Appropriately Named Footballers
This article was on the BBC’s web site caused my eye, as it had a superb headline.
Hartley and Poole on target for Hartlepool
The first paragraph is here.
Peter Hartley and James Poole formed an appropriate scoring combination as Hartlepool secured only their second home League One win of the season by beating Notts County.
I just love wordplay like this.
To Ipswich For The Football
I was of two minds, whether to go to see Ipswich at home yesterday, as the weather has been so cold and they were playing Middlesborough, which made it look like a defeat. I had even told my son, I wasn’t going.
But the weather was sunny in the morning, so I decided to chance it, especially as there was nothing much else to do outside.
I took the train from Liverpool Street at 13:30 and arrived just in time for the match, after the walk from the station.
But what was wrong. The weather had got cold and Ipswich seemed to be holding their own against a side rated a lot better than they were.
Surely, it couldn’t last, but then Ipswich scored four good goals without reply.
The manager, Mick McCarthy wasn’t even there, as he was at home with flu. So perhaps he should try staying away more often and leave the team in the obviously capable hands of Terry Connor.
Sadly, a lot of the fans stayed away too, but those that did turn up, left with lots of smiles on their faces. Some like me, questioned, whether it was all a dream or the result of too much alcohol.
The players too, played out the last few minutes of the match, as if they had thoroughly enjoyed it.
I think though, when Mick McCarthy returns he has a serious question to answer. How come yesterday, Tommy Smith scored two good goals from superbly taken corners? I can’t remember any goal from a corner this season. Or even a very good dangerous corner. Let’s hope he decides it wasn’t just good luck.
Do You Have To Be Fat And Ugly To Play Rugby These Days?
I watched the England Scotland rugby last night on the iPlayer. It strikes me that the forwards are now getting to be so heavy that they wouldn’t be out of place in sumo wrestling. The backs too, aren’t small any more and would some of the great players of the past like Jeremy Guscott, Phil Bennett, the Underwoods or even Jonny Wilkinson ever get a game these days?
Clive Woodward wasn’t impressed either with the number of players with beards, who could have been extras in a film about the Vikings.
Rugby seems to be going the same route as American football, where size is everything. Parents, I suspect will start to keep their children away from the game, as it will get too dangerous, with all that weight running about. You read reports from the United States, where football is on the rise over the American version, simply because it is a safer game for normal people.
And talking about American football, why is the BBC spending my licence fee, on covering it so much?
Keeping Warm Outside
I have given up on the control system of my central heating and now use the damaged Mark 1 brain of a Control Engineer to switch the system on and off to keep the temperature where I want it. I have a nifty meter from Maplin’s, which gives me exact temperature and humidity.
Outside in the cold, I’ve turned to wearing my classic 1960s Liverpool University Engineering scarf. It’s all wool and I suspect, it’s rarely been cleaned, but it doesn’t smell too bad. Strangely, this morning, the BBC are at Hainsworth in Pudsey. They’re doing fairly well considering the recession, by selling cloth all over the world. They still make the all-wool cloth for university scarves like mine. They’ve also just said, that South Africa is the biggest market for blankets in the world.
I’ve also just ordered myself a cashmere football scarf in Ipswich Town’s colours from a company called Savile Rogue. If that doesn’t fix the weather nothing will.
What Will Abramovitch Do Now?
After the farce at Swansea last night, it’ll be interesting to see what crazy thing happens at Chelski next!
I watched the match and I think the result was fair, as Swansea with a bit of luck could have won this leg of the tie too!
Supporting Aston Villa Is Much More Stressful Than Being Governor Of The Bank Of England
This is a quote from Mervyn King, in an article in the New Statesman.
I think he ducked the match at Villa Park yesterday, as he was making a speech in Belfast.
Pep Guardiola Gives A Two-Fingered Salute to Chelski And Man Sheikhy
Pep Guardiola has decoded to join Bayern Munich. Read about it here in the Guardian.
It just goes to show that you may be as rich as Croesus, but you can’t buy everything. And certainly a man to whom it appears football is more important than money.
Patrick Barclay On Sheikh Mansour
I picked up the Standard tonight as I often do, and this article by Patrick Barclay caught my eye. Here’s the first paragraph.
When Sheikh Mansour took over Manchester City, I suggested that his best route to the top of English football would be to buy and disband Manchester United, acquiring as many of their players as were wanted, then paint Old Trafford blue and use it as a training ground. Fortunately, the Sheikh and his Abu Dhabi associates preferred more constitutional methods.
But something must be done to create a fairer playing field, where rich benefactors can make a farce of fair play. UEFA are trying, but then will Abramovitch and Mansour fall into line? I doubt it!
On the other hand, there are quite a few footballers out there, who contrary to the usual myths are intelligent and have made enough money to go where they please. I think and very much hope that we see a lot more upsets like Swansea at Chelsea in the future.
Supporting Your Team Away
This morning on BBC Radio 5, they are talking about the high cost of watching your team in away matches. Admittedly, they were talking mainly about supporting Premiership teams, but there are various issues. The Football Supporters Federation is probably going to start a campaign about it all.
I didn’t go yesterday to see Ipswich play at Cardiff, as the weather just seemed it might be a bit too much. The cost didn’t deter me, although it would have been about £80 return to the Welsh capital. That is First Class with a Senior Railcard.
If I look at other matches I’ve been to I could make a list. Note that I live in London, so although I’m supporting Ipswich, any prices are from the London station, which of course is free for me to get to.
Barnsley – This is one of my favourite trips, as the ticket is always good value and for some reason you can often get good value on the trains. This year I paid £40.95. The stadium is a short uphill walk from the station and everyone was their usual friendly selves, although the seats aren’t the most comfortable. The view is good though. I’d give the whole experience 8/10. It could be improved by a better train service from Sheffield.
Birmingham – I seem to remember this was an expensive ticket and because I was coming from a dinner in Liverpool, can’t quote a ticket price. But I did do the trip for the Aston Villa cup game for £31. The walk to the ground from the local station is very dangerous, as is the station, but the ground was friendly, even if the seats and the view weren’t the best. I’ll give it 4/10, mainly because of that walk and the dreadful local station.
Bolton – This ticket was good value, I seem to remember, and it was a good trip up by train for £79. Everyone was friendly and the seat and view were excellent. I had got my lunch in Carluccio’s in Piccadilly station. I’ll give it 7/10. The only bad bit was the overcrowded trains from Manchester to and from the Reebok.
Brighton – The ticket was again good value, but I got there by a deliberately roundabout route for virtually nothing. Everything at the stadium was excellent, although I did eat in the city centre. I’d give the experience 9/10 and the weather -5/10. It was not a day for doing anything except swimming.
Charlton – I got to this ground free and the ticket was expensive for a crowded seat and a bad view. I’d just give it 5/10.
Crystal Palace – I bought this ticket at the gate and there was no discount, but as I got there for nothing on my Freedom Pass, I can’t complain. But I can complain about the state of the ground, the seat and the view. I’d give it 5/10 at most.
Hull – This was another good value ticket and I got home from Hull for £42.25. I’d gone up to York to see a friend and have lunch, so as I had an excellent gluten free meal on the train coming down, it was a day when I ate very well. I walked to the excellent stadium and everyone was a clone of those at Brighton. i.e. friendly and helpful. Like Brighton, I’ll give it 9/10.
Leeds – The ticket was one of the more expensive, as Leeds don’t do Seniors and the fare up on East Coast was £78.80. We got a reasonably friendly reception from stewards, a hard seat with a reasonable view and I can’t comment on the food as I ate in Carluccio’s in the City Centre, with my friend and her daughter. I’d rate the experience at 4/10. A bus from the station would help a lot here.
Leicester – This was a disastrous game, but I can’t complain about the ticket, the stadium and the stewarding. The train was expensive and virtually empty at £64.35 and there is no easy way to get to the stadium except a long walk. It’s worth no better than 6/10.
Wolverhampton – I actually forgot the ticket I’d bought for £24, so I bought another at the ground for just £14. The return ticket from Euston was just £30 or so. Everybody was very friendly, including the Police, the seats and the view were excellent and I wrote a post about it. My rating would be 10/10, as I can’t think of anything that could have been better.
I shall be adding to this list with visits for the rest of this season. I shall also probably add a few views of other stadia, I’ve been to since I moved to London.
I can split the clubs into groups.
Clubs to Always Visit
Barnsley, Brighton, Hull, Wolverhampton
Clubs to Possibly Avoid
Birmingham, Charlton, Crystal Palace, Leeds
I think too, if you look at the train prices, you would avoid any train company with East in the name, as they aren’t good value. First Hull trains were the best. It also seems that if you book a few days before Virgin’s Senior Advance First is generally good value at a weekend. But then it should be as it is generally empty.
Ipswich Town Signing Tells It As It Is!
Ipswich Town’s new signing, Aaron Maclean is reported to be critical of the shopping in the town centre.
T’was ever thus! And it’s not just the shopping, but the pubs and restaurants as well!
When I first started drinking in the early1960s, I was living in Felixstowe. At that time pubs in Suffolk closed at eleven, but those in Ipswich closed half-an-hour early. So no-one in their right mind invested in pubs in the town. What made matters worse, was the great rush out to the county to get an extra half-hour of drinking time.
Before, I was a coeliac, when C and I lived north of the town in the 1970s and 1980s, we rarely ate there and if we did it was usually in the Golden Panda, a restaurant where we knew the owner and the establishment gave a name to one of our horses.
Although, we both worked there, except for Boots and Marks and Spencer, I doubt we ever bought anything of substance there.
Now I just go for the football and always arrange any meal before I get to the town, as it is a veritable gluten-free desert. People have tried to open decent restaurants but only a couple have lasted. If you want a good meal, you go a few miles outside the town.
Ipswich suffers too because of rivalry with Bury St. Edmunds. Ipswich has the trains, the football club, the port and perhaps a better hospital, whereas Bury has a cathedral, the beer, much better shops and a pro-business Council. The only other thing better in Ipswich is the street sculpture and the art galleries. Ipswich used to have Suffolk’s only airport, but it shut that, as the Council decided it was just rich men’s indulgences.
I blame the Council of the latter part of the last century. They were so anti-business, that even though we had created a hundred or so jobs in the town, we got no co-operation and help, as they wanted real manufacturing jobs. Their great saviour was Robert Maxwell, who effectively did nothing for Ipswich except shut Ransomes and Rapier.
The Anonymous Widower 