The unofficial World Cup anthem

By Matt Fricker

27th May 2010 | 2 comments | 3 people like this

So the eve of the World Cup is nearly upon us, and as always, the most important subject on football fans lips (after the actual football of course) is about which unofficial World Cup song is the best.

Why unofficial? Well, for a few years now, the FA have decided against backing a tune to be labelled the ‘official’ song of the World Cup. Read more »

The heartbreak of football

By Matt Fricker

20th May 2010 | 1 comments | 3 people like this

Football is a funny old game, some have tried to explain it as similar to a religion, with your church (club) being a place you visit once a week and so on.

For some, football is just a game, for others it’s something you can get a bit worked up about every once in a while.

But for others, football is more than that, much more than a religion, it’s a key aspect of life.

In some ways, football is actually like a drug.

I grew up in Charlton, in Charlton there’s a football club, and not much else.

I started going to Charlton games with my father and younger brother regularly in 1995. Since then we’ve missed maybe ten home games between us.

One of my childhood dreams was to play for Charlton, even now I would give everything I have in the world up to play for my club. Even though I know that I’m useless at football.

Something that can’t be explained is why this affinity for football exists quite so strongly in so many.

The best way to explain it would be to compare the sport to music, film or another art, something that can really rip away at your emotions and bring you to the greatest high, or the lowest low.

But even that description is rather weak.

On Monday night, I joined over 20,000 other Charlton fans at The Valley to watch the mighty Addicks attempt to turn over a one goal deficit against Swindon Town and progress to the League One play off final.

Charlton won the game after ninety minutes, but as this meant the game was a draw on aggregate, extra time and a penalty shoot out was required and sadly, Charlton lost the game on penalties.

So you move on, it’s only a game after all.

You can say it as much as you want but for many football fans, it’s not that easy.

The knowledge that football as a sport is financially in great trouble doesn’t help, having seen what’s happened to clubs such as Portsmouth, Luton Town and Chester City strike all football fans with fear that their club could be next to fight for its existence.

An existence which, for all football clubs mean roughly a hundred (or more) years of history, where generation after generation have fallen in love and had their heart torn to shreds by their football club.

My fear is that, as a result of loosing on Monday, Charlton may have to sell their best players and may once again struggle to survive in the league they play in. (an occurrence which saw Charlton relegated from the Premier League in 2007 and the Championship in 2009)

I’m not alone in my fears for Charlton Athletic, but these concerns aren’t unique to my club either.

If you talk to any football fan, they will be able to reveal similar concerns about their own club, whether their club are Manchester United or Macclesfield Town.

Football is a universal game, a way of life for many who are far more passionate about the game than me, and with one kick of a ball, you can cry with joy, or see your dreams fall to shreds.

But now, the football season has finished for fans like me, and our passion turns to our respective countries and the World Cup.

In a few weeks, London, along with most major cities around the World will be transformed into a hub of great national pride for countries competing in the Football World Cup in a sight which will disprove the theory that football is only a game.

Near death experiences

By miriam

11th January 2010 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree

Many times have I been guilty of saying, “I nearly died,” but today I did…nearly that is.

It was a week before the New Year. I crossed the road, looked right around a mass of parked cars and left, and then proceeded to put one foot in front of the other, when a car came at me, like a bat out of hell, hooting and fixing me with Death Eater stare.

After composing myself and setting off again I thought: “Why the hell are you hooting, I’m the one who nearly died.”

My NDEs (near death experiences) usually consist of misunderstandings with four-wheel drives.

They think that I am going to stop and wait in the freezing cold while they all sit inside with radios. I think they are going to stop for me for the same reason. Actually no I don’t, I just think that they should. And that is where the misunderstandings between pedestrians and motorists begin.

When I was in my first year at Uni I was telling my friend about these misunderstandings. “When people are not sure whether to cross the road or not, I go,” I said. Others tend to stay glued to the spot – probably the result of some safety mechanism, which has possibly passed me by. The conversation ended up with my friend having to pull me back from a road of oncoming cars.  A part of me, despite my gratitude, did think I would have made it to the other side. Then again I wanted to get to the other side of the road not the after-life.

It’s only when I’m in the car, when the shoe is on the pedal and not on road, that I think some people may have a death wish. Exhibit one: People listening to their ipods, crossing the road mid-song.

They don’t seem to realise that this is not some musical where a knight with too much hair gel is going to scoop them up and run with them to his country house to meet his mother. This is real life. 

Exhibit two: Cyclists. I know I may get harangued for this but I do believe some cyclists have a death wish. Probably slightly scarred after waiting to cross a main road one day by paramedics attending to a man who had been knocked off his bike, their very presence makes me nervous. I often hold my breath after spending five minutes debating whether I can safely overtake them yet, and actually feel a sense of achievement after a hurried look in my mirror tells me they are still upright.

Of course some people are just asking for trouble: mountaineers, white-water rafters and other adrenaline junkies.

You can’t say that everyone who goes up a mountain or takes to water is asking for it, but you definitely open yourself up to more opportunities of having a NDE.

Sometimes one may be left to wonder if the adrenaline rush was worth it, whether it be falling down a black ski slope…backwards during a spot of skiing, tearing a retina bungee jumping, trying to rescue a friend in a lightning storm, being thrown out of a raft on a grade 5 rapid or nearly drowning whilst trying to catch waves off the West African Coast.

My first near-death experience in water happened in the River Nile in Uganda, but we were warned in advance. Our instructor told us we would all end up under water and could we try and hold onto our paddles. I’ll let you hazard a guess as to how many of us actually reappeared with them. I personally had more pressing things to worry about, such as reaching the surface again.

The second was in Ghana’s stormy seas where as I went further out to reach my friends and was caught slightly unawares. Before I knew it I was swirling round, seeing nothing but sand, swallowing half the seawater and spent the next hour coughing my guts out.

It seems that the more dramatic NDEs happen abroad. There must be something in the water.

While trying not to get run over in England, I am also avoiding unnecessary electrical items such as hairdryers. I always thought if you wanted to be electrocuted (if you were that way inclined) you would have to do something like dry your hair in the bath, when really you just have to have long sopping wet hair and a hairdryer – the real reason why I binned mine and haven’t purchased another since 2005.

This all makes me sound very unfortunate, but rest assure these things have taken place over a few years.

Although I do have a friend who set her head on fire with a tea-light (lets be under no illusion that you need a big flame to so some damage), fell down the stairs of a double decker bus and nearly crashed into a tree all in the space of a week.

Other NDEs include a builder dropping a metal pole that was centimetres from landing on a pedestrian’s head and being on a plane that snapped in half once it had landed somewhere in Germany.

A final thought: On a group adventure in the Judean desert, someone said to a vertigo sufferer, as they walked around a rock facet: “You don’t fall off the pavement so why would you fall off a mountain?”

On the one hand I thought he had a very good point. Unless under the influence, most people tend not to fall off the pavement so why don’t we think of mountains as pavements in the sky?

But not being one to deal easily with straight lines whether it be cutting or walking, combined with the fact that a year later I witnessed my best friend who is better at straight lines than me, fall off a cliff somewhere in the Atlas mountains (she reappeared to tell the tale), proves this argument needs some work.

I should have told him to jump off a cliff.

Snow day

By miriam

23rd December 2009 | 1 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree

I’m sitting in my dressing gown looking at a blanket of white, which is my garden.

Snow is a funny thing in England. The whole country comes to a standstill at the drop of a flake, as trains break down, cars get stuck (I’m pretty sure mine is stuck, but in all honesty I haven’t had the guts to go outside and try and move it) and people fall asleep in airports waiting for a plane that may never take off.

My friend was so cold last night she told me she wanted her ashes scattered in Africa and as I slithered home in the snow and had a fight with the steering wheel in an attempt to do a three point turn, I prayed it would carry on so I wouldn’t have to drive to work today for the extra hours I’d signed up to in a moment of insanity.

At 7.30 my alarm screeched and I had a knot in my stomach as I drew my blinds to have a peek. But it seems the weatherman was shining down on me, so here I am watching Jeremy kyle and thinking about all the productive things I can do now I’m not at work.

 Having swapped England for warmer climes in February, I missed the last bout of snow, which I could tell was bad because as I went to send messages home, even more people than normal were on facebook.

I also missed one of Boris Johnson’s informative statements: “There’s no doubt about it, this is the right kind of snow, it’s just the wrong kind of quantities.”

I suppose by the “wrong type” he means the watery sludge that began hitting people in the face on Wednesday morning in London.

What we really, really want is the type of snow that doesn’t ruin our plans, the type that lets us build demented snowmen and disables us from going to work, not the type that turns our faces into ice, gives us dandruff-looking hair and leaves us stranded or with a broken wrist.

Whether it’s the wrong quantity or the wrong type it’s bound to be a day of delight or a day of disaster.

The Decade’s Sport: 2005 – 2009

By Alex Perry

23rd December 2009 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree

The England team didn’t fare much better in the second half of the decade. At the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Sven-Göran Eriksson’s men were again succumbed to misery from 12-yards when, with a sprinkle of déjà vu, they were knocked out by Portugal at the quarter final stage. Italy went on to become World Champions for a fourth time.

It was to get worse. Eriksson’s contract was terminated and the FA opted to return to an English manager. Step forward Steve McClaren, whose CV included one Carling Cup victory and the mild-success of turning Middlesbrough into a steady mid-table team.

McClaren failed to qualify for Euro 2008 after a 3-2 Wembley defeat to Croatia, and the Wally with the Brolly packed his bags for Dutch side FC Twente.

The FA, learning from their mistake, returned to the continent and brought in incredibly decorated Italian Fabio Capello.

Don Fabio set about making his mark on English football and England cruised to World Cup 2010 qualification – exacting revenge on the Croatians in the process.

At club level, English clubs continued to dominate the Champions League, and 2005 started a run of five consecutive seasons with an English club in the final.

Firstly, Liverpool came back from 3-0 down to beat AC Milan in a shootout. A year later, Arsenal were beaten by Barcelona while 2007 witnessed the second Milan – Liverpool final in three years, only with a different outcome.

In 2008, Manchester United met Chelsea in the first ever all-English final. The Old Trafford came out on top in a shootout after a 1-1 draw. United returned in 2009, only to be outclassed by an in-form Barcelona side.

In the Premiership, Roman Abramovich’s millions paid off as Chelsea stormed to two Premier League titles in a row before a slightly irked Manchester United decided they didn’t like finishing second or third and retained the trophy for the following three years.

In tennis, Roger Federer continued his domination of the men’s game, winning it in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009, with a runners-up medal in 2008 after succumbing to Rafael Nadal in one of the most anticipated matches in the sport’s history.

And the women’s game wasn’t much different, with the Williams sisters seemingly taking it turn to win at SW19.

But the most important emergence of the second-half of the decade was that of Scot Andy Murray. Henman Hill quickly became Murray Mound and the British had someone new to shout about.

At just 22 years old, Murray has made a glittering start to his career, reaching five ATP Masters Series finals, winning four, and progressing to the 2008 US Open final where he was beaten by Federer.

Murray finishes the decade ranked World Number 4, but has spent a number of weeks ranked 2 and 3 – making him the highest ranked Brit since Fred Perry in the thirties.

But the last word must be about Federer, who met American Andy Roddick in the 2009 Wimbledon final. A-Rod had Federer on the ropes before the Swiss star did what he’s done so effortlessly all these years by swooping to snatch a 16-14 victory in a thrilling five-set epic.

The victory was the 28-year-old’s 15^th Grand Slam, overtaking America’s Pete Sampras and becoming the most decorated man in tennis history.

In athletics, Britain’s first victory was in 2005 when London won a two-way fight with Paris by 54 votes to 50 at the IOC meeting in Singapore, after bids from Moscow, New York and Madrid were eliminated.

On the back of this news, the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing were also a huge success for Great Britain.

One of the surprise stories of the 2008 Olympics was swimmer Rebecca Adlington who won two gold medals. Her 400m freestyle success was Britain’s first Olympic swimming title since 1988, and the first swimming gold by a British woman since 1960.

Her second gold, in the 800m freestyle, meant she also equalled the best performance by a British woman, from any sport, at the summer Olympics and was the best swimming performance by a Briton at the Olympics for 100 years.

In cycling, Chris Hoy became Scotland’s most successful Olympic competitor ever and the first Brit to win three gold medals at a single Olympic games since Henry Taylor in 1908.

Also part of Team GB was 14-year-old Devonian Tom Daley, the 2008 European 10m champion and one of the youngest athletes to ever compete for Great Britain at an Olympics.

This decade’s sport: 2005 – 2009

By Harry Chichester

21st December 2009 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree

In this review of cricket, golf and rugby in the latter half of the decade that is passing through our grasp, England’s Ashes triumph of 2005 rated as probably the most exciting and satisfying collective national event (if you are English!!).  However, for sheer pathos, for sheer poignancy, nothing matched Tom Watson nearly but not quite winning the 2009 Open Championship at the majestic age of 59. Read more »

This decade’s sport: 2000 – 2004

By Alex Perry

14th December 2009 | 1 comments | 1 person likes this

In a football review of 2000 – 2004, it’s hard to look past England’s miserable record at major competitions as a starting point.

The nation went into the 2000 European Championships full of high hopes which were immediately stalled by an opening match defeat to Portugal. Five days later and victory over Germany had the country believing again, but all hopes were quickly dashed when a trailing Phil Neville leg earned Romania a penalty to knock Kevin Keegan’s side out at the first hurdle. France went on to win, adding to their World Cup triumph two years previously.

Keegan retired and the FA brought in the national team’s first ever foreign manager, Sven-Göran Eriksson. The Swede led England through qualification for the 2002 World Cup which included the team’s second finest hour; a 5-1 demolition of the Germans in Munich. Again hopes were high going into the tournament, but England were knocked out in the quarter-finals by eventual winners Brazil.

Eriksson’s men were also eliminated in the last-eight stage of Euro 2004, where this time a penalty shootout defeat to Portugal – soon to become a recurring theme – was the downfall. Surprise package Greece went on to win the tournament, and in doing so became the first team to ever knock-out the holders and the hosts in the same championships.

Back at home, Manchester United continued their dominance of the Premiership by adding the 2000 and 2001 titles to their trophy cabinet. Having already won the league in 1999, Alex Ferguson became the first manager to win three successive English league campaigns.

Liverpool, meanwhile, managed a unique cup treble, winning the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup. Eager to not be outdone, Arsenal also added their name to the record books, going the whole of the 2003/04 season without losing a single league game – the first time this feat had been achieved in the modern era.

In the same season, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich took over at Chelsea in a move which would later see the West Londoners gatecrash Manchester United and Arsenal’s Premier League domination.

In Europe, Real Madrid added to their Champions League dominance by winning two more titles, while Porto – under the guidance of outspoken soon-to-be-Chelsea manager José Mourinho – were the surprise winners in 2004.

In tennis, the first half of the decade saw one era of domination end and another begin. In 2000, American Pete Sampras won his seventh Wimbledon title in eight years before adding the 2002 US Open to end his impressive CV of 14 Grand Slam titles.

Pistol Pete’s retirement paved the way for a young player named Roger Federer. The Swiss right-hander began his blitzing of every title in his sights with the 2003 Wimbledon title.

As for Great Britain’s court stars, one man held the key and Tim Henman had the hopes of a nation resting on his shoulders. Henman had already reached the semi-finals in 1998 and 1999, but ran into an unbeatable Sampras on both occasions. Tiger Tim reached the semi-finals again in 2001 and 2002, but lost to wildcard Goran Ivanišević and Lleyton Hewitt – both eventual winners in those years.

The women’s game also saw a distinct shift in power with the emergence of the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, who dominated both the women’s singles and doubles for much of the decade.

The athletics world kicked off the decade in spectacular fashion with the Sydney Olympics, only the second time the Games had been held in the southern hemisphere.

Australian runner Catherine Freeman began proceedings with the lighting of the torch and ended the Games by becoming the first athlete of Aborigine descent to become Olympic champion, taking gold in the 400m.

America’s media darling Marion Jones also stormed the track, winning an unprecedented three gold and two bronze medals. Jones would later relinquish this achievement after testing positive for performance enhancing drugs.

Four years later, the Games returned to their spiritual home of Athens. The Great Britain team put on a good show for the audience back home, bringing home 30 medals in total.

Notable achievements include Kelly Holmes who won gold in the 800m and 1500m and Matthew Pinsent who became Olympic rowing champion for the fourth time in a row – a record only topped by former team-mate Steve Redgrave.

The Games also saw the emergence of Bolton-born boxer Amir Khan, who won silver in Athens before going on to become WBO World Light-Welterweight champion.

The Games weren’t without disappointment and scandal though. World record holder Paula Radcliffe spectacularly crashed out of the Marathon while Greek sprinters Konstantinos Kenteris and Ekaterini Thanou withdraw from the games after allegedly staging a motorcycle accident in order to avoid a drugs test.

Can Capello win the World Cup for England?

By Michael Somerville

14th October 2009 | 2 comments | 1 person likes this

It’s interesting to see that while England have (before Brazil beat Argentina) scored the most goals in the WCQ’s, they have shown their defensive errors a- plenty.  Capello’s men have only managed clean sheets against Trinidad & Tobago, Andorra, Slovakia, The US and Kazakhstan- hardly teams with great attacking threat.

Although I feel that England have improved greatly under Capello, with Wayne Rooney finally hitting some clinical form, and goals looking more and more likely from the likes of Walcott and even Lennon, the Three Lions have done well. Complacency is something that Capello will not stand for, especially after McLaren and Eriksson were found out and hounded by the British media for being too “laid back” which eventually transpired into the teams’ performances. Pitiful is a word that could be used to describe the England performances of old, and is one that Fabio Capello will not stand to see. Read more »

Is Internet Pay Per View the way forward for TV?

By Matt Fricker

6th October 2009 | 1 comments | 1 person likes this

The biggest news of the weekend, the X-Factor final 12 have been announced, yippee. I don’t really care. For me, the more interesting and more worrying story to be released this weekend was the news that the next England game will be broadcast only on a Pay Per View internet channel.

Why is this interesting? Well, there are two reasons for this, I’m a sports fan and I would have watched the England game on Saturday with some friends and a bowl or two of crisps and dips. Read more »