Tikhtak

Wembley Woes Again! Shrewsbury lose to Gillingham in 90th minute...

Today we had yet another agonising trip to Wembley to see Shrewsbury Town in the league 2 playoff final. Two years ago Shrewsbury lost to Bristol Rovers,which was kind of bearable as it was our first trip to the new Wembley, surely it wouldn't happen again! Well it did!this time against Gillingham and in the last minute of the game. As you can see we had a great view of the pitch, although this picture was taken as the Shrewbury players were literally down and out in the background. A funny moment happened before the game with a bunch of Shrewsbury fans singing "Salop" (Which is the old name for Shropshire) A really loud mouthed Gillingham women turned round and shouted out "What Salop, Don't you mean Wallop." It was a 'woody Allen plant' moment as no one was sure how to respond. That is the problem when your team loses. You start to look at other things in the day to make the memory bearable.

Paul Canoville beats the racists.

I couldn't believe it when I saw that Paul Canoville had won the bestautobiography at the British sports book awards with his book Black and Blue. I spenta good few years of the 80's in the shed end at Chelsea following the likes of Nigel Spackman, Pat Nevin, Kerry Dixon and Paul Canoville. I remember his mazey runs down the left wing and his ability to take players on. He was always an automaticchoice for my sabbuteo first 11 and the fact he was Chelsea's first black player was to say the least a challenge, when monkey chants and bananas being thrown non the pitch was considered a bit of a laugh. He was one of the first footballers to face this kind of abuse in England and he has paved the way for many other black footballers into first class English football. It is only fitting that now he fronts events to Show racism the red card and is involved in Chelsea's own education programmes. I remember some of the chants that were directed at him especially when Chelsea lost or he had a bad game!  His book of course touches on his battle with racism in football, as well as a career finishing injury, cancer and his slide into drug abuse. I haven't read it yet but its now on my list.

'Some impressive reviews:

one of the most powerful sports books ever written...an exceptional account of an extraordinary man' -- Pat Nevin, Chelseafc.com 'unputdownable' -- Observer 'a compelling read skilfully put together' -- Mirror 'compelling' -- Henry Winter, Daily Telegraph

Aston Villa's Mission to the communtiy

The day before yesterday I had the opportunity to interview Duncan Riddle the head of community at Aston Villa FC for trax16. My main interest was to explore further the link between Aston Villa and their deal with Acorns children's hospice in the light of our World To Rights project and to explore any possibilities for future projects. I was both amazed and impressed how much the club, from staff through players and fans, are involved in supporting, visiting and raising money for acorns and how involved the club is in reaching out to their local community . 

When I asked Duncan,Why invest in acorns? Why not another charity somewhere else? his response was that Villa are committed to the local community, especially as most of their support comes from the local area around the ground. Among other things they are also running a project with the NHS to educate young people about obesity and provide a full time school for disabled young people to get qualifications to get into work.

  I find it impressive that a group of footballers and their supporters can impact and share their skills beyond just football with their local community. If football is the religion of people in the UK then have football clubs become the churches? I think Aston Villa's example is a challenge for every congregation up and down the country. And what drives them to do it? It seems they must have instilled in them a moral obligation from some time in the past!

In the winter of 1873/4, the cricketers of Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel, Aston, Birmingham, formed a football club to provide recreation during the winter period. The irony is that Aston Villa a child of the church has now grown up to show her what she should be doing. For the whole interview listen to next month's trax16.

The Clapham Premier on Tikhtak

I have made life easier for anyone who has signed up for the prestigious Metro fantasy football Clapham premier league. If you scroll down the in the side bar on the right you can see the link displayed. It means there is no need to sign in to view all the important statistics, which make things more accessible. And the league is automatically updated in this side bar as results come in. It is a crucial time of the year and Tikhtak is in a commanding but not unassailable lead. Although this picture is a replica of the actual Clapham Premier league cup, the question is who will have their name inscribed on it first.

Shrewsbury Town's brave battle at Wembley

Well what an opportunity Shrewsbury Town FC gave us by getting to the play off final. A trip to the new Wembley stadium. Both Dan and I were on a trip down memory lane as it brought back all our happy memories of standing on the riverside at the Gay meadow back in the 70's and 80's. Seeing Shropshire folk take over a quarter of one of the world's greatest stadiums was something, although Bristol Rovers out numbered us 3 to 1. Unfortunately Shrewsbury lost a well fought battle and had a chance of equalising at the death but for an over zealous keeper who came up for a corner when he didn't need to and Bristol broke away to score their third goal. It started so well with an early lead for Shrewsbury so at least we got the chance to cheer and go mad. In the end we lost 3-1 and Bristol got promoted. As for the new ground it is fantastic. The great thing is , it is a massive stadium but the pitch doesn't feel far away, and the interior is more like an airport than a stadium. The food prices were horrendous, but like good Shropshire lads we took a packed lunch. A disappointing result but a great day out. Check out all our photos on my flikr site.