Are You a True Football Fan?

I have a question for you today. Are you a true football fan?

Let me elaborate a little. A few days ago I was watching the Edinburgh derby between Hibernian and Hearts. I joined the action about thirty minutes in. By half-time Hibs were up two-nil, and three minutes into the second half they added a third.

All the Best, Herr Klopp

I'm not a Liverpool fan, but I freely admit I'm saddened by the news that Jürgen Klopp is leaving at the end of the season.

I'm going to miss seeing him on my television every week. He always comes across as a nice and genuine guy, and in a sport filled with overinflated egos that's great to see.

So from the heart of a football fan, all the best Mr. Klopp. The English game will be poorer without you.

What Were You Doing When You Were 19?

Can I ask you, what were you were doing when you were 19 years old?

Me? I was washing dishes in a local hotel, enjoying free beer in the hotel bar while getting occasionally drunk, and spending a great deal of my wages on tapes and compact discs in my local branch of Woolworths.

I wasn’t standing in the middle of 60,000 people in a stadium or a television audience of 31 million, about to take a penalty that could send the nation into a rapturous celebration or a deep depression.

RE-POST: Patrick Viera (Originally Written in 2001)

Once again a Premiership player has hit the headlines for publicly criticising his team. Patrick Viera, French World Cup winner, has gone on record assaying that his team, Arsenal, are just not good enough to win anything, and because of that, he wants to leave.

The Premier League Star and the Super Injunction

About a year or so ago I heard a new phrase for the first time: “super injunction”. This phrase came into the public’s knowledge when celebrities with money to burn wanted to stop the press reporting on their private lives. It didn’t matter if they’d been extra-marital affairs with others, because they had the cash to pay a lawyer to get it covered up by a high court judge.

Things I Won't Miss When The World Cup Is Over

Well, the 2010 South African World Cup is almost over. In less than twenty four hours there’ll be a new name on the trophy after Spain and the Netherlands contest what could be a classic final.

3-5-2-Nil

Steve McClaren is already finding out that life as England manager is very difficult. After a disappointing with Macedonia last Saturday, he hoped that his changed of tactics and formation would bring about an immediate change of fortune when they faced Croatia in Zagreb.

England Struggle, Scotland Truimph

It’s international week again in the world of professional football, as Europe’s footballing nations once again take to the road that leads to the European Championships in 2008, in a weekend when new England boss Steve McClaren learned that some of the lesser lights are capable of putting up a good fight.

Are Norwich Worthy Anymore?

Sunday afternoon, October 1st. Norwich City are playing Burnley at their Carrow Road home in their first live televised game of the season. Veteran new-signing Dion Dublin is making his home debut, nearly twenty years after being released by the club as a trainee.

A Day at Carrow Road

It’s 11am in the morning. The weather is terrible. It’s cold, and it’s raining, which is quite a change from the severely hot weather Britain has had to put up with in the past couple of months. I’m sitting in the City Stand at Carrow Road, the home of Norwich City, for the first time in twenty years. Around me are men of various ages and sizes. Why am I here? Because I want a job.

Too Many Foreigners?

A question has arisen in the past few months about the great game of football in our country, and it all has to do with a Belgian who, until a few years ago hardly anyone in this country had ever heard of.

Jean-Marc Bosman, the aforementioned Belgian, successfully won an appeal from his club, who wanted to hold onto him despite his contract having expired. When he won his case in the European courts, it sent reverberations around the footballing world.

The number of foreigners a team playing in the European union was now no longer restricted to two or three, and this, for many people, is where the problem started.

Manchester United & the New York Yankees

What you are about to read is my article on the relationship between Manchester United and The New York Yankees, written on February 16th. I had originally intended for this to be my first piece for The Sports Report newsletter, but, having submitted my application, the newsletter closed down after only three issues. Oh well, only two more issues to beat their record!

Greetings to you all, and welcome to the first Sports Report instalment of The Two Sheds Review.

I know what at lot of you are thinking right now. Many of you have probably subscribed to this newsletter after seeing an advertisement in one of the wrestling newsletters, and you are probably thinking this - what the hell is this wrestling writer doing in a sports newsletter.
 

Well, the answer, my friends, is quite simple. I have many varied interests in this world. Wrestling is just one of the strings on my bow. For years now, I have written science fiction stories. Many of you know that I work in a garden centre, so if I put my mind to it, I could probably do a gardening column or two. "Remember, Camellias like acid, or lime free soil!"

Sport is one of my lifelong interests. Over the years, I have had passing interests in snooker, darts, horse racing, tennis, athletics, even sumo. These days though, I seem to mainly watch football (soccer to you yanks), cricket, Formula 1, and boxing. While I do not claim to be an expert on these, I like to think I know what I'm talking about.

Norwich City in Europe

Those were the days, hmm? Small boys in the park, jumpers for goal posts....

And Norwich City terrorising the biggest clubs in Europe.

Yes. You heard me. Norwich City. Now mired in mid-table obscurity in the Nationwide League Division One.

Yet there was a time, about eight years ago, when Norwich were one of the best teams in the country.