Why A Sports bag Was Germain To My Support Of PSG

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

Yesterday work turned out to be surprisingly good. Let's take that into perspective. Good in this context means that things turned out better than expected. Miracles are for the young and the young at heart. I definitely don't fall into either category.

Still was in a pleasant "it's Friday and I'm not working this weekend" mood on returning home. My bonhomie was extended into the night as unusually for my non work life, the evening was planned out as well. Was going to watch the French Ligue 1 team I follow, Paris St Germain, play in the first match of the season away to Bastia.

As I've explained before, whilst West Ham United will always remain first for me, I'm of the belief that foreign leagues are only interesting if you pick a team to follow. The only link (with the exception of Fiorentina, chosen because they were the closest Serie A team to where my Italian relatives lived) to the teams I've followed is that the selection was distinctly random. With Paris St Germain it came down to a sports bag.

It was during our honeymoon in Paris that my wife and I found ourselves in some of the main shopping streets in the centre. It was I think near the Champs De l'Elysee. We had discovered a few things about Paris shopping habits that day. That Mcdonalds sold alcohol (something that would never happen in Britain) and that French bread was both softer and tastier than the dental danger it was marketed as in Britain. Most of all though it did seem that the centre of Paris was more similar to the centre of London than we had anticipated.

For reasons that have now escaped me there was a need to buy a new travel bag as the one I had was broken. Remember that we went into a large store and amongst the stuff on sale there was a PSG sports bag. It was not too big, not too small.In the immortal words of Goldilocks it was "just right".

So I bought it.......and still have it today.

The bag that started my support

It seemed only reasonable that PSG became the Ligue 1 side that I followed. All because of a sports bag....yes I know.

To those who would shout glory seeker at me (and being a West Ham fan this is something I'm constantly used to) this is the right moment to point out that this happened in 1998. Well before rich new owners and Zlatan. The biggest clubs in French football at that time were Monaco and the Olympics Lyonnais and Marseille. For me PSG's recent success/domination is the closest I will ever get to feeling like a Manchester City fan.

Of course this season is an important one for PSG given the change in manager and the departure to the Premiership of Mr Ibrahimovic. Genuinely hope he does well for Manchester United (apart from when he's playing West Ham) if only because he's in my fantasy team. I should point out though that I purchased Zlatan before Mourinho did.

Here's the proof:

As a PSG player I should add

So then, yesterday. Had my PSG shirt ready.

Not a football shirt I know. But OK as,they say, for leisurewear

Wife/daughter had decided to go and see a friend that evening. Leaving me all alone..........which meant I could see the game in peace and quiet.

PSG's opponents Bastia were tenth last season which meant they had the mid table respectability that they could not be underestimated, Indeed they had the best chance of the first half. Whatever respectably some of their fans had was lost the moment they started throwing objects (relatively big things as well) to some PSG players taking corner kicks presumably because of the colour of their skin. It was terrible to see. 

It was 0-0 at half time and as the second half progressed I felt as if it was going to be one of those games despite the Parisians being dominant for most of the time. Thankfully I was wrong with Kurzawa scoring late in the second half. That was the way it stayed. 

They were happy. I was happy. Although you could see a fit Cavani is needed. Three points is still three points. Especially as Monaco could only draw.

At the end of the game went to do the most British thing about me and made a cup of tea.

We shall see what the season brings.

Until the next time.

Why Books Are Your Constant Friends,Tesco Appears Pro English In Wales And Some More Bridgend Town And Garden Updates

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I was an only child and the thing about this is that you don't feel lonely because you're used to the situation but you do feel more bored as there is no brother/sister to battle with, Must admit as well that when I was younger when friends did come an awkwardness settled upon me as I didn't know what to do when they played with my toys.

But books have always been there for me. Taken me to places and worlds that nothing, not even television could do. I think also it kept me whole.

I say all of this because this evening I was outside a local church waiting for my daughter to come out of her Guides group. When I arrived there were a few parents there already.  Some were chatting amongst themselves, some were chatting on their phones, others were playing with theirs.

I however was reading a book. The Kim Edwards one as it happens.

And so whilst physically I was outside a Church  in a bright and slightly breezy Bridgend evening mentally I was in America in the late sixties and early seventies. Whatever the problems in my life (and we all have worries) there was a moment where I could forget them for a while.

Books can do that.

In Bridgend Town there are two specific shops selling Polish food and drink for the growing community in the area. A local petrol station is selling a Polish weekly paper and even the supermarkets have Polski products. And I get it. What I didn't understand was what I saw in a local Tesco today.

Why?

The red box contains figures from the English football team presumably to cash in on the European Championship. Now full disclosure here I do collect these figures (for reasons I won't bore you with today) but my collection is only (with one exception)  current and former players of West Ham.

But. This is not England this is Wales. Does Tesco think so little about Wales that it's happy to sell these figures to a nation that has also qualified to the Euros? 

Now Welsh figures are available in the store (though I didn't notice them) according to the website of the company that sells them (http://www.soccerstarz.com/national-teams/wales/) but Tesco wouldn't sell a similar display for French or Italian national players so why is this being done for England? It would after all surprise me immensely if Tesco did a similar thing in Scotland, or Northern Ireland or the Republic.

The point is not an anti English one (after all that's what I am) rather a pro Welsh one, I remember other examples. There was a poster some English stars in a World Cup that the local W H Smith tried to sell. It gathered dust for years.

Wales is a proud nation. What it should not be considered is as an extra opportunity to flog official products of a sporting rival. A rival I should point out who will be playing them in the same group in the forthcoming Championship

More Bridgend Town news here are some more closures. Now when they were closed I'm not sure.

Example One

Now the shop on the right has relocated to somewhere else in the town. Unlike the next example.

There are relocations and there are relocations

This shop has relocated to Cardiff Bay. So the local area has lost out again.

This next example has been closed for a while. But just look how everything is almost literally crumbling.

Closure breeds decay

And finally the fact that the garden has been finally cut has brought back the birds looking for food now that the jungle has disappeared. Including this one.

Big

It was as big as a kitten. Trust it's not an omen.

Until the next time.