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NEWS FROM WEEK ENDING 26th June 1999 FIXTURES RELEASED(23rd June 1999) Wycombe have been given another home start to the new campaign with a game against regular whipping boys, Burnley, on Saturday 7th August. The first away League fixture, a week later, is against newly promoted Scunthorpe United. WOLVES IN WORTHINGTON(23rd June 1999) Wycombe will meet the other WWFC for the first time ever in a competitive match in the First Round of the Worthington Cup. Wycombe have home advantage in the first leg due to be played the week commencing 9th August. The return at Molineux will take place two weeks later. The tie could see Wycombe's Paul Emblen facing brother Neil while Wolves Assistant Manager is John Ward - the first man linked with the vacant Wycombe job back in January. SCOTTY SAYS NO(22nd June 1999) Keith Scott has dismissed stories of a return to Wycombe as pure speculation. The story that started in a Reading local paper surprised Scott who has two years to run on his contract with Reading. Reading say he's not for sale and apparently Wycombe haven't even enquired about his availabilty. Oh well, at least it caused a bit of discussion in these quiet times. Meanwhile Lawrie Sanchez continues his search for a 'Scott' like centre-forward. NEW LOOK PROG(20th June 1999) Wycombe fans could see a new look programme next season. Chairboys on the Net understands that the Club's Press Officer Alan Hutchinson will be taking over the duties of editor on a more full time basis as from the start of the new campaign. In the past the programme has been a labour of love for its voluntary editors and contributors, saving the club considerable time and money on a task that very few people appreciate the degree of work and effort involved. With this more 'professional' approach fans will be now be keen to see the heavily criticised £2 cover price justified. CRAZY STORY(20th June 1999) According to the Official Wimbledon website (www.crazygang.co.uk), Wycombe are interested in signing The Dons second choice 'keeper Paul Heald. A similar move was hinted towards the end of last season after there were strong indications that Martin Taylor could move on if Wycombe were relegated. Wycombe already have two reserve 'keepers in Mark Westhead and Mark Osborne which will mean Lawrie Sanchez will have priorities in other departments before looking at his stick men. 30 year old Heald has been since Wimbledon since 1995 but has hardly made a First Team appearance in last three seasons.

NEWS FROM WEEK ENDING 19th June 1999 COME ON DOWN(18th June 1999) The Club will be holding its third ever Open Day at Adams Park on Friday 16th July. The event will start at 5.00pm and run for four hours. Events planned include the chance to meet the players and listen to a series of live interviews with various members of the Club. There will also be an opportunity to look behind the scenes, visit the dressing rooms and perhaps see the Manager's office. The day coincides with the last day to buy season tickets for the 1999/2000 season at a special rate. SCOTT THREE?(17th June 1999) Wycombe have put in an audacious bid of £50,000 to Reading for ex-Adams Park favourite Keith Scott, according to news sources at the Berkshire side. Reading Manager Tommy Burns is re-building his squad yet again after a poor finish to last season and is prepared to let Scott go. 'Scotty' only joined Reading in March of this year for a reported fee of £250,000, although this was apparently dependant on a certain number of appearances being made and Reading gaining promotion. If Scotty returns to Adams Park it will be his third spell at Wycombe. CHANGES AHEAD(15th June 1999) As expected, the Football League have announced rule changes that will come into affect from the start of the 1999/2000 season. The major change will be that players will be forced to wear squad numbers along with the name of the player as is done in the Premier League; teams will now be allowed to name up to five substitutes, although only three can be used; the final change will be to revert back to goal difference to decide on level placings in the table. The Football League had been using goals scored since the Premier League breakaway but many teams felt this was unfair. It will be the introduction of the squad numbers that will bring about the most discussion. The squad numbering system is seen as a just a gimmick among many supporters - designed for the TV fan and with the added bonus of increasing the price of a dedicated replica shirt by close to £10. The cost implications may also hit the smaller clubs who cannot rely on 'Premier League' size sales of replicas to justify the additional cost of providing different shirts (home and away) for every player in the club. ALL QUIET AT THE PARK...SO(14th June 1999) As the players and management take their annual holidays, it's all gone very quiet on the news front at Adams Park. The desperation for a story led the Bucks Free Press to declare that "Wanderers supporters were worried manager Lawrie Sanchez would be lured back to the club where he coached before joining Wycombe", after Sanchez was linked by the press with the vacant Wimbledon job. The Dons have now appointed Norwegian Egil Olsen as a successor to Joe Kinnear, so fans can now end the sleepless nights thinking about the possible departure of 'King' Sanchez. The Avon Insurance Combination has been restructured for next season as a result of the departure of all the Premier League teams to form their own reserve league. Last season there were 29 teams in the league and clubs only played each other once. The Combination will now revert to a more sensible 22 team (home and away) structure with Bristol City, Bristol Rovers, Southend United and Leyton Orient rejoining after a few years absence. The Football League fixtures should be available some time during the week commencing 21st June while Wycombe could be playing Peterborough United at Adams Park in a pre-season friendly on Saturday 31st July after talks with a major Scottish side broke down.

NEWS FROM WEEK ENDING 12th June 1999 ANTHROBUS NOT ARRIVING(8th June 1999) Lawrie Sanchez has given up the chase on former Crewe striker Steve Anthrobus. Sanchez told the Bucks Free Press Midweek that he was "looking for more money than I was willing to pay him and a longer contract than I wanted to give him to compensate for moving his family down here". Anthrobus is now said to having talks with York City and his former club before joining Crewe, Shrewsbury Town. LEAGUE FIXTURES DUE SOON(6th June 1999) With the play-offs over, Wycombe fans are now eagerly awaiting the League fixtures for season 1999/2000. Wycombe can expect an away fixture for the first game on Saturday 7th August having started out at home to Luton Town last season. The new season will be Wycombe's tenth at Adams Park. The fixtures should be published within the next week or so and as usual they will be posted on Chairboys on the Net as soon as we have them. Chairboys on the Net has it on good authority that Wycombe are trying to finalise a friendly at Adams Park against a Scottish Premier side from Glasgow on Saturday 31st July. Confirmation or otherwise of the game against the side doesn't play in blue should be available early this week. Watch this space.

NEWS FROM WEEK ENDING 5th June 1999 SURVIVAL SAVES FANS 100's OF MILES(30th May 1999) Wycombe's survival in Division Two will save the travelling Blues fans close to 1,800 miles next season. With Cambridge, Brentford and Oxford rejoining the Wanderers in Division Two, coupled with Gillingham's catastrophe in the Play-Off Final, means there are now nine journeys under 100 miles. Relegation to the Third Division would have meant 9 trips of over 200 miles compared to just two in Division Two. The total mileage of travelling to and from the 23 clubs in next season's Division Two from High Wycombe calculates at just over 5,700 miles as opposed to around 7,500 in Division Three. BYE BYE CITY, HELLO SCUNNY(30th May 1999) Manchester City made a miraculous comeback against Gillingham in the Division Two Play-Off Final. 2-0 down as the game entered the last minute of normal time, Kevin Horlock scored to give City hope before Paul Dickov grabbed a dramatic equaliser in the fourth minute of injury time. With no further goals in extra-time, City regained their place in Division One after The Gills missed three penalties in the dreaded shoot-out. Three of the Gills side featured in Brentford's Play-Off failure two years ago and with Northampton taking a dive this season after they reached the final 12 months previous, Gillingham could end up looking back on what might have been. One for the 'statos' is that Wycombe can now claim to have done the double over three promoted teams in the last five seasons - Huddersfield (1994/95), Bradford (1995/96) and of course City last season. Scunthorpe United joined Brentford, Cardiff City and Cambridge United as the promoted sides from Division Three, when they beat Leyton Orient 1-0 in the Div Three Play-Off on Saturday. Another one for the 'statos'; the 1999/2000 will be the first season since Wycombe joined the Football League in 1993/94 that there will be no 'new' clubs to visit, although with Wigan Athletic due to move new premises, there will be at least one 'tick-off' for the groundhoppers out there.

PREVIOUS MONTH'S NEWS Survival Path, Convoy to Lincoln, Bruce says farewell, Sanchez wants Fear, more..>>>>

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