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A giant of sport

(Alert: if you are bored by sport or just want to read about politics and supposedly more serious stuff, scroll down).

The England football team need to win their match this week’s match against Israel – yes – to qualify for the European Championship tournament next year. I guess it says something about the state of what is often regarded as the country’s national game that England are in this situation. But this week, I have tried to freeze out the dire state of our national game and have been reading a bit about a man from England’s glorious football past, both in terms of how he played the game, and the sort of person he was and still is.

Bobby Charlton. It is a tired cliche, but they just don’t make em like that any more. His thoughts in his new autobiography about colleagues Denis Law and the late George Best are wonderful and in the case of Best, who was without doubt a sporting genius, very moving.

14 comments to A giant of sport

  • Jacob

    The England football team need to win their match this week’s match against Israel – yes – to qualify for the European Championship tournament next year.

    In 1993 France needed only a draw to qualify for the Mundial of 1994. Israel beat her 3:2 in Paris . Israel itself was eliminated before this last match, so she played just for fun.

    Here is hoping that Israel wins. Fat chance…

  • Eamon Brennan

    And then the home loss to Bulgaria courtesy of David Ginola.

    You’d need a heart of stone not to laugh.

    England will qualify though.

  • I don’t understand why England has a national team. Brittany, Quebec, and Catalonia don’t have their own national teams, and they’re much more antagonistic towards their governments than the English are to theirs.

  • 6th Column

    What a ridiculous comment. Brittany, Quebec and Catalonia are not countries. England and Scotland are nations who happen to be part of a United Kingdom. Now if you had said Wales…

  • As an Israeli: thank you, Jonathan (that’s OK, I couldn’t care less about sport):-P

  • RAB

    Sorry 6th column but your comment didn’t help much either.
    Wales has always had a football team and is indeed a “Nation” and was one before the setting up of the Assembly.
    Scotland, England, Eire, Wales and Northern Ireland all have National football teams.
    Soccer is not my sport, but given that we are a small place, I often wonder if we pooled our talent into a Great Britain team, that perhaps we would win more often.
    I find it sad that the likes of George Best, a genius with a ball (rather than life) or Ryan Giggs, never got to take part in a World Cup like event, because the rest of their National team were to weak to be able to win with or without such outstanding talent as theirs.

  • Nick M

    RAB,
    You poor deluded fool! Don’t you understand anything about The Party’s great benevolence? It is because The Great Leader (and now The Dear Leader) have in their profound graciousness and infinite wisdom allowed you to have an assembly that Wales can take it’s rightful place amongst the regions of the Democratic People’s Republic of Europe.

    Please report for re-education.

  • RAB

    I never wanted an Assembly boyo!
    Growing up in South Wales in the 50s/60s
    was enough for me. They didn’t call Merthyr little Moscow for nothing you know.
    Look what they are proposing now my friend, these fourth rate minds that my relations across the Bridges are saddled with.
    Not content with smoking bans, they want to ban the civil servants at the Assembly from drinking alcohol at lunchtime, in case it impairs their judgement and work output. As an ex civil servant, I almost cracked a rib laughing at that one!
    Oh but the ones who are supposed to be making the decisions, and who are actually accountable will be exempt. The WMPs!
    But I fear we stray from the topic. Bobby Charlton. A bloody marvelous footballer, if slightly lacrimose sort of bloke. He is from a different age where skill, joy, pride and honour was the reason for doing things. Not the paycheck.
    No they dont make them like that anymore Johnathan.

  • Nick M

    RAB,
    Us Geordies were the first English “region” to be offered an assembly. We told them to fuck off.

    The Italians may have had Roberto Baggio, “The Divine Ponytail” but us English had Bobby Charlton, “The Divine Comb-over”.

    No, they don’t make’em like that anymore.

    Alisa, prepare for a big upset because I’ve heard Emile Heskey is being recalled to the England squad.

    And then we’ve got the Russians passing through, with Polonium on their boots…

  • RAB

    So did Wales. I swear Ron Davies rigged the vote in Caerphilly.
    I have met the devious little shit often. My relations farm in Machen, where he was based prior to his
    Moment of Madness!
    According to my aunt he must have been barking for years, because she was forever seeing him coming out of the woods with young men in leather jackets.

  • Nick M

    Rigged the vote in Caerphilly and frigged the badgers in the woods.

  • Nick: so you are pulling out the heavy guns? I am flattered (still don’t care about sport):-)

  • Nick M

    Alisa,
    Big guns? If only! The Krauts beat us in the last game at the old Wembley and in the first at the new one.

    What you got against sport anyway? It’s lots of fit young men showing their knees afterall…

  • Damn it Nick, just when I thought at last I did not kneed those sleeping pills! (Where’s Mid when you kneed him?)