Team GB And ParalympicsGB Athletes Find New Career Pathway At Centrica
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Centrica.
This is the sub-heading.
Over the summer, billions of people from across the world tuned in to the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games to get behind their nation’s most talented athletes, and Centrica has launched a new employment initiative to help sportspeople transition into a different career once they retire.
These first three paragraphs outline the scheme.
Elite sports professionals are highly skilled and have a lot to offer the world of work, although it can often be challenging for them to know where to start, especially when entering into a new sector.
To help adjust to life after sport, Centrica has created a new scheme – the Centrica Athletes Leadership Placement Programme – to find high performance athletes rewarding careers in the energy sector.
Made available to athletes thanks to Team GB and ParalympicsGB’s landmark five-year partnership with British Gas – a subsidiary of Centrica – the programme will give former sportspeople the chance to transfer their skills to new roles within the wider group.
The scheme appears to be similar to a successful scheme for armed forces personnel, outlined in this paragraph.
The scheme falls under the same umbrella as Centrica’s Armed Forces Pathway, which aims to hire at least 500 ex-forces leavers by 2026.
I wish Centrica and their new employees the best of luck.
But it looks to me, that it should succeed.
Eurovision Boost For Record Rail Profits
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
A train operator has posted record profits thanks in part to the Eurovision Song Contest and other major events.
These four paragraphs sum up the story.
Merseyrail, which operates services across Merseyside and into Cheshire and Lancashire, is one of the most intensively used rail networks in the UK.
According to its directors’ strategic report for the year ending in January 2024, some 78,000 journeys were taken on Merseyrail services on average every day.
There were 28 million passenger journeys, which the company said was a post-Covid peak. It added a profit of just under £44m was the largest in its history.
The report said Merseyrail had benefitted from the Eurovision Song Contest being held in Liverpool, as well as the Open golf tournament at Hoylake on the Wirral and a successful Grand National festival at Aintree.
Note.
- Merseyrail’s trains seem to have taken the spectators to the big events all over the city.
- The trains are also virtually brand new and very bicycle and buggy-friendly, so do they introduce new passengers to Merseyrail?
- Spectators from places around the city like Birkenhead, Chester, Crewe, Manchester, Preston, Southport, Warrington and Wigan all have good rail connections to Liverpool Lime Street, which has its own Merseyrail below-ground station.
For big events like Eurovision, the Grand National or The Open, if you have tickets for the event, a train, on the day from Birmingham, Derby, Leeds, London, Nottingham or Sheffield is very feasible.
- In addition, now that Lime Street station and the area around it has been refurbished, it is a cultural area to visit in its own right.
- I believe that Liverpool will grow as a destination to visit.
- A doubling of the Avanti train service to London will add more capacity.
- The TransPennine Express service across the country and to Scotland will be improved.
- Blackpool will be eighty minutes away.
- The Eden Project North at Morecambe will be only an hour away.
- In a few years time, the Mersey Tidal Barrage will be attracting visitors.
- Liverpool has public transport connections to both Liverpool and Manchester airports.
Liverpool will be a place to stay for the weekend and for those, who don’t have a car or prefer not to drive, they will be able to use the extensive rail network to get to other places like.
- Blackpool and Manchester with their trams.
- Liverpool’s local attractions on Merseyrail.
Liverpool will become a very successful short-stay resort city.
Donald Trump To Open Second Aberdeenshire Golf Course In 2025
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
These opening two paragraphs introduce the course.
The 18-hole links MacLeod Course – named after the former US president’s Lewis-born mother, Mary – will welcome players at the Trump International resort in Menie from the Summer of 2025.
The resort claimed the course would feature the “largest sand dunes in Scotland” and form “the greatest 36 holes in golf” alongside the original course, completed in 2012.
It sounds to me that the environmental aspects could be rather detrimental. But then Trump has form for a poor record in this area, as I wrote in Trump Forgot The Ace Of Clubs!
Ashley Down Station – 28th September 2024
Ashley Down Station opened today, so I went to visit and took these pictures.
Note.
- There are four tracks and two platforms.
- The numerous numbers of Class 165 trains buzzing around.
- I saw several Hitachi Class 80x and CrossCountry passing trains passing through.
- I arriving in and left in Class 165 trains.
- All the Class 165 trains appear to have been refurbished.
- The station has stairs and a pair of lifts.
- There is bicycle parking and a car drop-off area.
It is certainly, a station with a long list of features.
The station is also in walking distance of Bristol Rovers ground.
This map shows the two locations.
Note.
- The football ground is in the North-West corner.
- Te staiton is in the South-East corner.
A Bristolian told me it will be 15-20 minutes walk.
England And Australia Draw T20 Series After Washout
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
England and Australia’s T20 series ended in a draw after the third match at Old Trafford was washed out.
This is the first paragraph.
Heavy rain throughout the day in Manchester prevented any play and the series ends 1-1.
Who was the idiot, who decided to have a series decided, in a city, where it always rains?
It’s not bright in London, but they could have had a game in my road.
Gluten And Heart Disease
Type “Gluten And Heart Disease” into Dr. Google and you find two major peer-reviewed studies.
This study is entitled Effects Of A Gluten-Reduced Or Gluten-Free Diet For The Primary Prevention Of Cardiovascular Disease.
These are the authors’ conclusions.
Very low-certainty evidence suggested that it is unclear whether gluten intake is associated with all-cause mortality. Our findings also indicate that low-certainty evidence may show little or no association between gluten intake and cardiovascular mortality and non-fatal myocardial infarction.
There would appear to be no strong link, between gluten and heart disease.
This British study is entitled Long Term Gluten Consumption In Adults Without Celiac Disease And Risk Of Coronary Heart Disease: Prospective Cohort Study.
These were the authors’ conclusions.
In these two large, prospective cohorts, the consumption of foods containing gluten was not significantly associated with risk of coronary heart disease. Although people with and without celiac disease may avoid gluten owing to a symptomatic response to this dietary protein, these findings do not support the promotion of a gluten restricted diet with a goal of reducing coronary heart disease risk. In addition, the avoidance of dietary gluten may result in a low intake of whole grains, which are associated with cardiovascular benefits. The promotion of gluten-free diets for the purpose of coronary heart disease prevention among asymptomatic people without celiac disease should not be recommended.
As before there would appear to be no strong link between gluten and heart disease.
To me, this is the most important sentence.
In addition, the avoidance of dietary gluten may result in a low intake of whole grains, which are associated with cardiovascular benefits.
So can we do something about it?
Enter The First Great Ethiopian Marathon Runner
I used to run a bit (badly) at school and my three heroes were Chris Brasher, Bruce Tulloh and Abebe Bikula.
The Ethiopian; Abebe Bikula was a double Olympic marathon champion.
- In 1960, he won in Rome, running barefoot.
- In 1964, he won in Tokyo, a few days after leaving hospital after having his appendix removed.
Both wins were in world record time.
Since 1964, three Olympic men’s marathons have been won by Ethiopians.
Ethiopian women have also won two gold and one bronze medals since the women’s marathon was inaugurated in 1984.
And then there’s the Kenyans, who’ve won a hatful of marathon medals.
Their competence is generally put down to living at altitude and I wouldn’t disagree with that.
My Experience Of Kenya
Soon after C died, I went on holiday to Kenya.
In one part of the holiday, I was riding horses in the Masai Mara and in the other I was glamping.
The second part was upmarket and one evening the chef approached me to find out more about my gluten-free diet. At breakfast next day, he presented me with a couple of rolls made from a local flour, which was probably something like millet or perhaps, teff from Ethiopia.
I had no adverse reaction. and he said, I could eat like a true African, as Western flour had no place in the local diet.
Conclusion
If we are worried about the lack of whole grains in gluten-free food, then perhaps we should add gluten-free whole grains from East Africa.
As a manager in a Marks and Spencer store, told me that they used Ethiopian flour in their gluten-free breads, I suspect this is already happening.
We Should All Raise A Glass To Sven
The BBC has a very matter-of-fact article on the death of Sven-Goran Eriksson, which is entitled Former England Manager Eriksson Dies Aged 76.
The article finishes with these words from Sven.
I hope you will remember me as a positive guy trying to do everything he could do.
“Don’t be sorry, smile. Thank you for everything, coaches, players, the crowds, it’s been fantastic. Take care of yourself and take care of your life. And live it.
There are no major fixtures today, but it will be interesting to see how he is remembered by fans, at the weekend!
Gareth Southgate’s Cunning Plan
This article on The Times is entitled Imported Wembley Turf Gave England The Edge In Penalty Shootout.
This is the sub-heading.
Seed from home was used to create full-size pitch at the team’s training ground in Germany.
These three paragraphs give more detail.
A combination of psychological preparation and penalty-kick data analysis has been touted as the secret to England’s recent shootout successes.
After the Three Lions triumphed against Switzerland, however, another factor was hailed for helping them reach the Euro 2024 semi-finals. Gareth Southgate’s squad spent the last few weeks perfecting penalties on Wembley grass shipped to their training camp in Germany.
The Times understands that the pitch in Blankenhain was seeded in April with the turf used in London. Those close to the team believe the Wembley-grade grass helped to propel the players through the knockout stages and Saturday’s shoot-out.
I have had further thoughts.
The Size Of The Replica Pitch
So for England to have built a replica pitch, the same size as Wembley, could be clever idea if you were playing all your matches there.
The pitch at Wembley is 105 x 69 metres.
These are the pitch sizes in the EURO 2024 stadia.
- The Olympic stadium pitch in Berlin is 105 x 68 metres.
- The Borussia Dortmund pitch is 105 x 68 metres.
- The Allianz Arena in Munich is is 105 x 68 metres.
- The Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen is 105 x 68 metres.
- The Hamburg Stadium is 105 x 68 metres.
- The Stuttgart Arena is 105 x 68 metres.
- The Frankfurt Arena is 105 x 68 metres.
- The Dusseldorf Arena is 105 x 68 metres.
- The Cologne Stadium is 105 x 68 metres.
- The Leipzig Stadium is 105 x 68 metres.
The Germans seem to have a one size fits all rule for pitches.
All would fit into England’s replica Wembley pitch, if you drew the touchlines in by a metre.
You might even setup the replica Wembley, so that pitch furniture like dug-outs were in the correct place for the next stadium, England would use.
England would certainly get good value from their replica Wembley.
I wonder how many countries have their own full-size replica pitch in EURO 2024?
It would be a valuable training aid.
An Ipswich Connection?
Consider.
- Portman Road has always been an immaculate playing surface.
- Ipswich groundsmen have had a connection to a major overseas tournament before.
I wonder, if the FA asked Ipswich to help, as they are one of the best at creating pitches.
Use Of Replica Pitches In Domestic Leagues
If replica pitches can work in International football, they must work in domestic football.
But I’ve never heard of anything like it being tried.
Kieran McKenna is an innovative manager with a degree in sports science from Loughborough University.
- Is he using a similar same-size pitch trick at Ipswich?
- The pitch at Portman Road is 10 x 75 metres.
- Is the training pitch at Ipswich, exactly the same as the match pitch at Portman Road?
If ot os, could this explain, Ipswich’s rise of two divisions in two seasons?
Last season in the Championship, Ipswich won 16 Home games and 13 Away games.
Practice on a replica pitch might explain the better Home success.
Premier League Pitch Sizes
This page on Football Fancast gives all the sizes for 2023/24 and all except these are 105 x 68 metres.
- Everton
- Chelsea
- Liverpool
- Sheffield United
- Crystal Palace
- Luton Town
- Fulham
The differences from the 105 x 68 metres, is generally only a few metres.
Conclusion
It looks to me, that Gareth Southgate, Kieran McKenna and some of the Ipswich groundsmen have stitched together an idea in a country pub, over a couple of pints of real ale.
Naked Football
My house was designed by an architect, but built by the worst form of cost-cutting builder. As the house has a lot of windows facing South, I suspect the architect specified air-conditioning. But the builder left it out!
I fitted a single unit, which helped keep the temperatures fairly good.
Then it failed and the rip-off firm who fitted it couldn’t fix it. They told me, they’d never seen a system like it, when they came for the service. They took my money and now it sits there like a folly in my living room.
Last week, I finally got my TV aerial system fixed and for the first time in about two years I can get a good signal in my bedroom, as well as my living room and the downstairs bathroom.
My bedroom is at times, the only reasonably cool room in hot weather in the house.
So now, by getting naked, I can watch the football in comfort.
LNER Names Train ‘The Flying Swiftie’ Ahead Of Tonight’s Opening Gig
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from LNER.
This is the sub-heading,
Forget “The Flying Scotsman”, LNER is today naming the 1000 London-Edinburgh train “The Flying Swiftie” – as thousands of Taylor Swift fans take the train to her first UK gig in the Scottish capital.
These are the first three paragraphs, which give a few more details.
The rail firm famous for having Red seats knows All Too Well that its passengers love a named train – from The Flying Scotsman to the Highland Chieftan and the recently introduced Carolean Express.
As passengers travel in Style and say So Long, London they will be reminded with on-train and station announcements that Everything Has Changed and that they’re on The Flying Swiftie, while screens around the station and along the route will refer to the train’s name too.
Taylor Swift fans will be able to get refreshments onboard cheaper than their Wildest Dreams thanks to a special Flying Swiftie discount.
Recently, Lumo did a similar promotion for Gateshead fans going to Wembley for the FA Trophy final, which I wrote about in Excitement Brewing for Gateshead FC Away At Wembley.
Last Train Home
In the past, I’ve had difficulty with getting a return train after some matches and it is a complaint of the fans of many sides.
- Taylor Swift’s concert seems to finish shortly before midnight.
- I’ve never had trouble from Greater Anglia, as they always run a late train back to London.
- In one case at Ipswich, there were track problems in the Colchester area, so Greater Anglia returned fans to Sudbury by taxi.
- Lumo ran an extra return train to make sure everybody got home after the match.
It certainly looks to me, that if you are going to put on a package for an event, you must make sure, that it is possible for those attending the event to get home.
What Is Possible
Lumo and LNER have shown what is possible on the East Coast Main Line and I would hope that they will develop these two experiences to cover, events like these.
- London football teams playing matches in Newcastle.
- Newcastle United playing matches in London.
- England and Scotland rugby matches.
I hopr to see more services like these in the future.
The Anonymous Widower 