On Tuesday morning I passed my PhD viva, and later that evening I watched Arsenal win their first league title in 22 years.
But Tuesday also came with sad news, as I heard that fellow Arsenal fan Harry Spiro had passed away.
Harry made a lasting impression on so many people that he met.
He once told me "at the end of a football game, even a big game, the players shake hands. There's no hate and we are all still friends, we are all still human beings. That is what football should be about."
Published just as Everton leave their namesake home, this chapter explores the club’s historic role in the local community
It’s part of a book about the civic significance of Everton and football clubs generally, all open access 👉 https://t.co/oQz9AZ8EIa
@FootballCliches I’ve also found this 3 page essay in @I_W_M archives
“The Central Empire had the advantage of the choice of ground & Prussia kicked off. Before one of the Allies players (Belgium) was in position, & although this was a foul start, for the Empire took no notice of the referee”
@FootballCliches After Parlour and Brazil’s recent sporting analysis of war, thought you might be interested in how football lingo was historically applied to warfare, like this description of the Hull Recruitment Committee's materials during WWI
@flying_rodent Just waiting for the columns claiming that if only more Pennsylvanians had watched Succession or The Bear, they'd have been inspired by Shiv/Sydney to vote for Harris
Reflecting on this excellent 2020 article by Thomas Frank (the historian of left-wing populism not the Brentford manager!)
“Now we stand chastened, humiliated, bewildered. Democracy? We tremble to think of what it might do next.”
https://t.co/yzQKASIVyd
@MiguelDelaney And he played football!
Can imagine Starmer gifting him an Arsenal shirt, and Trump going off: 'Nobody was better at soccer than me, folks. Believe me. People said I was a natural—unbelievable talent, the best footwork, strongest kick. I scored goals like nobody’s ever seen!'
1999 article on prospect of a foreign England manager:
“Putting an Italian, German or Frenchman in charge - whatever next!”
“What have they got that we haven’t (Well, seven World Cups actually!)”
25 years on and Italy, Germany, and France now have 10 World Cups between them…
@Timjimted@Arsenal@WatfordFC Yes tried to buy him a retro 1950s Waford reproduction blue shirt but they were all out of stock!
Would love to get hold of a 1991 Watford Centenary blue shirt though
My #Barclaysman is my grandfather, Michael Madgwick, who worked for Barclays Bank from 18 until retirement (with a National Service break)
A Watford supporter since the 1930s, he was a shareholder and proudly once lent Elton John a pen!
He passed away this week. We’ll miss him
@GaryJamesWriter@ColinMurray@PatNevin I happened to be listening yesterday and really enjoyed all your insights and memories about Blue Moon, especially the part about the City player misremembering history
Looking forward to next week's piece—Gary, you can now count yourself as a warm-up act for the Proclaimers!