~Pollen~ Replacement
In an unexpected development, III.1 titleholders ~Pollen~ have been reported to have negotiated a reassignment to III.15, with recently-promoted semi-pro club Tanglin Dolphins winding up in III.4. ~Pollen~ had earned a qualifier against Phantasm Hotspurs with their 36-point record, their only losses coming against Sunny Beach Boys and FG Alemannia 14; Phantasm proved too much for them, however, and their veteran Rolands rolled them over in a 6-1 hiding.
This was certainly less than ideal for the Birds' own ambitions, adding as it does another two high-powered derbies, to a calendar already packed with them. Their supporters clearly didn't mince their words on the club forums. "Great, so not only do we have -Blitz-, newbies and Ropelearner to worry about, we have the III.1 winners. Guess promotion will have to wait again, then."
Moreover, this is without mentioning the always-tricky ArSenal U21 and Red Chaos, who have owned their own qualifiers, as expected. "With the possible exception of Cloudz United, every game is going to be a right battle." popular pundit Jack Marsten said. "And that's not to put Cloudz down, it's just that they're a very young team. We're in for a footballing treat the coming season."
