After a year which saw this blog grow dust due to lack of updates, a single post to cover the year of 2017 is the best idea to stem the backlog moving across 2018. As it was supposed to be 'A New Era' in 2017, the title will change after this post for the first of 2018.
Football time now and non-attendance first in the shape of Liverpool who began the year miserably with no wins in January and losing in the FA Cup third round to Wolverhampton Wanderers and EFL Cup semi final to Southampton. As the only focus was the PL, they improved with a good final third of the season which saw fourth spot and a Champions League place achieved.
Onto Skem United now for whom 2017 was a year to remember for all the wrong reasons. January saw a boost audience wise as I was able to promote the club by filming with the Pitchero Play feature but on the pitch a run of losses to Frickley Athletic, Stourbridge, Blyth Spartans and Warrington Town saw the tenure of Tommy Lawson as manager come to an end leading to many changes.
February began with a new manager in Alan Rogers and my promotion from supporter/videographer to Club Media Officer but results were hard to come by with defeats to Whitby Town, Halesowen Town, Hednesford Town and Matlock Town before a wonderful 30th birthday present for me saw an away win at Workington. March saw the inevitable relegation confirmed with a woeful run of defeats (Corby Town, Nantwich Town, Barwell, Sutton Coldfield Town, Byth Spartans, Ashton United and Buxton.)
April began with the now fabled 'Dog's Day At Halesowen' which saw the club and myself go viral and feature on the ITV National News despite a narrow defeat. A rare home win saw a victory against Frickley Athletic before a loss to Spennymoor Town, draw at Coalville and derby loss to Marine before ending the season with a draw against Stafford Rangers.
A summer of change saw an almost new squad built around a pre-season with two wins, three losses and a draw. The new season started with a defeat at Brighouse Town and draw with Trafford before an FA Cup win over Pontefract Collieries and league win over Glossop North End, the month closed with a derby draw at Prescot Cables. September saw an FA Cup exit to Handsworth Parramore and league losses to Droylsden, Hyde United, Clitheroe and Radcliffe which coupled with other issues saw Alan Rogers depart the club.
A gap in management saw a loss to Scarborough Athletic before Dave Powell took charge and after opening with a draw at Goole and loss to Kendal Town, led the team to a six game unbeaten run in the league with wins over Ramsbottom United, Tadcaster Albion, Mossley and Ossett Town and draws with Radcliffe and Atherton Collieries. The run was even more special given that that ahead of the Tadcaster trip, the lease at Stormy Corner was ended a month early so the team battled on, Cup exits to Burscough (LSC), Atherton Colls (ILC) and Mossley (FAT) came during the league run.
The year ended with a run of postponements and losses to Colwyn Bay, Brighouse Town and Glossop North End and my creation of a crowdfunding cause to help the future of the club after home became Marine and the current Prescot Cables stay., hopefully 2018 will see more good than bad.
Career-wise, Pitchero Play was a good earner up to the end of April but nothing major progress wise other than a number of interviews across the year, the spell at the BHF F&E store continued until ending in mid March after departing after having enough of doing the jobs of those who were paid to work there as a volunteer.
Sport
The 2017 NFL season for my followed team of Washington Redskins was one to forget. After ending the previous season on January 1st with a 19-10 loss to New York Giants and record of 8-7-1, the new season opened with a 30-17 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles who at the time of writing are set to play in the Superbowl. Wins against LA Rams (27-20), Oakland Raiders (27-10) and San Francisco 49ers (26-24) sandwiched a 29-20 loss to Kansas City Chiefs. Another loss to the Eagles (34-24) was followed by a 33-19 loss to Dallas Cowboys before a 17-14 win over Seattle Seahawks.
Two further blows saw a 38-30 loss to Minnesota Vikings and 34-31 loss to New Orleans Saints before a 20-10 win over New York Giants, Dallas claimed a double with a 38-14 win before LA Chargers eased to a 30-13 win over the Redskins. The season ended with wins over Arizona Cardinals (20-15) and Denver Broncos (27-11) and alike the previous season a loss to New York Giants (18-10).
Two further blows saw a 38-30 loss to Minnesota Vikings and 34-31 loss to New Orleans Saints before a 20-10 win over New York Giants, Dallas claimed a double with a 38-14 win before LA Chargers eased to a 30-13 win over the Redskins. The season ended with wins over Arizona Cardinals (20-15) and Denver Broncos (27-11) and alike the previous season a loss to New York Giants (18-10).
Onto Skem United now for whom 2017 was a year to remember for all the wrong reasons. January saw a boost audience wise as I was able to promote the club by filming with the Pitchero Play feature but on the pitch a run of losses to Frickley Athletic, Stourbridge, Blyth Spartans and Warrington Town saw the tenure of Tommy Lawson as manager come to an end leading to many changes.
February began with a new manager in Alan Rogers and my promotion from supporter/videographer to Club Media Officer but results were hard to come by with defeats to Whitby Town, Halesowen Town, Hednesford Town and Matlock Town before a wonderful 30th birthday present for me saw an away win at Workington. March saw the inevitable relegation confirmed with a woeful run of defeats (Corby Town, Nantwich Town, Barwell, Sutton Coldfield Town, Byth Spartans, Ashton United and Buxton.)
April began with the now fabled 'Dog's Day At Halesowen' which saw the club and myself go viral and feature on the ITV National News despite a narrow defeat. A rare home win saw a victory against Frickley Athletic before a loss to Spennymoor Town, draw at Coalville and derby loss to Marine before ending the season with a draw against Stafford Rangers.
A summer of change saw an almost new squad built around a pre-season with two wins, three losses and a draw. The new season started with a defeat at Brighouse Town and draw with Trafford before an FA Cup win over Pontefract Collieries and league win over Glossop North End, the month closed with a derby draw at Prescot Cables. September saw an FA Cup exit to Handsworth Parramore and league losses to Droylsden, Hyde United, Clitheroe and Radcliffe which coupled with other issues saw Alan Rogers depart the club.
A gap in management saw a loss to Scarborough Athletic before Dave Powell took charge and after opening with a draw at Goole and loss to Kendal Town, led the team to a six game unbeaten run in the league with wins over Ramsbottom United, Tadcaster Albion, Mossley and Ossett Town and draws with Radcliffe and Atherton Collieries. The run was even more special given that that ahead of the Tadcaster trip, the lease at Stormy Corner was ended a month early so the team battled on, Cup exits to Burscough (LSC), Atherton Colls (ILC) and Mossley (FAT) came during the league run.
The year ended with a run of postponements and losses to Colwyn Bay, Brighouse Town and Glossop North End and my creation of a crowdfunding cause to help the future of the club after home became Marine and the current Prescot Cables stay., hopefully 2018 will see more good than bad.
Leisure
In terms of goals, the year saw a good haul with a total of 67 reached out of a potential 85 aka 79%. A new record month in terms of gaming came in October with 252 unlocks, 18172 TA and 11765 earned with 200 games achieved on across the year and a good ending with December seeing a new record of 254 unlocks. Notable goals saw the 100th game completion, 1000 Twitter followers, 3000 Runkeeper miles, 2500 Nike+ miles. Also, a huge YouTube rise through 150,000-400,000 views and the attending over 100 events in a year for the first time at 107 which included a first switch of football and RL with 60/47.Career-wise, Pitchero Play was a good earner up to the end of April but nothing major progress wise other than a number of interviews across the year, the spell at the BHF F&E store continued until ending in mid March after departing after having enough of doing the jobs of those who were paid to work there as a volunteer.
Visual Highlights
