More Than Mind Games

Holland’s route one football proves no match for Revie’s silky England as veteran striker Peters scores twice for his country: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe13b3wH19U] Bamber Gascoigne leads studio discussion after the 2-0 win.

Chris Sutton spent much of the last season suffering from that other modern footballer’s injury, blurred eyesight. Now he has announced his retirement from the game. Some of his more important matches, starting of course with Norwich City’s away win in the UEFA Cup against Bayern Munich: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-FebBxbGXY] Winning the Premiership alongside Dalglish, Shearer and…

Derby County vs Nottingham Forest 1979: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2A4U-i726k] It says something for the social progress we’ve had in the UK in the last twenty years that of the companies advertising at the Baseball ground that day – Unipart, Servis, Carling Lager – it’s Carling who have gone from strength to strength (2% to 4.7% in the…

More from the dark days of 30 years ago: the 1972 European Cup Final. Ajax knock the long ball up to the big man in the mixer: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MPNS0nurIA]

During the 1970s, Tottenham Hotspur made up for the lack of close season income by letting White Hart Lane to the government, who used it as a gaol for communists and other political undesirables. Don’t believe me? Here’s the video to prove it: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_pcERq1p_0]

This was taken on board the relatively new 270mph Shanghai Maglev train. As the train accelerates, you can get an idea of its speed from passing traffic, in much the same way as you can on that M1 stretch of the St Pancras – Sheffield route. But only at first. At about 180mph, something curious…

Given the personal shocks of the last couple of days, it was good to have my faith in humanity restored by this account of the marathon at the St Louis Olympics of 1904. Highlights follow. Accompanying the human drama of amateur, underfunded athletes is the tradition of having amateur, underqualified athletes at the Games. In…

This isn’t to do with sport or any of the usual things. I met von Bismarck a number of times when I was at Oxford, and liked the man I met. Warm, funny, generous, open-minded and extremely intelligent. That he had a reputation for parties I shan’t deny, but so did many others, some of…

Orient’s comeback FA Cup victory over Chelsea in 1972: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRDH0qV5Jf4] It’s that strange football-only phenomenon of a terrible, terrible game that isn’t terrible at all. Some of the Orient players featured in Brian Clough’s analysis (see part one of my Clough series for that) including Peter Allen. I doubt that the original broadcast was in…

It’s been suggested I write a post about football songs. (Hat tip plus sincere apologies for what follows to Mark Holland). This sums up my attitude to the genre: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMBnZylPdu8] Something you see a lot in British football broadcasting and writing these days is a determination to find charm and tradition and ancient values in…