Getting Shirty

Here's something I wrote about replica kits for the excellent 90 Second Football Blog - a very efficient use of your time i'll think you agree

Get Your Kits Out For The Boys

A Few Thoughts On The State Of Football

I was all set up to write a poignant article about my son and his entrance into the world of football until I sat down and came out with this melodramatically maudlin piece...

So a new season begins. The annual feeling of hope and belief in the face of, soon to be, inevitable despair. I’ve been a football fan for longer than most professionals plying their trade have been alive – by a longer amount of time than I’d care to admit. And something’s changed. My team will buy a few players that I’ve never heard of giving me a sense that maybe this will be the year that we are promoted to the ‘promised land’. But then I wonder do I even want to be part of the promised land with its shining Premier league arm badges? The simple love of the game has gone amid the cynicism and greed that seems to fester in the very core of English football. But this doesn’t seem to be the case elsewhere. 

The often celebrated Bundesliga seems to have their priorities a little bit more in check. Fans still have a say and clubs seem to respect their feelings. I’m sure it wouldn’t take long to find a disgruntled Schalke fan bemoaning the latent greed in the German game but they appear to be on more of a right track – and the league is successful. I find it even easier to get excited about less vaunted leagues with fewer superstars. The MLS is a good case in point. Coming from the home of capitalism it seems odd that Major League Soccer seems to be a somewhat purer form of the game than what we have here in England. Maybe it’s the relative newness of the league and clubs, but the fans seem genuinely excited, not yet jaded, with this exciting and wonderful game. Fan groups may look towards Europe and South America for how to behave and conduct themselves but the spirit shown by fans at some of these games outweighs the comparatively lower skill level shown on the pitch. And that’s what seems to be the problem in this country. Fans have expectation levels so far out of reality that they will never be happy. 

The number of sides that can win the Premier League can be counted on one hand – with fingers to spare. Yet clubs up and down the country fall over themselves to pay exorbitant transfer fees and wages to land players who may be to catapult them to greatness. Most clubs don’t even seem to be embarrassed that it’s well known that they don’t believe they can win the league. And when they manage to qualify for Europe they refuse to take the competition seriously meaning that the entire preceding season was a colossal waste of time. 

I suppose what I’m saying is that I think I’ve fallen out of love a bit with English football. I’m sure as the season goes on my fondness will be rekindled but it’s definitely not what it was. And to reverse the old relationship cliché – it’s not me…it’s you.

Dowse Design

There's an excellent new shop in Hove called Dowse Design and I would like to buy approximately 90% of the stuff they sell. Here's a piece I wrote for The Holborn about it.

The Holborn - Dowse Design

Confederations Cup

I recently discovered a great new blog called The 90 Second Football Blog and liked it so much I thought I'd offer to write something for it. They foolishly agreed so here's a piece I wrote about the Confederations Cup (warning - this article does contain Robbie Savage)

The 90 Second Football Blog

Beach Huts

Something I wrote about the simple beauty of Brighton's beach huts for the always elegant fellows at The Holborn - Beach Huts

Cascadia

Here's a link to something i wrote for the excellent In Bed With Maradona site about football fans in the Cascadia region of the United States and their work towards realising their dream of a representative side - Cascadia

Mylo

I have an amazing nephew. It changes all the time but at the minute he seems to be into battling, swords, Disney films and stylish bow ties. He's big on his DIY and tools and knows what a claw hammer is. Top of his wish list last Christmas was "a real sword". My brother and wife struggled with that one. He's funny, energetic and a great companion if you're into monster hunting. But the real reason that he's amazing is that he is here at all. Mylo was born with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, or CDH.

Mylo soon after he was born

 The diaphragm normally develops in the unborn baby by around the 7-10 week gestation period of the baby’s development and CDH occurs when the diaphragm fails to form correctly or fails to develop in the unborn baby, allowing the abdominal contents to herniate into the chest cavity. Mylo's operation - performed as soon as he was born - and treatment was successful and he has just celebrated his fourth birthday. However, Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia is an often fatal birth defect affecting 1 in 2,500-3,000 babies. There is no known cause or prevention and treatment remains medically challenging. Around 50% of babies born with CDH do not survive. Of the 50% that do survive, many of these babies will face varying degrees of medical problems throughout their lives. CDH UK is a registered charity that supports babies, children and their families affected by CDH, campaigns for study and research into the cause, prevention and better treatments of CDH and raises awareness of this devastating condition.

In less than two weeks my brother and a group of fellow adventurers are embarking on a bike ride from London to Paris to raise money for CDH UK. The fact that my brother didn't even have a bike when he agreed to the challenge probably tells you all you need to know about how ready he was for the journey. The support of friends who are joining him for the ride has been amazing and I look forward to waving them off from Newhaven on Saturday May 11th. I also look forward to seeing whether my brother will be able to walk on his return to these shores and if he ever wants to as much as look at a bike ever again.

This fearless group of cyclists have already raised nearly £4,000 for this great cause but if you have any spare change I'm sure they would really appreciate it if you could help them towards their goal. Here's the link to the donation page: Mylo's Bike Ride

I've always known I have an amazing nephew. Now it looks like I have an amazing kid brother as well. Thank you for taking time to read this today.

Mylo today