Spanish Football is Built on Debt
I know there’s a lot of debt in British football and some clubs such as Portsmouth and Rangers seem to have succumbed to the problems. But this is nothing compared to the tax debts of the leading Spanish clubs, as detailed in this report from AFP.
I thought UEFA had a series of fair-play rules, that British clubs adhere to. It would appear that Spanish practices are different. Here’s just one phrase from the report.
But the latest figure to hit the headlines in Spain is the 752 million euros that Spain’s elite clubs owe to the tax man at a time when more than five million are unemployed and the government is asking citizens for more sacrifices.
Even Rangers don’t owe a tenth of that to the taxman.
Beware The Croydon Man
With all the fuss about Roy Hodgson becoming the new England manager, I thought I’d look up who else was born in Croydon, that much maligned suburb of South London.
The most interesting is that polymath and outstanding sportsman; Charles Burgess Fry, better known by his initials of C. B. This paragraph from Wikipaedia sums him up.
Fry’s achievements on the sporting field included representing England at both cricket and football, an FA Cup Final appearance for Southampton F.C. and equalling the then world record for long jump. He also reputedly turned down the throne of Albania. In later life, he suffered mental health problems, but in his 70s was still able to perform his party piece: jumping backwards onto a mantel from a standing position.
I think that if you look at Hodgson’s career, he hasn’t shirked any challenge and perhaps he just is the man to lead England in Euro-2012 and beyond. He’s not a polymath like Fry, but he’s a real polyglot, speaking ten languages with varying degrees of fluency.
Hodgson’s problem will be the press. Last night, the Manchester-centric Radio 5 Live commentators were saying it was a bad decision.
I disagree, especially he appoints Stuart Pearce to his team.
Which Stuart Pearce will Pick Kyle Walker?
Assuming Stuart Pearce is in charge of both Team GB at the Olympics and England at Euro 2012, after today he has a real selection problem after Kyle Walker‘s superb goal today against Blackburn.
Let’s hope he gets some more problems like this!
Whatever happens, Kyle Walker should certainly be playing competitive football in the close season!
What’s Going on in Scottish Football?
At the moment, I’m listening to the last match in the Glasgow Premier League at Celtic Park. It is usually on one of the main Sky channels, but today it is on Sky Sports 4. Are those of us who get our Sky through BT Vision being censored? Or do they expect it will be too red-blooded for English tastes? Especially, as from what I can gather from the commentary, the Celtic crowd have been giving the Rangers fans a warm and very bigoted welcome. I think that if say some of the banners unfurled by the home fans, appeared at say an Ipswich against Norwich fixture, they would certainly be confiscated.
All of this is a minor battle compared to what happens in the next few weeks. Rangers will probably loose a lot of their best players and the transfer embargo they are under will mean they won’t be able to sign any more.
What puzzles me about Rangers, is that the Inland Revenue didn’t fully investigate the non-payment of tax by the club a couple of years earlier? After all, if this forces the club into liquidation, then it will be the English at fault. Could it be, that Prudence didn’t want it to happen under his watch?
As a taxpayer, I have a right to know, about all the tax and contract mandering that happened in Scotland in the last days of the worst government we’ve had since Lord North.
Which Brother and Sister Played for Two Different Countries in Different Sports in the 2010 Commonwealth Games?
This sounds like a trivial pursuit question and it is. The answer is in the long form in the Sports section of today’s Sunday Times.
They are Christa Cullen, who if she is fit, will be playing in the Hockey in the London Olympics and her brother Gray who plays rugby for Kenya. There’s more about it here in the Guardian.
The Manager is a Physio
I’m watching Southampton take on Coventry in a game that if they win, they’ll be in the Premier League next season.
Surprisingly, the Southampton manager; Nigel Adkins, trained as a physiotherapist and was employed in that position at Scunthorpe, when he was made manager there. He also played over 300 games as a goal-keeper for Tranmere Rovers, Wigan Athletic and Bangor City. Tradition has it that keepers don’t make good managers.
However, there is a precedent for a physio, who went on to be a top-class manager; Bertie Mee, who led Arsenal to the double in 1970-71.
Plastic Brits
There has been a lot of criticism about the UK choosing athletes, swimmers and others from other countries. There is an article on the BBC here, in which Paula Radcliffe talks about the subject and defends those who come here to compete.
But in some ways, it’s always happened. After all, Linford Christie was born in Jamaica, although he’s lived in the UK, since he was seven.
The Times today tells the story of Ben Helfgott, a Polish Jew, who survived the Holocaust and eventually ended up in England, who competed in two Olympic Games for Great Britain. He later went on to be a respected internsation weightlifting administrator. Today at 82, he is president of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.
Like Paula, he wouldn’t agree with the term plastic brit.
Is the Ukraine the Place for Euro-2012?
I have just read this article about the Ukraine on the BBC.
England will be playing their three qualifying group matches for Euro-2012 in the Ukraine, although not anywhere near where Yulia Ymoshrenko is imprisoned. The Times also reports bomb explosions in the city.
I think that it could be a bit of a difficult trip for England and especially their supporters.
Remember too, that the patron saint of the Ukraine is Saint Andrew.
Talk about a baptism of fire for England’s new manager. Fire must be fought with fire! Even if only it the of the metaphorical sort! So the England team should contain the two English heroes of the Nou Camp; Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard. And of course Stuart Pearce must be on the touchline! Even if he’s just number two in name to some overpriced so-called man with the right experience!
Kriss Akabusi
Kriss Akabusi was in his usual great form on the Danny Baker show this morning.
I e-mailed Danny to get him to ask about one of the great unsolved mysteries in athletics.
What did Kriss say to Antonio Pettigrew, to get the American to corpse in the 4 x 400 metres final at the World Championships in Tokyo in 1991?
It probably doesn’t matter now as it’s over twenty years ago and it won’t detract from one of Britain’s best moments at the highest level in athletics.
Pep Gardiola Would be Mad to go to Chelsea
Pep Guardiola is possibly stepping down at Barcelona to take a rest from football according to reports, like this this one in the Guardian.
Whatever he does in the future, he would be mad to go to Chelsea. But he probably knows that, so they would pay an enormous price to get him. Especially, as they’d probably fire him in a few months.
The Anonymous Widower 