as we were when they signed Ronaldo. I still can’t believe that. So Inter told him to fück off… He could’ve gone anywhere surely? Why on earth would he go to a warzone?

KF I suppose footballers are relatively safe… Both sides in the conflict need some form of entertainment. It’s an unwritten rule in this war… you leave the football alone. It’s almost like football grounds are modern day churches: there is to be no fighting on holy ground.

MF Nice theory. Hope it isn’t blow to bits along with Ronaldo himself…

KF Well, whatever his reasons are, Ronaldo is a lot braver, or more stupid than many in the footballing world. Think of all those leaving Ireland or conveniently retiring.

MF I can’t blame them. And I guess it’s only logical Celtic were hit hardest, being right in the middle of the trouble. Lost a coach in Jan van Dijk, a scout in Gareth King, players in Paul McKnight and Roy Keane, and those kids moving to Hearts, the fücking Jambo thieves.

KF Well, at least Keano continues to help out Best in coaching.

MF Yeah. Nice staff he’s got… Ronaldo as his assistant and Keane as a coach.

KF Can’t help wondering what would’ve happened against Man Utd if Ronaldo had been eligible for that CL Qualifier.

MF Wouldn’t have made a difference. The narrow defeat at Old Trafford was a one-off. United needed a quarter of the game in the return leg to get a two-goal lead before taking their foot off the pedal. At least according to the internet. It seriously sucks to have to follow the club like that. But South Americans don’t care about those games too much.

KF The UEFA Cup probably gives Celtic a better chance of serious progress anyway. Though the Servette tie was a lucky break.

MF Not Celtic’s fault the Swiss don’t know how to hit a penalty. And they made up for it against Tel Aviv. It could all end against Sparta Prague though.

KF Playing those “home” games at Easter Road is a disadvantage.

MF Can’t blame UEFA for making Irish teams play abroad though. They can’t guarantee the safety of visiting teams. And thanks to Raptor Group agreements, Celtic didn’t have to pay for the use of Hibs’ ground.

KF Talking about Hibs… Redmond seems to have lost it. Glasgow Celtic the new British champions. And no European Cup either.

MF Nah, he hasn’t lost it. Just tough luck. You can’t win the League every single year. Four-in-a-row was a true miracle already. And despite the Quarter Final exit in the CL, and the World Championship Final loss against Schalke’04, he did do the domestic Cup double. So yet more silverware for Hibs, what more could they want? The fans seem to dig it, still a sell-out crowd almost every home game.

KF Yeah, attendances are stable. Same in Ireland, surprisingly. That despite the ban on away fans because of the war.

MF Still often around 25,000 per game. Should limit financial damage. Though if the war continues for years, there won’t be much TV income. And without money, all progress made in the past years will be lost. Irish football would be thrown back to the Stone Age.

KF Like the rest of the country by the end of the war…

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Final tables 2008/9 – BritainBritish Premier League. 1.Celtic 38 23 9 6 57 - 25 +32 78 C 2.Hibs 38 22 9 7 62 - 37 +25 75 3.Man Utd 38 23 5 10 66 - 34 +32 74 4.Newcastle 38 22 7 9 64 - 35 +29 73 5.Liverpool 38 21 10 7 47 - 30 +17 73 6.Birmingham 38 20 6 12 48 - 40 +8 66 7.Rangers 38 19 6 13 54 - 37 +17 63 8.Leeds 38 17 7 14 50 - 45 +5 58 9.Bolton 38 16 9 13 52 - 52 0 5710.Arsenal 38 16 7 15 53 - 48 +5 5511.Tottenham 38 13 15 10 51 - 46 +5 5412.Everton 38 11 12 15 45 - 51 -6 4513.Millwall 38 11 12 15 51 - 58 -7 4514.Nottm Forest 38 12 8 18 47 - 66 -19 4415.Sunderland 38 11 8 19 45 - 64 -19 4116.Rotherham 38 11 6 21 35 - 53 -18 3917.Blackburn 38 8 10 20 38 - 56 -18 3418.Stoke 38 8 9 21 35 - 58 -23 33 R19.Chelsea 38 5 10 23 38 - 67 -29 25 R20.Livingston 38 5 7 26 30 - 66 -36 22 R.British First Division. 1.Ipswich 46 24 9 13 66 - 42 +24 81 C 2.Motherwell 46 23 11 12 82 - 52 +30 80 P 3.St. Johnstone 46 22 12 12 57 - 51 +6 78 4.Southampton 46 22 9 15 78 - 68 +10 75 5.Derby 46 22 8 16 65 - 40 +25 74 6.Sheff Utd 46 21 11 14 77 - 62 +15 74 P 7.Gillingham 46 21 10 15 68 - 68 0 73 8.Wolves 46 21 8 17 63 - 65 -2 71 9.Portsmouth 46 20 10 16 62 - 62 0 7010.Middlesbrough 46 17 18 11 65 - 49 +16 6911.Kilmarnock 46 18 11 17 72 - 65 +7 6512.Grimsby 46 17 14 15 50 - 51 -1 6513.Sheff Wed 46 17 11 18 53 - 63 -10 6214.Q.P.R. 46 14 19 13 77 - 75 +2 6115.Burnley 46 16 11 19 61 - 72 -11 5916.Man City 46 14 16 16 60 - 64 -4 5817.Crystal Palace 46 15 10 21 60 - 65 -5 5518.Wimbledon 46 15 10 21 64 - 79 -15 5519.Charlton 46 14 13 19 50 - 67 -17 5520.Coventry 46 14 11 21 67 - 73 -6 5321.Leicester 46 12 16 18 78 - 82 -4 5222.Peterborough 46 14 9 23 46 - 62 -16 51 R23.Reading 46 9 14 23 58 - 75 -17 41 R24.Watford 46 7 15 24 45 - 72 -27 36 R.British Second Division. 1.Aston Villa 46 27 8 11 80 - 50 +30 89 C 2.Hearts 46 28 5 13 75 - 51 +24 89 P 3.St. Mirren 46 23 13 10 57 - 42 +15 82 4.Crewe 46 24 9 13 72 - 47 +25 81 5.Wrexham 46 25 5 16 68 - 60 +8 80 6.Hull 46 22 13 11 82 - 64 +18 79 P 7.West Ham 46 21 13 12 73 - 52 +21 76 8.Leyton Orient 46 19 14 13 75 - 57 +18 71 9.Bournemouth 46 19 12 15 62 - 51 +11 6910.Huddersfield 46 18 12 16 57 - 58 -1 6611.Notts Co 46 17 12 17 58 - 58 0 6312.W.B.A. 46 15 18 13 64 - 70 -6 6313.Wycombe 46 16 13 17 57 - 52 +5 6114.Brighton 46 16 12 18 64 - 74 -10 6015.Port Vale 46 15 12 19 73 - 82 -9 5716.Falkirk 46 16 8 22 62 - 66 -4 5617.Dundee 46 15 9 22 46 - 57 -11 5418.Bradford 46 15 8 23 50 - 57 -7 5319.Tranmere 46 13 14 19 50 - 60 -10 5320.Dundee Utd 46 14 8 24 57 - 76 -19 5021.Carlisle 46 13 10 23 53 - 69 -16 49 R22.Bury 46 12 11 23 54 - 80 -26 47 R23.Plymouth 46 11 11 24 55 - 74 -19 44 R24.Fulham 46 9 8 29 45 - 82 -37 35 R.British Third Division. 1.Stockport 46 23 13 10 79 - 56 +23 82 C 2.Swindon 46 23 12 11 60 - 40 +20 81 P 3.Cardiff 46 23 9 14 73 - 54 +19 78 P 4.Walsall 46 20 18 8 59 - 42 +17 78 5.Norwich 46 23 9 14 77 - 62 +15 78 6.Morton 46 21 13 12 66 - 50 +16 76 7.Airdrie 46 20 14 12 77 - 65 +12 74 P 8.Brentford 46 20 13 13 76 - 70 +6 73 9.Ross County 46 18 12 16 68 - 55 +13 6610.Clyde 46 19 9 18 62 - 57 +5 6611.Barnsley 46 19 9 18 75 - 73 +2 6612.Wigan 46 17 14 15 65 - 71 -6 6513.Inverness C. Thistle46 17 12 17 57 - 59 -2 6314.Dunfermline 46 16 13 17 69 - 68 +1 6115.Northampton 46 17 9 20 55 - 53 +2 6016.Stranraer 46 16 11 19 65 - 73 -8 5917.Bristol C 46 15 9 22 59 - 69 -10 5418.Preston 46 12 17 17 68 - 66 +2 5319.Luton 46 15 8 23 51 - 60 -9 5320.Aberdeen 46 13 11 22 51 - 72 -21 5021.Cambridge Utd 46 12 12 22 67 - 88 -21 4822.Arbroath 46 10 15 21 48 - 74 -26 4523.Oldham 46 12 9 25 57 - 84 -27 4524.Ayr 46 9 13 24 49 - 72 -23 40 R.British Conference. 1.Southend 42 30 6 6 89 - 56 +33 96 C 2.Chesterfield 42 24 9 9 72 - 47 +25 81 3.Cheltenham 42 24 9 9 58 - 34 +24 81 4.Blackpool 42 22 10 10 69 - 42 +27 76 5.Scunthorpe 42 22 8 12 65 - 37 +28 74 6.Kidderminster 42 23 4 15 59 - 49 +10 73 7.Nuneaton Borough 42 22 4 16 81 - 63 +18 70 8.York 42 20 9 13 70 - 49 +21 69 9.Oxford 42 19 11 12 66 - 48 +18 6810.Swansea 42 19 6 17 70 - 68 +2 6311.Darlington 42 17 10 15 62 - 52 +10 6112.Raith Rovers 42 17 8 17 55 - 54 +1 5913.Rushden 42 16 10 16 88 - 83 +5 5814.Stenhousemuir 42 17 5 20 72 - 77 -5 5615.Shrewsbury 42 14 9 19 61 - 70 -9 5116.Halifax 42 14 9 19 64 - 76 -12 5117.Chester 42 13 8 21 66 - 84 -18 4718.Colchester 42 12 6 24 55 - 76 -21 4219.Alloa 42 10 7 25 45 - 83 -38 3720.Bristol Rovers 42 6 15 21 46 - 70 -24 33 R21.Exeter 42 5 11 26 53 - 105 -52 26 R22.Woking 42 6 6 30 30 - 73 -43 24 R</pre>

Raptor

As you see, this part starts with the recap bit of the three-year fast-forward period I put into the story to speed things up and let a couple of storylines develop.

Raptor

June 2010

The season went by in a flash. Over in Ireland, Belfast Celtic “celebrated” their fifth title in seven years as early as March 20, with a 2-1 home win over St. Pat’s. Glen Keddy’s match winning, championship sealing goal should never have stood (it was a couple of yards offside), but it would only have delayed the inevitable by a week. Celtic won the League by 13 points, and would’ve been crowned champions at Windsor Park instead. Football fans across the Emerald Island widely accepted the FAI wanted to prevent that from happening, in the middle of the dirty and bloody civil war.

In general, Ulster clubs had a good season. It was almost as if the war, which was at its worst in former Northern Ireland, and Belfast in particular, brought out the best in the players. They knew football was the only thing brightening up their followers’ sad daily lives now.

Linfield came second, and thanks to Celtic’s good UEFA Cup run a season earlier, that was enough to clinch Ireland’s second Champions’ League qualifier slot. More success on the pitch was secured by Glentoran, who won the First Division, and were to return to the top flight after a two-year absence. Portadown and Derry were a credible third and fourth in a strong First Division. Ports had a financially attractive season as well, playing in the Super Cup and in Europe courtesy of their FAI Cup triumph in 2009. In the Super Cup, only Linfield proved stronger, and in Europe, Ronnie McFall’s men beat Hungarian side Ujpesti in the first round of the UEFA Cup, before Hertha BSC twice beat them in the next round.

On the other hand, Carrick Rangers were rocked by the loss of star player Steve Dunlop to Nottingham Forest before the season started, as they totally collapsed and came ninth. The subsequent playoff against Kilkenny City was lost, meaning Jonathan Bartley’s club would have to start from scratch again. The final Ulster club was Cliftonville, who had an abysmal season in the First Division, and came last. In their part of Belfast, people had other things on their minds though, as it was the worst hit area in the entire land.

Dublin too had a couple of highs football-wise to take the people’s minds off the war which had hit the capital almost just as hard. It wasn’t Shelbourne providing the glory though. They were in turmoil themselves, with Dermot Keely leaving the Tolka Park side for Chelsea. Just before Christmas, former Scotland defender Colin Hendry took over as boss. After jobs at Ross County, Stockport County and Northampton Town, he got his first realistic chance of silverware. And failed, so far at least. Fourth in the League was their worst League position since 2003, and in heartbreaking fashion, both the League Cup and FAI Cup finals were lost. To add insult to injury, on both occasions, Shamrock Rovers were their conquerors.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Final tables 2009/10 – IrelandIrish Premier Division. 1.Belfast Celtic 36 22 8 6 60 - 30 +30 74 C 2.Linfield 36 18 7 11 57 - 40 +17 61 3.Shamrock Rovers 36 17 9 10 49 - 35 +14 60 4.Shelbourne 36 17 8 11 55 - 39 +16 59 5.Cork City 36 16 8 12 60 - 51 +9 56 6.Galway Utd 36 17 5 14 57 - 48 +9 56 7.St. Pat's Athletic 36 12 7 17 40 - 49 -9 43 8.Sligo Rovers 36 12 6 18 34 - 50 -16 42 9.Carrick Rangers 36 6 8 22 22 - 59 -37 26 R10.Athlone Town 36 5 10 21 44 - 77 -33 25 R.Irish First Division. 1.Glentoran 30 22 3 5 61 - 30 +31 69 C 2.Kilkenny City 30 21 4 5 50 - 21 +29 67 P 3.Portadown 30 14 8 8 51 - 37 +14 50 4.Derry City 30 14 6 10 50 - 40 +10 48 5.Bohemians 30 15 3 12 46 - 42 +4 48 6.Waterford Utd 30 12 8 10 31 - 36 -5 44 7.Limerick 30 12 5 13 48 - 47 +1 41 8.Coleraine 30 10 5 15 45 - 54 -9 35 9.Bray Wanderers 30 7 4 19 29 - 49 -20 2510.Dundalk 30 5 5 20 38 - 62 -24 2011.Cliftonville 30 3 9 18 29 - 60 -31 18</pre>

Raptor

Meanwhile @ Easter Road LXVII

Up in Edinburgh, Hibs fans were having a very turbulent summer. It started with the joy of a second League and Cup Double. The BPL trophy was wrestled back from Celtic, and while it took until May to officially clinch the title, Celtic’s final winning margin was 16 points. The FA Cup final was a bit harder to win, but Liam O’Sullivan scored a second half penalty to take the game against Liverpool to extra time, in which he repeated the trick from the spot. It more than made up for the loss of the iron grip Hibs had on the League Cup. After four trophies on the trot, their 21 game unbeaten streak in the lesser of the two British Cup competitions came to a fourth round end at the hands of Everton. The Merseysiders went on to win the League Cup, beating Kilmarnock in the final. Hibs did manage to make it five Charity Shields in a row though.

Yet the greatest prize of all eluded them. In the European Cup, the writing was on the wall after a narrow qualification from the second group phase. In the quarter final, a 0-0 draw at Lazio looked to have given the Easter Road outfit a decent chance of reaching the semis, but eight dramatic first half minutes saw the Romans score three goals. In the end, Hibs lost 3-2 at home, and bowed out of the competition.

Little did they know it might be a while before Hibernian would be in a better position to triumph at the highest club level. It wasn’t until a few weeks after the club’s Double win the news of what would go down in history as The Betrayal by Amsterdam finally broke…

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">British Premier League. 1.Hibs 38 28 8 2 77 - 23 +54 92 C 2.Celtic 38 23 7 8 59 - 30 +29 76 3.Man Utd 38 22 9 7 62 - 32 +30 75 4.Newcastle 38 21 9 8 73 - 49 +24 72 5.Everton 38 21 9 8 51 - 28 +23 72 6.Arsenal 38 18 8 12 49 - 38 +11 62 7.Rangers 38 17 7 14 48 - 33 +15 58 8.Liverpool 38 16 8 14 48 - 44 +4 56 9.Millwall 38 15 9 14 56 - 58 -2 5410.Leeds 38 14 8 16 43 - 42 +1 5011.Nottm Forest 38 13 8 17 40 - 42 -2 4712.Bolton 38 14 5 19 41 - 53 -12 4713.Motherwell 38 12 10 16 43 - 58 -15 4614.Birmingham 38 10 13 15 39 - 45 -6 4315.Blackburn 38 7 17 14 37 - 50 -13 3816.Sheff Utd 38 10 8 20 46 - 69 -23 3817.Rotherham 38 7 12 19 40 - 55 -15 3318.Tottenham 38 8 8 22 39 - 69 -30 32 R19.Ipswich 38 8 8 22 31 - 63 -32 32 R20.Sunderland 38 6 9 23 29 - 70 -41 27 R.British First Division. 1.Livingston 46 28 5 13 79 - 51 +28 89 C 2.Stoke 46 24 14 8 74 - 44 +30 86 P 3.Wimbledon 46 23 13 10 72 - 49 +23 82 4.Southampton 46 25 7 14 78 - 60 +18 82 P 5.Portsmouth 46 24 9 13 66 - 52 +14 81 6.Man City 46 23 10 13 64 - 44 +20 79 7.Leicester 46 22 11 13 81 - 56 +25 77 8.St. Johnstone 46 20 14 12 71 - 53 +18 74 9.Hearts 46 19 14 13 52 - 52 0 7110.Chelsea 46 20 10 16 60 - 58 +2 7011.Crystal Palace 46 18 14 14 60 - 42 +18 6812.Sheff Wed 46 20 6 20 63 - 64 -1 6613.Burnley 46 17 12 17 61 - 63 -2 6314.Grimsby 46 15 14 17 45 - 51 -6 5915.Coventry 46 15 12 19 67 - 59 +8 5716.Gillingham 46 14 13 19 53 - 62 -9 5517.Wolves 46 13 12 21 52 - 65 -13 5118.Derby 46 12 15 19 51 - 65 -14 5119.Q.P.R. 46 11 15 20 61 - 76 -15 4820.Charlton 46 12 11 23 59 - 89 -30 4721.Hull 46 11 11 24 35 - 68 -33 4422.Middlesbrough 46 10 13 23 45 - 75 -30 43 R23.Kilmarnock 46 10 11 25 41 - 54 -13 41 R24.Aston Villa 46 7 12 27 40 - 78 -38 33 R.British Second Division. 1.St. Mirren 46 25 8 13 64 - 41 +23 83 C 2.Leyton Orient 46 23 11 12 54 - 40 +14 80 P 3.West Ham 46 23 10 13 66 - 53 +13 79 P 4.Crewe 46 21 15 10 57 - 35 +22 78 5.Watford 46 22 11 13 66 - 41 +25 77 6.Peterborough 46 23 7 16 59 - 46 +13 76 7.Reading 46 20 14 12 74 - 59 +15 74 8.Notts Co 46 21 10 15 65 - 54 +11 73 9.Wycombe 46 19 16 11 61 - 57 +4 7310.Bournemouth 46 20 10 16 76 - 72 +4 7011.Swindon 46 19 12 15 53 - 49 +4 6912.Wrexham 46 18 14 14 55 - 44 +11 6813.Port Vale 46 16 17 13 62 - 49 +13 6514.Stockport 46 17 14 15 62 - 63 -1 6515.Dundee 46 16 11 19 55 - 57 -2 5916.Brighton 46 16 11 19 55 - 64 -9 5917.Dundee Utd 46 14 14 18 58 - 59 -1 5618.Tranmere 46 13 13 20 55 - 61 -6 5219.Airdrie 46 13 10 23 45 - 67 -22 4920.Huddersfield 46 13 9 24 51 - 75 -24 4821.Falkirk 46 11 13 22 42 - 61 -19 46 R22.Bradford 46 9 11 26 37 - 63 -26 38 R23.Cardiff 46 8 14 24 42 - 72 -30 38 R24.W.B.A. 46 6 17 23 32 - 64 -32 35 R.British Third Division. 1.Bury 46 30 10 6 111 - 60 +51 100 C 2.Carlisle 46 25 15 6 79 - 56 +23 90 P 3.Dunfermline 46 24 11 11 72 - 39 +33 83 P 4.Fulham 46 22 13 11 80 - 54 +26 79 5.Norwich 46 22 11 13 76 - 56 +20 77 6.Northampton 46 20 15 11 76 - 55 +21 75 P 7.Luton 46 20 15 11 58 - 46 +12 75 8.Clyde 46 20 13 13 59 - 48 +11 73 9.Walsall 46 21 9 16 80 - 61 +19 7210.Morton 46 20 11 15 69 - 61 +8 7111.Southend 46 19 9 18 58 - 67 -9 6612.Wigan 46 17 13 16 67 - 66 +1 6413.Plymouth 46 17 12 17 69 - 64 +5 6314.Brentford 46 19 6 21 66 - 79 -13 6315.Ross County 46 16 14 16 71 - 70 +1 6216.Inverness C. Thistle46 13 12 21 59 - 70 -11 5117.Aberdeen 46 13 10 23 46 - 64 -18 4918.Preston 46 14 7 25 48 - 77 -29 4919.Barnsley 46 12 10 24 56 - 70 -14 4620.Bristol C 46 12 10 24 61 - 82 -21 4621.Oldham 46 9 18 19 60 - 83 -23 4522.Cambridge Utd 46 12 7 27 55 - 94 -39 4323.Arbroath 46 9 12 25 46 - 76 -30 3924.Stranraer 46 8 13 25 53 - 77 -24 37 R.British Conference. 1.Darlington 42 28 9 5 73 - 35 +38 93 C 2.Cheltenham 42 25 7 10 64 - 37 +27 82 3.Scunthorpe 42 22 10 10 61 - 37 +24 76 4.Swansea 42 23 6 13 70 - 52 +18 75 5.Halifax 42 17 16 9 67 - 49 +18 67 6.Chesterfield 42 19 10 13 54 - 43 +11 67 7.Kidderminster 42 19 8 15 64 - 51 +13 65 8.Oxford 42 20 5 17 58 - 60 -2 65 9.Ayr 42 19 6 17 64 - 56 +8 6310.Blackpool 42 17 12 13 53 - 52 +1 6311.Southport 42 18 8 16 75 - 70 +5 6212.Shrewsbury 42 16 14 12 51 - 48 +3 6213.Rushden 42 16 10 16 67 - 62 +5 5814.Raith Rovers 42 16 9 17 68 - 58 +10 5715.Stenhousemuir 42 16 8 18 73 - 82 -9 5616.Lincoln 42 11 13 18 55 - 74 -19 4617.York 42 13 6 23 54 - 69 -15 4518.Nuneaton Borough 42 8 17 17 59 - 77 -18 4119.Forest Green 42 10 11 21 55 - 75 -20 4120.Chester 42 9 8 25 30 - 57 -27 35 R21.Colchester 42 8 9 25 47 - 78 -31 33 R22.Alloa 42 9 4 29 49 - 89 -40 31 R</pre>

Bagpuss

A brilliant piece of bouncing back by Carlisle there fromrelegation to promotion in one quick and easy step

HD

Ayr so close to the playoffs

Raptor

This is 01/02, no playoffs in the Conf

Raptor

But when it did, the shock was huge. Behind the scenes, the Raptor Group had been talking to several people to fill the position as Sports Commissioner, vacated by the death of Mark Frost. In the end, they went for the man who reacted quickest, appeared most eager, and had the best (i.e. most profitable) vision. Enter Stevie O’Mao.

A Hearts fan through and through, this could only spell bad news for Hibs, and sure enough, the first thing he decided was that the Easter Road club would not be allowed to sign any players until a “thorough assessment of the club’s assets, including playing staff” was completed. What O’Mao really meant was that he had his mind set on selling off the Raptor Group’s share in the club, and wanted to force them to delay squad improvements for as long as possible to do maximum damage to the post-Raptor Group Hibs.

The appointment of O’Mao was kept secret for a couple of months though. While Hibs’ owners simply ordered chairman Brian Winchester not to spend anything, much to the displeasure of both him and manager Stuart Redmond, O’Mao tried to convince his new bosses to sell off their entire share in the club. Knowing the company needed money (which Frost had told him when offering Boston Hibs), he eventually got his way, by arguing Hibs were already worth slightly less than in the heydays just after winning their second European Cup. With Celtic winning the BPL the season before, the squad looking a bit jaded at times, and another relatively early European exit, O’Mao argued Hibs would only go downhill from here. It was time to cash in.

After the club’s flotation years ago, the Raptor Group had kept 40% of the shares, and over the years, slowly increased that percentage to 52. It gave them a controlling stake, a handsome dividend, and a nice return on investment now that the time to sell had come. In 2004, the club was valued at £100m. Now, six years later, that had more than trebled, to £325,000,000. Selling their 52% share brought the Raptor Group £169m. Hibs were faced with a nasty dilemma. Potential investors included Sky, Sony, and even Microsoft. The club would really become a business, and that couldn’t be allowed to happen. So they were left with little choice but to use almost all of their hard-earned cash (£130m) to purchase 40% of the shares themselves. Added to the 15% the Leith club already owned themselves, it meant Hibs controlled their own fate again. But it left only just over £15m in the transfer kitty, and they needed to sign a few world class players to rebuild their squad a bit.

It was too much for Redmond. He was furious at the way he was first flamed for cutting the size of his squad, then denied money to add quality to it. Even though he knew his chairman had no choice, the by now legendary manager issued an ultimatum: make decent money available, or start looking for another manager. Twenty-four hours later, he resigned from his post at Easter Road…

Raptor

It left Hibs looking for a new manager, and they soon found one in Bert van Marwijk. The Dutchman had worked miracles at Feyenoord, with whom he had reached the UEFA Cup final in 2008 (the year when Belfast Celtic came close to the semi final), and won the Champions’ League just a month ago. It looked like a new Golden Age for Dutch club football anyway, as PSV were in the semi finals of the CL, losing to Lazio on away goals, before the Italians succumbed to the Rotterdam side in the final. The third Dutch giant, Ajax, were the new holders of the UEFA Cup. A rather memorable match in the CL was the first group stage clash between AS Roma and Real Madrid, won 8-0 by the Italians after Real had their first goalkeeper sent off midway through the first half, and then his replacement three minutes later.

Van Marwijk knew he had taken Feyenoord as far as he could though, and that the only way from here was down, so he jumped ship to Edinburgh. His appointment cleared the way for Jan van Dijk to become his successor at De Kuip, after the former Belfast Celtic coach had impressed during his first year as manager of FC Twente.

And still, it wasn’t the end of the managerial merry-go-round. On the ninth of July, shockwaves went through Edinburgh…

Heart of Midlothian had appointed a new manager. The replacement of John Gregory, who had guided the club to a respectable 9th place on the back of the Johan Cruyff-led promotion from the Second Division, was the last person anyone would expect to take over. But it really was Stuart Redmond. Moments later, Hearts announced an equally big surprise. The club, which had been in deep financial trouble and administration for almost two years, had escaped bankruptcy by finally finding a buyer: the Raptor Group. Suddenly, it all made sense. A lifelong Jambo, Stevie O’Mao not only wanted to bring Hibernian down, he wanted Hearts to fill the void. To help them succeed, he had persuaded the Raptor Group, for whom he now was the Sports Commissioner, to invest £50m of their profitable sale of Hibs into their bitterest rivals, predicting an even more massive return on investment for the company. In a matter of weeks, O’Mao had sold off one Edinburgh club, purchased the other, and managed to convince the former club’s now ex-manager to jump ship to Tynecastle. In one press conference, Stevie had made an awful lot of friends, and an ever bigger number of enemies, with what would go down as one of the worst acts of betrayal in football history.