The Spoiler

People of the North East - Middlesbrough needs you!


FA Cup Fifth Round Replay BBC1, 7.30pm, bet here

Middlesbrough/ Sheffield Utd

Now that Game 39 has had the stuffing kicked out of it by everyone with a foot, and Richard Scudamore’s need to market his brand globally is suddenly less pressing, perhaps he could lend a hand to those teams who are struggling with “brand development” in smaller, less global markets. Teesside, perhaps. Middlesbrough have an excellent chairman, a half decent squad of players, and modern stadium full of empty seats, even on match day. And Mr Scudamore has a briefcase full of hi-falutin’ business vocabulary and “inititiatives” sitting idle. His Premier League “product” would be improved immeasurably if teams like Boro could a) fill their seats; b) were able to compete with the mega-clubs and c) stood a chance of winning something, instead of just occasionally being allowed to imagine it. So come on Mr Scudamore, you’ve got plenty of time on your hands now, help your flock. Or do your ideas only work in theory?

The statistics

* Middlesbrough have not lost a home tie in the FA Cup for over a decade. The last time they were knocked out at home was in January 1998, losing 2-1 to Arsenal. They have since gone thirteen home ties in the FA Cup unbeaten.

* The last two replays

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Posted: February 27th, 2008 by Ryan Bailey

More winning FA Cup tips from The Dinner


Did you do what we told you to at the weekend?

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There were plenty of upsets at the bookies this weekend, and if you paid attention to The Dinner’s statistics, you could have been strolling up to the Lamborghini dealership this morning to help David Beckham kill the planet.

Firstly, we found a bizarre way of predicting the score at the Britannia Stadium:

>> chickendinner Da Vinci Code moment: Fancy a 0-0 draw? Stoke City’s last

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Posted: January 7th, 2008 by Kieran Delaney