The Teesra

Category: other sports

  • Review — Football, The People’s Shame: How to Revolutionise a National Sport

    Review — Football, The People’s Shame: How to Revolutionise a National Sport

    A fascinating read on the “theft” of a national sport, and how the “People’s Shame” could be reversed.

    Football has always been the people’s game, so how can we reclaim it from the corporations and oligarchs who have stolen it from us?

    Micky P Kerr, in “Football, the People’s Shame”

    Starting with an historical perspective on the (professional) game, and how its governance has diverged so far from the fans, Kerr presents a radical proposal to reclaim the game for the people, and a discussion of the political climate needed to facilitate such a radical change.

    I am not an economist or a political scientist, so I don’t feel at all qualified to comment on Kerr’s proposals to reclaim the people’s game. Do read the book!

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  • Watching live football!

    Watching live football!

    At the weekend, I watched London Seaward FC play Hackney Women’s FC in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup.

    A proper cup tie — skill, energy, drama. Hackney came back strongly in the second half, after their keeper was sent off, but the extra player counted in the end as Seaward ran out 3-1 winners.

    Although my football coaching badge lapsed 7 years ago, I couldn’t help watching the patterns of play. And wondering what Seaward’s coaches (and data analyst) might have made of the game.

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  • New ECB hubs with Government funding? What really matters?

    New ECB hubs with Government funding? What really matters?

    With the Essex Over 60s 1st XI due to play Yorkshire Vets at Bradford Park Avenue last week†, I was reminded of the recent news about the new cricket centre in Bradford, and the (then) Government’s promise of £35m funding to support “grassroots” cricket.

    The talk of “16 new hubs by 2030” was, perhaps, all too reminiscent of the promise to build “40 new hospitals for the NHS”. And with the demise of the Conservative government, it might be that this funding never does come through.

    But I do wonder if the emphasis on investing in building new cricket hubs was ever really the best strategy.

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