AmpthillPeter

Luton Town Supporter. Love travel, food, real ale, wine as well as some cricket with Ampthill Town CC and love a little bit of tennis 🎾

[AmpthillPeter @AmpthillPeter]

@EmiratesSupport I’ve got a future business class booking where two A380 sectors have been changed to B777’s. The feedback form won’t accept future travel dates. Could you please advise the correct route for a booking review?

[Henry Winter @henrywinter]

Anyone with any knowledge of English football history will know that it is ridiculous for Southampton’s chief executive, Phil Parsons, to claim that their expulsion from the Championship play-offs is a bigger punishment than the 30-point deduction imposed on Luton Town in 2008 which led to relegation and almost throttled the life out of the club. Absolutely no comparison and completely weakens Southampton’s attempted argument that being thrown out of the play-offs is “manifestly disproportionate to every previous sanction in the history of the English game”.

There is some good stuff in Parsons’ statement: accepting culpability for Spygate, apologising to those clubs they spied on and apologising to their fans “whose extraordinary loyalty and support this season deserved better from the club”. Well said. But… the rules changed since Leeds United’s “similar offence” in 2019, there is no right to the £200m (it’s not a fine), and to play the whataboutery game and make the comparison with the Hatters is, fittingly, mad. Southampton’s reputation is certainly damaged but at least their very existence is not at risk. #SaintsFC #LTFC

[AmpthillPeter @AmpthillPeter]

@currys Miracle on 34th Street
#CurrysToshiba 🎄

[AmpthillPeter @AmpthillPeter]

@currys Miracle on 34th Street 🎄

[AmpthillPeter @AmpthillPeter]

This…. 👏👏👏

[Henry Winter @henrywinter]

The Adoration of the Maga. A few thoughts. It all felt a step too far by Gianni Infantino. The award of the inaugural Fifa Peace Prize felt more to do with its president’s desire to please powerful politicians as much as Donald Trump’s love of such glitzy, expensive offerings of loyalty last seen in medieval courts.

It felt more about politics than sport, a risky game for Fifa to play whenever it wants to bring a national association into line for perceived interference by government in the future. The Trump trophy weakens Fifa statutes. It also distracted from the real trophy, the World Cup, and the group-stage draw, traditionally a celebration about bringing countries together. Infantino took his eye off the balls.

A football draw designed to work out who plays who and (eventually) where and when is not the time or place for such politics. Infantino wasn’t speaking for the world in bestowing the Peace Prize, as he claimed. So presumptuous. So out of touch. Many probably agree that Trump has been a force for good in geopolitics, some might disagree. Most would probably feel such decisions should be left to experienced experts like the Nobel Committee and, please, can we get on with a football draw.

It’s spectacularly naïve or simply arrogant for Fifa to enter such non-football areas. It feels more and more that this was as much an Infantino initiative as Fifa’s. Infantino was supposed to drain the swamp when he arrived at Fifa in 2016 in the wake of assorted corruption scandals bedevilling the governing body of world football. How fitting that the nadir of Infantino’s propensity for self-aggrandisement as leader of what’s supposed to be a team game came in Washington. It was there that Trump promised to transform politics with his “drain the swamp” rhetoric, also in 2016.

The selfie moment was particularly cringe-worthy. Infantino forgets that football is the star of the show, not a 55-year lawyer. A senior football executive, who’s been at the heart of the English and European game for more than 20 years, messaged me during the drawn-out draw with his verdict on Infantino. “I feel revulsion, anger, shame, disgust – how has our sport been taken over by a Swiss ***** and turned into a total travesty???” He also pointed out that ensuring the leaders of USA, Mexico and Canada each somehow pulled out their own country’s name was not a good look for a draw based on chance.

Great for the cameras, though. Flash, bang, wallop, what a picture of Infantino's priorities. And who gets the next FIFA Peace Prize? And wouldn't Infantino have gained more respect had he used the money for the Trump trophy to subsidise excessive ticket costs? He's lost sight of what should be the real priorities for the leader of football. The game.

It's sad, really. Many sensible people work at Fifa, passionate about the game not their own ego, but it's alarming what happens to the leadership when they take power there. Even the great football manager Arsene Wenger has changed since becoming Chief of Global Football Development at Fifa. He now campaigns for more games, backing the expanded World Cup, which he would have railed against as a widely-admired, free-thinking club manager, fiercely protective of his players' well-being. "I believe that 48 teams is the right number." Arsene, just listen to yourself.

Many fans probably won’t lose much sleep that Wenger dances to Fifa's tune or that Infantino cosies up to Trump, Aramco and co. Some probably think Fifa’s a video game. Most just can’t wait for the football. The game’s about Mbappe and Messi, Haaland and Salah, Kane and Dembele, not Infantino and Trump.

The game’s about the Tartan Army, the brilliant Mexican following, the ever-hopeful English, the mobile carnival of Brazilians and the millions of other fans flocking to venue cities next summer, only a third with tickets. The USA is prepared for the party. I covered USA 94 and you couldn’t really tell there was a tournament on, certainly where I was in Detroit, Chicago and DC. You will this time, also in Canada. Mexico's total immersion was never in doubt given their passion for the game.

Infantino should remember this. He runs a great football organisation, not a political organisation. He needs to re-focus. Fifa is undeniably a force for good in many countries. The Fifa Foundation runs a new community programme that supports 154,924 people in 54 nations. Its new Digital Education Programme works on computer literacy amongst disadvantaged groups, helping them into the workplace. It’s easy to say it’s all about Infantino (Foundation board president), soft power and ensuring he keeps countries onside, voting for him, but the Foundation undeniably changes lives.

Infantino needs to look at his Adoration of the Maga and remember what he should be doing for football: serving it, not himself. #FIFAWorldCup.

[AmpthillPeter @AmpthillPeter]

A proper leader and one @LutonTown are sorely missing! Surely a new contract should be on the cards.

Would, along with a new managerial appointment, get the supporter base back on side 👏👏👏 #ltfc

[Match of the Day @BBCMOTD]

Tom Lockyer says he is ready to resume his football career after a lengthy recovery following a cardiac arrest.

[AmpthillPeter @AmpthillPeter]

Correction: Another 90 minutes of absolute dog shite 💩

Not fooled by last 15 mins.

Time for an overhaul at all levels #LTFC

[AmpthillPeter @AmpthillPeter]

Another 45 minutes of absolute dog shite 💩
Embarrassing to watch 🤬 #LTFC

[AmpthillPeter @AmpthillPeter]

Another 45 minutes of absolute dog shite 💩
Embarrassing to watch 🤬 #LTFC

[AmpthillPeter @AmpthillPeter]

@PCollinson24 @treblethree Oh yes please!!! 🤣

[AmpthillPeter @AmpthillPeter]

@LutonNews_LTFC Line crossed. Absolutely no regard for our history and heritage. Can’t believe @lutontownST agreed to this.
Just a further example of the clubs current free fall and lack of engagement with its core supporters.

[AmpthillPeter @AmpthillPeter]

Well they’re doing a might fine job!
#licencetoprintmoney 😢

[BBC News (UK) @BBCNews]

Vets tell BBC they are under 'consistent pressure' to make money https://t.co/q5NPTyBAxJ

[AmpthillPeter @AmpthillPeter]

@LutonNews_LTFC Luton 2 Sheffield Utd 1

[AmpthillPeter @AmpthillPeter]

@LutonNews_LTFC Sheffield Wednesday 0 Luton 2

[AmpthillPeter @AmpthillPeter]

@LutonNews_LTFC Luton 2 Millwall 1

[AmpthillPeter @AmpthillPeter]

@LutonNews_LTFC Oxford 0 Luton 2

[AmpthillPeter @AmpthillPeter]

@LutonNews_LTFC Luton 2 Preston 0

[AmpthillPeter @AmpthillPeter]

@LutonNews_LTFC Forest 1 Luton 2

[AmpthillPeter @AmpthillPeter]

@LutonNews_LTFC QPR 0 Luton 1

[AmpthillPeter @AmpthillPeter]

@ravbillan @dryjanuary Congratulations! I’ve been virtually AF since August. Just an occasional glass of wine, perhaps less than 6 in that time. Don’t miss beer as AF versions are generally very good but do miss a nice glass of wine and the AF ones aren’t great! How do you find the TryDry app?

[AmpthillPeter @AmpthillPeter]

@richyhardy I had to google it 🤷‍♂️