Racist Behaviour In Serbia
The disgraceful racist and violent behaviour in Serbia yesterday, when England beat the country, is of course to be thoroughly deplored.
But the Balkans have in recent years not been a place where black footballers seem to be welcomed.
There is the story of how a teenage Titus Bramble, went to play for the England Under-21 in Albania around 2000. He was repeatedly racially abused during the match.
On return to Ipswich, he was interviewed by the East Anglian Daily Times about the match and stated that he didn’t know what the chants were, as he’d never encountered racism in his personal or footballing life.
In a way it shows how well and how early we started to get our act together over racism in football.
i have no idea, if the Albanians were punished for the behaviour of their fans, but the behaviour last night is in my view partly caused by UEFA’s and FIFA’s weak response to incidents like that match in Albania.
Is Suffolk The Curious County?
Apparently, some idiot has come up with the idea of calling Suffolk, the curious county. It’s reported here on the BBC.
I don’t like it. The two words that sum up Suffolk for me are independent and forgotten.
Independent because Suffolk people go about their own business and do things their own way. Look at any list of those born in or associated with Suffolk and you won’t find many team players, but you’ll find people like Thomas Wolsey, Bernie Ecclestone and Boudica and a fair selection of artistic greats like Benjamin Britten, Peter Hall, John Constable, Elizabeth Frink, Edward Fitzgerald, Charlotte Rampling, Maggi Hambling and Thomas Gainsborough.
The independent streak has also shown itself through history.
- Ipswich was always losing its borough charter, as they’d always sell food to the other side in the various civil wars.
- My father knew more than he revealed about the defence of the county during World War 2 and said that no-one bothered that Suffolk wouldn’t fight to send the Germans home. Even if some of the stories I’ve heard paid scant notice to the Geneva Convention.
- Suffolk is one of the few counties in England which bucked the trend to fizzy lager in the 1970s and could be described as one of the mainstays of real ale and cider.
- It’s the only county in England with its own breed of horse, cattle and sheep.
- I was conceived and partly brought up in Felixstowe and have watched a sleepy dock, grow against the odds into one of the most important ports in the world. Could the success be down to Suffolk independence, as they never received the assistance and government money that other ports did?
But then all Suffolk’s successes are always down to the people’s own ends and vision.
Forgotten because that is how government and many people in the UK, treat the county. Just look at how they fought to get decent roads to connect the county to London and the Midlands, or how Suffolk has only got a University in recent years.
So Suffolk is independent and forgotten! But curious never!
Feuding In Downing Street
Or is this report on the BBC’s web site, just about cats being cats?
The Anonymous Widower 