Just over two years ago, in this piece, I wrote about English managers in the Premier League (the top division in English football). At the time there were 8 English managers in the league, and I found it worthy of note that the 7 teams at the bottom of the table were all managed by… Continue reading English Managers in the Premier League, revisited
Earlier this month, in this piece, I reflected on the recent fortunes of Leeds United and Arsenal in the FA Cup, the world’s oldest national football competition. Leeds (the team that I have followed since childhood) had not won a game in the competition since 2017. During that time Arsenal (the team that my wife… Continue reading Further reflections on the FA Cup, Leeds United and Arsenal
For the first time since 2017 Leeds United FC are still in the FA Cup after playing their Third Round fixture. As regular readers of this Blog might know, I have followed the team since childhood, and have posted previously about their exit at this stage of the competition. The most recent of these pieces,… Continue reading Third Round Reflections
In the million-plus words that appear on this Blog, all of them still freely available whenever you want to read them, there has been no mention of either of the UK’s two most recent prime ministers. Until now. The current prime minister, less than a week into the job, is Rishi Sunak, who either believes… Continue reading Leeds United FC and Liz Truss
It is nearly a year since I posted a screenshot of a football league table on this Blog. I have done so at various times in recent years, usually with information from the BBC website. In May 2021 I posted this piece, showing the top half of the English Premier League, with Leeds United (the… Continue reading This could be the last time
Last December I wrote this piece about playing football again, on Friday nights. I am happy to report that my run of games has continued and it’s all hugely enjoyable. I missed a few games for various reasons, including Covid and a thigh injury, but the latter coincided with some social events that meant I… Continue reading Wednesday Night Football
Rest in peace Shane Warne, one of the great cricketers, and one of the great commentators. Along with a handful of other retired bowlers, like Richie Benaud and Michael Holding, he caused me to watch far more cricket on TV than I would have if certain former England batsmen had been commentating instead. News of… Continue reading Dead at 52, and a list
If you follow European football, or the Premier League here in the UK, you will regularly come across stories about fees and wages. These stories confirm that football finances are very different from the financial realities that most of us deal with. Earlier this month I read a news story about French side PSG which… Continue reading £157m for one player for one year
In December 2020 I posted this piece about the BBC “Sports Personality of the Year” (or SPOTY for short). Here are 20 questions about the award, 10 of which have multiple choice answers. The answers to all of them appear at the end of this Post. The Questions Before Emma Raducanu won it in 2021,… Continue reading 20 questions about “Sports Personality of the Year”
Last month, in this piece, I wrote enthusiastically about playing football again with a bunch of guys who are mostly my age. After a break for Christmas and New Year the Friday night fixtures are back on, but after self-isolating for 10 days with Covid during that time I am even less match-fit than before.… Continue reading Memories of football in Hyde Park
The Compartments 