[NoSkillz]

Cup Competitions 2026-27


Community Shield


As indicated previously, we’d battle Manchester City to a 1-1 draw through extra time in the Community Shield, with the game moving onto penalties. Each team would score with their first three shooters but a miss from Emmerson Harvey would cost us and ultimately, we’d lose 5-3 on penalties in front of 89,039 at Wembley.

Manchester City 1 - 1 Dover (Manchester City win 5-3 on penalties)


League Cup


We were defending champions of the League Cup and actually winners of three of the last four competitions. We had a tough draw this year, facing all Premier League squads. We’d defeat Birmingham at St. Andrews and oust Arsenal at home in a tough 1-0 contest before falling at home in surprising fashion to Tottenham 2-1 in the quarter finals.

The League Cup isn’t considered important by our board and as such, we went with almost all backups throughout the competition.

3rd Round: Birmingham 1 - 3 Dover
4th Round: Dover 1 - 0 Arsenal
Quarter Final: Dover 1 - 2 Tottenham


F.A. Cup


We concentrate much more on the FA Cup and were hoping to win for the second time in three years. Once again, like the League Cup, we’d draw Birmingham in round one and would squash them before drawing Nottingham Forest, a perennial Championship side, in the fourth round. We’d head to The City Ground and win 4-0 over the minnows to move into a 5th Round matchup against rivals Arsenal. There, we’d blow a late lead at the Emirates, giving up a goal in the 83rd minute then a tying penalty to former Dover loanee George MacKenzie in a thrilling 4-4 draw. In the replay at home, we’d once again blow a lead and ultimately end up losing 3-2 to bow out of the competition earlier than expected.

3rd Round: Birmingham 0 - 4 Dover
4th Round: Nottingham Forest 0 - 4 Dover
5th Round: Arsenal 4 - 4 Dover
5th Round Replay: Dover 2 - 3 Arsenal


Champions League


We arguably had our toughest draw ever in Champions League Group play, with us in a pod with Schalke, Fiorentina and minnow APOEL Nicosia. The Cyprus side was roadkill, of course, but we’d be in very tough against two other powerhouses.

Thankfully, an early road win over APOEL put us in good shape to start and after a scoreless draw at home against Schalke and then a resounding 4-1 home win over Fiorentina, we controlled our own destiny. We’d draw the return leg against the Italian side and knew a win over APOEL at home would put us through and indeed, even with a squad loaded with backups, we’d prevail 2-0 to guarantee our spot in the knockout stage.

We’d get a horrific draw in the first knockout stage, drawing 2025 Champions League winners Olympique Lyonnais. Oh boy. You can imagine my dismay when we’d immediately fall behind 2-0 after seven minutes in the first leg in France but we’d storm back, with three goals in the next 25 minutes to take the lead. However, Abdelhaim Meddahi would score in the 83rd minute to level the score at 3-3 and that was the final. We were in good shape coming home with three away goals and we looked like a lock to proceed after two first half goals gave us the seemingly insurmountable 2-0 lead. However, goals by Tiago in the 71st minute and star striker Julian Endres in the 80th minute tied it up and we went into a defensive shell for the last ten minutes. OL couldn’t break us down and we’d somehow escape into the next round due to away goals!

For the quarter finals, we’d draw main rivals Manchester United. We had home pitch advantage in the first leg and dominated 3-1, giving us the huge advantage in the return leg. At Old Trafford, we’d fight hard and hold United to a 1-1 draw, giving us a two goal win on aggregate to get to the semi finals!

There, we’d draw German side FC Bayern, four time Champions League winners, with their last title coming back in 2001. The first leg was a nervy affair in Germany and while we dominated the shot stats, we ultimately couldn’t get a goal past their keeper in a scoreless draw, putting us in a very vulnerable spot coming home, with no away goals. We’d need a win at home and we’d DELIVER, getting three goals before half in a dominating 3-0 victory to send us to our second ever Champions League final!!!

At Panathinaikos Arena in Greece, we’d face last year’s champions Borussia Dortmund. They had knocked us out of last year’s competition on the way to their second Champions League crown and their top striker Hugo Cruz was back to try to do it again. He’d score a 70th minute goal to offset a Jose Fica own goal only 4 minutes earlier but we had another marker from Benedikt Raab and held on the rest of the way for a thrilling 2-1 win and our second Champions League title in club history!!!

Group G, Game 1: APOEL 0 - 4 Dover
Group G, Game 2: Dover 0 - 0 Schalke
Group G, Game 3: Dover 4 - 1 Fiorentina
Group G, Game 4: Fiorentina 1 - 1 Dover
Group G, Game 5: Dover 2 - 0 APOEL
Group G, Game 6: Schalke 1 - 1 Dover

1st Knockout Round, Leg 1: Olympique Lyonnais 3 - 3 Dover
1st Knockout Round, Leg 2: Dover (a) 2 - 2 Olympique Lyonnais

Quarter Final, Leg 1: Dover 3 - 1 Manchester United
Quarter Final, Leg 2: Manchester United 1 - 1 Dover

Semi Final, Leg 1: FC Bayern 0 - 0 Dover
Semi Final, Leg 2: Dover 3 - 0 FC Bayern

Final: Dortmund 1 - 2 Dover

DOVER WINS THE 2026/27 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TITLE!!!


UEFA Champions League 2026-27 Awards


- Top Goalscorer: Hugo Cruz, Dortmund - 16
- Most Assists: Paulo Roberto, Dortmund - 7
- Highest Average Rating: Hugo Cruz, Dortmund - 8.10 (11 apps)
- Most Man of Match Awards: Hugo Cruz, Dortmund - 5
- UEFA Champions League Best Player: Hugo Cruz, Dortmund - 11 apps 16 gls 1 asts 8.10 avg

Cruz dominates the proceedings. Unlike many teams, we will play backups in group stage games when we’ve already guaranteed a spot in the knockout stages so we’ll never put up the numbers in bulk like Cruz did this year. Despite that, Benedikt Raab and Claudio Contreras come in second and third respectively in the Best Player competition.


UEFA Champions League 2026-27 Dream Team


GK - Angel Detry, Atletico Madrid
DL - Renato Gaucho, Dover
DC - Mwemere Mutesa, Dover
DC - Claudio Contreras, Dover
DR - Salim Loucif, Dover
ML - Gustavo Castillo, Dortmund
MC - Benedikt Raab, Dover
MC - Ignacio Nunez, Dortmund
MR - Paulo Cesar, Dortmund
ST - Hugo Cruz, Dortmund
ST - Julio, Juventus

ALL DOVER on defence!!! That’s ridiculous! Raab also gets on the dream team.

Awesome year, with a Premier League title and a Champions League title!