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David Artell

There's no such thing as a football team having "nothing to play for"

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Morecambe's star defender David Artell on end of season fixtures, Petr Cech's bravery and falling asleep during romantic comedies

With the season drawing to a close we are in a situation where we have nothing left to play for in terms of promotion or relegation. On one hand everyone at Morecambe is delighted as we will be playing League 2 football next year but having flirted around the play-offs for so long, to have fallen just short of them is disappointing. When you get to this stage you have to be professional and realise that other teams do still have something to play for and make sure you 'turn up'. There's also the small matter of some players playing for their future whether that's at Morecambe or elsewhere. The last reason, and possibly the most important, is that the fans expect to be entertained week in week out regardless of whether the league status can be changed.

With a fairly successful first season nearly behind us on the pitch, there's also massive developments off the pitch at Morecambe with a new ground on the way. The club has received planning permission for a new stadium which would ensure that the club can grow and move forward on a commercial front. Great credit has to go to the Chairman, Peter McGuigan, and the board of directors, especially Mark Dixon who is overseeing the project, for their ambition and foresight in realising that a ground that earns revenue for the club is the one of the ways that clubs can generate enough income to move up the football league ladder.

You only have to look across the Pennines at my old club Rotherham, who were in the Champoinship five years ago but are now struggling to survive, as an example of missing the boat with regards to ground development. The new ground will have a hotel and fast food franchises which combined with income generated from Football in the Community schemes will generate enough income to guarantee the financial stability of the club. The ground is the biggest earner for the football club but most grounds only obtain revenue on match days so to have a ground that brings money into the club for 365 days of the year is crucial. Its an increasing trend in the lower leagues for clubs to dispose of their own ground for either personal gain or short-sighted financial gain for the club but this can only end in heartache.

Staying off the football pitch and the wife and I had a night at the cinema for the first time in months to see The Accidental Husband, a romantic comedy starring Uma Thurman. It wasn't my choice as the most important thing when I go to the cinema is the time of the film as anything after 9 o'clock and I'd be asleep. Once the big bag of Maltesers had been eaten I usually get my head down but as we went in the early evening I watched the film (and wish I hadn't). It wasn't the best film I've seen but it was refreshingly different as it had been that long wince we last went.

Back to football and Petr Cech has been in the wars again having 50 stitches in a facial injury. I'm sure he took the appropriate medical advice before playing although this seems like a splinter in his finger compared to the fractured skull injury he had. He's incredibly brave (or stupid) but at this stage of the season all the games are important and I'm sure he doesn't want to miss one minute of it. They are still in the running for the Premiership but their real chance of silverware this season will be the Champions League. I think that Chelsea will finally overcome their Champions League nemesis in Liverpool due to one crucial factor; Chelsea will be at home in the second leg. Having said that I think Chelsea will have to overturn a first leg deficit as a cauldron of an atmosphere at Anfield will see Liverpool win (2.32).

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