One for @refbooks.bsky.social and others interested in Scottish football referees - a new book by Drew Herbertson, ex-SFA. www.amazon.co.uk/Scotlands-In...

#OnThisDay 8 Jan 1899 🇦🇹 The Erster Wiener Arbeiter Fußball-Club (First Vienna Workers' FC) was founded, democratising the game for the Viennese working-class. The club soon rebranded as Rapid Wien and is now Austria's most successful club. More in my book, Origin Stories.

Connections Puzzle #942 🟨🟩🟪🟦 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟦🟪🟪 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟦🟦🟦🟦 Yay, another rainbow 🌈 group! Blue I don’t get, but I suppose it’s correct. And purple mostly Americanisms.

Wordle 1.664 3/6 ⬛⬛⬛🟩⬛ ⬛🟨⬛🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Three. Well, that was great fun!

The #referee is Arthur Holland (England).

Connections Puzzle #941 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 No vampire repellents then. Shame.

Wordle 1.663 3/6 🟩🟨⬛⬛⬛ 🟩⬛🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Three. Exactly the number of times Billy Crystal says this word in When Harry Met Sally. Well, perhaps not exactly.

A walk through the snow-covered environs of my town again. Came across this feisty little #lichen on a tree, the snow around it melting in the sunshine. #fungifriends

@refbooks.bsky.social & @refereeretro.bsky.social Bolton V Chelsea from 1975-76 season. A #referee I dont recognise. Can you guys identify him? @quinnassociate.com

The #referee for this semifinal is Artúro Yamasaki Maldonado (Peru), in the photo next to the Chilean captain. His assistants/linesmen are Esteban Marino Camel (Uruguay), in the middle, and Luis Antonio Ventre (Argentina), on the right.

QPR V Manchester City 1975-76. #Referee Terry Bossi sending off City's Asa Hartford before the days of yellow & red cards in the Football League. They were introduced in the 1976-77 season and abolished in 1981. They returned at FIFAs request in 1987. @refbooks.bsky.social & @quinnassociate.com

Connections Puzzle #940 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟪🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟦🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟦🟦🟦🟦 Of course, @nytimes.com, everyone in the world knows blue. “Familiarly”? Ha!

Wordle 1.662 5/6 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛ ⬛🟩⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟩⬛⬛🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Five again. Some words you can stare so long at you get oblivious to the obvious. And then, Wham, it hits you in the face so hard it zings.

De kracht van arbitrage in een veranderende samenleving. Lees meer op https://www.covs.nl/artikel/2026-01-05/de-kracht-van-arbitrage-in-een-veranderende-samenleving

Connections Puzzle #939 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟦🟦🟦🟦 I thought I knew my art better than that. V for Vendetta ✌🏻

Wordle 1.661 5/6 ⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛ ⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛ ⬛🟩⬛⬛🟩 ⬛🟩⬛⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Five. With a bit of gambler’s luck. I’ll be betting on horses next.

Went out to witness the majesty of snow-covered meadows and, hopefully, fungi. It's not that often that we get so much snow here in the Netherlands, so it was worth the wet shoes and cold feet & hands. Here are some fungi I found, undoubtedly shivering as much as I was. #fungifriends

The #referee is Youssou N'Diaye (Senegal). His assistants/linesmen are Pablo Sánchez Ibáñez (Spain) and Omar Delgado Gómez (Colombia).

Every year on 4 January, priests at the Shimogamo temple in the Japanese city of Kyoto play #kemari hajime, a 1400-year old ball game that is a precursor to modern football. My obvious first question is: Do they need a #referee?

Connections Puzzle #938 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟦🟩🟦🟩 🟩🟩🟦🟩 🟪🟩🟩🟪 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟪🟪🟪🟪 I guess a good episode. Lots of room for error. But lots of Americanisms, too.

Wordle 1.660 3/6 ⬛🟩⬛🟩🟩 🟩🟩⬛🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Three. That’s company. But is it a party?

#Telstar v #Feyenoord, December 1968. #telfey

Connections Puzzle #937 🟨🟪🟩🟦 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟦🟦🟦🟦 Always like how the red herring generates a rainbow group. Shame I’m not more into modern pop music, btw.

Most of last year was about The Book, but I did lots more science writing, too! Here's a 🧵of a few of my favorite stories, one for each month of 2025. The first is about geochemists solving a centuries old "cold case," identifying the volcano that erupted in 1831 and cooled the planet 🧪

Wordle 1.659 3/6 🟩⬛🟨🟨⬛ 🟩🟨🟨🟨⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Three. Every day a little better. Like learning to play an instrument. You have to practise.

On the right, #referee Ramón Barreto Ruiz (Uruguay). He’s (and is likely to remain) the only official/referee to have been present in two World Cup finals: 1974 and 1978, both involving the Netherlands as the team losing to the host country.

🚨 NEW YEAR, NEW BOOK Uruguay: Football’s First Global Power, 1918-1930, my sequel to From Beauty to Duty. Coming June 2026 via @PitchPublishing 1924 Paris Olympics. 1928 Amsterdam. Inaugural World Cup, Montevideo 1930. And the story in between… Preorders soon, please share & follow for updates!

And in the background, #referee Tofiq Bakhramov (USSR/Azerbaijan). Controversially, as a linesman he awarded England’s third goal in the 1966 WC final. The national football stadium in Baku is named after him.

Connections Puzzle #936 🟩🟩🟩🟦 🟨🟪🟪🟪 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟦🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟦🟦🟦🟦 Saw too many options in the purple group. And I’d never heard of a gag in this sense. But hey, a new year brings new teachings!

Wordle 1.658 4/6 ⬛⬛🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Four. Evidence I’m still an average guy.

As we’re substituting 2026 for 2025, my only wish for the new year is that it will bring some much-needed hope and optimism. Happy New Year!

Connections Puzzle #935 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟦🟦🟦🟦 Not a good sign when I finish Connections faster than Wordle…

Wordle 1.657 5/6 ⬛⬛⬛⬛🟩 ⬛🟩⬛⬛🟩 🟨🟩⬛⬛🟩 ⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Five. Not a good start to the new year. Which otherwise I hope will be fabulous.

Connections Puzzle #934 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟨🟨🟨🟨 Couch cushions. Make your own VP-related joke 😬 Oh no, now I can’t enter the US!

The #referee is Günter Linn.

Wordle 1.656 4/6 🟩⬛⬛⬛🟨 🟩⬛⬛🟩🟨 🟩⬛🟩🟩⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Four. No ambulance required, but also no sweet song from marine maidens for me either

Connections Puzzle #933 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟪🟪🟪🟪 🟩🟩🟩🟩 Run-of-the-mill episode.

Wordle 1.655 4/6 ⬛🟨⬛⬛🟨 ⬛⬛🟨⬛🟨 🟨🟨🟨🟨🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Four. Let’s hope this is not the backdrop against which I’m going to end the year.

The #referee is Radoslav Fiala (then Czechoslovakia).

Зне һіӏӏ І ѡіӏӏ діе ои: Ғаих Сугіӏӏіс іѕ а ӏоад оҒ оӏд сґар www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The 241st episode of my podcast, 🎙️'Soccernostalgia Talk Podcast’ is up. I interview Distinguished Professor Dr. Laurent Bellaiche of University of Arkansas as we discuss Girondins de Bordeaux FC during the Claude Bez Presidency (1978-1991). soccernostalgia.blogspot.com/2025/12/socc...

Koude start… (Foto TOMO Photography) #Nagano #Fuji #Japan #fotografie #photography #travel #travelphotography #landscape #landscapephotography #natuur #nature #naturephotography #snow #frost #sneeuw #vorst #winter #nachtvorst #dawn #sunrise #daybreak #zonsopkomst

Connections Puzzle #932 🟨🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟦🟦🟦🟦 🟪🟪🟪🟪 ‘Outie’? Really? 🙄

Wordle 1.654 3/6 ⬛⬛🟩⬛⬛ 🟩⬛🟩⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Three. Picking the result of my hard labour

Countless colors and textures out today on the Ferncliff peninsula! #Mushrooms

Je kunt de klok er (bijna) op gelijk zetten. Eind december is er een verse voetbalkaart van Nederland. Inclusief een toelichting over de ontwikkelingen in het Nederlandse voetballandschap. www.voetbalarchieven.nl/specials/de-...