Dear WSC
As a Wimbledon supporter I am often frustrated by the lack of a uniquely identifiable song, and some people might also feel the lack of a mascot. The fact that we have the best educated supporters in the country and our nickname of “Dons” set me thinking. For a mascot we could have a middle-aged man in a chalky tweed suit, gown and mortar board, carrying a large book, Plato’s Republic, or the Faerie Queene, say. As a special treat for the kiddies, perhaps he could recruit them for MI6 or the KGB over sherry. As for a song, the school song, Gaudeanus Igitur (Let them rejoice) would suffice. It would be particularly appropriate for its second verse with the lines “Vivat Academia, Vivat Professores”, loosely translated as “Long Live Academica, Come on You Dons”.I hope all Wombles will aid my campaign to make this song as famous as You’ll Never Walk Alone.
Aled Thomas, Cheltenham
Search: ' World Cup 2006'
Stories
Dear WSC
The article in WSC No 144 about the strange man who looks after the FA Cup reminded me of another story involving the same trophy. Back in 1980, I was working on Record Breakers (look, we’ve all got rent to pay) and I suggested we do an item about football that involved getting all four major trophies (the League, the Charity Shield, and the FA and League Cups) into the studio. Come the day the championship trophy and the Charity Shield were delivered by Securicor from Liverpool. Both were in highly polished wooden boxes as you would expect. The League Cup was delivered from Molineux, also by a security firm and also in its own polished wooden box. The FA Cup, however, was delivered from West Ham in a black cab – wrapped in a pillow case. To cap it all, the cabbie turned out to be a right miserable bugger. Handing me the pillow case he said, “I’m a West Ham fan and this is the first time I get a call to go there. Do I pick up anyone involved in the club? No, I get a fucking pillowcase to deliver.” I didn’t tell him what was in the pillowcase. It’s always given me great pleasure to think that there’s a London cabbie out there who’s missed a great opportunity to say, “’Ere, you’ll never guess what I had in my cab the other day…" One of the carpenters in the studio was a West Ham fan. Heartbroken at the way his club had treated the FA Cup, he built a mahogany box for it. The Cup was returned to the Hammers in the box. Ten years later, Spurs won the cup and it was brought into the LWT studios where I was then working. It was still in the box built by the BBC carpenter.
Robin Carr, Chesham
Saturday 2 FA Cup headlines are made at Rushden, where Leeds are held to a goalless draw, Forest, who lose 1-0 to Portsmouth – Dave Bassett’s non-attendance at a post-match press conference fuelling speculation that he may be about to quit – Upton Park where Swansea are minutes away from beating West Ham before a Julian Dicks goal forces a replay, and at the Dell, where metropolitan fat cats Fulham are denied victory by a last-minute equaliser from Southampton’s Egil Ostenstad. Yeovil also concede a late goal in a draw at Cardiff but the other non-League team, Southport, are beaten 2-0 at home by Leyton Orient. This week’s FA inquiry will look into an incident during Chelsea’s 2-0 win at Oldham when referee Paul Durkin was struck by a hot dog (tomato sauce, no onions) though stewards claim it was only a sausage roll.
Sunday 3 Man Utd recover from a goal down to beat Middlesbrough 3-1 with the help of a penalty decision, given for Neil Maddison’s “trip” on Nicky Butt, that Alex is happy with for once: “If Graham Barber gave it must have been a penalty.” Another questionable spotkick, acquired and scored by Michael Owen, sets Liverpool on the way to a 3-0 win over Port Vale. In Scotland Rangers go four points clear at the top, and ten points ahead of Celtic, after the Old Firm “New Year’s Day” match ends 2-2. There are 50,000 Scots in the crowd and eight on the pitch.
Monday 4 A Cup shock looks on the cards for half an hour at Preston, where the home team race into a two-goal lead against Arsenal, before eventually going down 4-2. Controversy surrounds Arsenal's third goal, which is preceded by Preston defender Ryan Kidd being laid out by an elbow from substitute striker Fabian Caballero (don't ask). "I think there was an elbow incident and that was disappointing," says home manager David Moyes. "We don't need to start fights to win matches," snaps Arsene.
Tuesday 1 Home wins in the Worthington for Sunderland, who score two in the last minute in beating Luton 3-0, and Wimbledon, where the holders Chelsea suffer their first defeat in 19 games. Gianluca becomes the 1,000th defeated manager to say: “We tried to play football, not long ball like Wimbledon,” while Joe Kinnear virtually writes his own invite to an FA disciplinary hearing by announcing that his players “had a nice few bob” on themselves to win the tournament at the start of the season.
Wednesday 2 In the Worthington Spurs beat a Man Utd team featuring nine changes from their last match. “Some clubs may treat this tournament lightly but we’re not in a position to do so,” says George. “Even the best teams can’t win all the time,” sniffs Alex. In the other tie, recent cup specialists Leicester plough on with a 1-0 win over Blackburn , who announce that they have been given permission to talk to Brian Kidd about their managerial vacancy. “I just hope he decides to stay,” whispers Alex, being brave for the sake of the kids.
Dear WSC
Anyone with a soul who was at Pride Park to see Derby’s match against Middlesbrough must now be convinced that any efforts to “improve” refereeing should be firmly resisted. We had a wronged hero, Paulo Wanchope, sent off for showing the degree of commitment that would have earned him a red card in a kick-boxing match. We had a villain, that’s you Andy Townsend, who matched the provoked Paulo kick for kick but was only shown a yellow card. We had the biggest attendance at Pride Park incandescent with righteous indignation. We had a goal from prodigal son No 1, Dean Sturridge, who had excused himself from our previous match. He was booed when he took the pitch and left to a standing ovation. For most of the match our ten men were hanging on heroically against their 11. We had our hopes dashed when Middlesbrough equalised. But injustice was righted in the nick of time by prodigal son No 2, Jonathan Hunt, whom we thought would never be seen again after lengthy loans to lowly First Division clubs. Yet he turned up in the six-yard box to sweep the ball past Schwarzer. And finally we had the scapegoat, referee Mr Harris from Oxford, whose random decisions and wayward card waving wove a plot worthy of a Walt Disney film. Consistency from referees? Who needs it?
Peter Gutteridge, Derby