Using An Ipswich Bobble Hat as a Passport
This post was brought about by Danny Baker asking on Radio 5, if anybody had any stories about getting into football matches.
The spring after C died, I took a holiday in Italy, mainly to see if I could holiday by myself.
Whilst staying in Florence, I found out that Fiorentina were playing a home game against Livorno.
It was a bit of a performance to get the ticket, as I had to go to the cafe, opposite the ground and buy it from the owner. To do this, I needed a credit card and my passport. The latter was duly copied before the ticket was issued.
Before the match, I decided that it would be best just to take a few euros and the ticket, as I wasn’t sure, if Italian football crowds had the odd pickpocket.
When I approached the gate to get into the ground, I was approached and frisked by a steward, who demanded my passport.
As I didn’t fancy the long walk back to the hotel, I protested and finally decided to point to the badge on the Ipswich bobble-hat I was wearing, saying Inglesi repeatedly and loud at the time.
He forgot about the passport and I was let through.
Blackburn Rovers are Relegated
One of the most historic clubs in the Premier League, Blackburn Rovers, was relegated last night.
It would appear that the new owners had no idea about what they had bought and BBC Radio 5 was saying last night, that they’d thought they’d bought a franchise which couldn’t be relegated and an endless cash chicken.
Someone emphasised the latter, by bringing a chicken to the match, complete with its own team shirt. Read the report in that new tabloid, the Guardian.
It is a very sad affair and is another club that has got into trouble because of inappropriate and/or stupid ownership.
I felt particularly upset last night for Dave Whelan. the Wigan owner, as his team sent them down. He had been a Blackburn player in the 1960 Cup Final, when he was carried off due to a broken leg.
Has Manchester City Bought the Premier League Title?
As today’s football draws to a close, it looks like nothing can stop Manchester City winning the Premier League Title. It just shows how unfair it is when those with the money always win.
The only hope is that the UEFA Financial Fair Play Rules bring a degree of discipline. These rules, incidentally, may hit Spain worse than anybody else, if the practices of Spanish clubs, I outlined here are stopped.
Has Steven Gerrard Come of Age?
You’d think that the headlines about Steven Gerrard this morning, would all have been about his performance in the FA Cup Final yesterday. The Times rated him at 6/10, but said he was rather a frustrated figure.
The biggest headline about himn today, is that he has signed a letter with Jamie Oliver, saying that cooking should be taught in schools, as a means of fighting obesity.
Coupled with his measured and thoughtful support for the new England manager, Roy Hodgson, it would appear that we are seeing a very different Steven Gerrard.
Cynics might argue though, that he wants the England captaincy.
Father and Son Footballers
They were talking about these on Radio 5 last night.
Perhaps I have a better memory, but the two pairs I know, weren’t mentioned.
Les Allen, who was in Spurs double-winning side of 1960-61, is the father of Clive and Bradley Allen, both of whom, had reasonably successful careers.
Roy Bailey, who was the goalkeeper in Ipswich’s First Division winning side of 1961-62, was the father of Manchester United’s goalkeeper, Gary Bailey.
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.
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.
The Anonymous Widower 