Danny Coyne and Frank Sinclair both played in their last ever Premier League game, a 2-1 defeat at Arsenal in May 2004, with both in the Burnley team at the start of next season.
Leicester even spent the 2008/09 season in League One but since returning to the Championship at the end of that season have not been outside the top half. They've had two play-off defeats, including the dramatic last minute exit at Watford last season, but have won promotion with quite a bit to spare this time.
We were top at Christmas but Leicester replaced us on Boxing Day and they've been top of the league ever since. They've remained unbeaten since early December when Ashley Barnes scored twice for Brighton against them and no one could deny they are worthy of their promotion.
Who will follow them? Not only did QPR and Derby contribute to Leicester going up just a few days earlier than they might have expected, they also helped us by losing, leaving us ten points clear of QPR and a further point in front of Derby.
Whilst Burnley supporters remain nervous there is no doubt that those two clubs, still third and fourth, have all but given up any hope of automatic promotion.
On Saturday, even before the games were played, Derby goalkeeper, and former Claret, Lee Grant admitted that his team were no longer in the chase for second place. He said: "I think we're more concerned about what is happening in those sixth and seventh places. It's been a strange one for us in the last couple of weeks, with the transition from chasing second to almost looking over our shoulders."
He added: "I think if you ask anyone in the game, you'd expect Burnley to go on and consolidate one of those top two spots."
Over in West London, Danny Simpson conceded after their defeat at Bournemouth: "We've got six games left and we need to go on a run so we've got as good a chance as possible in the play-offs."
So Steven McClaren and Harry Redknapp must have been contemplating their play-off hopes when they were photographed earlier in the season (above).
Down at the other end of the table there were points to be had for all of the bottom three. Both Yeovil and Millwall won away from home; Yeovil at Blackpool and Millwall at free-fall Forest who have just appointed Stuart Pearce as manager from 1st July.
Barnsley drew at home to Barnsley so that dragged Charlton right back into things again and I remain convinced that the three to go down will come from these four clubs.
Off the field, all the talk is of Leeds and Massimo Cellino. The League said he wasn't fit and proper so couldn't take over the club and then some QC has decided he can, or can he?
Tim Kerr QC gave Cellino the green light to buy his 75% of the club after the league had initially confirmed that he'd failed their owners and directors test.
It all seems to be over the differences between Italian and British law. Cellino was recently convicted of failing to pay input duty on a yacht. Because the judge in Sardinia, Dr. Sandra Lepore, is still to give her written reasons for the conviction, the QC could not rule that he had acted dishonestly.
Should the report, when it comes, confirm that he did act dishonestly then he would be disqualified under the aforementioned owners and directors test.
Confused? I am, but he's going to take them to the Premier League in two years and I suggest if he's allowed to get on with it then Brian McDermott might be advised to start clearing his desk.
Tomorrow sees the last midweek programme of the season. Nothing else will be decided as Leicester look to push on and get the points needed to ensure they finish above us and win the league. It's incredible that, with six games remaining, they are a massive 19 points clear of third.
I'm quite happy with our ten point lead as we hit the 80 point barrier for just the fourth time since we switched to three points for a win. We were promoted on all three other occasions.
The weekend results and stats, the leading league goalscorers, each club's red and yellow card count, the highest and lowest attendances are all below with tomorrow's fixtures.
The Results | |
Friday 4th April | |
LEICESTER 2 SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY 1 | |
Saturday 5th April | |
BARNSLEY 0 BRIGHTON 0 | HUDDERSFIELD 0 BOLTON 1 |
BLACKBURN 2 IPSWICH 0 | MIDDLESBROUGH 1 DERBY 0 |
BLACKPOOL 1 YEOVIL 2 | NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1 MILLWALL 2 |
BOURNEMOUTH 2 QPR 1 | WATFORD 1 BURNLEY 1 |
CHARLTON 0 READING 1 | WIGAN 1 LEEDS 0 |
DONCASTER 1 BIRMINGHAM 3 |
The Stats | |
Biggest Win | BIRMINGHAM 3-1 v DONCASTER (away) BLACKBURN 2-0 v IPSWICH (home) |
Total Goals Scored | 24 (12 home - 12 away) |
Player Scoring Most Goals | 2 - FEDERICO MACHEDA (BIRMINGHAM) v DONCASTER |
Highest Attendance | 26,103 - LEICESTER v SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY |
Lowest Attendance | 9,206 - DONCASTER v BIRMINGHAM |
Total Yellow Cards | 39 |
Total Red Cards | 2 |
Most Cards in a Game | BARNSLEY v BRIGHTON (5Y 1R) Ref: TONY HARRINGTON |
Leading Goalscorers (League Only) | |
27 | ROSS McCORMACK (LEEDS) - includes 2 penalties |
23 | JORDAN RHODES (BLACKBURN) - includes 4 penalties |
20 | TROY DEENEY (WATFORD) - includes 5 penalties LEWIS GRABBAN (BOURNEMOUTH) - includes 6 penalties DANNY INGS (BURNLEY) - includes 1 penalty SAM VOKES (BURNLEY) - includes 4 penalties |
18 | DAVID NUGENT (LEICESTER) - includes 8 penalties |
16 | CHRIS MARTIN (DERBY) - includes 3 penalties JAMIE VARDY (LEICESTER) |
15 | CRAIG BRYSON (DERBY) - includes 1 penalty |
14 | CHARLIE AUSTIN (QPR) - includes 3 penalties DAVID McGOLDRICK (IPSWICH) - includes 2 penalties |
13 | ADAM LE FONDRE (READING) - includes 2 penalties CHRIS O'GRADY (BARNSLEY) - includes 4 penalties |
12 | ALBERT ADOMAH (MIDDLESBROUGH) FEDERICO MACHEDA (BIRMINGHAM) (3 with DONCASTER) |
11 | DARYL MURPHY (IPSWICH) PAVEL POGREBNYAK (READING) - includes 3 penalties |
10 | YANN KERMOGANT (BOURNEMOUTH) - includes 1 penalty (5 with CHARLTON) ISHMAEL MILLER (YEOVIL) - includes 1 penalty MATT SMITH (LEEDS) LEO ULLOA (BRIGHTON) JAMES VAUGHAN (HUDDERSFIELD) - includes 2 penalties |
Hat Tricks | |
Date | Player & Game |
10/08/13 | 3: TROY DEENEY - WATFORD v BOURNEMOUTH (home) |
24/08/13 | 3: JAMES VAUGHAN - HUDDERSFIELD v BOURNEMOUTH (home) |
14/09/13 | 3: CRAIG BRYSON - DERBY v MILLWALL (away) |
21/09/13 | 4: JESSE LINGARD - BIRMINGHAM v SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY (home) |
10/11/13 | 4: ROSS McCORMACK - LEEDS v CHARLTON (away) |
07/12/13 | 4: CHRIS MARTIN - DERBY v BLACKPOOL (home) |
18/01/14 | 3: ADAM LE FONDRE - READING v BOLTON (home) |
28/01/14 | 3: ADAM LE FONDRE - READING v BLACKPOOL (home) |
01/02/14 | 3: ROSS McCORMACK - LEEDS v HUDDERSFIELD (home) |
01/03/14 | 3: YANN KERMOGANT - BOURNEMOUTH v DONCASTER (home) |
15/03/14 | 3: JORDAN RHODES - BLACKBURN v HUDDERSFIELD (away) |
22/03/14 | 3: CRAIG BRYSON - DERBY v NOTTINGHAM FOREST (home) |
Disciplinary Record (League and Cup) | |||||||||
Club | Y | R | Y | R | Club | Y | R | Y | R |
League | Total | League | Total | ||||||
BARNSLEY | 59 | 6 | 60 | 6 | IPSWICH | 49 | 1 | 54 | 1 |
BIRMINGHAM | 68 | 2 | 77 | 3 | LEEDS | 64 | 2 | 69 | 2 |
BLACKBURN | 64 | 4 | 66 | 5 | LEICESTER | 48 | 2 | 51 | 2 |
BLACKPOOL | 68 | 10 | 69 | 10 | MIDDLESBROUGH | 65 | 6 | 67 | 6 |
BOLTON | 61 | 2 | 66 | 2 | MILLWALL | 71 | 5 | 75 | 6 |
BOURNEMOUTH | 58 | 4 | 61 | 4 | NOTTINGHAM FOREST | 79 | 3 | 90 | 3 |
BRIGHTON | 63 | 3 | 72 | 3 | QPR | 58 | 3 | 59 | 3 |
BURNLEY | 42 | 2 | 47 | 3 | READING | 70 | 5 | 75 | 5 |
CHARLTON | 49 | 4 | 56 | 4 | SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY | 78 | 4 | 82 | 6 |
DERBY | 68 | 3 | 76 | 3 | WATFORD | 78 | 4 | 86 | 4 |
DONCASTER | 64 | 3 | 67 | 3 | WIGAN | 66 | 2 | 84 | 2 |
HUDDERSFIELD | 60 | 2 | 65 | 2 | YEOVIL | 71 | 4 | 79 | 4 |
Highest and Lowest Attendances | |||
Highest | Lowest | ||
Att | Fixture | Att | Fixture |
33,432 | LEEDS v BRIGHTON (03/08) | 4,463 | YEOVIL v MILLWALL (11/02) |
33,004 | DERBY v NOTT'M FOREST (22/03) | 4,934 | YEOVIL v DONCASTER (22/02) |
31,103 | LEEDS v HUDDERSFIELD (01/02) | 5,530 | YEOVIL v BLACKPOOL (03/12) |
31,031 | LEEDS v BARNSLEY (21/12) | 5,920 | YEOVIL v IPSWICH (11/03) |
30,416 | LEICESTER v NOTT'M FOREST (09/11) | 6,042 | YEOVIL v WATFORD (18/02) |
30,367 | LEEDS v MIDDLESBROUGH (23/11) | 6,053 | YEOVIL v CHARLTON (03/12) |
30,145 | LEEDS v BLACKBURN (01/01) | 6,149 | YEOVIL v WIGAN (10/11) |
29,903 | BRIGHTON v IPSWICH (22/03) | 6,251 | YEOVIL v SHEFFIELD WED (08/03) |
28,904 | LEEDS v BOLTON (08/03) | 6,293 | YEOVIL v BURNLEY (11/01) |
28,282 | BRIGHTON v BOURNEMOUTH (01/01) | 6,344 | YEOVIL v BOLTON (22/03) |
The Next Fixtures | |
Tuesday 8th April | |
BARNSLEY v BURNLEY | HUDDERSFIELD v IPSWICH |
BLACKBURN v QPR | LEICESTER v BRIGHTON |
BLACKPOOL v DERBY (20:00) | MIDDLESBROUGH v BIRMINGHAM |
BOURNEMOUTH v READING | NOTTINGHAM FOREST v SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY |
CHARLTON v YEOVIL | WATFORD v LEEDS |
DONCASTER v BOLTON | WIGAN v MILLWALL |