Steve

Dedicated educator, Trustee 'We take life too lightly and sport too seriously'
@educatedleftft.bsky.social

[BBC North West @BBCNWT]

Macclesfield FC owner suspended following arrest https://t.co/iHGmccTb0H

[Steve @EducatedLeftFt]

Free musical performance by @HOgledd @horsehospital

[Maidenhead United @MUFCYorkRoad]

DAN IS OUR MAN 🎯

Maidenhead United are delighted to announce the signing of young forward @danielnkrumah28. ⚡

Read more 👇
https://t.co/IHCWLpkUJG

[Steve @EducatedLeftFt]

@TheSkyStrikers Terrible Winters we used to have in the 70s

[Kieran Maguire @KieranMaguire]

West Ham board changes confirmed at Companies House.

[Steve @EducatedLeftFt]

https://t.co/sq9L3xYt0q

[Owen Cochrane @owencochrane3]

Delighted to extend my contract with the club, time to push on 💪🏼

[Steve @EducatedLeftFt]

https://t.co/cPupbmUPnf

[Florian Ederer @florianederer]

I believe we now have evidence of FIFA's World Cup ticketing shell game: FIFA is colluding with third-party resale platforms for its own supply management.

Look at this SeatGeek map (secondary market!) for Saudi Arabia vs Cape Verde. The circled areas are not random single resale tickets, but large, contiguous blocks of seats: entire rows and swaths in sections 101/102, 112/113, 119/120, 134–137, 139, ...

The blue circles appeared weeks ago, then the purple blocks suddenly showed up a day or two ago, and the red blocks seem to have appeared recently too.

That's not what ordinary fan or even commercial scalper resale looks like who resell pairs, fours, and scattered seats. Instead, this looks like inventory being dumped in bulk onto secondary markets, at prices below FIFA's official site.

Why doesn't FIFA just lower prices on its own site Probably because official price cuts could trigger refund demands, chargebacks, or consumer-protection headaches from fans who already bought at much higher prices.

Instead FIFA keeps official prices high, avoids openly admitting the market-clearing price is lower, and moves unsold inventory through third-party resale platforms instead.

[Steve @EducatedLeftFt]

https://t.co/qZeNC3P3p3

[World Cup HQ @WorldCup26HQ]

Debutants in every World Cup:

[Steve @EducatedLeftFt]

https://t.co/4L3cIf6w0G

[The_Grumbler 🏏 @The_Grumbler]

🏏 New County Cricket Newsletter. Pls share & enjoy
👉https://t.co/pzOYRBrpoZ
🟣 Lily enjoys first cricket game
🟠 20 years since Sky deal - did it work?
🔴 H*ndred has 'half-killed' Blast
🟢 Yorks push demutualisation
🔵 Champ back on Sun
🟡 Injury sub rules unchanged!!!

[The Leading Edge Cricket Podcast @LeadingEdgePod]

🏏 Highest County Championship score by batting position:

1️⃣ No.1: Archie MacLaren, 424
2️⃣ No.2: Craig Spearman, 341
3️⃣ No.3: Brian Lara, 501*
4️⃣ No.4: Sam Northeast, 410*
5️⃣ No.5: Tom Banton, 371
6️⃣ No.6: Dane Vilas, 266
7️⃣ No.7: Ian Greig, 291
8️⃣ No.8: Louis Kimber, 243
9️⃣ No.9: Ted Alletson, 189
🔟 No.10: John Chapman, 165
1️⃣1️⃣ No.11: TPB Smith, 163

This is one of the best County Championship lists because it starts with all-time great batting feats, then gets properly weird lower down.

Brian Lara’s 501* at No.3 is still the highest first-class score ever.

Sam Northeast’s 410* at No.4 brought the 400 back into the modern Championship.

Tom Banton’s 371 at No.5 was a huge statement innings, taking someone many viewed mainly as a white-ball player and putting him into County Championship history.

But the real fun starts at No.7 and below.

Ian Greig made 291 from No.7 for Surrey against Lancashire in 1990. From seven. That is almost a triple hundred from a position usually associated with counter-attacks, recovery jobs and batting with the tail.

Louis Kimber’s 243 from No.8 in 2024 might be the wildest innings on the list. 127 balls, 20 fours and 21 sixes for Leicestershire against Sussex. A No.8 scoring 243 at that pace is just absurd.

Ted Alletson’s 189 from No.9 in 1911 is one of county cricket’s great old stories. A lower-order batter producing a monster score at Hove more than a century ago, and it still survives on this list. In 106 Championship matches he made 1 century.

John Chapman made 165 from No.10 for Derbyshire in 1910.

Then TPB Smith made 163 from No.11 for Essex in 1947.

A No.11 scoring 163 in a County Championship match is ridiculous. Most teams would take 163 from their opener. Essex got it from last man in.

That is why county cricket is brilliant.

From Lara’s 501* to Kimber’s chaos at No.8 and TPB Smith’s 163 from No.11, the Championship has always had room for the unbelievable.

Stats by https://t.co/RdxGddVnc3

#CountyChampionship #RedBallCricket #CountyCricket #Warwickshire #Durham #Glamorgan #Leicestershire #Somerset #Worcestershire #Surrey #Lancashire #Sussex #Nottinghamshire #Derbyshire #Essex

[Steve @EducatedLeftFt]

Predators at the gate - https://t.co/FCNhuUKuiV via @josimarfotball

[Football in Berkshire @fiberkshire]

Enjoying seeing three different bylines at the top of the website this morning.

It could easily be you: https://t.co/FqUert1mxW

[Steve @EducatedLeftFt]

https://t.co/JqkjHEBqT5

[paige @paigecaunce]

might be one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. I love the Blast 💙

[Maidenhead United @MUFCYorkRoad]

A message from our Club Chairman, Peter Griffin 🗣️

“As we ramp up preparations for the new season, I would first like to thank you all for your fantastic support last season, both home and away, as we secured a play-off place. It was great to be involved at the right end of the table, and I firmly believe we are assembling a strong squad capable of matching, and hopefully surpassing, last year's achievements.

“I am delighted to confirm that all Membership and matchday admission prices have been frozen at last season’s rates.

“We are a historic club with a proud tradition, but we also have a fantastic opportunity to make history both on and off the pitch over the coming years. Please sign up now and join us throughout the season to be part of that journey.”

To buy your Membership now, click here 👇
https://t.co/vMzS7o3XvI

[Steve @EducatedLeftFt]

The World Cup’s heat hazard - https://t.co/IW5oYOvjPf via @FT