I don't think there will be many celebrations at Labour HQ overnight. Then again, sorry to say, they probably couldn't organise one anyway.

I can't understand why British people don't have more respect for the French football club Association Sportive Beauvais Oise...

It's never bothered to check in on me, so I don't see why I should reciprocate. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

Is it a cover of 'Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots Of Money)' by the Pet Shop Boys? www.bbc.com/sport/footba...

I see Villa turned up for this one. Great. Keep it up. #whu

Eek.

Based on this first half performance, I don't quite understand how Sunderland are as high up the Premier League table as they are. Hoping for better in the second half.

Coventry City's promotion to the Premier League is the culmination of 25 years of graft and unrequited love. Doing it as champions mattered. For @fourfourtwo.com, from a big night at the Coventry Building Society Arena.

I think Clinton Morrison might just be the best co-commentator I've heard for years. Positive, enthusiastic and relevant all the way. #CRYWHU

It's fair to say the BBC website got a bit caught out by West Ham there.

World Cup Firsts: The first goal from the penalty spot in a World Cup Final was scored by Johan Neeskens for the Netherlands in 1974. Find out what happened to the Dutch team before and after that history-making event at bit.ly/4sQVx3X ... #netherlands #worldcup #germany

FROM THE ARCHIVE: 10 years ago we marked 50th anniversary of the theft of the Jules Rimet trophy in London by conducting our own investigation into the crime. We found a story that went way beyond an opportunistic theft, including spies, geopolitics and gangsters www.sofpodcast.com/2016/03/soun...

RIP The Guardian's pie charts for football coverage. That said, they were always shit. Both parts of the pie chart were the same colour, most of the time.

Bolivia beat Suriname 2-1. 12 minutes of additional time at the end. Not quite up to Morocco v Senegal standards, but you can't have everything.

Suriname have gone 1-0 up in the second half against Bolivia. I don't understand anything anymore.

Trying to imagine a World Cup featuring Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. #mindblown

Looking forward to watching NZL v FIN tonight on TV. Penultimate chance to assess the All Whites before the World Cup.

Jeez, the bottom SEVEN in the Premier League all drew this week. To say it's getting tight is an understatement. ⚽

As they used to say on car commercials, Tudor's a loon. #TOTATL

All those years I thought Wolves' stadium was sponsored by Moulinex. Just goes to show how wrong you can be. #WOLLIV

# We want ten, we want ten... # #TOTCRY

This is why I should be designing all packaging and branding.

If I had an asshole that produced shit constantly for 108 minutes, I'd be desperate for one that wasn't so excruciatingly awful. Over to you, America. #SOTU

Oh well... let's give this thing a try... @worldcupfamiliar.bsky.social #newproject

Oh, the grand old duke of york He ██████████████████ He ██████████████████ And he ██████████████████

@sofpodcast.com I stumbled on an old podcast we did yesterday, from back in 2013. You were talking about Chapman's Arsenal... great to hear it again!

@chartmusictotp.bsky.social Have you listened to Tony Blackburn on the Rosebud podcast, Al? It's an interesting interview with Gyles Brandreth - and one that gets a little awkward when the subject of Tessa Wyatt comes around... www.rosebudpodcast.co.uk/archive/tony...

So many files released, yet none of them seem to mention President Chump. Funny that, eh?

New on the Kitbliss website: 'Shirt Showdown'. At the start of every month, you'll be shown three football shirts that have a connecting theme. All you have to do is vote for your favourite. For this month's offering, visit www.kitbliss.co.nz/shirt-showdo.... Cast your vote now!

Up to half time, that was a great West Ham performance.

Brand Beckham. If only.

@sofpodcast.com Ooh, I'm not sure I can be blamed (?) for your first sonic brand. I don't remember choosing that piece of music!

Can't help feeling that it's a good move to offload Paqueta. He clearly has talent, but West Ham were seeing less and less of it. Time to move on.

It's a few years out of date but there are a few copies of my book hanging around and the er good people of Amazon have knocked a few quid off the price. Borussia Dortmund: A history in black and yellow amzn.eu/d/ivpOFHL

Well that was fun...

Feeling much better after a visit to the doctor. #TOTWHU

Every time I hear Lookman mentioned during a Nigeria match, I instinctively imagine his name being spoken by Oz in Auf Wiedersehen Pet.

'Lost For Words' - Chris Rea, saudade, and the guitarist we forgot to hear. My latest post on Substack. chrisdoakley.substack.com/p/lost-for-w...

Watching The Beatles 'Get Back' day by day to tally up with the actual days in the film. Anyone else? Just me?

A reminder that Donald Trump recently won the FIFA Peace Prize.

I particularly like how the 90's rave scene is being referenced during #AFCON2025.

Dear me... how many goals have been scored from whipped-in crosses that were headed in from close range in this #AFCON2025? That, and penalties...

Am watching a West Ham for the first time in a while. This is West Ham in 'we'll be relegated but we don't care' mode. Abysmal.

I keep hearing the occasional clanging bell while watching the African Cup of Nations. I see it as a tribute to The Wheeltappers & Shunters Social Cub, naturally.

Now I've finished work for Christmas, it's time to catch up on what I've missed so far in the African Nations Cup. Was always a source of excitement when Eurosport covered the competition in the early days of satellite TV. Hope it brings some Christmas cheer... 🎄⚽

I was lucky enough to see Chris Rea playing live in concert several times. He was my favourite musical artist and I have all his albums. Christmas won't be quite so happy this year.

Well, I've just worked out when the first batch of 2026 World Cup matches will be played when converted to NZ local time. Apart from a couple of 4am or 5am kick-offs, they're mostly happening between 7am and 2pm. Works for me.

By law, Scotland HAVE to play Brazil at the World Cup. #WorldCupDraw

A great draw already! #worldcupdraw

The first three fixes of the World Cup... #worldcup