End Of The Lime
‘YESTERDAYS draw for the fourth round of the FA Cup shows there might be some life in the old dog yet.
| Stumped! |
As the Telegraph says, former Spurs Messiah Glenn Hoddles visit to Highbury with his XI Wolves apostles will lead to some interesting terrace chants, and Oldhams home derby against Bolton could be a cracker.
But the stand out game is that between Southampton and Portsmouth, in which new Saints coach Harry Redknapp will face the club he used to manage.
Given the animosity between the two sides, passions will run high in the Hampshire derby match – when the teams last met a 10-year-old boy, believed to be the youngest ever person convicted of football hooliganism, was banned from every game in England and Wales after rioting.
And Harrys doing his bit to whip things up into a frenzy by telling the Sun that without him Portsmouth would never have reached the Premier League.
Humble hes not – although Harry can be generous and says that hes prepared to shake the hand of Portsmouth owner Milan Mandaric, the man who bankrolled Harrys success. What a guy!
Meanwhile, another shy and retiring football figure is poised to take over at a new club.
The Independent reports that former Chelsea owner Ken Bates wants to invest £10m to buy a major stake in Leeds United.
Leeds fans too used to crushing defeats over the past couple of seasons may well consider this to be the final straw.
However, Bates did do well for Chelsea – although what would have happened had Roman Abramovich not come along to save the in-debt Blues, perhaps only Leeds fans can truly understand.
But there is worse news than Bates to Elland Road, and that can be found in the Telegraph where a scene of devastation meets a readers eyes.
The 90ft lime tree at Kent Country Cricket Clubs Canterbury ground is no more.
After 150 years of playing as Kents unofficial 12th fielder, it has succumbed to the deadly combination of heart-wood fungus and high winds.
Some 7ft of the tree remains planted in the turf at deep midwicket, but the rest has been lopped off.
The wood might now be chopped into memorial souvenirs, with the stump whittled down to resemble the form of an actual cricketer.
And given its size and mobility, Kent and England batsman Robert Key may well provide the ideal model…’
Posted: 11th, January 2005 | In: Back pages Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
