"Currants Bw..."

[WMUG]

I don't class distractions as good times by default. Has to be worthwhile, has to galvanise and energise and give fuel for the more common daily grind. If it saps your will to live then it's a distraction too far. A good book remains reliable.

For me, Sunday was all those things.

It was the return of fans to football, time spent with new and old faces after far too long, another cherished memory with my Dad who's not getting any younger. It was certainly galvanising and energising given that I didn't stop singing for 3 hours, and it certainly gave me fuel for the grind, I was walking on air for the whole day yesterday.

I get that sort of thing from football and nothing else.

[Niall_Quinn]

For me, Sunday was all those things.

It was the return of fans to football, time spent with new and old faces after far too long, another cherished memory with my Dad who's not getting any younger. It was certainly galvanising and energising given that I didn't stop singing for 3 hours, and it certainly gave me fuel for the grind, I was walking on air for the whole day yesterday.

I get that sort of thing from football and nothing else.

That's good news for you, not me. I don't begrudge you. But you were making suggestions about how I should be, which I do object to.

[WMUG]

That's good news for you, not me. I don't begrudge you. But you were making suggestions about how I should be, which I do object to.

Not my intention, sorry.

Intention was to show that that sort of thing can still be found through football.

[Niall_Quinn]

Not my intention, sorry.

Intention was to show that that sort of thing can still be found through football.

Not blaming you. We've all done it, myself included. I was the world's biggest fan back in the day, according to me. If you are getting enjoyment and escapism from football that's good for you. Would never stand in your way. But I look for value in the few things I feel have not been corrupted. My personal opinion, of course. Boxing, football and F1 were my things. Boxing went long ago. Football went about a year ago, although I'd been losing interest at an inverse rate to the player pay rises. The ESL thing nailed it for me and showed the true face of the club I invested so much in over the years. The pay-off was piss in the face. So I've logged the whole experience away as a collection of memories, like something that has died. I try to stick with F1, hoping young drivers can bring something of the original sport back to the track. Then Russell went and joined Mercedes and I get why but it indicates there's no real hope left for F1 either.

I did have a look at my local football club as maybe an outlet and a throwback. The costs for a lower league game are absolutely ridiculous. The cost of the train to go just a few miles. Ludicrous. The cost of a beer? A joke. We had a local team who played down the road on a school pitch. Just kids having fun with their dads egging them on. I did that a couple of times. Property developers bought the school and now they are building "affordable" houses at £500K a pop. The fun went out of it at that point.

So I read non-electronic books, early editions where possible.

[WMUG]

Not blaming you. We've all done it, myself included. I was the world's biggest fan back in the day, according to me. If you are getting enjoyment and escapism from football that's good for you. Would never stand in your way. But I look for value in the few things I feel have not been corrupted. My personal opinion, of course. Boxing, football and F1 were my things. Boxing went long ago. Football went about a year ago, although I'd been losing interest at an inverse rate to the player pay rises. The ESL thing nailed it for me and showed the true face of the club I invested so much in over the years. The pay-off was piss in the face. So I've logged the whole experience away as a collection of memories, like something that has died. I try to stick with F1, hoping young drivers can bring something of the original sport back to the track. Then Russell went and joined Mercedes and I get why but it indicates there's no real hope left for F1 either.

I did have a look at my local football club as maybe an outlet and a throwback. The costs for a lower league game are absolutely ridiculous. The cost of the train to go just a few miles. Ludicrous. The cost of a beer? A joke. We had a local team who played down the road on a school pitch. Just kids having fun with their dads egging them on. I did that a couple of times. Property developers bought the school and now they are building "affordable" houses at £500K a pop. The fun went out of it at that point.

So I read non-electronic books, early editions where possible.

Fair enough, I get you.

The corruption thing is why I asked you if you'd heard of AFC Wimbledon.

Theirs is, I think, the tale of fighting the corruption of football and rubbing it back in its face.

Team gets stolen to another city, fans of the club say fuck off, make their own club, get back to the football league in only 9 years, then get promoted to the same division as the team that used to be them, beating them in the process, then building their own ground 200 yards from the site of their old stadium.

All while remaining fan owned.

Can't say better than that.

The ESL thing was disgusting, no doubt about it, and something that had been in the works for years.

But it revealed that despite everything, the fans as a collective still have a shitload of power. We got it canned, and the bastards ran away with their tails between their legs.

It's a little disappointing that we didn't push back further and get them out entirely, taking control ourselves, but maybe that was a little much to ask straight away. Hopefully that day will come, until then, I'll carry on enjoying and despising football in equal measure with other fans.

[Letters]

The exact same thing happened (at a lower level) with the Enfield team I go and see sometimes.
The "old" Enfield moved away and the new Enfield sprang up, it's all fan owned. It feels more fun than top level football.
That said, as jaded as I am by it all I certainly had a spring in my step on Monday

[WMUG]

The exact same thing happened (at a lower level) with the Enfield team I go and see sometimes.
The "old" Enfield moved away and the new Enfield sprang up, it's all fan owned. It feels more fun than top level football.
That said, as jaded as I am by it all I certainly had a spring in my step on Monday

Ooh yeah, just looked it up, does seem like a very similar situation. I do like that they're in a higher division than the old club

I went to an AFC Bury game a while back, similar thing happened there except the old club doesn't even exist any more, except on paper.

[Letters]

The shortages are really starting to bite now

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-58733754

[GP]

The shortages are really starting to bite now

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-58733754

There's plenty of them in Westminster haha lol

[dazthegooner]

Sarah Edwards killer get whole life sentence https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-58747614
Apart from the death penalty this is the next best thing