Why Football Support Is Not A Welsh Nationalist Issue

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

At a club level Welsh football occupies a particularly freakish position. After all there is a local pyramid structure and we've chatted about these games in the past. But we have a small number of clubs who play in the English league structure primarily Cardiff City, Newport County, Swansea City and Wrexham.

But on Twitter recently I've seen a relatively common complaint. That people could slag off England at country level and yet support at club level a team playing in the English leagues. In other words if you support an English team you're not truly Welsh.

To me football support is not a Welsh Nationalist issue and it needs to be addressed.

Now I can see this argument if you were born say in Cardiff or Swansea for example. I've always felt that you should support the closest team from where you were born wherever life takes you otherwise. That's why my first love will always be West Ham United.

But despite being born in the East End I've known members of my family who pick, excuse me whilst I hold my nose, the North London Arsenal as their team. So this "glory seeking" is not necessarily a Welsh issue.

Furthermore you could argue why should you support Cardiff if Aston Villa say is the closest team from where you were born?

There is actually a simple solution. As regular readers of this blog will know whilst West Ham is first amongst equals I've always believed that watching other leagues are more interesting when you support a particular team. Thus I follow in no particular order Barcelona, Celtic, Fiorentina, Paris St Germain, Ton Pentre and Werder Bremen.

There is no reason therefore that the Welsh football fan could not pick the closest team from the Welsh football pyramid from where he/she was born as well as a team from the English league and support them both. By doing that if you don't live near Cardiff, Newport Swansea or Wrexham you will have the chance of actually going to watch a game (which will of course be cheaper). You are not betraying either team as they play in different leagues.

And by supporting a Welsh team Welsh league club football will improve. I'm not saying you'll be watching Barcelona. But different leagues are not unlike food. I like bacon, eggs and chips. But I also like Spaghetti. There is a different taste to different leagues. It's still football though.

Of course at an international level the Welsh football fan should always support Wales.

Whilst I of course (for reasons I've explained last year) will always root for England first.

Until the next time.

English World Cup Success And Welsh Football Fans

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Until the arrival of Kuwaiti money the best title for a football book ever was Colin Shindler's autobiography Manchester United Ruined My Life. That title alone explained what it was like to be a Manchester City fan when Manchester United were seemingly winning everything and their local rivals were forever struggling.

Crucially even in the rare occasions Manchester City did well. United seemed to find a way to top it by doing something just that little bit better.

Analogies can be taken so far. But I suspect that's the position Welsh football fans feel like at the moment.

Outside of Wales the ABE (Anyone But England) reaction to England's World cup success is taken as jealously. Taken as a whole I'd argue this isn't the case. For most Welsh football fans England is the team you love to hate in the same way Manchester City fans love to beat United. Having a main "bad guy" is part of being a sports fan. If you are not in a tournament then you support the team your biggest rival is facing. Simple as. As an Englishman I get this and have no problem with it.

There is though an anger (as I've explained before) at the expectation Welsh football fans should support England. The example of the BBC Radio Wales phone-in asking "Are We All English Now". Or the Principality stadium speculating on the English team for a game (note the Principality stadium) or as I've seen this morning a Twitter ad from Budweiser offering a free drink to celebrate England's success …..in England and Wales only. This sublimation of Wales' own aspirations is something happily foisted upon this nation unlike Scotland.

And of course let's not forget Secretary State for Wales and walking doormat Alun Chucky Cairns happily letting the cross of Saint George fly over the Welsh office in London. Though let's face it who was surprised Chucky didn't argue about that?

What we have also seen is a preview of attitudes by some English people post Brexit. I've written before how Welsh people should prepare to be treated by some English Brexiteers in a condescending master serf like manner that they would not try on anyone else. This has also raised anger here.

Most of all though there is a certain sense of wistfulness that the magnificent achievement that Wales, smaller in the pool of player resources it could count upon than it's larger neighbour, was able to reach the semi finals of Euro 2016 seems now to have been a long time ago. During that time when companies tried to do England team promotions in Wales, were called out and shamefacedly withdrew them.  When Wales became Wales far more than any six nations would allow. When it acted independently from anyone else. When for a short time. It seemed free.

Now that England have reached the semi finals of the World Cup Euro 2016 seems an irrelevance to English fans now. As it should be.

So what can Wales do to return to those heady 2016 moments? Well more knowledgeable football minds than me could do a better job on that issue. Starting with my wife who says the Welsh women could start the upturn qualifying for their World Cup by beating their opponents in the last qualifying match next month.

Their opponents are England.

Better keep my mouth shut on that.

Until the next time.

The Insomnia Ramblings Post: Welsh Heatwave Edition Part Two....Yes You Read That Right!!!

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well at time of writing it's 3:37am on a Saturday morning. The Welsh heatwave (yes I know) is still continuing. Seemingly making my insomnia worse. The situation is so bad that in certain places there is (whisper it slowly) talk of water shortages. In Wales....Yes I know. Climate change deniers....take note.

In other news regular readers will I suspect guess that I'm disappointed that there will be a leadership contest for Plaid Cymru. Won't write about it for the moment (as I've nothing really to say) other than I suspect you won't be surprised that Leanne Wood has my vote.

The silence out there seems specially eerie this morning. Interrupted only by my sneezing. Hot, bothered, unable to sleep and have a cold. A Connect 4 of irritations.

It is 4:17am now. And slowly dawn is inching forward. The day will be busy. Not only am I working bur will be going to a book sale in the nearby village of Sully. Haven't been to one of these in ages and must admit to being a little childishly excited. More of that though tomorrow.

4:56am. Definitely daylight now.

Of course today will be England Sweden in the quarter finals of the World Cup and I'll be missing it due to work. Not particularly bothered. Missed England Columbia for the same reason and England won. No you don't have to thank me for England's victory....really you don't.....oh alright then.

5:13am And I hear a sound that makes me remember the one exception to my opinion that no animal should be hunted for sport....seagulls. I mean they are the bullies of the avian world pushing ducks in lakes just to get at bread. I mean what do they do which isn't intrinsically putting them as the baddies of the bird world?

You may remember the Bridgend Indoor Market where the Christmas decorations are up despite the fact that it's well, June. Well it's been put to me that blog villain and local authority donkey Bridgend Labour council leave them up there because it costs more to take them down. Well if true (and I've asked the council....again) then it's a false economy because the image it presents to customers is not good and they might not return again. I mean....come on....Christmas decorations in June.

Ah well sun's bright out there. Got to get moving...have a book sale to get to.

Until the next time.

I Support England In The World Cup. I Do Not Expect Welsh People To Do the Same

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well as I'm writing this England are in the quarter finals of the World Cup having beaten Colombia on penalties. Yipppee!!! The weather is still hot. England win in a penalty shoot out and you still don't think anything has changed in the world?

England now face Sweden. Who let's not forget defeated Italy to get to the World Cup in the first place. They look like a team who battles for each other. Not unlike England under Gareth Southgate. It will be a tough game I suspect.

Now I've explained in a previous post that I've no problem with supporting Welsh Independence and supporting England in the World Cup. For the simple reason that football is different. I'm not going to repeat myself here but something has happened this morning which deserves a chat. Following England's victory last night a BBC Radio Wales morning phone-in has asked the question now that England are through to the quarter finals of the World Cup "Are We All English Now"?

There is one response (well polite one anyway) to this question

Why?

Fans of Wales should not be expected to follow England. It doesn't mean that you should be condemned if you do. But what's wrong is the expectation here promulgated by the national Radio broadcaster that if England is in a competition and Wales are not then Welsh fans should like good little serfs move to the side across the bridge (yes that bridge).

Trust me also when I say that English fans will have no respect for Welsh fans who do this. And why should they? It's not their team.

Let's take the question to it's logical conclusion. If Wales are out of the six nations rugby championship and England are not should Wales rugby fans support their nearest neighbour? Or if Cardiff City are out of the FA cup but Swansea City are not should bluebird fans suddenly go all Jack? Of course not. It's a stupid, stupid, question for the BBC to broadcast. You have your own team which defines your nation's identity. It's who you are.

This though leads us into a different question.

Why did BBC Radio Wales broadcast it in the first place?

The national radio broadcaster should be representing the nation. Not discussing how it can be a lapdog of English success. Wales will not be respected as a country if it looks East in how it should think or act. For BBC Radio Wales to do this is a national disgrace from the national broadcaster.

If Welsh fans want to follow a team I'd suggest a nation that has relatively recently achieved independence in Europe. Probably the closest nation I'd suggest to Wales.

Croatia it is then.

Until the next time.

In Which, Thanks Partly To Mr Ed (Sheeran), I Watch Three World Cup Matches In Peace

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

So this was the last day where you could watch three matches in that period in this World Cup. Only been able to do that one other day during this entire term. Something always stopped me otherwise. Whether it was work or even picking up my daughter from school.

Today (Sunday) was different for two reasons. One I could watch the games and two I could watch the games in relative quiet given that daughter was doing her thing and so was the wife having gone with "the girls" to watch Mr Ed (Sheeran) do his stuff in his Cardiff concert in the (shouldn't be this name) Principality stadium.

A quick aside. I'm of an age where I know who Mr Ed is but I couldn't tell you any of his songs if you paid me. What I didn't realise was that it was probably a male thing. But no matter. I am a caring and compassionate husband so there were no arguments from me....given I could watch three World Cup matches in peace.

The first, of course was England Panama which as the whole of the English media will tell you was a 6-1 victory for England. It was a very weird England game where given the first half was 5-0 you felt comfortable at the break or in the second half where with thirty minutes to go Harry Kane and Jesse Lindgard (whose goal was stunning) were substituted and you thought "Oh Ok then".

Of course Belgium is the real test. And you know full well that the Sieg Heil sections of the media will turn it into a "Brussels vs Brexit" thing which of course is the way the country is being informed now. Domestically (and I mean as in the wife) the crunch game will follow that one. England/Belgium having already qualified from their group the only issue being in what order. The teams they would face from Group H were unclear and still unclear after the next game Japan Senegal.

The Senegalese scored first. A team Phil Neville described as organised unlike other African teams (I wonder whether as England Women's manager he reminisces out loud about Benny Hill). The Japanese equalised. I wish I could discuss their goal but, well.....I fell asleep.

I'm of an age now....don't judge me.

Still I saw the full second half where both sides scored a goal a piece. 2-2 then. Entertaining game....the bits I saw anyway.

As the final match. Poland Columbia which really only got moving when Columbia scored late in the first half. Two more emphatic goals followed. The only certain thing in the group was that Poland were out. Columbia played some bright football. Though not as bright as the pink and white shirt summariser Ian Wright was wearing. If Putin instigated a fashion police squad Wright would have been locked up for wearing it. The good news was that it was the shirt that caused the problems on screen and not the TV on the blink.

Senegal then could qualify from Group H. The wife, a Cardiff girl, has Senegal on her workplace sweepstake. Senegal could face England in the start of the knockout rounds.

And the Domestics will begin.

Anyway thankyou Mr Ed. And if you want to visit Cardiff again please make it for June 2020...in time for the Euros.

Until the next time.

I May Be An Englishman Who Supports Welsh Independence. But I'm Still Going To Support England in The World Cup

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Last Saturday there was a Yes For Independence march held in Dumfries. And amongst the groups marching was one called English For Yes. What Twitter noticed and commented upon was a guy in that particular demonstration who wore an England football shirt. Basically the comments that were mocking him were in essence that here was a guy with split loyalties.

So let me be clear here. I'm with that guy. And the reason I'm with that guy is quite simple.

Football is different.

As anybody who supports a football team will tell you that supporting a team is not the same as supporting your local supermarket. When you ally yourself to a team you do so for life, not just for Christmas. So should you move away from that team you don't say, "well I might as well support the nearest club now". No you stick with the team that you have invested blood, sweat, tears and some money following.

After all I currently live near Cardiff City who will be playing in the Premier League next season and whilst (like Swansea and Newport) I genuinely wish them well I'm not going to suddenly start wearing a blue shirt, doing the Ayatollah and shouting "Bluebirds! Bluebirds!" all over the place. No the one time I intend to go to the City Stadium is to watch (quietly, I live nearby!) West ham beating them.

And that is equally the same nationally. I've supported England all my life and nothing changes now. I believe that Wales should be an independent nation and have no problem proclaiming my support for that. But as any fan will tell you the first rule of sports fandom is that once you have committed to a team that's it. You change your allegiance then you've broken the law.....it's a fact.

In fact my problem for this World Cup is going to be quite different. Normally due to my family background I would support England until they get knocked out after which I'd follow Italy. But this time Italy failed to qualify for the tournament in the first place.

Now that is a problem.

Until the next time.

Pen(arth) State

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

It's a Saturday. But sporting wise not a normal Saturday. For due to the international break there's not that many club football games being played. Instead football focus has been on the World Cup qualifying games. The previous night England beat Malta in a match which until the final few minutes was so dull it almost cure my insomnia. Later Wales were facing Austria. But for that afternoon rugby entered my thoughts. The friendlies were now over.

The season had begun.

A quick check revealed that the closest game being played to me was in Penarth RFC who were playing Aberdare at 2:30 in the very precise WRU National League Division 2 East Central. I decided to leave where we're currently renting an hour earlier. A friend of the wife's was visiting.

"Oh you're seeing the Pens!"

I really had no idea what this woman was talking about. Still bid them my goodbyes and off I went.

It wasn't that far away. Parked nearby. Only when entering the ground I realised I'd forgotten to bring a book with me to read during the interval. Now that was irritating.

So paid my fee and walked along the path. On the pitch both teams were training.




What was clear was that the management of either side were blessed with never needing a microphone. In terms of Aberdare that meant pre watershed language. Now I've never understood this. I get angry management during a game and of course at the end. But the purpose of pre game anger management has passed me by.

The Penarth voices weren't pre watershed but just as loud.

"Latch onto him!" came the cry as one guy seemed to avoid his team mates.

The Snakes (Aberdare) in training

The club has a stand if you want to go and watch the game there (personally I preferred to spectate using the traditional "leaning on a fence" method.

And the crowd. Well obviously not the attendance for a top tier Welsh Club in the Pro 14. However far more than the "five men and a dog" audience that this tier of rugby was described to me earlier this week. There were many men....and dogs.....and women....and children.

As an area Penarth has a reputation for being relatively affluent and although I think the reality is a little more complex than that it's certainly true that parts of it are well off. I'm saying all of this because if you're after symbolism I'll give you this.

Now you might notice the tanned object in the centre of the photo near the pitch.......that was a champagne cork.

They also have bistro rugby spectating areas.

Took this during half time. Whilst the match was on it was full

All very sophisticated. Less so when the people had to hurriedly move to avoid the overkicked ball coming their way.

So the match began.



In the early stages the home side piled on the pressure.



"Go Pens!" came the shout. Ah I get it now. Pens is short for Penarth. Sometimes can be slow on the uptake.

I noticed a Penarthian player with a ponytail. He threw himself to every tackle, ran for every ball as if to say judge me on what I do not on my hairstyle. Another Penarth player sidelined until the second half was a stocky man with a large black beard. Imagine son of Santa playing before going for a stint as a Cardiff nightclub bouncer and an accurate picture would emerge. The Penarth team clearly consisted of men who were if nothing else prepared to battle for their team.

But the first try was Aberdare's. An interception roughly at the half way line, a race to the goal, a pass and a try. It was impressive it has to be said. Perhaps swearing at the players does help.

My attention was distracted for a moment from the game. When I turned back a young man was on the floor. The physio was attending to his leg. The man's face was in his hands. He was in pain. Eventually a stretcher had to be brought out. Thankfully later on he was driven by private car to the hospital (the fact it wasn't by ambulance gave you some cause for hope).

The above lasted for quite a while and it did make me think. For young men being in a rugby team gives them a bit of kudos with their peers, allows them to dream of a tomorrow playing for Cymru in a red shirt and probably makes it easier to impress women. The downside to that though is that probably sooner than most other men of their age they realise that they're not invincible.....that pain hurts.

The match restarts. Suddenly I feel a scrabbling in my leg. It turns out to be a black poodle. Regular readers will know my phobia to dogs. The owner picks the mutt up.

"Sorry" she says and then goes on to say that the poodle was after the legs of the man next to me. What am I supposed to say after that? Flattered?

During a scrum Penarth score with the resultant try. Soon afterwards a penalty is awarded to the Pens (I'm with the lingo now) and the half is finished at 10-8 to the home team.....which makes me think I've missed something along the way.....I'm blaming the dog.



So the break and I'm hungry. I buy a sausage roll not realising that it's spicy. This means that I need to get a coke from the bar. So queue dutifully. second half begins and whilst waiting Aberdare score.

Now I didn't see that try. But from the other tries Aberdare scored in the half it probably involved someone breaking through the Penarth defence and either running through or passing to a team mate to rack up the points. As the first half was close the second was just the snakes steamrollering of the opposition.





It finished 10-39. Though knew they was beaten did not realise until the announcer gave out the score that Penarth did not add a single point to their total in the second half. Aberdare were just that dominant. Not so much snakes on a train as snakes on a roll.

And this is what rugby should be. Local teams supported by local fans plus the odd stray English man wandering in.

Until the next time,

In Which Palin Is At Last Finished And England/Scotland Is Halted For My Daughter

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well at last it's finished. Volume two of Michael Palin's diaries. Bought in the summer fete at Laleston where I came from the tip smelling of grass and wearing ripped jeans (sorry about that people of Laleston again)

It was, you may remember, my "car" book that I read when waiting for daughter from school etc. Because I'd started it in the summer as well it's length (609 pages) the volume has taken me a long time to complete.

So after climbing this literary mountain I wish I could say it was worth the effort but to be honest it's like reaching the top of a montain, looking round at the view and then saying "Is that all there is?"

It's not an awful book, just unsatisfying. No real humour in it. A lot of Python and/or broadcasting politics and a bit of family life. It was worth the one pound I paid for it but it's gone straight into a carrier bag for when I donate it to a charity shop so that someone else will spend the same amount for a good cause next time.

Of course this means I'll need a new "car" book which is:

Alan Coren - Toujours Cricklewood?

This was the sequal to A Year In Cricklewood which I couldn't praise highly enough so I'm looking forward to this.

When I was a child in the seventies England/Scotland was a bittersweet affair. They would play each other every year as part of the "Home International" tornament along with Wales and Northern Ireland. On the one hand these matches would be shown live on television, rare at the time. On the other it was at the end of the season, which meant if there were no Euros/World Cup to look forward then for me football was about to close down for the summer.

But the Home International tournament is no more and the England/Scotland matches are now few and far between. The rivalry is however just as strong which brings me to the imporant World Cup Qualifying game between the two. Live on free to air television on a Friday night.

But....

My daughter's piano lesson was postponed from Wednesday to Friday. It was only a few blocks away from where we live but it was night and the wife was out I had to walk with her to the tutor. The lesson started at seven thirty for half an hour. The match started at seven forty five. She is old enough now to understand,if not agree, as to why Dad was rushing her to the lesson.

So daughter with tutor I raced back to watch the start of the game. Was just in time to see the national anthems being played with the Scottish, then English tunes being booed at by opposing fans with a venom I'd never heard before, even for a game like this. I'll say now that Scottish independence seems a question of when rather than if and that moment,not Brexit,was the point of no return.

The other point to note before the match started as that Scotland were playing in pink. Now apart from Palermo I can't think of any other team that plays in pink, or perhaps how it was sold to them Salmon, Personally unless it's for breast cancer awareness it doesn't work.And besides there was no reason why they couldn't just wear the traditional dark blue strip.

And so the match began, and to be honest for the first twenty minutes or so it was rather dull. England in particular seemed to be playing as if they were frightened of losing. Then suddenly the match was paused...whilst I went out to pick my daughter from piano lessons. She tells me that she's learning to play jingle bells, I tell her in full Ebenezer Scrooge mode that I don't want to hear it until Decmber

On our return I continued to watch the game and it contined to be dull until Daniel Sturridge scored with an impressive header. One nil England with the only interesting bit of the entire half. The second half started well for Scotland where they missed a couple of clear cut chances but then England scored a second where Adam Lallana had so much space to place his header he could have started a farm.

Gary Cahill a few minutes later scored a third with another header which made it jackpot for England and Scotland losing all their chips. It all just petered out from that moment, I've never watched a football match ever where even the TV commentators sounded bored and willing the final whistle to be blown. In truth, both teams were not very good but England could finish better and that is of course the point (or rather the three points) of it all.

Until the next time.

The Football Game Where The Wife Is More Emotional Than Me

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well it's Wednesday evening in Wales and it's the evening of that game. Two ground shaking events happen in world football history. Firstly Wales are in the semi final of a major tournament and secondly my wife and I are in the living room watching a football match together.

She doesn't watch football normally. She rarely watches any sport except when the Welsh national rugby team plays. She will moan when the DVR is full of games from leagues from other nations.But this is of course different.

Every game Wales has played has been seen by her. Nothing has been missed because of work. The one other time we could have watched a game together was the last set of matches in the group stage where I opted to watch England Slovakia on the laptop whilst she watched her countrymen face Russia. Needless to say she had the better deal Wales winning 3-1 whilst the English could only manage a 0-0 draw (which in hindsight was a predictor of the disaster to come against Iceland).

Not that she's completely knowledgeable. She queried during the Russia game why it hadn't finished. I explained that eighty minutes was for Rugby.

It does not matter. She has been caught up in the fervour. She is Welsh and Wales are in the semi final.

So we are in the living room together. Through the TV preamble. Watching the screen shoehorned with retired Welsh football players in the panel with at least one of them (Ryan Giggs) you knew was only brought in because of his team's success. Then Lee Dixon/Roy Keane in a patronising manner pretended to be Welsh for the evening. But you knew their heart wasn't in it.

The obligatory interview with Gareth Bale, a piece on the tragedy of Gary Speed, more waffling from the ex pros...and then the game.

Before it started we were reminded again the Welsh had the best fans in Euro 2016 and the non rugby world learnt for the first time that mae hen wlad fy nhadau is the best anthem as well. You don't need to understand it, you don't have to speak Welsh but wherever you came from it stirs the soul.

So to the match. The first half was to be honest, relatively dull. They and their opponents, the undeserving but lucky Portugal seemed to be taking the cautious approach. The wife shouts at Ronaldo as he claims a penalty. She doesn't like him. Quite perceptive that way.

The half end without a goal. There was still hope.

But come the second half came two goals in quick succession for Portugal. The last of which scored by that man Ronaldo. A man so in love with himself that if you remember the Champions League final and the Athletico Madrid player who ran to kiss his blonde girlfriend after he scored, well I wouldn't have been surprised that had Ronaldo scored he would have run to the nearest mirror to perform the same act.

It was unfortunately the sort of game that you knew was not going to change afterwards.

"Looks like Wales missed Ramsey" (Aaron Ramsey - suspended from this game) said my wife....my wife ? It was though true.

And so it finished 2-0 to Wales. The wife went off to bed.I was going to make myself a cup of tea. As she went up the stairs I pointed out one thing to her that made a disappointed woman smile.

Wales came third in Euro 2016.

Wales came third!!

Until the next time.

In Which I Chat About Icelandic Football (though not much on THAT result), A Book Is Read And Updates On Football Cards and Polish Food

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I know this is chatting about this well and truly after the horse has bolted but I'd wanted to do the post about buying Polish food on Tuesday first because of the racist tensions the Brexit result has unleashed. I'm sure I'll be chatting about it again soon but for now football...and Iceland.

As mentioned before I was at work during the England/Iceland game so have only bothered to see the highlights but what really shocked me was not that Iceland won but how inept England were. Before the match I'd told someone at work that whilst I expected England to win it wouldn't have surprised me if they lost either. After all in pre qualifying Iceland came second in a group that included Turkey and the Netherlands and although England had the greatest humiliation they had also humiliated pre tournament dark horses Austria and embarrassed Portugal and Hungary in Euro 2016.

The point is the fact that Iceland played well should not have been a surprise because they have been playing like that for a long time now.

On Friday I'd watched a couple of club matches on the internet to take my mind off the Brexit gloom for a while. The one from the Irish Republic was a dull 0-0 affair (even though it was Shamrock Rovers/Cork City). The Icelandic game though also scoreless was a much livelier affair. I made a mental note to watch another game from this league when the opportunity presented itself. Remember it was before that.game and the chance came a day after that  game where I watched Fylkir FC play against those city slickers Viking Reykjavik

Let me say that I like Icelandic league football. It reminds me of the Welsh Leagues. Part time players, small grounds (no stands behind either goal here) but plenty of enthusiasm. No gloss more heart.

As the first half finished 0-0 the teams seemed about equal in ability to me so it was a shock to discover through google that in a 12 team league the home team were currently bottom with their opponents eighth. Given that they were bottom I was impressed with Fylkir so decided that they, the ones who played in a strip that could only be described as radioactive orange, were going to be the Icelandic team I would support.

So obviously when they win the league no one will describe me as a glory seeker.

In the second half contrary to everything you have been taught or read it was the Vikings who were being stormed  in their area time and time again until eventually Fylkir got the goal they truly deserved. That's how the game finished. My team won. The fightback starts here. You've read it here first... in English anyway.....I think.

I've finished the Marian Keyes novel The Other Side Of The Story. I won't bore you by repeating the superlatives I've been using to describe this. All I will say is that although it wasn't the best book I've read this year it came close.

Of course this means a new book from the Great Unread which is

Ali Smith - The Accidental

This was given out free with The Times Newspaper. Before you wonder whether I've further contributed to Rupert Murdoch's plan for world domination. It was bought in a charity shop for 50p.

The football stickers are progressing slowly. I've got now to a stage where I've more doubles in a packet than new stickers. Haven't yet had the opportunity to try and sort this out but will try to do soon. In the meantime here's the current standings. Remember there is a max of thirty three stickers per team.

Turkey: 18

Switzerland:16
France: 15
Russia: 15
Albania: 13
Spain: 13
Sweden: 13

Wales: 13

Czech Republic: 12
Northern Ireland : 12
Poland: 12
Republic of Ireland : 12
Ukraine: 12
Austria: 10
Hungary: 10
Iceland: 10
Slovakia: 10
Belgium: 9
England: 9
Germany: 9
Romania: 9
Italy: 8
Portugal: 8
Croatia: 6

Finally my wife looked a bit embarrassed when I walked in the house from work yesterday. It transpired that she tried the Jezyki biscuits I bought on Tuesday. She loves them. Seems like the Polish deli is going to be somewhere we'll regularly visit when in Bridgend Town from now on. I'm going to try them tomorrow afternoon (Friday) when I intend to spend an hour on the Get started in Polish book.

Until the next time.

In Which I Begin Learning Polish.

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well it appears that working on the Monday afternoon/evening shift during Euro 2016 does have a silver lining after all being that I missed England's defeat by Iceland. Though as I understood things so did the English players.

Anyway the morning was spent doing a bit of the household chores,having a bath, getting ready for work but also for the first time spending half an hour going through the Get Started In Polish book I mentioned last week (which I forgot to mention is written by Joanna Michalak-Gray).

Earlier in the morning started to listen to Polish radio. Not expecting anything but curious. The station was PR1 Jedynka. What did I learn? Obviously vocabulary wise nothing other than "Brexit" though I think I caught "fascist" also. Conversation seemed to be at a slightly faster pace than normal ( except for the news when suddenly things seemed to go into hyper drive) but that's probably because I'm not yet used to hearing Polish spoken regularly.

After loud heavy metal music that I would have switched off in any language there was another discussion about Brexit. The only word I understood of course being Brexit.

Anyway to the half hour with the book. As it happened it was like the first day at school where certain rules are laid down and you're told where to go. Only in this case the author was saying what we should do to help us further.

The first suggestion was twenty-thirty minutes worth of lessons a day. For me for a whole gamut of reasons that's just impractical. My plan is to concentrate as much as I can two days a week then see how things are progressing.

Then I'm told I should listen to radio or television programmes. I got you there Joana. Radio has been blasting. TV? No such luck. Try as I may I haven't been able to watch anything in Polish as I've been blocked with words to say that they cannot show the content outside of Poland. A pity. Because as I think I've said before when I started learning Welsh watched programmes in that language intensely, particularly pre school and sports as I'd have some idea as to what was going on.

The other suggestion I want to mention is to follow blogs on people learning Polish. is to follow blogs about people doing this. I googled this only to discover that in the main it's linked to people flogging language lessons."Get your first lesson free!" or variations on this theme I noticed from those who for all I knew might have more in common with Warrington than Warsaw. All of them suggesting that Polish is the hardest language to learn and that I needed their help for a fee. For the moment not for me.

Many more suggestions. Most of them obvious then finally to some actual teaching and the biggest shock of all. The "audio" facility of this book is unavailable on my tablet,my kindle and even on my PC! For the moment I'm making do with what a word sounds like by going online. But it's not easy. What I've learnt is than pronouncing a Polish word as if it was in an English alphabet would cause even more laughter to a Pole than last night's England result.

The first word I've learnt? Przepraszam (Pronounced "Psheprashaam")which is Polish for excuse me.

Whilst I had lunch before going to work I watched the second episode of the Polish TV series The Border (with English subtitle)s. Think I've just noticed the Polish for the F word and the C word. I don't expect to be that fluent. At least not for the moment.

Until the next time.

In Which Amongst The Gloom There's Always Football And Why Breaking In a New Shirt Reminds Me To Make a Belated Apology To Denmark

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

So I wake up at 6:09am in the morning and as I turn the TV on I discover the beginnings of a Labour party coup where senior figures start to turn on their leader and resign from their opposition posts. An incompetently handled Labour coup from people who rather start a civil war than try to deal with the disunited kingdom that the referendum has produced. And you wonder why as an Englishman decided to join Plaid Cymru.

But anyway. There's always the football. Let's forget about the Euro referendum and watch Euro 2016 instead......oh.

A quick note about England's match tomorrow against Iceland. The most ironic thing about that game is that even if the English fans acted like choirboys Europe will still want them beaten by Iceland even though it's not in the EU. Football can throw things like that up sometimes.

Anyway there were three matches to watch and was looking forward to doing this marathon having missed yesterday's games and knowing I'd miss tomorrow's ones because of work.

First turned out to be Republic of  Ireland vs France. A match that apparently the Observer Book of cliches was acting as co-commentator on ITV. The commentary had even more bizarre moments. After he took a free kick we were informed that Pogba "has powerful thighs". For a moment there I thought I was watching a different sort of channel. The sort which broadcasts after midnight and needs a pin number to watch it......or so I'm told.

It went surreal. Discussing the Irish (and West Ham reserve) goalkeeper the commentary said "Darren Randolph's left hand upright"......whatever that means.

The Republic scored first, with a penalty from a foul that was so obvious no French player argued with the referee.

Unfortunately for the Irish in the second  half France reacted with two quick goals and a sending off . A French victory then. And you know what? I wanted France to win. Because we all know that had they lost the Daily Mail and definitely The Sun would have used the headline FREXIT.

So to the next game Germany Slovakia. This was the only game where I had a football shirt in my collection to wear for the first time. It was this.

Germany

As you know by now I'm not the sort of collector that gets something and hides it away forever more. If I collected toy trains they wouldn't be kept in a box. They'd be used as nature and Mr Hornby intended. So as I had a shirt for Germany wear it I did. Of course this was the reason why they beat Slovakia 3-0 in a match that seemed more of a training session than a competitive game. They don't have to thank me.

The final match was Belgium Hungary. Belgium won 4-0 but they only really were dominant in the latter stages of the second half. They now face Wales as favourites. Which I think for Wales is a good thing as the hopes of a nation but not the pressure of expectation will be on them.

One more thing. Hungary had a player called Pinter. Who I assumed played cultured football and was the caretaker of their defence. Hope there wasn't a drama when he got substituted.

Wearing the shirt of a team in my collection has never seemed to effect the performance of the team in question. With one exception. That of Denmark.

I had bought this shirt in I think 2008 for £10. Promptly it was put onto a hanger and then to the wardrobe never to see the light of day again.......until 2010.

I rather like this shirt. It's simple,unfussy and has the colours of the Danish flag on it. You don't get the feeling that it has been given to a designer who was on drugs the night before.

Denmark

Anyway as I said we fast forward to 2010. It's the World Cup in South Africa. The last matches are being held in group stage of the tournament. Denmark are facing Japan. For the first time since it was bought it there's a logical opportunity for wearing the shirt and that's what was done.

Well, not wishing to appear pompous and patronising let me say that I have of course seen Asian teams beat European sides before and after this particular game. But it was the first match that I'd ever seen where the Asian side dominated almost from start to finish. Japan won by three goals to one, The Danish goal being a a late penalty scored I think by John Arne Thomasson.

So clearly the reason for this defeat was that I, whose closeness to Denmark recently was when we visited Legoland in Windsor a few years back wore the shirt. Somehow I'd cursed them. So the shirt wasn't worn again.....until last year.

Denmark were playing Portugal in a qualifying game for Euro 2016. As I recall both sides needed a win to be assured of coming to France. It was a dull game it has to be said. Portugal did not dominate the Danes in the way that Japan had all those years earlier. Yet the curse came back to haunt me again. For although Denmark only lost by one goal to nil, that goal at no stage in the play was touched by Ronaldo. A Portuguese goal where Ronaldo's not involved? Surely not? But that is what happened and obviously I was responsible.

So people of Denmark I'm sorry. I'll try not to do it again. Honest.

Until the next time.

On Poetry And Football

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well I've finished (presumably thanks to my wait in the Bar and Grill on Sunday) Poetry Of The Thirties edited by Robin Skelton. It was the first poetry book I'd read for decades and I had forgotten that you have to read these books slooowly so that every word and meaning is captured. In the beginning there was a great deal of rereading so that there was a better chance of understanding what was being written.

Even so most of the poetry made me just mentally shrug my shoulders. As if I was saying, "is that all there is"? The vast majority of verse in this book aroused me to a state of depressed boredom.

There were, of course exceptions. John Betjeman reminded me why I liked him all those years ago. And if someone offered me a volume of the poetry of Lewis MacNeice I wouldn't be sniffy about it. On the other hand I really,really didn't like W H Auden.

And then there was Dylan Thomas. I don't want to read another Dylan Thomas poem again. I want to listen to them. He was the only poet where that thought occurred to me.

The next "car book" is this.

Clive James - Glued to the Box

This is the third volume of his TV critism between 1979 -1982. Should be fun.

So to the evening's football. It was the first opportunity since the Euro 2016 tournament began that I had the opportunity to wear this.

England

The wife watched the Wales game against Russia whilst I watched England Slovakia. Clearly she had the better time than I did with the dragons winning 3-0 and being top of their group. Although she did ask after eighty minutes why the game hadn't finished. I explained that it was football.....not rugby.Still genuinely was pleased for Wales. I've said before that in my view football was the bigger club sport here and if they continue to do well then that might be the case at a national level as well. And the Welsh Rugby Union would only have themselves to blame.

For me despite the ITV "Brexit" commentary - everything England did was good against weak Slovakia - England were disappointing. Slovakia just dug in, having obviously checked the durability of their Puma football shirts first.

Their goalkeeper seemed to follow the lead of his Swiss counterpart yesterday. Dressed luminously suggesting he too would be cycling back to his base afterwards.

But the commentary. "England fans are staying with their team" was one gem. What did he expect them to do? Suddenly support Austria? We also know the power of words. Slovakia were like "a boxer on the ropes" according to Glenn Hoddle. Had that been England then words like "disciplined" or "dogged" would have be used.

Will always believe....but was not encouraged.

Until the next time.

When Suddenly It Does Not Matter

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

So it's Thursday afternoon and I'm at work. Resigned to not watching or listening to the game, THAT game. England vs Wales.

Two pm and I'm expecting to do hardly anything for the next two hours. Have a small bottle of mineral water and just read a book. Today that book being the 1975 autobiography of Muhammad Ali, The Greatest.

The music coming out is from the speakers is a pop music station. So it has the effect of mugging my ears. There is news though. I catch bits but not of what I expected. The match has gone down the pecking order. The top story is that a Member of Parliament has been attacked.

From those bits  the MP is in hospital. You assume recovering. I carry on working. The music for those much younger than me returns.

Work in the next two hours turns out to be less busy than normal but busier than I had expected. Due I suspect to the stupid 2pm start time.

The Muhammad Ali book surprised me by beginning with a defeat. The time in April 1973 when he lost to Ken Norton. I remember the day well. Was a page boy at a wedding as I was a cousin to the bride that I've not spoken to in years (nothing to do with moving to Wales - everything to do with family disputes). It was at the subsequent wedding reception watching TV with the adults sometime between ten and midnight. Being awake at midnight for a nine year old is exciting anytime but I was awake watching an Ali fight. No school the next day. Can life get any better than this?

And yet he lost. And to Ken who? A defeat in sports can be crushing when you're a young fan, not infected by worldly cynicism.

(Incidentally that wasn't the only sporting event I watched at that reception. Earlier, much earlier, I'd seen the Grand National won by Red Rum. For me personally it's memorable because it's the only horse race that I can tell you who came second. It was a horse called Crisp. The reason why I remember it is that in the final stages it had such a massive lead over Red Rum you could have started a small holding with the gap. Yet catch up Red Rum did. Didn't understand it then, still don't now).

The other point, thinking about this now, is that with all the talk of violence on the television screens affecting children no one ever made this point about boxing. The idea of watching men (and at that time it was men) battering themselves was family entertainment at that time.

Anyway the book is a page turner. I'm gripped. Will chat properly once I've finished.

At a quarter past three I'm chatting to a woman. She tells me it's 1-1. Wales scored first then "the English" equalised. Obviously not a moment to tell her I'm English.

Sometime after quarter to three I hear two men chatting. "last minute winner........Sturridge". Then with diplomacy that makes English football fans loved the world over they high five. Later I learn they're off to Nottingham.That doesn't surprise me.

So England win but only just. Both teams still have a good chance of qualifying into the next round. Which is fine by me.

Then I hear the news properly.

The MP, Jo Cox, was not just attacked but was shot and stabbed in Birstall near the library. Worst than that at five o'clock it's announced that she has died.

A horrifying event then in a small town in the most domestic of settings in broad daylight.

And I when I learn much later details of her life on TV, a loving family life, a political career, her charity work you get the sense of a life as an unfinished novel. Because of her sudden death we have been robbed of an ending that would have been much different. I suspect that's the case for those who lost their lives in Orlando as well.

So football is important. Reading is important. But most of all...most of all....choose life.

Until the next time.

In Which Euro 2016 Starts (Well For Me Anyway) But I've Got To Do A To Do List First

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well Euro 2016 is finally upon us and what an exciting first day with three matches to kick us off including one involving the three international teams I follow, Italy.

Oh OK then it started on Friday. Wales won. England drew with Russia on the pitch and apparently also are neck and neck in who is liable to kicked out first thanks to the actions of the apes from either team in Marseilles. Because of work I won't be able to see the England/Wales game on Thursday. Question is whether there will be an England team for their final game against Slovakia. Today you had the situation of the England manager and captain practically begging the fans to behave. That was depressing to watch. What's even more depressing though is that I have my doubts that the apes will listen.

And I'll tell you this as well. Here in Wales I'm beginning to notice this in a very minor non threatening form. Speaking as an Englishman,albeit a card carrying member of Plaid Cymru, I've seen some, and note the word some (to be precise about five) people walk around in England football shirts and drive cars with the flag of the cross of St George on the back window or attached to a car aerial. I'm thinking to myself  why antagonise people? If this was France I'd get it but you're in Wales. There is a sort of arrogance about doing it at this particular time at this particular moment. I mean would these people do that in Scotland or the Republic of Ireland? Of course they wouldn't.

Let me be clear who I follow in order with regard to international football. England the country of my birth, Italy the country where my ancestry comes from and Wales, the country I live in now and feel should be an independent nation.

Anyway. Monday was off work and it meant that I was able to watch matches in the tournament for the first time. I mentioned to my wife that I was going to do the vacuuming as I was the one not at work that day didn't really have any excuse not to (plus of course avoiding any grief later). This however had to be added to going to the rubbish tip, the library, doing some shopping as well as of course WATCHING FOOTBALL.

So went to the rubbish tip called Thygeston. It is the most well hidden place to throw your trash away I know covered as it is by green fields and trees. It's so discreet that you'd whether ex KGB members helped in its design.

On the way to the tip.....really

Next stop was Porthcawl firstly to the library where I paid my debt to society for an overdue book (15p) and then picked the next football book to read which was.....

Philippe Auclair - Thierry Henry - Lonely At The Top

Yes I know he's a legendary Arsenal player (boo hiss) but he was capable of taking your breath away and have some fans of opposing teams applauding him. I've also read some articles by the author on the e magazine The Blizzard. If the back cover of this book is correct, what I'm going to read is a biography by an author who admires but does not worship his subject. Let's not forget that thanks to his "Hand of Gaul" incident in 2009 he was as popular in the Republic of Ireland as people with the occupations of banker and British politician.

After that shopping which is unimportant apart from the fact I bought a packet of football stickers. Since chatting about the subject last I've bought 4 packets. The totals now (remember it's 33 stickers per team) are as follows.

Turkey: 17
France: 14
Wales: 13
Switzerland:12
Albania: 11
Poland: 11
Russia: 11
Spain: 11
Czech Republic: 10
Ukraine: 10
Austria: 9
Northern Ireland : 9
Republic of Ireland : 9
Belgium: 8
Italy: 8
Sweden: 8
England: 7
Germany: 7
Hungary: 7
Iceland: 7
Portugal: 7
Slovakia: 7
Romania: 6
Croatia: 5

And of course more doubles. Didn't have time to work out what to do with them......I'd football to watch.

Anyway after lunch came the vacuuming. Well there would've been the vacuuming had not the actual cleaner only a few minutes after I started decided to just turn Franciscan monk on me and suddenly turn silent and go off. My first instinct was to check and see if it affected the electricity in other parts of the house but no, it was just rage in that machine.

So the football gods seemed to be smiling on me. Though felt I should show willing and picked up with a dustpan and brush any obvious dust etc from the floor. Did my best under the circumstances but had an excuse, I think that's what they call a win-win.

At last I was ready for the football. First match was the Czech Republic vs Spain. Purely on the grounds that I'd a football shirt for one of the teams I was going to follow....

Viva Espana

Incidentally I've seen the video of the Spanish world cup song. The Spanish captain Sergio Ramos can sing. Here people would give Wayne Rooney a round of applause if he could hold a note.

Spain dominated the game from start to finish. But it had looked as if they had followed the football manual to the letter apart from forgetting the final chapter relating to how to score. Then with a few minutes to spare they did exactly that.

Almost immediately afterwards the match was stopped.........as I paused the TV to pick up my daughter from the school bus. Reading some thirties poetry whilst I was waiting for her...as you do.

Returned. Resumed. Spain won. They can thank me for wearing the shirt later.

Republic of Ireland vs Sweden next. The first half was barring a few Irish chances generally dull which I thought was a good thing as the Republic were the equal of their opponents. In the second half the men in green were ahead, Ciaran Clark scoring a goal best described as Zlatanesque. Unfortunately for them the Swedish equalised through an own goal. That's how it stayed. For a neutral it was a good match to watch on the whole,

So finally Belgium Italy. Not neutral here. To the extent that it was spaghetti for dinner. Microwave spaghetti admittedly (too busy watching football..hope you noticed) but it's the thought that counts. Daughter at guides Wife chatting over coffee with the neighbour. I was all alone. One, two, three "Italia Italia".

Italy were not favourites here. Belgium are apparently the second best nation in the world at the moment. Still you had the feeling they were going to do well. Won the battle of the national anthems and they could deal with Mark Clattenburg as referee being used to Prima Donnas.

Early on they scored with a strike from Giaccherini. Belgium for the most part bar a spell in the second half did not look as if they were capable of making an effective response. It appears that without Vincent Kompany they are a bunch of sole traders. As for Fellani's new blond hairstyle, my theory is that it was designed so that their opponents are so convulsed with laughter they're unable to play properly.

Pelle scored a second just before the final whistle. Italy won. And you know what was the best thing about that victory.It was typically Italian.

Two matches today (Tuesday). Wife and daughter are out for the evening. Things just get better and better.

Until the next time.

Euro 2016 Is Missed Again....Instead I Read A Football Book So That I'm Not A Criminal

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Well work meant that I missed the three matches that were on yesterday.Living in Wales the match was conscious of mostly was their game against Slovenia. Whilst it would be a lie to say that work was as quiet as a wild west town with tumbleweed strolling across the way it was certainly less busy than normal.

Knew Wales had won though didn't know the score however the other match of interest was England Russia. Did not know the result of that as I came home but to be honest couldn't have recorded it as I wouldn't have had the patience not to know  the result. 1-1 then. England never make it easy for themselves do they? Next match is against Wales on Thursday. Working that day. What with the match and the violence involving (though not it appears solely the fault of) English fans perhaps it's a good thing.

Did not realise I could have been watching part of the birthday celebrations for the fact that a woman turned 90 (three times in fact). Perhaps the BBC licence fee would be more justified if they broadcast celebrations for birthdays for other people reaching that age. Then it wouldn't act as if it should be called Broadcasting By Curtsy.

Anyway so to work and during the quiet moments concentrated on finishing off the library book The Three Degrees by Paul Rees. Not least because I was 1 day late on the due date (I know, on the most wanted list I go).

You may remember that it was about the three Afro Caribbean footballers, Brendon Batson,Laurie Cunningham and Cyrille Regis who played for West Bromwich Albion in the late seventies and early eighties. The first time three non coloured players were in a the first eleven in a team in the UK.

It is a good read. It sets out the complex characters involved very well for the uninitiated, Also and possibly crucially the author's local knowledge of the West Midlands at that time makes it easier for the reader to understand the situation that the men were involved in.

At that time football was in a very nasty state. Hooliganism had taken hold of the sport and so the atmosphere generally was hostile. For these men, the colour of their skin added a further layer that they were forced to deal with.The author sets this out well Would hope this hasn't returned.

If there is a flaw in the book it's overdoing the national situation at the time. Obviously it needed to be explained but the Jeremy Thorpe trial? Really?

Still it doesn't hide the fact that this is a quietly important book about men who found themselves being pioneers and just went about their business despite the obstacles ignorance threw their way.

And perhaps also praise should also be placed on West Bromwich Albion. They always struck me as a club who when faced with issues that were beyond merely football always did the right thing.

Anyway I'll go to the library tomorrow to pay my debt to society and get the next football book then.

Until the next time.