Who knows why 42 year old Speed, chose to end his life so unexpectedly, but he obviously had in his own mind a reason to do so. Trouble is though, it seems no one else had a clue, what was going on inside his head.
What is clear, is that this much loved guy who played more than 500 Premier League games for Leeds United, Everton and Newcastle, has left a huge hole in the footballing world. The tributes have been pouring in from just about everyone who played with him and against him. Ironic really, that since he became the Manager of Wales, their results have improved out of sight, and giving the Welsh real hope they could make it the 2014 World Cup. Absolute tragedy. See BBC Report

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/newcastle-united/8184265/Chris-Hughton-sacked-as-manager-of-Newcastle-United.html
The events of the last week have got me wondering if it’s worth being associated with football anymore. The game I’ve loved for over 40 years is in the hands of egotistical maniacs, Sepp Blatter, Roman Abramovich and this idiot Mike Ashley.

Chris Hughton, is a real footballing man who does not deserve this sort of treatment after restoring pride to the Toon. OK he’s not the biggest name in football, but does that really matter? Have a look at some of the results he has achieved, better than many big names could have done.

Abramovich is like a timebomb. Chelsea lose three games and there is talk about Ancelotti getting the boot. When does this madness end? We will end up having mangers sacked at half-time because their team is not playing well.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/england/8176849/Englands-World-Cup-2018-bid-blame-lies-for-humiliation.html

If the decent footballing nations of this world, resigned from FIFA and formed a breakaway group that was run properly, the entire landscape would change. From the voices we have heard this week, from all around the world, you would have to think, collectively it could be achieved. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/9253766.stm

For many years hopes have been high in England at the prospect of hosting the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Yesterday Prince William, Prime Minister David Cameron and  ambassadors like David Beckham, were part of the presentation team which performed impressively, however FIFA announced Russia, had beaten Spain/Portugal, Netherlands/Spain. and England who were eliminated in round one with only two votes. The English bid team were led to believe that they had the support of at least six FIFA delegates, yet when it came down to the crunch, they were deserted.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/9252156.stm

Doesn’t matter that their bid was the strongest in a footballing sense and ticked all the right boxes, oh no. The reality was Roman Abramovich and his Russian friends had deep enough pockets to feed the greedy FIFA Executives. Until earlier this year, England would have been considered favourites by many people. The British public now have to face the bitter disappointment, where all the great work, of those mentioned above has come undone, in some part possibly because of the the Media’ criticism.

It must be said though that this is supposed to be about football, and if that is the reason why only two FIFA members voted for England, what further proof do you need? FIFA know they are guilty and have plenty to hide. I always felt the amount of oil money the Russians had to throw at  FIFA would win the day, and sadly for the English that is how it transpired.

As for Qatar getting the nod for 2022, that is just laughable, and all the proof you need that it is all about money and corruption. If Blatter really was true to his word about spreading the love around the world, then it had to go to Australia, not the US, not Japan, not Korea, but to the Aussies. The world knows they can chuck on a gig like this with their hands tied, yet they only received one vote and were eliminated in round one. It’s all been said about why Qatar is high risk, so no need to go into more detail here.

I feel so full of despair for the beautiful game that has been wrecked by an archaic and institution that should be eliminated. As Graham Taylor said, FIFA are not accountable to anyone. Well they bloody well should be and it’s about time things changed.

And so it came to be, despite finishing top, the Old Boys will not be contesting the Grand Final next weekend. And nor will our friends from Brindabella Blues B, the side that finished second, also went down, losing 3-1 to Lanyon in their semi-final.

The important thing to take out of this season, was that it was a great achievement in getting this far, not forgetting also the fun we have had in playing another season together. Thanks again guys, it was a real pleasure, and look forward to going around again next season. Cheers.

http://football2.resultsvault.com/menu.aspx?entityid=31055&width=800&showname=1%22%3E
This morning a 0-0 draw against second placed Brindabella Blues B, was enough for the Old Boys to finish top of the table in the home and away series. Now I am well aware that finishing top of the table in Australia counts for very little, but where I come from finishing top means your team are the champions, so tonight we are claiming that honour and bugger off to anyone who disagrees, cos I don’t care. We deserve to proclaim ourselves ‘Champions”, we scored more goals than any one else, and Colin Tulley was the leagues top goal scorer with 25 from 21 games. Hands off Celtic!!!!

For the benefit of my UK friends, all the football codes here in Australia, consider finishing first, as a minor honour, hence the title of ‘minor premiers’  That is because despite proving yourselves to be the best over the season, it ain’t over until the top four or five play-off in a confusing series of semi-finals and finals before two teams are left to contest the grand final.

In our case, we now play the team that have finished fourth, while the team we beat into second place, play off against the third placed side. So our reward for being the best is that we could get knocked out by a team who finished with significantly less points.
I’m not complaining, we all know the rules before we start, and over the years some of my teams have benefited from these bizarre rules. I’m just expressing my views on the difference between the European system and the Australian system.

Anyway, about the game this morning.  Well for a start I wasn’t playing again as injury has taken it’s toll and I won’t be there for the semi or the final if we get there. The guys put in a calm and composed performance throughout and hardly allowed Brindabella a chance on goal throughout, apart from a penalty conceded 20 minutes from the end. With the chance to overtake the Old Boys and claim the title, the Blues striker’s nerves got the better of him and he pushed his shot wide of Herdy’s right hand post. What a bloody shame!!!!!!!

Other than that, they had nothing, and although we were happy to let them have plenty of possession our midfield and defence didn’t let them do anything with it. On the other hand, the Old Boys have had trouble creating chances lately, and are without a goal for the last three games. It was counter attack stuff this morning and apart from Kenny hitting the post in the second half, there were just one or two half chances that we couldn’t quite take.
That’s ok, we’ve had our run of patchy form, and today’s improved effort should be enough to boost our confidence going into next week’s crucial game.

Special thanks to Colin & Michelle Tulley who laid on a fantastic end-of -season BBQ for the players after the game. A great way to celebrate with a few beers, and it gave the lads the chance to give me a bit of stick over West Ham’s shocking start to the season.

Thanks Old Boys for another fantastic season, and good luck against Canberra FC at University of Canberra, we deserve to do the double

In summary the Spanish were the best team in the tournament, just ahead of Germany. They stayed true to their beliefs on how the game should be played, and their sublime passing game was rewarded. I wouldn’t be surprised if Spain and Germany go on to dominate the world game. Brazil 2014 will be very interesting.

It was however a gallant effort by the Old Boys, who were missing the likes of Valery, Wally, Woody, Bill Hardie, Angelo, Perry and Greg. So we lined up with only 12 players, and to make matters worse by half time, both Mark Carter and Branko were sitting on the sideline nursing injuries.

The 10 men, went out in the second half, and performed heroically as wave after wave of attack was thwarted by the Old Boys defence. The guys eventually cracked five minutes from time when the Blues finally got the winner, which on the balance of play, I have to say they probably deserved.  They celebrated with a few blasts of the Vuvezela

So the 1-0 win, means that Brindabella are now only three points behind the Old Boys at the top of the table, with seven games to go.

It was a stark contrast to last weekend, when we played Belconnen. After beating them 10-1 earlier in the season, the Old Boys, were looking for the opportunity to extend their lead at the top of the table and boost their goal difference further. Well thanks to an 8-goal haul from Col Tulley, we scored 13 without reply. I was again missing in action, but from what I hear, Mr Tulley missed a couple of chances he would have normally buried.

Onto more exciting matters, and tomorrow mornings (AEST) World Cup Final in Jo Burg between Spain and Netherlands.  I do believe it will be a fitting final, and predict Spain to win, but only just. Maybe 1-0, or even penalties.
For me though, the everlasting memory of this World Cup, will be the brilliant performance by the Germans against Argentina in the Quarter Finals. Maradonna’s Argies were swept aside and beaten out of sight by Germany 4-0 in Cape Town, just a few days after the Germans had embarrassed Fabio’s England 4-1.

I expected them to go on and beat Spain in the Semi-Final and win the tournament, however they did claim 3rd place after beating Uruguay 3-2 this morning.

I will be glad to see the back of the World Cup, and get the sleep pattern back to normal again. Not only that but I don’t think it has been a great competition, compared with Germany 2006 or even Japan/Korea 2002.

On a final note, best wishes and get well soon to our dear friend and Old Boy Paul Carter who is not feeling the best right now. Thinking of you Paul, and hoping you will be fit again for next season.

Onto last Thursday, on a bitterly cold night, the Old Boys turned up to play Lanyon on the  dew covered artificial service at Hawker, in our rearranged match from a few weeks ago.
The game nearly got postponed again, because someone from Capital Football had turned the floodlights off, but thanks to the referee and a number of phone calls the game was able to be played.

It was a very tight end to end affair with a number of chances for both sides. However it was the Old Boys who grabbed the only goal of the game near the end of the first half when Valery Kaladzinski picked up the ball just inside the Lanyon half and mesmerised their defence with a dazzling run that Messi of Argentina would be proud of before slotting the ball into the corner of the net.
The Old Boys came under intense pressure after the break, but once again outstanding defending kept the score at 1-0. With John Herd missing, the Rovers keeper John Tucker stepped in and kept his first clean sheet of the season prompting him to consider a move to the over 43’s.

Overall  a good win against a younger and fitter team, ( Who isn’t) and on a big pitch that only took five minutes to wear the Old Boys out.
It also made a nice change for the boys to play on a surface where the ball didn’t bobble around on the usual bumpy and uneven surfaces that we get to play on.

Then finally last Sunday took the Old Boys over to the Uni of Canberra where we came from behind to snatch a 1-1 draw. More details to follow when the carrier pigeon makes it home.

Ever since England have been involved in World Cups, there has always been a tragic, controversial or calamatious end. You can go back to 1950 when the USA turned them over. 1970 when they let a 2- goal lead slip, and lost 3-2 to the Germans. That wasn’t helped by some rather ordinary goal keeping from Chelsea’s Peter Boneti, who was deputising for Gordon Banks, allegedly, according to some conspiracy theorists, the victim of food poisoning.
Then we had the ‘Hand of God’, Gazza’s tears, Penalty shoot-out, Beckham’s send-off, Penalty shoot-out, Beckham’s injured foot, Rooney’s injured foot, Rooney’s send-off, Penalty shoot-out, now we have the ‘Hand of Clod’ and the goal that never was. The story goes on and on and on.

But isn’t that what the World Cup is all about for England? It’s a tragedy waiting to happen, and it comes around every four years to haunt every English football fan. What it has done is given the football world another talking point to go on and on about for the next 50 years.  Payback for 1966 say the Germans, and you can’t really argue with that.