I have been to the North-east chasing a
few more football grounds and came across Horden WM FC which was a
tidy ground, getting ready for the new season and had a chat with the
Hartlepool United FC head groundsman, who was praying for rain to
freshen up his pitch. I mentioned that I knew about Pool's latest
signing from Grimsby, Carl Magnay, and reassured him that it was money
well spent. Pool is one of the country's most loved clubs, probably
because it has always been struggling for survival, on the brink of
relegation but managed to keep in the League. Here's a bit of Carl......
I also learned that the Professor of
Geography at Durham University once advised Bristol City on their
drainage, which was causing the club headaches; Prof Tim Burt is an
eminent hydrologist and appears in Who's Who, so he must be the bee's
knees on pitch craft. He went to the ground on a match day to check out progress. He was led onto the ground and watched in horror as
the groundsman dug a soil pit in front of the waiting crowd just
before kick off, to show him the development!
My trip away was rounded off by hearing
that Frank Lampard has been awarded an OBE and Wales have pretty much
qualified for a major international tournament for the first time
since 1958. Have a look at this news reel of their success in
Sweden....the filming leaves much to the imagination:-
Gareth Bale scored against Belgium
(World Ranked 2) on his 50th game for Wales so there will
be singing in the valleys, assuming the team does not implode in
their remaining games.
No comments:
Post a Comment