Taking a closer look at a Football League personality this week is Matt Rowson, co-pen of Watford blog BHaPPY (whose precursor was BSaD, the site that originally got me [Lloyd] interested in football writing). This morning, Matt considers the recent rise of Academy graduate and next great Hornets hope Sean Murray. Watford are not the only side with a decent track record in terms of producing its own talent, but we do it rather well. Teenage striker Britt Assombalonga recently became the fiftieth Academy product to be given his Watford debut since its inception in 1998, a rate of roughly…
All posts tagged Watford
Book Review: Graduation
Our latest book review comes from Tom Bodell, editor of Vital Watford. Tom can be followed on Twitter at @TBBodell and here casts his eye on the autobiography of Richard Lee, one time Hornet and now a Bee. Graduation: Life Lessons of a Professional Footballer By Richard Lee Published by Bennion Kearny August 2010, £9.99, ISBN: 978-0-9570511-2-6 Brentford custodian Richard Lee is not the kind of footballer you would expect to be releasing a book. For one thing, he’s only 29 years of age, his time as a goalkeeper hasn’t been ended prematurely and his career to date has been entirely unremarkable to the…
Trading Places: Time to Reform the Football League’s Loan System?
To look closely at the associated regulations is to acknowledge the Football League’s existing loan system as nothing less than a free for all. ‘Temporary loan transfer’ is the umbrella heading which comprises the following three types of move permissible under the current system: • ‘Standard Loans’ (half or full season in length and arranged during the two transfer windows); • ‘Emergency Loans’ (28-93 days in length and arranged both within the two transfer windows and during fixed periods outside these dates); • ‘Youth Loans’ (identical to ‘Emergency Loans’ but applies to scholars or new professionals on a work experience-type…
Capital: London Football, Present and Future
In an article last year, The Economist coined the phrase `Londonism’ to refer to what it regarded as a distinct ideology driven by the office of Mayor. It cited as the central tenets of `Londonism’: enthusiasm for the financial services industry; an openness to immigration; and the unceasing pursuit of economic growth. The success of this new way of thinking, according to the piece, is symbolized by the redevelopment of the Docklands to the east of the city’s centre. The landscape of this part of the city is now replete with tall, shimmering citadels of global financial behemoths, futuristically-designed transport hubs and high-value property developments. Unsurprisingly, however, the article fails to look beyond the streets…
Unpardonable Trumpet Blowing
With The Two Unfortunates having reached the grand old age of 2, we’ll need to keep plugging away for another year to emulate the life span of a worker bee or queen ant. However, several hundred posts down, I thought it was high time to draw readers’ attention to some of our contributors’ work that has appeared from without the auspices of TTU.Of those with direct posting privileges, several generally see this as a moonlighting opportunity to squeeze in alongside their days jobs. In recent days, Matt Rowson of BHaPPY has once again been forced to react to the departure of a…
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...
