[NoSkillz]

Cup Competitions 2028-29


Community Shield


As indicated previously, we’d once again battle Manchester City in the season-opening Community Shield and for a THIRD year in a row, we’d lose. It was an evenly played match and regulation and extra time solved nothing, necessitating penalty kicks. Both teams would see their first six players score but misses from DL Gabriel Scolaro and DC Herman Quattara would prove costly, as Mario Brito stepped up and scored to give City the victory in front of a sold out crowd at Wembley Stadium.

Manchester City 0 - 0 Dover (Manchester City win 7-6 on penalties)


League Cup


We were ousted in the finals in last year’s League Cup by Manchester City and while we always hope to win any competition we enter, the League Cup is the least important competition on our schedule and as such, we always play our backups throughout the event.

As usual, we enter the competition in the third round and needed an extra time goal from Andy Broomes to escape Goodison Park with a 3-2 win over Everton.

We’d benefit from an excellent draw as the competition moved forward, beating Championship side Hull 2-0 in the fourth round before drawing mid-table Premier League side Newcastle in the quarters, winning by the same scoreline.

Unfortunately, we’d again draw our bitter rivals Manchester City in the semis and after drawing 1-1 in the home leg, we’d drop a tight 1-0 affair at the Etihad to lose 2-1 on aggregate to miss out on a second consecutive trip to the finals.

3rd Round: Everton 2 - 3 Dover (extra time)
4th Round: Dover 2 - 0 Hull
Quarter Final: Dover 2 - 0 Newcastle
Semi Final, Leg 1: Dover 1 - 1 Manchester City
Semi Final, Leg 2: Manchester City 1 - 0 Dover


F.A. Cup


As always, we concentrate much more on the FA Cup and usually play our starters throughout the competition. We had a tough draw in round one, getting Liverpool but destroyed them on their own pitch in a 4-1 pasting. Round four was an away matchup against Everton and again, it was all Dover in a 4-0 win.

The tough draws continued with a fifth round matchup against Manchester United at Old Trafford, where a Paul Moses goal in the 62nd minute was enough to edge our rivals 1-0.

We’d get a slight break in round six, drawing Stoke at home but they’d battle us hard and we were fortunate to escape with the 2-1 victory, moving us to the semi-finals at Wembley against surprise package Watford.

We were still fighting hard for the Premier League title and had just completed a very difficult Champions League victory three nights earlier over Fenerbahce (more on that in a second) so I decided to go with a squad of backups in this key FA Cup semifinal.

Unfortunately, we simply couldn’t beat Watford’s excellent keeper Anton Lundqvist and despite dominating the match both in possession (61%) and shots (29-3; 4-2 on target), the game went to penalty kicks. Shockingly enough, Neil Cairney and substitute Fernando Estrada would both MISS our first two kicks but we’d get goals from Bakary Kone and Michel Benard to send it into extra kicks. Alas, after Adam Williams pumped one past Fabinho, our young right midfielder Andoni would miss, sending Watford into the finals. Tough one for us but good stuff for Watford, who were toiling in the Championship.

3rd Round: Liverpool 1 - 4 Dover
4th Round: Everton 0 - 4 Dover
5th Round: Manchester United 0 - 1 Dover
6th Round: Dover 2 - 1 Stoke City
Semi Final: Watford 0 - 0 Dover (Watford win 4-3 on penalties)


Champions League


We had a decent draw in Champions League group play, getting Sampdoria, Ajax and AS Saint-Etienne.

We’d dominate in our first group stage game, destroying AS Saint-Etienne 5-0 but would fall to Sampdoria 3-2 away to knock us down a bit. A couple of 2-0 wins over Ajax put us in the driver’s seat in the group and when we defeated AS Saint-Etienne 3-0 away, we had clinched a spot in the knockout stages. Regardless, we’d paste Sampdoria 4-0 at home to gain a measure of revenge for our only defeat to win the group and move on.

For the second time in three years, we’d draw Olympique Lyonnais in the first knockout round. It’s never easy getting to the last 16! A tough 2-2 draw away in the first leg meant we had to be at full attention in the return leg at Crabble and thankfully, we’d squeak out a 3-2 win at home to move on.

We’d get what I thought was an excellent draw in the Quarter Finals, getting Turkish side Fenerbahce but they shocked us in Istanbul, beating us 2-1 to take the advantage heading into the leg back at Dover. Thankfully, we’d get two goals from Fernando Estrada in a convincing 4-0 win to move comfortably onto the semis.

There, we’d draw Manchester United, with the first leg taking place at Old Trafford. We battled them to a 1-1 draw there before returning home for the tense tie-breaker. It was a ninety minute stalemate, with possession dead even and no goals scored, allowing us to move onto the Champions League final once again due to our away goals advantage!!!

There, at Nuevo Mestalla in Valencia, Spain, we’d face Atletico Madrid in what would essentially turn out to be a home game for them. It was yet another close contest where Fernando Estrada gave us the lead in the 64th minute. We were only a few minutes from salting it away but we were stunned when Juan Martin Lopez pumped one home in the 90th minute, sending the game into EXTRA TIME.

Things got very testy in the extra thirty minutes, with six yellow cards in the extra frame but it did not solve anything so we were onto PENALTIES to determine the winner.

There, goals by Benedikt Raab, Seyi Omolade and Doctor Ndulula and a miss from Jonathan Langlet and an equal total from their first four players meant we were tied 3-3 going into the fifth and final kick of regulation. There, Alejandro Ruis MISSED, giving Paul Moses, perennially our top scorer and our captain, the chance to deliver a championship. He’d knock a hard blast into the top corner of the goal to give us the 4-3 win on penalties and deliver our THIRD EVER CHAMPIONS LEAGUE VICTORY!!!!!

Group D, Game 1: Dover 5 - 0 AS Saint-Etienne
Group D, Game 2: Sampdoria 3 - 2 Dover
Group D, Game 3: Ajax 0 - 2 Dover
Group D, Game 4: Dover 2 - 0 Ajax
Group D, Game 5: AS Saint-Etienne 0 - 3 Dover
Group D, Game 6: Dover 4 - 0 Sampdoria

1st Knockout Round, Leg 1: Olympic Lyonnais 2 - 2 Dover
1st Knockout Round, Leg 2: Dover 3 - 2 Olympic Lyonnais

Quarter Final, Leg 1: Fenerbahce 2 - 1 Dover
Quarter Final, Leg 2: Dover 4 - 0 Fenerbahce

Semi Final, Leg 1: Manchester United 1 - 1 Dover
Semi Final, Leg 2: Dover 0 - 0 Manchester United (Dover advance on away goals)

Final: Atletico Madrid 1 - 1 Dover (DOVER WIN 4-3 ON PENALTIES)

DOVER WINS THE 2028/29 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE!


UEFA Champions League 2028-29 Awards


- Top Goalscorer: Ali Mostafa, Sevilla - 11
- Most Assists: Abdelhalim Meddahi, Olympic Lyonnais - 7
- Highest Average Rating: Abdelhalim Meddahi, Olympic Lyonnais - 8.27 (7 apps)
- Most Man of Match Awards: John Kumwenda, Atletico Madrid - 5
- UEFA Champions League Best Player: John Kumwenda, Atletico Madrid - 11 apps 9 gls 5 asts 7.92 avg

Kumwenda was a solid choice for the competition’s best player and Fernando Estrada finished second after scoring 8 goals in 12 Champions League matches. Sevilla’s Ali Mostafa won the Golden Boot by two goals over Lyon’s Julian Endres and Kumwenda.


UEFA Champions League 2028-29 Dream Team


GK - Angel Detry, Atletico Madrid
DL - Renato Gaucho, Dover
DC - Claudio Contreras, Dover
DC - Mwemere Mutesa, Dover
DR - Johann Sciacqua, Atletico Madrid
ML - Honore Nzamukunda, Dortmund
MC - Neil Cairney, Dover
MC - Benedikt Raab, Dover
MR - Paulo Roberto, Dortmund
ST - John Kumwenda, Atletico Madrid
ST - Ali Mostafa, Sevilla

Five players from Dover make the Champions League Dream Team, a wonderful accomplishment!

Well, a year after winning three titles, we only win two this year but they were biggies: four consecutive Premier League titles and our third Champions League title, with two other semi-final appearances in the League Cup and FA Cup. Another wonderful year!