TFM SOCCER SATURDAY AND THE JEFF WINTER FOOTBALL PHONE-IN 01642 616666 - 6-5-08
It was two wins and an honourable draw for our three sides this weekend.
Pools finish in their fourth highest place in their 100 year history and yet there is still an air of disappointment amongst some of the fans. The 2-2 draw at Walsall brought the run of straight defeats to an end and as importantly, I won £130 for Make a Child Smile courtesy of my correct score prediction.
Darlo get a shock win at already promoted Peterborough and a fifteen year old makes his debut for the Quakers. Hopefully, the squad will see a few returning players in time for the play-offs. Just to confirm - the first leg against Rochdale is this Saturday evening at 5.35 pm not on Sunday as widely reported by another local radio station.
Finally, Boro made sure of Premier League football next season with a comfortable victory against a Portsmouth side that were already on Wembley Way.
I still urge you to have a look at the columns on my site and also on the TFM Radio site regarding our charity Make a Child Smile. Help make a difference, please sign up to make a regular contribution via our website.
The winner of Jeff's Meat and Two Veg and the beneficiary of two complimentary Sunday carveries at TFM Radio Darlington Arena was John Gibbon from Darlo who knew that Michael Essien was the Chelsea player who had a goal ruled out in the Champions League semi final causing Andy Gray to go "wow" mad.
Our slot TIPS for Money saw our friends at William Hill once again give us the chance to win some money for TFM Radio's Make a Child Smile. I tipped the Boro to draw, Darlo to lose and Pools to draw 2-2. At last, a nice little earner. Steve "The Virgin" from William Hill gave us another two losers at the races.
Incidentally if you want to take advantage of these generous odds go on to my website and click on the William Hill link to open an account. Also our predictions and tips will be posted on the charity page of my website on Wednesday.
On the Soccer or Knocker spot we had James who was organising a charity basketball game at Eston. He came on and immediately mentioned the name of a fellow broadcasting presenter who works for another local radio station. Own goal or what!! So I wupped him at S or K. If you fancy coming on the show and taking me on give me a shout via the contact page.
We then had David Craig from Sky Sports News on the show, eventually, after producer Dave had rang the wrong number. Fortunately the surprised recipient of the call chose not to talk about North-East football.
Across the shows we also had pairs of tickets to give away for this Saturday's game at Darlington and this Sunday's game at Boro. Simon won the Boro tickets for knowing that Robbie Fowler missed a penalty a few years ago against Boro on the final day of the season that enabled us to qualify for Europe and Linda won tickets for the Darlo v Rochdale game by knowing that Rochdale play at Spotland.
On to the Jeff Winter Phone-In show, it was a very busy show and I apologise to those of you we could not get back to. Please try again next season because thanks to Darlo playing next Saturday evening, I have decided to blow for full time this season.
Fans of all three sides were on the show and we featured the problems that had occurred thanks to the heavy handed approach of the police at the Wear/Tees derby.
Terry, a former magistrate, came on air to criticise the magistrate who had spoken out about the troubles. He felt it was not right and proper for a magistrate to do this. I applauded his actions and felt that it took guts to do what he did, which highlighted the problems that football fans still have in being treat like second class citizens. More about this on my website and in my Gazette article this week.
We also featured this Friday evening's boxing bill at Eston Leisure Centre where local South Bank lad and big Boro fan Paul Truscott will be fighting for the Commonwealth Featherweight title. Get yourself along and support him. Tickets are available from Dennis Power on 07969 369937.
You can always listen to a podcast of the Phone In by clicking here. It is updated every Monday.
The half time entertainment for a complimentary main course meal for two at Jo Rigatonis was won by Gemma from Darlo who knew that the music was with reference to the Champions League final in Moscow.
Also, in conjunction with Middlesbrough FC and their shirt sponsors Garmin Sat Nav, we gave away two of the new Boro home shirts that go on sale this Thursday for season card holders and on Saturday for the general public. I wanted to know what feature is returning on the new shirts - obviously the answer is the white band. Kate and Kath won the shirts. We will have more to give away next Saturday.
I will be at Darlo on Saturday and Boro on Sunday but before then we will be helping host the Hartlepool Player of the Year event on Tuesday at Hartlepool Borough Hall.
Next Saturday, like every Saturday, TFM Radio will be there, so start your day off at noon with Soccer Saturday. To all the Phone-in listeners, thanks for your tremendous support this season. We will be back for the start of next season.
