I hate that I do!

Introducing Mickey Marbles, a grumpy old Northerner who once had trials for Donacaster Rovers in 1965, he didn’t make it and has been bitter ever since. He remembers the good old days when footballers were real men, they could sink 10 pints the night before a game, could take a tackle and get by on 2 bob per week.

I remember when I used to answer the phones for Danny Kelly (now talkSPORT) and we’d sit in the studio wondering what would take off that week. How could we get the phones buzzing? And the one that caused meltdown more than most? The best ways of getting into the ground for free.

As it’s all about Brian Clough, the most talented manager never to manage England, we’d thought we let life long Forest fan Chris Legg pick his best ever Forest 11. It may not be the best team of all time, but it’s certainly in the top 1!

Onwards and upwards

Many moons ago when flicking through copy of the free Sport newspaper I stumbled upon a piece on a website that acted as a classifieds directory for football teams searching for players and vice versa. With the best of intentions (specifically: offering myself as a lazy inside-left with a shot outcome sequence of goal kick, trickled into keeper’s arms, throw-in and goal) I vowed to sign up that evening. I fell short.

These boots were made for walking

One area where non-league football often shines over its professional counterparts is in its fans and players’ devotion to do something daft for charity.
The latest craze appears to be in wearing bright pink shirts to raise awareness of Breast Cancer. Oldham Athletic (all right, they’re not non-league but they’re hardly Chelsea) recently donned neon pink shirts in aid of the worthy cause and even managed to hold rivals Leeds United to a one-all draw.

Going, going, gone?

A year ago I wrote my first UKFF article. It was on the status of Newcastle United. They were 3 points above the drop zone with only 9 games left to play and to make it worse they had a hard run in! Much has changed at Newcastle since then, in fact so much has changed, that they find themselves in almost exactly the same position. Make sense…?

Back by popular demand, it’s the delightful Brandy Brewer, a self confessed Chelsea nut who aims to be the next Karen Brady. We know thousands of teams who would give her the job!

Brandy has appeared in every lads mag around and we are honored to have her onboard. She’s also currently filming her first film so watch this space.

The lovely Brandy has already made it through to the grand final of Miss UKFF 09 and is looking hot favourite to lift the crown.

Who’s going to score the goals?

This week see’s another double header for Fabio Capello’s England, as they look to continue their unbeaten start to World Cup Qualification against Ukraine, following the friendly with Slovakia. But as Capello’s squad suggests and as shown in the defeat to Spain in February Fabio’s England are far from the finished product. And my main concern is the strikers at England’s disposable right now.

I bloody hate that I do!

Introducing Mickey Marbles, a grumpy old Northerner who once had trials for Donacaster Rovers in 1965, he didn’t make it and has been bitter ever since. He remembers the good old days when footballers were real men, they could sink 10 pints the night before a game, could take a tackle and get by on 2 bob per week.

Here’s his first of many rants

The big boys league

In response to Stephen Trenery’s post suggesting that the Premier League has reverted to its boring tag as the ‘top four’ dominate everything, I felt compelled to doing some investigation.

This predominance of certain teams at the top of their leagues affects all the best competitions in Europe, without fail. Nevertheless, Liverpool are an exception. They are invariably in or about the top of the league but have failed to finish first for verging on two decades now. So why does this trend of dominance occur? It may seem a little obvious, but success breeds success. And in this day and age, that means money, ensuring they remain at the top of the table.
As the leading domestic competitions of England, Spain and Italy illustrate, there are always dominant teams that compete for the trophy who excel more than the rest and move away from the chasing pack.