At Last A Win!
That’s probably the best thing you could say about last night’s football.
Not a Good Match
Ipswich lost two-nil and they really didn’t deserve more than that! They got a few good chances, but somehow they squandered them and they seemed to have the stuffing knocked out of them by Forest’s second goal on the stroke of half-time.
One of the biggest pieces of excitement in the second half, was some idiot who wanted to get on the pitch. He was duly arrested and quite rightly got slung out of the ground.
I have been watching Ipswich away for many years and this season they seem to be attracting a few mindless fans. I don’t know whether this is happening with other clubs, who used to have good records, but I don’t like it!
Mel Hopkins
The Independent also had the obituary of Mel Hopkins. He was not a lucky footballer, as he suffered a broken jaw in a rather freak accident which kept him out of the Spurs double side of 1960-61.
He was incidentally one of my father’s favourite footballers and I can remember seeing him battle with Stanley Matthews, when Stoke were the visitors at White Hart Lane. I think this match must have been between 1962 and 1964, as Stoke weren’t in the First Division until 1962 and Hopkins left Spurs in October 1964.
With Pele turning seventy today, it is interesting to note this from Stanley Matthews entry in Wikipedia.
He played his final competitive match in Brazil in 1985 at the age of 70. He damaged his cartilage during the match. “A promising career cut tragically short,” he wrote in his autobiography. During his career he gained respect not only as a great player but also as a gentleman. This is exemplified by the fact that despite playing in nearly seven hundred league games, he was never booked or sent off.
Is there a player currently playing in the Premiership, who hasn’t been booked? Let alone in say a hundred games!
Happy Seventieth Birthday to Pele
Pele is seventy today. I hope this inspires some of today’s crop of footballers to not only play better, but be better sportsmen and people as well.
I’m sure all of my generation remember the iconic photo of Pele and Bobby Moore
Off to Nottingham Today
Ipswich are at Forest today and I’m going.
It will be a train from Dullingham to Cambridge and then I change at Leicester for Nottingham getting there just after three hours on the train.
Coming back is again about three hours with changes at Ely and Cambridge from where I’ll get a taxi if I’m tired. Or I might go to Carluccio’s for supper and then get a taxi home.
It all depends on how I feel after the match!
Portsmouth on the Brink
I’m glad that I visited Fratton Park earlier in the season, as it looks like the club may not come out of administration according to this report on the BBC.
Wayne’s Crazy World!
Why is it that when we get a home-grown football superstar, in many cases it all ends in tears?
It’s not just the Paul Gascoignes and George Bests of this world, but every decade has had its fair share of footballers with drink, drugs, gambling, marriage or other personal problems. But there are many others, whose indeiscretions and problems are just those that effect us all. I remember talking to one ex-footballer, who said that he’d kept his nose clean, saved a lot of his money wisely and been able to get a good life after he retired. He felt that life had been good to him.
So why when Wayne has it all at his feet, does he throw a big wobbly at Manchester United. If I were Sir Alex, I’d seriously give consideration to letting him go to another club. But then, that club might just be Manchester City, who let’s face it could afford any player, who thought money was more important than playing football.
But Rooney has often struck me as a bit of an idiot. I seem to remember that he recently took up smoking. If that is true, my case is proven!
So perhaps, Sir Alex should sell Wayne Rooney to Manchester City and let them have all the problems! Unfortunately, there is a sell-on clause in Rooney’s contract, that would mean that Everton would get quite a bit of any transfer fee!
Can FIFA be Trusted?
Yet again we’re seeing allegations abut the voting for a major sports event. In this case it’s the 2018 World Cup, with delegates from Nigeria and Tahiti being accused of being prepared to sell their votes.
FIFA seem to be taking control, but I do wonder if their voting structure makes it very difficult to get everything squeaky clean.
Sometimes I Wonder Why I Bother!
Ipswich weren’t very good today and justifiably lost to Coventry. They just never seemed to get going and when they did nothing seemed to come of it.
At one point I thought I’d had a bit of luck in that I’d drawn Coventry to win 1-0 on the bus. But even that didn’t work out, as the referee gave a dodgy penalty to make it 2-0.
Simon Barnes on Liverpool and Money in Sport
Simon Barnes is my favourite sports writers and his piece on Liverpool in today’s paper is one of his best. And that is praise indeed, as to beat his usual high standard takes doing.
This is the opening paragraph.
What’s the difference between Peter Ridsdale at Leeds United and the Tom Hicks-George Gillett Jr regime at Liverpool? Answer: Ridsdale tried to use money to acquire glory; Hicks and Gillett tried to use glory to acquire money.
As the two Americans are saying they’ll be suing RBS for $1.6billion, I suspect that some journalists, who have put the boot into the two, may well be up for feeling the long arm of the American Legal System.
At least though our judges will probably protect those that need to be protected.
The Anonymous Widower 