2217 Local sporting success and National racism

It was in the autumn of 1974 that I first became a regular at Sunderland Football Club at Roker Park, following them at many away matches over the next fifteen to sixteen years that I was a loyal season ticket holder. I stopped as they slid from the first to second and into the third divisions of the football league. There was a gap of year before I became caught up in the Kevin Keegan era at Newcastle where I remained a season ticket holder for about 14 years. Some Sunderland supporting politicians thought this was a great betrayal.

By about 2005/2006 I became disenchanted with the development of Premiership football which had become finance governed in terms of the payments made to players resulting in a situation where only club with unlimited financial support could purchase and keep the top players and therefore have the opportunity to win the Premiership or major European competitions. There was also the issue of the cost of attending matches and the impact of getting older and less enthusiastic about watching games when the weather was poor to bad. As had been the instance when I first stopped buying a season ticket there was the question of how many game experiences did one enjoy?

I did enjoy watching Sunderland gain promotion into the Premiership in 2007 at their new purpose built stadium but after that it was back to normal fighting to avoid relegation which is what happened to Newcastle under the managership of Alan Shearer. The whole saga of what happened at Newcastle under the ownership of Mike Ashley led to taking the decision that I would not return to watch games at the club while he remained in control. This position remains although is a separate issue from my support for the team as my support for Sunderland AFC has continued.

This year Sunderland ended the contract of Steve Bruce the second former Manchester United player to fail at Sunderland within five years, the other being Roy Keene. The choice was former Sunderland supporter Martin O’Neill who had a great careers as a player with Nottingham Forest winning a European Champions and then as an International for Northern Ireland with 64 appearances. He had also had a substantial and successful managerial career talking Leicester City to Football league Cups and winning the Scottish premiership and in his first season with Celtic the team not only one the Scottish Premiership Title but both cups. He left football to care for his wife who developed cancer in 2005. He then joined Aston Villa which he took to the first Cup win in ten years and finished 6th in the Premiership in each of his years with the club. He shocked the football world resigning from the club at the commencement of the 2010/11 season with lack of funds to progress the club considered the main cause.

Since joining Sunderland he has quickly created an enthusiastic team unit playing to the best of their abilities. Just before Christmas the team had a dramatic 3.2 win away to Queens Park Rangers and at Everton the award of questionable penalty prevented a second win away so they settled for draw. Their biggest challenged under the new Manager came the following week at home when they faced the present leaders Manchester City and won in the dying seconds of the game. They went to Wigan Athletic and won 4.1 thus gaining a total of 10 points out of 12 and moving out of the relegation zone into mid table. This Sunday Sunderland was the penultimate game to be played in the third round of the F A CUP, competition that Martin O’Neill has never won as a player or manager. Moreover the reason why the game was one of two selected by ITV to be shown is that over the past decade Sunderland has gone out in the early rounds of cup competitions to clubs from lower divisions.

That afternoon Peterborough the home side managed by the son of the Manchester United Manager were nervous and handicapped by injuries failed to show the attacking flair for which they are famous while Sunderland carried out a professional and rather clinical performance which won the game by two goals to nil. They have been rewarded with a home tie in the fourth round to North East neighbours Middlesbrough.

Their closest neighbours and fierce rivals Newcastle had one of the best starts to a Premiership season since the day of Kevin Kegan now some 20 years ago. Lee Catamole, the Sunderland captain played for the Boro before their relegation to the championship which will add spice to the match although it is not anticipated the game will be featured live because of the emphasis on potential giant killing.

In contrast to Sunderland Newcastle United had their best start to a season since the Kevin Kegan era rising fourth in the table and then slipping to 7th as they played and lost to some of the more accomplished sides in the Premiership. The surprising and best buy of the season and of most seasons was the decision of the club to take Demba Ba an extremely talented player but with a suspect knee which led Stoke City among several clubs to pass him by. Not only is an excellent frontman but he performs as a creative midfield player with defensive awareness when required. He quickly became one of the Premierships leading scorers. His performance against the present Champions Manchester United was regarded as not just 10/10 but the best performance in a single game by a forward in British football this season.

Newcastle has only beaten Manchester United three times in the past two decades. I watched the previous two games at the ground while the latest match was with the help of 3D so it many respects it was not just as good as being there but better with the benefit of close ups and replays. There were two great goals while the icing on the cake was a dreadful own goal by Manchester United which will be replayed in howlers of decade programmes for decades to come. The much maligned Shola Ameobi also had an excellent game and the two tall and strong front men created such problems for the united defence that their forwards could rarely get into top gear.

It is in sport and artistic performances that 3D has its great potential although as with 3D in general it is an aid to a performance and not a performance in itself. It provides the opportunity to feel part of the reality of the experience rather at a distance and separate. It will not make a boring game or event interesting once the novelty of the medium wears off. So far I have also watched darts, the Horse of the Year show and some rugby union. I look forward to tennis and motor-racing although I suspect the latter will be dependent on Sky gaining the rights to Formula 1 and of course the Olympic Games but the main joy will be cricket and it will be interesting to see if England’s games with Pakistan in Dubai will be shown in the medium.

The main talking point of the past couple of months, making the front as well as rear papers of the newspapers has been incidents of racism. A Liverpool player has been suspended for eight games because of repeated remarks made to a Manchester United player. The two teams have now been drawn to play each other in the 4th round of the F A Cup. Liverpool players unwisely supported by their Manager wore shirts in support of their player which may have influenced an individual fan making offensive remarks to an away team player at weekend which distressed him to the extent that the game was stopped and the police carried out an investigation with an individual arrested and charged. John Terry who has already lost his captaincy of the England team last year because of a private life scandal is to be prosecuted for alleged racist comments against QPR player. |The spate of these incidents together with a random racists killing of a student from India may be a coincidence and not indicate some form of organised response or general reawakening and also nothing to do with the conviction of two member of the gang who killed the school boy Stephen Lawrence nearly two decades ago. The police through racism and incompetence and perhaps some corruption although the latter has not been substantiated while the former were following inquiry failed horribly. The family were forced to bring a private prosecution which failed and it was only through persistent campaigning that the law was changed to enable a second prosecution when sufficient evidence to convince a judge and jury became available because of improvements in forensic science. The continuation of racism in British life remains an indictment of the British character.

1434 China and Dafur, a bad day at Cricket and some TV

First reality. BBC Panorama has conducted an investigation which shows conclusively that China supplied the Sudanese government military hardware which has been used against civilians in Darfur. This is important evidence in the case against its leader who has now been charged with war crimes in his capacity as head of the military services as well as head of state. Because the weapons can be shown to have been made after sanctions were agreed at the United Nations this reflects badly on China.

The significance is that the programme showed that the weapons are being used in Darfur something which the Chinese argue has not been the situation. China has repeatedly blocked or weakened resolutions which could have helped to create a situation where UN intervention had a chance of success. While the programme concentrated on the involvement of China, Russia is also involved in providing weapons which enable the Sudanese to wield unacceptable force against negro Africans in the country.

The programme brought out the impact of Government action on individuals. A woman described how three of her seven children were cut down before her eyes and those of her other children and a young woman told of her rape. The majority were too afraid to be shown on camera and one fears for those who were. It was not just the horror of what had happened to individuals which affected me but the reality of the nature of what governments have to do to sustain and advance the position of the governed and how once official violence is unleashed it quickly gets out of hand and individuals develop the lust for blood, sex and wealth from the most vulnerable and usually the innocent.

Reality two. People are being murdered, raped, accidentally killed and maimed around me and all over England and the British Isle. My and our concern must be for them first. It is good we have media which investigates and reminds us of what is happening elsewhere on a large scale beyond the compression of most and the capacity of the all us to cope with.

Reality three. Last night I watched Martin Shaw as a senior Northumbrian policeman investigating a murder back in 1964 where the body is burnt beyond recognition and no one is report missing or to suggest who the individual is. The two hour fictional drama reveals how in the interests of the state, individuals are knowingly sacrificed. The basic storyline is that in order to penetrate the security of the IRA, the secret service "special branch" pretends that an Ira marksman and gun runner is a traitor providing them information when in fact it is a more senior member of the organisation and to establish his ongoing credibility they allow him to execute the gun runner and to also kill the only witness to what happened as well as being prepared for him to take the weapons back to Ireland which could have been used against British soldiers as well as others. The character played by Martin Shaw with the help of his assistant prevent the guns being handed over and the senior IRA officer is killed. Martin advises that he will make a full report on the role of the special branch officer, while in turn the special branch officer asks Martin how he will be able to sleep at night having prevented the plan from progressing. The programme reminds the difficult choices which governments and individuals on behalf of government have to take and how easy it is for principles and standards to be compromised.

Reality four and five are of different order. It has been a glorious warm and sunny day and I decided early on that irrespective of how the game progressed in the morning I was visit Durham Cricket Club for the after lunch session. I had a belief that Somerset were the kind of Cricket Club who would declare their second innings at a point where Durham had a good chance to win the game rather than play defensively. I remembered that when Durham first became a First class cricket county they plated Somerset at Darlington and set Durham the task of getting some 250 runs which in fact Durham were able to achieve within the overs remaining. Somerset had been criticised for making the task too easy and this was one of the first wins if not their first win. Today the task set was some 280 runs with 50 overs, a task similar to that which faced Durham in the recent Semi Final of the Friends Provident Trophy and where in fact the same thing happened as it did then and Durham lost two quick wickets. At least this time Durham had no need to face a win or lose position as a draw would keep them in the title race as they continue to have one game in hand on the three teams above them and on Yorkshire who have the same number of points. It was just as well that the weather was fine as you have to be an aficionado to appreciate the defensive game. A good approaching 100 partnership between captain Blenkenstien and opener De Venuto steadied the situation but their quick departure, followed by a fifth wicket opened her possibility of defeat again. Phil Mustard held himself back and with Ben Harmison saw the game through to 5.30 when Somerset agreed to the draw and an early long drive home. Had the umpire accepted their call for an LBW shortly before the half hour I am sure they would have pressed on in an effort to claim the additional ten points for the win and which would have deprived Durham of four of their eight points. Durham were lucky for Somerset appeared to be in control of this game from the start and puts Durham's ambitions of winning the championship title in perspective.

It was only later in the evening on arrival home that the result of the Yorkshire appeal against being ejected from the competition was made known. It was an amusing decision because it was agreed that the Committee had been too harsh in ejecting Yorkshire from the competition and instead they were deducted two points but allowed the result against Nottinghamshire to stand. This consequently also punished Nottinghamshire who had claimed the game just as Durham had asked for a bye. The decision means that Glamorgan one of the third best placed teams in the final league tables go through to meeting Durham at Riverside at a date to be determined. Presumably Nottinghamshire may appeal against this decision. I like this decision though. It is also interesting to read an apology issued by Yorkshire Cricket Club to Durham Members and although this is wholehearted it is about the original mistake and not what happened a week ago. I had written to Yorkshire Chairman Brian Close as well as Durham's Chairman which led to a personal letter from the Club's Chief Executive. Twenty four hours later the date of the revised game has not been publicised. I contacted the Rosebowl and established that all tickets and pre parking has been sold except for the semi finalists. It is going to be a hectic few days if the date of 21st suggested to Glamorgan is correct.

Reality Six. Before returning home I went to Sunderland City Centre to see what was the latest position on replacement spectacles at Specsavers who provided a current pair where one lens has been affected by my fall which I have only recently noticed. Sadly it is a sign of the times that the shop was fully shuttered so I had to find out find out the position through the internet. However the visit provided the opportunity to see some changes to the side of the city centre where there are the offices of solicitors and accountants and such like. I will need to bring my camera on another fine evening to be able to photograph when there are no crowds. I also called in at Morrison's for some fruit but could not resist two packs of Cinnamon Danish pastries originally 79 pence on offer for 39 when you will pay over a £1 when eating in café. A cup of tea and a single scone without cream or jam cost £2.20 at the cricket. It became a day of facing different levels of reality. More about that another time, perhaps.

1408 Some English Cricket and politics

Wednesday evening demonstrated the true spirit of Englishness. Although the weather forecast was not promising a thousand or so good folk of Durham and Tyneside assembled at the riverside cricket ground at Chester Le Street between 4 and 6 pm in the hope of another exciting and enthralling cricket match in the 20 20 competition.

It has been a reasonable day, dry and warmer compared to Tuesday which hah been horrible. I had spent the day in writing for pleasure, for work research and in relation to the premature and preventable death of my aunt and care mother with the consequence that I did not set off until well after four arriving at the ground about a quarter to five. I was able to park in the first area of the end car park nearest the main roadway out of the Ground and the Riverside Parkland. There was still a number of car parking and change attendants with all the gates open at the ground although this time there were two police on duty checking bags for alcohol rather than the half dozen civilians. It was nevertheless a full scale operation intended for a crowd that never arrived.

I made my way immediately to Member's lounge when I needed a cold drink deciding on a J20 which at £1.80 was an expensive but enjoyable drink. I then made enquiries and established that the two rows of seating on the covered veranda were available on a first come first served basis, and selected a seat on the second row so that I could hop over without disturbing the others who were seated. I then watched the last part of the English innings against the New Zealand in the second one day at Edgbaston as we struggled to raise the scoring rate in what had become a rain effected and reduced over game. I had heard an interesting discussion about the politics and funding of the new 20 20 game which suggested an urgent need for the international bodies to reach quick agreement over what has happened and what impact the emergence of major prize and earning competitions will have on the game. For example Michael Vaughan the English Test captain does not play in the one day or 20 20 competition with Paul Collingwood of Durham captain of the latter. Paul has the opportunity of wining half a million in a game in the West Indies which is bound to attract world TV interest hence the ability to pay the prize money although it will only take one dropped catch or run out rather like a missed penalty for the team to lose out, What does Mr Vaughan makes of this and other Test Players not likely to make the 20 20 game.

My impression is that the English and other authorities have acted in a panic in order to try and keep our players from going off and making money for themselves and for the match promoters so our lot have come up with competitions which will make money for both players and our official organisation which in turn they will use to improve the County Game as well as promoting cricket in schools and village and town clubs. Later a Durham member suggested to me that test players had a guaranteed income of around £200000 which is so puts a different perspective and adds to gulf between such players and ticket prices and the rest of cricket. It is my understanding that the Test and County cricket board gives just £1million a year to the 18 first class counties.

Unfortunately the spits of rain on the journey down changed to a drizzle so that first the hard covers were brought over the wicket, then the bowlers runs ups, then the side areas to the hard cover and eventually the giant sheets which cover the entire area of the grounds used for wickets. Those experienced on such occasions noted that the decision was taken not to hold the toss as who was to bat first, a good indication that play was unlikely and then the addition of covers rather than their removal. The public address system remained optimistic reminding that if a pint of smooth bitter was bought would could have a draw ticket so that if a player hit's a ball directly in the three large containers around the boundary there would be a draw for £10000. The international 20.20 to be held in August at the ground was advertised with the last tickets available for £35. It will be interesting to see what the actual turn out is on the day is.

Another indicator of what was to come is that although it was raining the Durham All star dancing girls, eight this time, came out wearing their short shorts but all weather tops to do a full dance waving to crowd as they came on and then departed, I waved back noting that it was only children and young men who responded. It was then time for a plate of chips after drinking the hot soup I had brought with me. I did watch part of New Zealand's well played march to victory only to be robbed by the weather when with less than one over to go the rain brought the match to an end, and the game was declared no result. One of Durham's senior players came to talk to relatives who were sitting next to me and then I had a long chat with a long member who had been a teacher. There was continued hope that we might get some play in that it was still possible for sufficient overs to be played for a result to be achieved if the game could start before 27 minutes past eight o'clock and around quarter to eight the large motorised mopping up rollers started to clear water from the top of the covers. However at eight the decision to abandon play was announced and information given on how the tickets could be reused or reimbursed.

At one level given my advancing years and uncertain future spending over four hours watching the grass grow was not a good use of time although given the earlier activities I did not regard the experience as wasteful. It was all very English.

There was a similar restrained and serious atmosphere in the Commons because on top of the four deaths last week in Afghanistan a further four troops had been killed in a road bomb the previous day with another seriously ill. They were not named but later on the news I heard that one was the first female combatant soldier to be killed in what appears to have been a secret mission. The thoughtful reflection on the British role was shared by all three main leaders of the political parties before the Opposition challenged the Prime Minister to admit that the Irish no vote against the new European Treaty meant that along with the Constitution it was dead. The Prime Minister explained why it was necessary to proceed with the British Ratification process, side steeping the Opposition demand that there would not be no attempt to persuade Ireland to hold another vote or get round the effective veto in someway. The government is in a difficult position having previously promised a referendum on the new Constitution and then abandoned the idea when the Treaty was cooked up in order to have a means of operation to cover the expansion of the community. There is no doubt that whatever the benefits of the enlarged community if there is a referendum on anything to do with the European community the British public will vote no and there is no evidence that this will change in the foreseeable future. It is an issue which the government, any government needs to address with profound implications for our future.