Morning fight fans. A big day and before we get too involved in the nitty gritty of tonight, I thought we’d have a quick waltz [although I’m more of a polka man myself ] down memory lane and look at some memorable moving images and so begin the day in chipper style… This is us in the year of our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Three. BIOYC!
Author: Harry Hotspur
I thought that might get your attention. It got mine. My old muckers at Vision Sports Publishing (you know, that crowd who produce those dreadful books I incessantly plug) have come up trumps, again. In order to aid the publicity for the paperback launch of ‘The Boys From White Hart Lane’ they have a 1983/1984 UEFA Cup Final shirt …autographed by non other than Mssrs Perryman, Brooke, Miller, Galvin and Shreeve. ‘How can I get in on this H, I’m boracic?’ I hear you cry, plaintively clutching an empty tin marked, Gas Money. Well the good news is that no…
Good morning. This is the Met Office. Please evacuate all top four finish fantasies at once and make your way in a calm and dignified manner to the lifeboats. Women and the boy Hotspur first.
Arsenal [H]
Whining whining Arsenal. This season they have been the most unsporting, moaning shower of bitches that they have ever been. The grass was too long, the opposition were too physical, the crowd was too noisy…. the absence of shame has been well, bordering on quite shamless.
You may have heard of the game, The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon – http://snipurl.com/w8izl – I propose a new contender as the centre of the Small World Phenomenon; his name is Morris Keston. And he knows everyone worth knowing. Morris has co-authored a book with Nick Hawkins, entitled “The amazing life of Morris Keston, Superfan”. His is a 66-year old story that is unlikely ever to be comparable to contemporary fanatical fandom, especially as everyday access to footballers is now nigh on impossible. With a few pennies in his pocket, a patient and understanding wife and a tenacity borne…
The British Sports Book Awards Shortlist has been announced and 61 The Double is up for Best Illustrated Title. The word lavish is bandied about a lot in the book business. Usually it relates to a book that has lots of pictures. Or one that has production values superior to your average pizza menu. Harsh, but tell me I’m wrong. This book is lavish to degree whereby you might need to bite a pretty unpleasant bullet and decide if your coffee table is cool enough to handle it. 1537 grammes, 216 pages, 290mm by 230mm of hardback loveliness encased in…
Liverpool have of late become my second team. A sound job on Citeh and a their performance against Arsenal demonstrated the sort of determination to win that any team would be proud to adopt.
The highlight of the game was the last few minutes. Robin Van Persie celebrated scoring by revealing the sort of vest you’d normally expect to see being worn by blokes in a gaff that had mirrors over the urinals.
It looked as if Liverpool’s fate was sealed. But Liverpool hadn’t read the script. Kenny Dalglish’s lot ploughed onwards and as time fell away a free kick was
He’s won! The word was out earlier in the day but here’s the proof. What cannot speak cannot lie. Well done Gareth, we are all very proud of you and the goodly people at THFC who orphaned you and set you to work in our Hope Factory. A little known fact that he actually has the heart of a lion. Tragic illness as a child in Wales, Tory cutbacks in the local NHS, a local zoo made the offer. The rest is history. If I can’t recycle my own material at gone 10 o’clock on a Sunday night when can…
Apparently I’m being racially abused. Yes, it’s true. Ask David Baddiel. He’s Jewish and he likes football so he should know. Don’t worry about asking any other Jewish football fans; just adopt the default setting of the persecuted outcast and complain. It’s the only way to make the bigots see sense on the terraces of White Hart Lane and beyond.
Or is it? David Baddiel is a smart man. He went to Haberdashers’. So it was with some surprise that I discovered he is fronting a new campaign to raise awareness of anti-Semitism in football. Of-course, there is absolutely nothing wrong with conducting a public exercise in informing people of the problems of racism. Such a display of philanthropic morality is to be applauded. In modern day Britain we live in a world of both vocal and silent oppression.
I’ve just been listening to Talksport, specifically an interview with David Baddiell and his brother, Ivor. They’ve just made a short film. “The film is not intended to censor football fans,” said David. “It’s simply to raise awareness that the y-word is – and has been for many, many years – a race hate word. It’s our belief that some football fans may not even realise this, and the film is designed therefore to inform and raise debate.” Really. I’m always genuinely fascinated by those who completely unsolicited wake up one morning and decide today is the day they are…