Gone for a Burton

 Burton Albion actually, and the ground where Plymouth Argyle clinched the League 1 title. They fought off Ipswich, Sheffield Wednesday, Derby, Bolton and Barnsley and put their Wembley defeat behind them to gain 101 points. It's the second time they have surpassed 100 points, a rare feat in any clubs history,

Well done to all concerned. Are Argyle the new Brentford and will Wrexham be the new Argyle. Watch this space.

Room with a view

 Goodness me April has just flown by following the return from Augusta. Round 4 there was spoilt a bit by the storms which had hit earlier in the week, and the course was really quite slippy. I was surprised that it was open given the American approach to litigation and so on, but they must have had so many overseas visitors booked that they took the risk. Of the four courses it was the most disappointing, but that's not to say it was not a decent layout, it was just not shown off to its best.

At least our trip home was less stressed than going out although the trip from the car hire drop off to the terminal building was a bit hairy. we made the flight and that was what mattered most.

The months was peppered with bad and sad news, as first my long term golf partner George Stephenson, had a heart attack and at 87 years old one is never quite sure how he is going to be after recovery. I am delighted to say though that he has recovered and started to play 18 holes again, albeit less frequently. His resolve is a true inspiration to everyone, particularly someone like me who can get so down when the golf is rubbish. At the moment I think I left my game in the States but after comparison with the situation George was in, I now know I brought it back with me, I just need to find where I put it!!

The sad news came some days later when we learnt that our good friend Marion Figgins passed away suddenly but not unexpectedly. She had been mourning the loss of her husband 'Figs' since he left us a few years ago, and she was struggling to live without him. Her funeral is next week so we shall be attending that. They are the first husband and wife friends we have lost so that leaves a big gap in our lives and those of their other friends too.

Socially number 2 son and I went to Wigan to watch Argyle try for a play-off spot. They got a valuable point there but failed to finish the season off well, due mostly to injuries which left the squad running on empty. I then hit Manchester and the Ivy restaurant with a group of ex-work colleagues. The views from the rooftop restaurants are pretty impressive.

Then on Sunday the local village had its annual gardens open day, and on this occasion we were able to climb to the top of the bell tower for St Saviors church where we had the classic ' I can see your house from here' moment. The climb up and down the 99 stairs was not the best therapy for my arthritic knee though. Roll on August when I will be able to see a consultant!!

Other good news on the housing front came toward the end of the month when number 1 son confirmed he had completed on his house in France which is great news. He is between jobs at the moment so once that challenge is sorted out he should be well placed to enjoy his new environment.

So as we move into May, SWMBO is off and running with the Summer invigilator season, I have managed to progress to the 2nd round of two golf knock-out competitions, a rare achievement these days, and golf days are starting to occur at shorter intervals. We need to book a holiday togther so we have something else to look forward to, but we are struggling to know where to go but I am sure we will come to a decision shortly..

It's tough at the top.

Party streamers

This has been a strange weekend technologically speaking. For some time now we have had a KODI box, often referred to as 'a dodgy box' connected via the internet to our television in the main living room. It has been used to stream football, rugby and cricket from a variety of sources on the net, and has meant we have not had to subscribe to SKY or BT Sports.

Slowly but surely these organisations have picked away at the sites which host these feeds, closing them down or making the signals encrypted so that people cannot receive them without the correct technology. It's a game of cat and mouse, as people love a challenge and for every roadblock SKY put in front of these illegal streamers, the streamers look for another way to circumvent the restrictions.

KODI boxes themselves, though, are not illegal, so we have just installed a second box in our bedroom, where we are suffering freeview service degradation. The KODI box allows us to watch the mainly ITV based channels which are pixelated in clear view, but has the added benefit of providing on demand services via ITV hub and the BBC iPlayer so we can watch catch-up as well.

We are now, therefore, pretty well full on wired round the house. We can get films from various sources like Netflix and  Amazon as well as Genesis and Pheonix via KODI.
So, you ask, how was the weekend strange?

Well using all the resources at my disposal, I identified via LiveonSat.com that Plymouth Argyle v Fleetwood Town was being shown on a Serbian sports channel on Saturday afternoon, live from Home Park, so I watched that. Then a friend of mine who has a son playing second division rugby in Italy sent me a streaming link, www.retebiella.tv,  to watch his match live on Sunday afternoon. Beiella won 25-0 and Connor kicked 13 points. Happy days.

It's all out there on the web, and in the dark web too if you know where you are looking, but I am sure SKY have their technicians trying to shut off another loophole as I typ.......bugger they got me!!

A Porsche, a Porsche, my kingdom for a Porsche

The Six Nations rugby season is now well under way. The 'S Club' met up in London last week for the first England match v France, we were joined by a couple of Simon's who qualified by name(!) and various sons and friends, making it a very enjoyable first outing.

5pm kick-off's are always tricky, particularly for the spectators, but we were lucky enough to get a table in the White Horse pub in Richmond, just behind the Red Cow. Apparently the Black Dog, Green Dragon  and Pink Flamingo were all fully booked.

Pre-match discussion centred on business and Brexit, and neither came out too badly, as two of the crew had, only the day before, independently ordered new Porsche's as their new family runabouts.....I really must get those virtual reality goggles out and see what all the fuss is about. I am not sure a Porsche 911 or Boxster would suit me though as I am quite tall  and I am well past the SUV stage. Looks like a Beamer for a few years yet then.

As well as an inconvenience for the crowd, the 5pm kick-off did not seem to appeal to the England team much, and after a very rusty first half they managed to squeeze past a spirited French outfit right at the death. They seemed to adjust better to it yesterday though when they challenged Wales in Cardiff.

It was always going to be a tough day for me. One of my golf chums, George, was making a comeback after falling down the stairs a few weeks ago. George is 83 so its not in his best interests to start free running at his age!! anyway, we got him round 18 holes in one piece, and as it was a team competition we were able to make a good stab at winning. We were 6th in the end, our best result for some time in these things!

I then had Plymouth Argyle v Exeter City, Wales v England and Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspurs to contend with. Argyle did the business 3-0 so that was the most important result of the three. Spurs were blown away by Liverpool, well Mane actually, so that's the title challenge finished for another season, so that left England to continue their quest for a second consecutive grand slam, something never before achieved in the Six Nations era.

Well, it was a proper game of rugger, and one could not have begrudged Wales had they have won, but after getting a battering for the last 20 minutes of the first half, England once more showed their resolve, and not a little skill, to close the game out in the last few minutes. SWMBO and I are off to Snowdonia tomorrow to continue our climbing fitness programme, I might have to turn over a few stones, as I bet I won't be able to find a Welshman when I want one!!

Park the bus

Yesterday I was at Anfield to watch the mighty Green Army take on Liverpool in the 3rd round of the FA Cup. It was 0-0 so Liverpool are now forced to travel to Plymouth for the replay next week.

I was lucky enough to be in a box in the Centenary Stand with a variety of commercial and professional people, all but one were supporting Liverpool. It is quite interesting how people who are good ( or excellent) at what they do seem to become so one eyed when they enter a football group!

At half time the Liverpool fans and pundit Steve McManaman were complaining that Argyle were not giving it a go, and were, therefore, spoiling the game as a spectacle.  Clearly nobody told Argyle the were supposed to attack in a kamikaze manner, allow Liverpool to score five goals and send everybody home happy!

No, this was the equivalent of  Argyle's first leg away from home in a major European Cup competition. Imagine they were Red Star Belgrade. Their only objectives were to be still in the game at half-time and ideally take Liverpool back to Home Park next week for the Second Leg. It is one thing for a manager to set out the tactics and strategy, but another altogether for the players to execute, especially when they are 66 positions and three divisions between them.

Argyle and their 'spoiling' tactics were not the problem. The young Liverpool team did not play with any pace or imagination and were almost like a fly trapped in a spiders web.

The two games will be worth almost £1m to Argyle. They have only recently paid off all their remaining debts from their period in administration, they have attracted new money through an additional director and a share/bond redistribution and that has allowed them to purchase their ground and now announce plans for a new grandstand and associated  revenue earning facilities on the fourth side of the pitch.
Argyle have one of the last surviving Archibald Leitch main grandstands, and an elegant Art Nouveau entrance to the ground. Plans are said to include both these features in the new stand. That is a noble gesture these days, when so much heritage is demolished in the name of progress.

Things are definitiely looking brighter for Argyle now, they must just ensure they get promoted this season so that the Green Army waggon can keep on rolling.

Just the ticket

We were fortunate to have a very enjoyable  2016, albeit we lost some dear friends and relatives during its course. We now enter 2017 hoping to experience new and rewarding adventures at home and abroad, while maintaining our health and that of those closest to us.

The first thing I have to look forward to is a trip to Anfield on Sunday to see Plymouth Argyle take on Liverpool, and to see how the Green Army fair against the Kop. Argyle see themselves as a Championship side at minimum, but some of the build-up surrounding the game, and the ticketing in particular has been non-league at best.

I appreciated I did not have first dibs for away end tickets as I am not a season ticket holder, nor a regular attendee. but as a registered member I was able to obtain tickets when they went on general sale on Tuesday. Now, up until Tuesday, the tickets were available via the club website hosted for them by Ticketmaster. As of Tuesday though they were only available to the general public by telephone. Five hours I tried to get through before I managed at least to get in a queue. when I got through there were only restricted view seats left but at £11 each I could not really complain.

Subsequently I have been invited into a box to watch the match, so I will do a bit of Green Army and a bit of corporate as a mix 'n match.

Following on from Anfield we have a stamina building weekend in Snowdonia before our skiing trip later in February, then it's off to Portugal for the El Tel Cup before a couple of weeks warm weather training in Barbados. Slot in a few rugby internationals and that is the first part of the year taken care of. Decorating and gardening might have to be delayed for a few months!!

One sad piece of news emanating from Wallasey Golf Club, however, was the notice informing members that Neville Thompson passed away earlier in the week. Neville was 104 and up until the last couple of years had been a regular figure in the Club at lunchtime.

Neville was the last surviving Wallasey member who can recall watching Bobby Jones play the links in 1930 on his way to qualification for the Open finals at Hoylake. He won there and went on to complete the grand slam of golf in the same year, a  feat which remains unique to this day. 104 is a good innings. Golfers always hope to one day shoot a gross score lower than their age, many never do it, some do it with regularity, hopefully Neville was one of the successful ones. Either way he remains a modern day legend in the Club, in the way Bobby Jones was in the world of golf,  all those years ago.

A Senior moment...or two

I have been suffering Firefox v Google conflicts which have restricted my blogging but I think I have cracked it.....

The last month or so has seen Wallasey golf club Seniors section celebrate 50 years as a sub-section of the Club, which interestingly is also celebrating its 125th anniversary this year.

The Seniors had a Jubilee Stableford competition early in May, and last Friday hosted members of all the clubs we play matches against,  in a better ball fun event. The celebration concluded with a gala black tie dinner at the Club when over 70 people ate,  drank and danced the night away. The Jubilee Cup was presented on the night by the Club captain, Paul Corvers.

Earlier in the week there was a two day Seniors scratch stableford competition which was won with a very creditable 65 points. The Club will now focus on their 125th celebration week in June.

I will now focus on the weekend, as Plymouth Argyle lock horns with AFC Wimbledon at Wembley for the final promotion place from Division 4, as we die hards call it!

Argyle have sold in excess of 31,000 tickets almost twice as many as Wimbledon so the atmosphere should be belting. I was at Wembley the last time Argyle got to the play-offs. That was twenty years ago at the old stadium and Argyle won 1-0. Neil Warnock was manager at the time and Ronnie Mange scored the winning goal. All great fun.

So here's hoping the Green Army can cheer Argyle to victory once again, and I can say, I was there!

Le Shed

Football supporters often get a bad name, and many deserve it, however, the fans of Plymouth Argyle seem to rise above the stereotype with great regularity. Whether this is because they face crises which only their Naval port rivals Portsmouth can relate closely to, or whether its something to do with the sleepy West Country climate, I am not sure.

Anyway, when Peter Read was released as manager they clubbed together to buy him a pen and made a framed signed shirt as a memento, and Peter Read was not really associated with Argyle success.

So, what to do when French goalkeeper Romain Larrieu announced he was leaving the coaching staff as new manager John Sheridan looked to bring in his own team? Romain is an Argyle legend. He signed during the Sturrock years and was a regular in the side which moved from league 2 to the Championship during the noughties. He stuck around as the side slid back to League 2, and almost out of existence, so it was only right and proper that the fans said their own thankyou to him.

First thing was to start a collection and that quickly reached £500 and continued to climb. Next thing was a bit obvious, why not ask him what he would like. So Romain was consulted and to everybody's amazement he indicated he would like a shed for his garden!! It did not take long for some sharp thinking Janner to spot that Argyle are sponsored by Bond Timber. Maybe they could help?

So one phone call later and the deal is done, they will survey the site and supply the shed, everybody now waits for the unveiling and naming ceremony. Apparently it will be build to accommodate a second tier should the capacity of the shed need to be increased at a later date to reflect the success Romain achieves while playing in it!!

On the subject of sheds, my Summer project is now a work in progress. This is the starting position, more pictures will follow in due course.

  

Come on you Greens........

Phew, what a dramatic few days in the Weathers sporting calender.........

• Saturday, Plymouth Albion assured of National One status next season as Esher get thrashed at Bedford
• Sunday, Plymouth Raiders reach the finals weekend in Birmingham in the British Basketball league for the second season running, winning on the road at Guildford
• Sunday, Twickenham Colts win the Middlesex Cup in a pulsating final, 15-12 against Finchley
• Sunday, Middlesex thrash Scotland at Lords, why am I not in Edinburgh today?
• Monday, Plymouth Argyle maintain their Championship status as Steve Coppells Reading beat Norwich

Focus now moves to Scouseland and the European Cup......dare I support Arsenal against Man U??

Clement Freud

Sir Clement passed away yesterday at the grand age of 84. Much has been written about him, from his hound dog looks on his dog food adverts, to his culinary skills and Parliamentary membership.

The one thing which has been overlooked is that he was a passionate and (almost) life long supporter of the mighty greens, Plymouth Argyle FC.

I say lifelong as he had attended Dartington College near Plymouth and while there decided to take a local club 'under his wing'.

He became a Plymouth Argyle fan, and remained a Pilgrim throughout his life, frequently mentioning the clubs in his columns and radio and TV appearances.

Last February, however, Freud claimed he had abandoned his love of Argyle. During an 'audience with' session in Headington he was asked if he still followed the club. He replied: "No not anymore - I can’t pronounce the names of any of the players. We used to have people from Plymouth. Sometimes we even went to Bristol and signed somebody! Nowadays, you have three Estonians, others from countries I’ve never heard of."

This is a sad reflection on 'local' football, but money talks and even 4th division teams have players with unpronounceable names.

Still Clement will always be regarded as a true celebrity Green, a cameo he shares with that other aging politician Michael Foot. Michael was born in Plymouth and for many years served as MP for Devonport. I wonder if he is a candidate in the Twickenham RFC death list?