Kicking off a short series of posts which consider the geographies of football in England, we take a look at the football scene in Cornwall, tussling in particular with the question as to whether a Football League team will ever pop up in this corner of the country. Over the years, a select number of Cornish footballers have overcome the inconvenience of their faraway place of birth to go on to play in England’s top-flight. Most recently, Nigel Martyn – a son of St Austell originally spotted by the Bristol Rovers’ tea lady while holidaying in Cornwall – and Matthew…
All posts tagged Torquay
The PFA Awards: Stuff and Nonsense?
Once upon a time, the PFA Awards were the undisputed measure of a season’s most valuable players. Voted for by the Professionals themselves, the response to their announcement was one of awed hush and consent – how could mere onlookers presume to know better than those involved in the rough and tumble of the actual sport? But the saccharin, sentimental and simply silly award of the 2009 Players’ Player award to Ryan Giggs changed all that. In one fell swoop, footballers were shown to be as susceptible to a bit of old fashioned press lobbying as the rest of us….
Notts County’s not so mad promotion push
One of the most cacophonous reactions to this season’s many managerial changeovers in the Football League followed Martin Allen’s departure from Notts County and Keith Curle’s installation as his successor. Here, Luke Williamson sheds light on the situation at Meadow Lane and the generally buoyant form Notts have shown since the swap. A little over four weeks has passed since the Notts County board dismissed Martin Allen from his post after a 3-0 defeat on the road at Hartlepool United. Amid fears of a further slump and potential capitulation towards the relegation zone, fans spoke out even louder than normal…
Moonlighting in a Blizzard while avoiding Two Footed Tackles with Rod
A quick pointer to some of the other activities which the denizens of The Two Unfortunates have been indulging in lately before we hunker down to the serious business of today’s league programme – myself at the Mad Stad and Lloyd at Sixfields. First, if you would relish an hour or so’s chat about the Football League, Lloyd made his debut on the most recent Two Footed Tackle podcast and the results can be enjoyed here. Joining Lloyd to talk about the League 2 promotion battle, the seeming financial clover of AFC Bournemouth and which sides may be joining us next year…
Diary of a Footballer
Only a Game: The Diary of a Professional Footballer By Eamon Dunphy Published by Penguin (second edition) July 1998, £8.99, ISBN: 9780140102901 Left Foot in the Grave By Garry Nelson Published by CollinsWillow August 1998, available from 1p, ISBN: 9780002187749 Everyone wants to be a footballer. I still do, and I’m 37. But in the absence of a shift of our solar equilibrium (although I do have a decent left foot), I spent a significant part of my Christmas period reading the day-to-day accounts two professional footballers: Eamon Dunphy and Garry Nelson. Within the contours of football literati, they are…
James: Are the wealthy middle classes really the ones to back a football team...
Lanterne Rouge: Garath McCleary on signing for Reading today:
"It's amazing to be a...
Lloyd: On the Oxford / Reading thing, Lanterne, you write that "there is no c...
Ben: Yes, it does loom a bit, doesn't it? Moxey's comments on the ground re...
