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Hunter Davies is a journalist, broadcaster and profilic author perhaps best known for writing about the Beatles. He is an ardent Tottenham fan and writes a regular column on football for the New Statesman.
Managers work round the clock, they are never not managing. A player’s life, by comparison, is easy. They train from ten to 12 each day and that’s it.
So far this season looks much like last; the same two teams hovering at the top. Hard to think that either Man City or Liverpool will come a cropper – not till the very end.
As the season draws to a close, it’s time for the moment you’ve all been waiting for: the NS’s annual Hair of the Season award (and other footballing highlights).
The songs were mainly the same we all sing, such as “Here We Go, Here We Go”, with French words – most of which were, I presume, obscene.
The first view of the new stadium was a disappointing, shapeless mishmash. But inside, oh my goodness, it is all of a piece, a perfect whole, a theatrical marvel.
I had an idea I thought was brilliant, the story of two things that began in the same year, 1863 – the London Underground and the Football Association.
No wonder José described himself as the Special One, a phrase redolent of worship.
The perception of how men should act and look has rather moved on – if a bit slower in football than elsewhere.
The clubs are clearly struggling. I was shocked when they only managed to give retiring chairman Richard Scudamore £5m as a parting present. Cheapskates.
Almost one in five adverts during last year’s World Cup were for betting firms. Nearly 60 per cent of clubs in England’s top two divisions have the name of a gambling firm on their shirts.
