Well what do you know... a look at the old clock on the wall tells us it's nearly the end of 2009 and indeed the whole decade. We never did much liked calling it 'The Noughties'... heaven knows what we're going to call the next decade... The Tenties?

Anyway, it's a time for reflection and a time for giving thanks in the old tradition. 2009 has been an interesting year football-wise but being one with an odd number, we had no World Cup or European Championships to enjoy.

Instead the focus was on domestic football, both here in the UK and elsewhere, and hopefully our coverage of all the important events on SPAOTP, The Sound of Football and The Onion Bag helped you get the most out of The Beautiful Game whoever you support.

As we head into 2010, we've got lots of look forward to in the coming weeks and months. The FA Cup Third Round is just around the corner, swiftly followed by the 2010 African Cup of Nations, then it's the closing stages of the Premier League and European league campaigns. After that, it's the FA Cup Final and Champions League Final before we finally get the climax to end all climaxes - the 2010 World Cup Finals.

It looks set to be a great year and we hope you'll choose us to enjoy it with. We'll be doing our utmost to squeeze every last drop of enjoyment out of whatever football comes our way, so all that's left is to say is a big 'thank you' for supporting us during 2009 and we hope you have a fantastic footballing 2010.

Happy New Year from all of us!

Chris, Terry and Graham, plus everyone associated with SPAOTP