Avoiding The Rain
I went to the football at Ipswich yesterday and the rain was so bad, I didn’t feel like walking to the bus stop to get a 141 bus to Liverpool Street station.
So I walked to the closest stop and got a 56 bus to the Angel. It wasn’t any better there.
A Very Wet Angel
But at least I got there in the dry and was able to walk into the Underground, to get a train to Liverpool Street with one change at Moorgate station. Normally, I’d have walked from Moorgate, but it was just that wet.
Coming back, the weather was just as bad, so I used an unusual route to keep dry. I took a Metropolitan line train to Barbican station and caught another 56 back to my house.
At least the rain seemed to have abated slightly in Ipswich, but the game wasn’t a good one. There were so many mistakes and I suspect precise control was difficult. So many simple passes were missed by both sides. Perhaps football yesterday was summed up by the result at Peterborough, where the home side beat Bolton by five goals to four.
Football On Christmas Day
Danny Baker on his program today, asked if anybody had been into a football ground on Christmas Day.
I phoned up and said that I’d been to a match at White Hart Lane on Christmas Day morning. Danny was rather sceptical, to say the least!
I remember that we went to do an hour or so’s work in my father’s print works, as he was rather a workaholic to say the least. We then drove to the ground from Wood Green. I’m not certain, who we played, but it was somewhere in the mid-1950s and it could have been Luton Town.
We then went home for a late Christmas lunch.
I did find a bit of history about Christmas Day football here.
One thing that they must have had in those days was a decent public transport system over the holidays. And ASLEF wouldn’t have been on strike.
Liverpool, Glasgow And Belfast
These three cities in the UK have for centuries had their troubles between Catholics and Protestants.
I grew up in London, which before the Second World War wasn’t without its religious troubles. But that generally involved anti-Semitism and those on the far right. My father was a staunch anti-fascist and claimed he was at the Battle of Cable Street. I suspect he was, and I know he used to write Cockney poetry about the war. Sadly none has srvived although, I can remember a few phrases.
He didn’t like Catholics because of the Pope’s support for Hitler in the War and my mother being of a Huguenot line didn’t like them either. But it was nothing more than the odd barbed comment, when say a new Pope was elected. I don’t think either of my parents ever saw the inside of a church except for the odd wedding.
This lack of religion, probably helped to push me towards being agnostic and of course now, I’m someone, who doesn’t believe in any religion. But that is not to say, I don’t follow the humanist principles of most of the major religions.
Going to Liverpool in the early 1960s, was the first time, I really came across religion in tooth and claw. With the massive Anglican Cathedral and the new Roman Catholic one under construction, I couldn’t avoid the fact, that I was in a city that took its religion seriously. In those days, there were parades by both Catholics and Orangemen. But any trouble had dropped off in the previous few years. Was it because the people of Liverpool developed healthy interests in music and football? But other factors were also at work inside the Anglican and Catholic churches. Although this pre-dates the partnership between Archbishop Derek Worlock and the Bishop David Sheppard, I think in the 1960s, the people of Liverpool thought they’d had enough of religious rivalries, that got out of hand.
It was then that I met C’s friend, Maureen, who was the daughter of a Presbyterian Minister and missionary from Belfast. Her tales of her home city painted a very different picture of life in Northern Ireland.
It was at that time too, that I had my first experience of Scotland, when I went to Glasgow to see Spurs play against Celtic in the Glasgow Cup. It was the first time, I saw serious football violence, as a Rangers supporter appeared in the non-segregated crowd and was promptly thumped by most of the Celtic fans around me. It’s not to say there wasn’t violence in England at the time, but in matches at Portman Road, White Hart Lane, Anfield and Goodison Park, I’d never experienced any at first hand.
Over the years, I’ve visited Belfast a few times and been rather horrified at all of the flags and religious symbols. I once went into Shorts factory in Belfast and couldn’t believe the bigoted displays I saw. If I were to put up similar posters and flags on my house attacking any religion, I’d be arrested.
In Glasgow it’s not so open, but read any forum about Rangers and Celtic and you’ll find language you never find on similar forums involving say Spurs and Arsenal or Liverpool and Everton.
I go to Liverpool regularly and even went to see the Olympic torch in the city, where the Archbishop enjoyed the parade with everybody else.
So how come Liverpool has come to terms with its religious divides and in Belfast and to a certain extent, Glasgow, they seem to be getting worse?
What A Difference A Good Win Makes
I went to see Ipswich Town for the first time in a home match for some time.
The trains were actually trains and not buses and the match was worth seeing as Ipswich beat Millwall by three goals to nil.
Let’s hope this sequence of wins continues. I’m off to Leeds on next Saturday.
A Truly European Tournament
I can’t believe that UEFA are being so sensible and proposing that Euro 2020, is going to be organised in a dozen or so European countries.
David Bond, the BBC Sports Editor discusses the various issues here.
In my view the advantages are large, as in a time of austerity, Europe won’t have to build a lot of new stadia. It also gives the smaller countries the chance to stage a few matches.
When did the so-called great and good come up with something sensible like this before?
Starbucks And Glasgow Rangers
I’ve been reading about the tax avoidance measures of Starbucks over the last few days and it looks like they are doing a few things to normalise the situation, according to this article on the BBC.
This could be due to the protests and boycotts mounted by the good old British public.
Now some might think, that Glasgow Rangers have also cheated the tax man, by the use of Employee Benefit Trusts. According to this article on the BBC, the HMRC thinks so and is pursuing what they think should have been paid.
But surely the issue in both cases is fairness. Does their tax situation give Starbucks an advantage over their rivals? Many argue that it does.
And if it is true in Starbucks case, it must be true in that of Glasgow Rangers, as they can pay their players more money.
I would like to see one set of rules applied equally to all companies and individuals.
A Good Day
Seeing Tornado was the start of a good day.
I then took a Virgin Train to Manchester Piccadilly, where I had lunch at Carluccio’s in the station before going to the Reebok stadium to see Ipswich Town at Bolton. Town won 2-1, which was a good result, just like England’s victory in the rugby over New Zealand Although a friend had his pocket picked at Twickenham.
Coming back wasn’t the best part as the train from Bolton to Manchester was just three coaches and far too crowded. This was then followed by a Virgin that was empty in First Class and nearly half-an-hour late into Euston. If you’re going to get problems coming in to London, you can generally rely on Euston to not perform.
Although I eventually found some supper there, Marks and Spencer at Euston, looked as if it had been ravaged by a plague of locusts.
I do wish that someone starts a London to Manchester service from St. Pancras after the line is electrified. But they won’t be allowed to as you mustn’t annoy Saint Richard! Although to be fair, the lateness wasn’t down to Virgin.
The day was also improved as Chelski lost! On the train and in Bolton, no-one had any sympathy for them!
Dutch Footballer In The S-h-1-T
I first heard this story on Radio 5, where it caused a lot of hilarity. Mainly about the Dutch word, wildpoepen, for which there is no English equivalent.
The story is in full, in the Mirror.
Why Can’t I Buy Tickets For England v Brazil?
I’ve bought tickets for England home games in the past, but I can’t even get logged in as a registered England fan to even see if I can purchase tickets. I just get a message saying.
According to our records, you are not eligible to purchase tickets for this event.
I suspected that this could be because I have moved house, since I last bought a ticket.
So I registered as a new England fan at my new address and tried again. And what happened?
I got the same message again.
I wonder why I’m not allowed to buy tickets. I have e-mailed them and guess what? I’ve not received any reply at all.
So it could be that FA doesn’t stand for Football Association, but something else.
Or could it be that I’m too old? Or perhaps someone with the same name as me, is on a banned list?
All I want is a ticket for myself and a couple for friends.
By the time that I get logged in, they might all have gone!
I think, I’ll reach for my solicitor if that happens. I think my human rights have been abused.
BT Will Setup BT Sport On The Olympic Park
There was good news today for Hackney, when BT said that they will run their BT Sport operation from the Broadcast Centre on the Olympic Park. It’s all here on the BBC.
As BSkyB is also London-based, does it not look to have been a bad decision to move BBC Sport to Manchester?
The Anonymous Widower 