Martin Watson

My own views (apart from those I retweet - obviously) Ice Hockey fan, frustrated tourist, Miniature Schnauzer and Maine Coon slave.

[Elton Welsby @WelsbyElton]

RIP Tony Parkes,Blackburn Rovers through and through.
Bumped into him during a family holiday in Spain or Italy in the early 80s.
Just a lovely man.

[Martin Watson @watsonm13]

@D_ByersArtist @BNONews Plus it looks like the angle of the taxiway meant the plane was approaching from above and slightly behind...

[Martin Watson @watsonm13]

@Rainmaker1973 How close to stalling is the plane?

[Martin Watson @watsonm13]

@Rainmaker1973 Used to have one of those to pump the windscreen washer....

[Martin Watson @watsonm13]

Try not to bother with politics but @realDonaldTrump saying they don't need our aircraft carrier made me laugh... the only reason it's going (eventually) is to protect British interests from the shitstorm he has created

[Martin Watson @watsonm13]

I've #justsponsored Paul Butterworth, who's fundraising for Royal British Veterans Enterprise on @JustGiving. Donate now https://t.co/GH93Kc39Yl

[Martin Watson @watsonm13]

@NoContextHumans Think it's the Maldives so give it a few years and it will be right....

[Blackburn Rovers @Rovers]

90+6' 🌹 #Rovers 1-0 #pnefc ⚪️

YUKIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#ROVvPNE 🔵⚪️

[Rob B @RobBfromDerby]

“Bad news guys - the Mountbatten Windsor party has just cancelled”

[Martin Watson @watsonm13]

@andersbnc @Rainmaker1973 @grok Thank you. I did wonder if it was Bandy... AI needs to try harder 🤣

[Martin Watson @watsonm13]

@Rainmaker1973 @grok Not sure about that @grok

[Martin Watson @watsonm13]

@Rainmaker1973 @grok what sport is this?

[Martin Watson @watsonm13]

@Rainmaker1973 How do they switch the fan off again?

[Tony Martin @mrtonymartin]

I'm seriously starting to question the credibility of the FIFA Peace Prize.

[John Pritchard MBE MCPara BSc @Volteral]

Congratulations to @DaveLBywater on his award of #KAM Kings Ambulance Medal for services to @Scotambservice and so many more organizations such as @BASICSScotland @Sandpiper_Trust where Dave holds education, trustee and volunteer roles. Developing & supporting #prehospital 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🥇

[Martin Watson @watsonm13]

@DaveLBywater KAM well deserved, congratulations

[clare s @clares14764190]

Please share - stolen

https://t.co/35HZa97dOj

[Martin Watson @watsonm13]

@nmwright91

[The Footy Section @FTBLsection]

Most people don't know that these results had a lasting effect on English football history, more so than you might've realised...

Over at Turf Moor, Burnley unleashed a beating so bad that Sir Matt Busby got on the phone to a young Northern Irish apprentice by the name of George Best, calling him up to Man Utd's first team. Man Utd hosted Burnley a few days later and Best scored in a 5-1 win in just his second appearance for United.

Down at Craven Cottage, Ipswich recorded their heaviest ever loss and Fulham got their biggest ever win. Within the 10-1 scoreline, Fulham's Scottish right winger Graham Leggat scored the fastest hat-trick in English football (3 mins), a record that would stand until Sadio Mane's treble against Aston Villa in 2015 broke the record. The Ipswich chairman commented after the game that he thought 'the goalkeeper was the only sober player'.

Chelsea's win was more than likely a low point of the weekend for the Blues, as Tommy Docherty booked them into a seaside hotel in Blackpool for Christmas, meaning that the pre and post-match drinks were probably the real event that day.

The lowest score of the day came at Filbert Street, with defending champions Everton falling 2-0 to Leicester, before losing again to the Foxes two days later 3-0 at Goodison Park. Everton lost the league by five points that year to Liverpool, with these two Christmas fixtures vital to the Reds' success.

Speaking of Liverpool, their players were remarkably sober in their second half pummeling of Stoke. A 1-0 lead at half time turned into 6-1, and the players spoke after the match about how Bill Shankly prohibited any alcohol over the festive period. It clearly paid off as Liverpool won their first ever league title that season.

A relatively low-key affair took place between Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United. Forest flew into a 3-0 lead and sent a few fans home early, happy with what they'd seen. Sheffield United had other ideas, finding three goals in the remainder of the game and spoiling any parties in Nottingham that evening.

Sheffield Wednesday's 3-0 win under legendary manager Vic Buckingham was another that was overturned a few days later, as Bolton recorded the same scoreline in front of their home fans. Bolton were unable to avoid the drop that season however.

The atmosphere at the Hawthorns was likely the best you could see all day. Britain's first European trophy winners, Spurs, were coming to town, with Jimmy Greaves grabbing a brace in front of a packed crowd of 34,000. Just days later, West Brom's squad went on strike in protest of manager Jimmy Hagan, after he made the players warm up for training in shorts and banned any further warm clothing. If the 'Utter Woke Nonsense' meme existed in 1963, Jimmy Hagan would've replaced Sean Dyche.

The shock of the day came at West Ham, as a star-studded line up of future World Cup winners (and a 16-year-old Harry Redknapp) were demolished by Blackburn. Redknapp later spoke about the game: "We got absolutely smashed that day, Blackburn murdered us." Rovers even got a standing ovation. Fair play.

Wolves and Aston Villa clearly didn't get the memo. Six goals and a draw? Not nearly enough to make the back pages. Even worse, they drew 2-2 again two days later.