Falling From Grace

There are few more poignant sights than a prodigious talent that has gone wrong and, for anyone that remembers him in his prime, the descent from grace of Paul Gascoigne has been a long, drawn out affair. Concerns over his substance abuse have long since been replaced over concerns for his overall mental well-being, but [...]

All Creatures Great And Small

At the end of the season, the great and the good usually come together to pontificate over who has been the best. Not merely satisfied with the final league tables (which, you know, are a pretty definitive guide to who has been the best), journalists, managers and even players themselves come together to hand out [...]

The Dark Side Of Non-League Football

Congratulations, of sorts, to Kettering Town, who became (after Chelmsford City last week) the second club in English senior football to win their league championship yesterday. Their 3-0 win against AFC Telford United yesterday was coupled with a 3-1 defeat for second placed Stalybridge Celtic at Boston United, which meant that the Conference North championship [...]

Red All About It

The possibility is starting to dawn on me that I might be cursed. I don’t mean this in the sense of someone being in ownership of a voodoo doll made in my image into which they occasionally stick pins (though I wouldn’t completely rule this out), rather the fact that my nemesis of football colours [...]

With Deepest Sympathy

About a month ago, I went greyhound racing at the Coral Stadium, in Hove. We had the best seats in the place, in the stand overlooking the finishing line. We had a (passable but nothing special) three course meal, and were given seven £1 betting vouchers, so we didn’t have to spend our own money [...]

The Death Of An Icon

Some of you may have noticed the minute’s silence prior to the match between France and England on Wednesday night. This was to mark the death, at the age of 49, of Thierry Gilardi, France’s very own “Voice Of Football”. When Franck Ribery was booked for ripping of his shirt after scoring the only [...]

"I’d Like To Thank Mum & Dad… God…"

Well, hooray! We won an award! As some of you may recall, this little blog was nominated for a couple of gongs at the Soccerlens 2007 Football Blog awards. Well, it managed second place in the two categories for which it was nominated, but managed to win the Editor’s Choice for “The Best Blog That [...]

FA Cup Fourth Round Preview

It’s the last weekend in January, and this can only mean one thing. The FA Cup Fourth Round. We’re down to the last thirty-two now, and by the time that we’ve made the last sixteen, at least eight of the clubs involved won’t even be from the Premier League, half of whose clubs bit the [...]

A Mixed Day

It had been a great afternoon, even to be at home with a bunged up, well, everything, watching the latest goals coming in on BBC Score. Spurs and Reading were involved in yet another extraordinary match at White Hart Lane (and my, hasn’t there been a lot of those in the Premier League this season?), [...]

I Haven’t Been Deliberately Letting This Place Go To Seed

…but a mixture of Christmas and being knocked sideways by a really unpleasant bout of flu has meant that I haven’t been able to post on here over the last few days. I’ll try and get something up on here tonight, I promise.