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Hednesford Town F.C road to glory


djclark boy30

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History

The club was formed in 1880 by the merger of two leading Hednesford clubs, the Red & Whites and Hill Top, and after many years in local competitions joined the Southern League in 1984.

[edit]The 1990s

It was not until January 1990 that the club's fortunes turned for the better. The 1989–90 season had been a long hard struggle and, at the beginning of the year, the club were in a deep relegation battle and with attendances below 300, relegation from The Southern League Midland Division looked a distinct possibility. In an effort to avoid relegation the club appointed former goalkeeper, John Baldwin, as manager and he gradually began to turn the club around and relegation was avoided.

The following season the team finished third and thus gained promotion to the Southern League Premier Division, after finishing the 1991–92 season as runners-up to Solihull Borough. The club, also in the 1991–92 season, became the first English football team to play at The Welsh National Stadium losing 1–0 to Cardiff City, in the final of the Welsh Cup.

In the first season in the Premier Division the Pitmen finished in fourth position & reached the Staffordshire Senior Cup Final losing to Stoke City over two legs. The 1993–94 season saw the club reach a cup final for the third year running, this time it was The Birmingham Senior Cup Final where, at The Bescot Stadium, the club were beaten 3–0 by a full strength Walsall team.

The 1994–95 season saw the club crowned Premier Division champions with the team defeating Leek Town in front of 2776 supporters at The Cross Keys to clinch the title and promotion to the Football Conference.

In 1995–96 the Pitmen commenced their first season in The Conference at their new Keys Park home and in the club's first season in the top flight of non-league football they finished in third place behind champions Stevenage Borough and Woking.

The 1996–97 season will go down as the best in the club's history as the Pitmen reached the first round of the FA Cup for the first time in 72 years, eventually losing in the fourth round to Middlesbrough, in front of 27,500 supporters.

The following season saw the club finish in seventh position and further FA Cup success was enjoyed as, in front of millions of Match of the Day viewers, the Pitmen beat Hull City 2–0 at Boothferry Park but in the second round lost to Darlington.

In the 1998–99 season the club reached the first round of the FA Cup for the third season running. This time the team beat Barnet 3–1 in the first round but lost by the same scoreline away at Cardiff City in the next round. League success did not follow the fine cup runs and the 1999–2000 season saw the team drop to 17th position then, after John Baldwin had stepped down during December 2000, the club were relegated for the first time in their history. A succession of managers were appointed to replace John Baldwin including Neil Pointon, Colin Lambert, Paul Raynor, Kenny Hibbitt and Ian Painter.

[edit]2003–04 season

The club also won the 2004 FA Trophy, beating Canvey Island 3–2 with the goals coming from Anthony Maguire, Les Hines and a late winner by then assistant manager Chris Brindley. Despite winning a major piece of silverware, Manager Barry Powell was sacked after a poor league showing ended with them failing to qualify for the newly created Conference North and Powell was replaced by fans favourite Chris Brindley.

[edit]2004–05 season

In his first season in management, Brindley took Hednesford to the playoffs and after beating Merthyr Tydfil on penalties in the semi, and Chippenham Town in the final 1–0, Hednesford were promoted to the Conference North.

[edit]2005–06 season

The 2005–06 season saw the Pitmen again reach the first round of the FA Cup but the team were defeated 4–0 away at Histon. The team continued to leak goals and, as a result of a number of poor results and the team sinking to the bottom end of the Conference North, Chris Brindley left the club by mutual consent in early December 2005. Brindley’s assistant manager, former Wimbledon star, Steve Anthrobus, was appointed Manager but he was unable to save the club from relegation, after playing out a 0–0 draw at Vauxhall Motors. They were subsequently placed in the Northern Premier League, their first foray into Northern League football.

[edit]2006–07 season

Former Nottingham Forest player, Phil Starbuck, was appointed manager in July 2006 and despite challenging near the top of the table for the majority of 2006–07 season, a slump in form after Christmas saw the team eventually finish in 7th position.

[edit]2007–08 season

The 2007–08 season saw the Pitmen start well, but a run of inconsistent form saw them finish outside the play-off places again, finishing eighth.

There was a strong possibility of Hednesford moving back to the Southern League Premier Division for the 2008–09 season, but Halifax Town's financial problems saw a number of non-league sides revived, leaving the Pitmen with the prospect of Northern Premier League football for the forthcoming campaign.

[edit]2008–09 season

On 21 May 2008, the club confirmed that they had parted company with manager Phil Starbuck and that former Wolverhampton Wanderers, Exeter City and Torquay United player Dean Edwards, had been appointed as Starbuck's successor working alongside Stephen Price, the club's chairman. After a busy first few days, Edwards brought in a succession of new players, and also named his former Torquay team-mate Matt Elliott as the club's new assistant manager.

A great start to the 2008–09 season saw the Pitmen hit top spot in the league, playing neat, attractive football. A young, locally-based side enjoyed the status as favourites for the title, with a 7–2 win over Worksop Town on Boxing Day the high point. Since the turn of the year, Hednesford's form dipped, although they enjoyed a good run in the FA Trophy. A topsy-turvy final month of the campaign saw the Pitmen remain in contention for a play-off place, relying on a fine run of wins away from home to conteract a dismal run of form at Keys Park, which saw poor defeats to relegation-haunted Whitby Town, Boston United and Leigh Genesis in sequence. However, Kendal Town snatched the final play-off spot, leaving Hednesford with a fourth successive season at step three.

[edit]2009–10 season

News arrived at Hednesford on 29 May 2009 that the Pitmen had been moved by the FA to their former stamping ground, the Southern League Premier Division, for the 2009–10 season, after a number of clubs were 'shunted' around the leagues to allow for re-structuring. This saw a return to local derbies for the club in 2009–10, with Nuneaton Town, Halesowen Town, Stourbridge, Rugby Town, Leamington and Evesham United all lining up against the Pitmen in the Southern League. Off the field, Matt Elliott stepped down as assistant manager of the club to concentrate on other business interests, with Edwards moving swiftly to sign Macclesfield Town defender Richard Walker as the club's new player/coach. On 15 September 2009 Edwards was relieved of his managerial duties following a disappointing start to the season, culminating in a 4–1 home defeat to Pegasus Juniors of the Hellenic League Premier Division, 2 divisions below the Pitmen. Former Northern Ireland international and AFC Telford United manager Bernard McNally was appointed caretaker manager while the club searched for a new manager. The club released a statement on Thursday 8 October 2009 that Simon Line, previously of Market Drayton Town, had accepted the manager's job at Keys Park, with Delwyn Humphreys as his assistant manager and Paul Mellings coming in as goalkeeping coach.

The club announced on Thursday 14 January 2010 that Simon Line had resigned from his managerial position at the club, citing personal reasons. His replacement, former Hednesford player, Bernard McNally was appointed as the new manager on Monday 25 January with Delwyn Humphreys remaining as his assistant. Under McNally's management the club finished the end of the 2009–10 season in 4th place in the Southern League Premier Division. By finishing 4th the club qualified for the play-offs but, after a hectic end of season schedule due to postponed games throughout the winter months, ended up losing 2–0 away to Chippenham Town in the semi-finals. In May 2010, it was announced that Delwyn Humphreys had left his position as assistant manager and replaced by goalkeeper Stuart Brock.

[edit]2010–11 season

The summer of 2010 saw a complete change in the playing department with both of the lethal strikeforce that turned the previous season moving on to higher levels. Macclesfield Town snapped up Tyrone Barnett while Ross Dyer signed for Forest Green Rovers, joining up with another ex-Pitman in Reece Styche.

After a mixed start to the 2010–11 season that found the Pitmen again having much greater away form than at home, on Sunday 19 September 2010 the club announced it had "parted company" with manager Bernard McNally and a successor was being sought. That replacement would turn out to be Rob Smith and he was announced as manager of the club on Monday 27 September 2010 with Larry Chambers as his assistant, the duo having previously earned league promotion success with AFC Telford United.

This appointment triggered an up turn in the team's on field success with the Pitmen forcing themselves into the promotion race with a run of form breaking a number of club records including:

A goalscoring run of 32 league games (05.10.2010 to 02.05.2011)[1]

A winning run of 9 (19.02.2011 to 26.03.2011)[2]

Highest ever league victory with a 9–0 home win over Weymouth[3](23.10.2010).

The post-Christmas league form continued in the cup competitions with the club winning the Southern League Cup beating Hemel Hempstead Town over 2 legs, 5–1 on aggregate. The team followed up the cup success by qualifying for the playoffs after finishing the league season in 2nd position behind champions Truro City. This gave the Pitmen home advantage in the semi-final against Leamington, a game they won 3–1 to progress to the playoff final (again at Keys Park) against 3rd place finishers Salisbury City. However the season was to end with heartbreak for the Pitmen, after a 1–1 draw in the 90 mins and Danny Quinn putting them back into the lead Salisbury equalised with the last kick of extra time before winning the tie on penalties.

[edit]2011–12 season

Hednesford were transferred to the Northern Premier League Premier Division for this season, seeing a number of local derbies return to the fixture list. A consistent start to campaign saw the Pitmen sitting in the top four for the majority of the season, with a number of memorable game to look back on: a 5–4 win over local rivals Stafford Rangers, a remarkable 6–5 win over a strong Walsall side and a 2–1 win at league leaders Chester.

The Pitmen's strong home form deserted them from December however, failing to win again at home for the remainder of the season. Hednesford finished the league in 5th position, but nominally in 4th due to Northwich Victoria's expulsion from both the playoffs and league itself. Hednesford were beaten at Bradford Park Avenue 5-0 in the playoff semi-final on 28 April.

[edit]2012–13 season

Hednesford remain in the Northern Premier League Premier Division for the 2012–13 season.

The summer of 2012 saw a rebuild at Keys Park, with a number of the squad that had been together for the previous two campaigns being moved on. Linchpins in Cheyenne Dunkley and Chris Clements saw their talents rewarded with moves up to the top-tier of non-league football (Kidderminster Harriers and Mansfield Town respectively).

The highlight of this ground is clearly the unique grandstand:

250px-KeysPark_zpsa3a1c3e4.jpg

There aren't many clubs at this level that have something like that I do not think anyway looks class.

The Tins (1880–1903)

The club originally played at a ground called The 'Tins', a patch of land directly behind the Anglesey Hotel in Hednesford Town Centre. It was called the 'Tins' due to large number of metal sheeting that was erected around the ground. A move to the Cross Keys occurred in 1903 after the club fell into debt to the tune of £40 (approx. £3800 – 2010). A local councillor agreed to meet the deficit provided the club moved to a patch of land behind the Cross Keys public house and away from the Anglesey

[edit]The Cross Keys (1903–95)

The Cross Keys was a perfect arena for a club of Hednesford's size for many decades. A large wooden stand stood on the site for many years, with a large bank opposite holding over fifty spectators. Only the arrival of the fifties, and floodlit football, saw changes at the ground. The banking made way for a large stand along the whole side of the ground, followed by floodlights that were erected in 1953. A friendly against West Bromwich Albion visited the Cross Keys to mark the official switch-on, watched by over 7,000 people

As the club rose from the local leagues to the higher reaches of the football pyramid, the ground was never improved. Once the club arrived in the Southern League in the early nineties, a decision was taken to move away from the beloved Cross Keys, now with a capacity of 4,000, but crumbling with every season. In 1994, the club started work on a new stadium, on the site of an old brickworks snapped up just 300 yards away from the Cross Keys

[edit]Keys Park (1995–present)

Keys Park is situated on Keys Park Road a couple of minutes drive from Hednesford town centre, and is a purpose-built stadium. The stadium was due to be completed during the summer of 1995, with the cost at £1.3 million and was first used in a friendly against Walsall. Keys Park was officially opened by Sir Stanley Matthews later that year in a ceremony that included a friendly against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

In January 1997, Keys Park saw its highest attendance ever as over 3,200 people witnessed the Pitmen's 1–0 win over York City in the FA Cup Third Round. During the following season the Heath Hayes End was converted into a 1,000 capacity open terrace, whilst the Wimblebury side was turned into a large uncovered terrace and seating was installed at the previously terraced Hednesford End. Despite relegation from the Football Conference in 2001, the club proceeded with plans to make the stadium covered on all four sides, and installed roofs on each of the uncovered terraces. After being an 'A' graded stadium by the Football Association for a number of years, Keys Park has been downgraded to a 'B' grade stadium

Its highest league attendances were set against the same club – Telford United. 2,480 squeezed into Keys Park in September 1995 for a Football Conference game, which the Pitmen won 4–0. In January 2007, the newly-reformed AFC Telford visited in a Northern Premier League game, which attracted 3,005 supporters. Telford won 1–0 on this occasion

Honours

FA Trophy

Winners 2003–04

Southern League Premier Division

Champions 1994–95

Runners-Up 2010–11

Play-Off Winners 2004–05

Southern League Midland Division

Runners-up 1992–93

Southern League Cup

Winners 2010–11

Finalists 1986–87

Southern League Championship Trophy

Winners 1995

Runners Up 2011

Birmingham Senior Cup

Winners 1935–36, 2008–09

Finalists 1993–94

Staffordshire Senior Cup

Winners 1897–98, 1969–70, 1973–74

Finalists 1992–93

[edit]Other Honours

West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division

Champions 1977–78

Runners-up 1983/1984

West Midlands (Regional) League Cup

Winners 1962/1963, 1983–84

Birmingham Combination

Champions 1909–10, 1950–51

Runners-up 1912–13, 1952–53

Birmingham League

Champions 1940–41

Welsh FA Cup

Finalists 1991–92

[edit]Records

Highest Football Conference finish

3rd place 1995–96

Furthest progress in the FA Cup

4th Round 1996–97

Most Post-War Appearances

Kevin Foster (470)

Most Post-War Goals

Joe O'Connor (220)

Record Transfer Fee Paid

£12,000 to Macclesfield Town for Steve Burr 1992–93

Record Transfer Fee Received

£30,000 from Dundee United for Sean O'Connor 1999–2000

So why Hednesford Town F.C

This game will be played as part of dafuge's FM13 challenge, so the game has been set up with just the English leagues loaded and a large database with extra players loaded from all continents to bring the player total up to around 60000 i think . My aim is simple, to do as well as possible with them.

Manager Profile not the best of looking people.

General Info

Facilities

The stadium looks good for this level of football .

Finances

Things look good at the moment, although I have a reputation trying to make the wages good for this level.

Hednesford_OverviewProfile_zpsdacc5a1d.pngClub Profile[/url]

Squad

With hardly any backroom staff I have no idea how good this lot is, but I imagine I will be replacing them soon. I look forward to building my first squad.

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Hednesford Town F.C- Blue Square Bet North - 2013/14

With a fairly big squad I had the chance to test my squad rotating and hope of making a good start with my new club.

League Table

League Positions Graph

We good start, but as the squad settled we started to play some decent football and made our move towards the top of the table. We did make top spot once, but we just didn't have the consistency to hold on to our position. we narrowly missed out on a promotion play off spot.

FA Cup - we were looking good until we met Altrincham who were just too good for us.

FA Trophy - I had bit interest in this thought we could do well.

Squad - we've got a decent squad of players who were all snapped up on free transfers. With wages being OK for this year thought i would demolished the budget.

Transfers - a bought 15 players in to give me bit more option as the squad was really small i though.

Finances - I sorted the wages out trying to make them a bit more better than what they were at the time i took over.

Key Player Profiles:

Neil Harvey - top scorer, and really hit form in this season.

Sead Hajrovic - he was new player at club took while to settle down and looks good.

Martin Angha- probably our best player bought in in the at the start of this season looks really good.

Matthew Palmer - had a superb season just behind the front two.

Wesley Atkinson- at 19 looks a decent player looked solid all season.

Career Overview

Season    League                   Position    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13 Holiday Year
2013/14   Blue Square Bet North    6th       None

Next Season

This season was a joy for this club everyone was expecting us to be in a relegation battle and not with in a shout of promotion, so i guess next year try and be bit more foced in the transfer market and try and buy few more decent players bought in to help the team as few the players are getting old and need replacing

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Hednesford Town F.C- Blue Square Bet North - 2014/15

Last season we nearly shocked everyone by securing a play off spot, So this season was to try and stay in the League or do better in the end we were shocking our goalkeepers were a disgrace to the club letting in stupid goal.

League Table

League Positions Graph

We were able to pick up the odd win every few games which kept us clear of relegation, but we could never put a string of good results together to climb up the league table.

FA Cup - Last season we did really well untill we met Altrincham who beat us, this year it was Worcester turn to beet us.

FA Trophy - One game one loss we were poor in this game.

Transfers - I to reduce the wage budget n lost few the better players would t sign new deals so had bit clear out.

Squad - with a number of players not happy and starting to loos faith in me asked board for more time to try sort things out.

Finances - It's in the red for wages but out transfer budget is quite good so think i might switch some f that to help wages for next season.

Key Player Profiles:

Adam Drury - the new signing replacing Neil Harvey who left in the summer.

Tomas Zazrivec - another new signing from Aston Villa was best player a part from Adam Drury.

Sead Hajrovic - solid season shame injuries held him back a bit

Martin Angha- he's a class player really like this guy.

Career Overview

Season    League                   Position    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13   Holiday Year
2013/14   Blue Square Bet North   6th         none
2014/15   Blue Square Bet North  17th

Next Season

This season was tough, and struggling with squad depth so we are aiming to have bit rebuild in staff and squad players.

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Is this your longest ever save Clarky? ;). Unlucky with that season, good luck next year.
no i went to 2019 on footy manager 2011 i think but really want to stick with this save as getting feel of the new database and regens, And this season was a right old struggle hopefully next year will be bit better.
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How long until this one closes?
Hi mate its me djclark boy30 had to use this as i have lost my password for my other account so i will be using this on from now on i will be on this one untill the new game comes out..
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Hednesford Town F.C- Blue Square Bet North - 2015/16

Last season, we were poor so wanted to try bit squad rotating this season and to be fair near end season did not work for me, we were giving a 10 point deduction for going into administration witch i think did not help us obe bit.

League Table

League Positions Graph

again we were shocking our goalkeepers were poor.

FA Cup - knew we were never going to win this so not really interested as of yet.

FA Trophy - One game one loss we were poor in this game.

Transfers - I to reduce the wage budgets we went int administration not many sales as of yet.

Squad - with a number of players not happy and starting to loos faith in me decided to give few fringe players a chance.

Finances - It's in the red and we went into administration so will be looking to off load some dead wood.

Key Player Profiles:

Neil Harvey - the top scorer. i know i said left but started the save from the season before as save file was playing up.

Vince Naylor playing just behind Harvey chipped in with few goals.

Joe Sinton - solid season from the captain.

James Maskell- he's a class player really like this guy.

Career Overview

Season    League                   Position    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13   Holiday Year
2013/14   Blue Square Bet North   6th         none
2014/15   Blue Square Bet North  17th
2015/16   Blue Square Bet North  17th

Next Season

This season was tough, and struggling with squad depth so we are aiming to have bit rebuild in staff and squad players and the administration so will have to relay on the younger players for next season.

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Hednesford Town F.C- Blue Square Bet North - 2016/17

Last few season we have been really poor form so this season set about on trying to sort the back five out i.e. my defense and goalkeeper, with the club under a transfer embargo, and in administration it was hard to find right players to suit the formation i wanted to play.

League Table

League Positions Graph

took a while for players to get used to the new system once they got used to it, we picked a few wins now and again that helped us stay up.

FA Cup - still not really interested as of yet.

FA Trophy - One game one loss we were poor in this game.

Transfers -A lot of last season stars had to leave due to the club being in administration witch was frustrating as a wanted to keep them.

Squad - with a number of my star players leaving i had to rebuild the squad and thought had decent team.

Finances - It's sort of getting better but not that grate.

Key Player Profiles:

Carl Pleavin - the top scorer.replacing Neil Harvey as the main man up front.

Jermaine Hopkins playing at the hart of my defense was solid.

James Maskel - Ever present in the middle of the pack solid.

Aaron Long- he's a good young player looking to develop him.

Career Overview

Season    League                   Position    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13   Holiday Year
2013/14   Blue Square Bet North   6th         none
2014/15   Blue Square Bet North  17th
2015/16   Blue Square Bet North  17th
2016/17   Blue Square Bet North  14th

Next Season

This season i am planing on rebuilding the squad and bringing few of the younger players threw to my first team, hopefully can go on few cup runns get some cash into the club.

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Hednesford is in South Staffordshire and stagnating means little or no progress.
oh right got you now cheers im sorry not very good with my words and that i do Apologize for the inconvenience , sometimes i go into my slang talk but i will try my best not to, anyway thanks for viewing my thread and yea not much progress but hopefully this season we will be bit better
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oh right got you now cheers im sorry not very good with my words and that i do Apologize for the inconvenience , sometimes i go into my slang talk but i will try my best not to, anyway thanks for viewing my thread and yea not much progress but hopefully this season we will be bit better

No worries, you can't miss a clarky thread ;) hopefully you could get steady progression up to 11th this season.

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Hednesford Town F.C- Blue Square Bet North - 2017/18

This season wanted an improvement and rebuilding the squad was key trying new formations, this this lead to us having poor start and decent run in the end.

League Table

League Positions Graph

like i said was rotating my goalkeepers as was not sure who to play wasn't confidant with either of them.

FA Cup - were still not getting threw to first round witch i want.

FA Trophy - had decent run in this so this season come will try go bit more attacking and try and win it.

Transfers - still no money to spend on players so trying to find best free transfers that are available to me.

Squad - with a number of my star players leaving i had to try find better players but could not find any reall star players.

Finances - It's still not grate but getting better so to say.

Key Player Profiles:

James Preen - replacing Pleavin as the main man up front was a joy to watch.

Jermaine Hopkins played well this season had few injuries that kept him out for bit but looking forward to having him back next season.

James Maskel - Ever present club captain was class this season.

.

Aidan Ryder- he was some what bit of a hit and miss was good in some games and poor in others hope he is much better next season.

Career Overview

Season    League                   Position    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13   Holiday Year
2013/14   Blue Square Bet North   6th         none
2014/15   Blue Square Bet North  17th         none
2015/16   Blue Square Bet North  17th         none
2016/17   Blue Square Bet North  14th         none
2017/18   Blue Square Bet North  14th         none

Next Season

going to try sort my goalkeepers out and try and win few more games and try get the cash sorted.

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That OP and layout looks familiar ;)

That grandstand doesn't look at all unique :D

ha sorry bud kind i liked the lay out that you put, dont like these posting image things takes ages to load up, And i loved the way your threads have been follower to you'rs and thought i'd try this lay out thanks for looking at my thread by the way
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I've got no issues at all about copying a layout, it's the chunks of text that have been copied and pasted from my thread that I found funny. Especially when they weren't even relevant.
WHOOPS sorry bud i will try on my next thread not to do it so sorry
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Still stagnating in South Staffordshire.

Did a 3 year old type this for you?

no all right my writing is bad i understand im not grate but least i trying we are not all experts t typing are we if ur bothered about my spelling why are you even looking all you do is is moan about everything i write so if you dont like me then stop posting in here or in any other of my threads please as you are wasting my time, i know people have there opinions but im only writing to let you guys know how i getting on in my game. no need for hostility towards every thread i post i never said anything bad about anyone but feel like you have some personal vendetta towards me
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