Booo! We lost out to Spiderman. The judges were bribed with Haribo. We wuz robbed!

Bought this ace 146-track Cherry Red comp when it came out, but have been playing it a lot more recently. Lesser known tracks that demand attention include those by Dub Sex, Bradford ('Skin Storm' later covered by Morrissey), and the wonderful 'Passion in the Afternoon' by The Desert Wolves.

Erika always makes a big effort for the annual allotment scarecrow competition, but she's gone slightly nuts this time. It's a 'heroes and villains' theme this year with the contest being judged by 8-year-olds from the local primary school.

Describe yourself in three characters

Just to recap: Calling Nigel Farage “an unflushable poo” = dehumanising hate speech. Calling for hotels housing asylum seekers to be set on fire = guest of honour at party conference. Bless those non-racist free speech warriors.

Excellent stuff; well played The Old Nags Head. It goes without saying they don't judge people on where they put their apostrophes.

I know we're not supposed to like Morrissey anymore, but it's a wonderful song and they're having a ball. Crowd: And if you have 5 seconds to spare Moz: What? Cr: Then I'll tell you the story of my life M: Well go ahead! Cr: 16, clumsy and shy M: Big deal! Cr: I went to London and I M: So what?

Phew! I was beginning to think they'd forgotten all about him.

A lovely piece about a book that had a very similar effect on me. I still like to revisit and cheer Holden on all over again every now and then.

To put things in perspective, although I did want England to win tonight, not only does it not even register on the scale in comparison to City, I'd have much rather seen West Didsbury & Chorlton win the FA Vase last season (heartbreakingly beaten in the quarters on pens) than England the World Cup.

🎵 I said maybe It doesn't work to be too cagey And after allllllllllllllllllllllllllllll You need to keep the ball 🎵

I was in the Bernabeu in the '82 World Cup, just after Argentina had surrendered. Tensions were understandably running high, and every time the Spanish chanted "Malvinas Malvinas Argentinas", many of the relatively small pocket of England fans responded by waving white flags. It was a hairy night.

It was very much like watching relegation candidates score at the Etihad, then immediately revert to a flat back ten. We're never worried as we know City will break through eventually, just as Argentina knew, when England adopted the very same tactics. Get Pep in, pronto!

'True' by Spandau Ballet. Working at a holiday camp in the summer of '83 where it was played endlessly hasn't helped in this regard. Listening to Tony all night long singing about listening to Marvin all night long. An ordeal.

Fly into Heathrow next time pal www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater...

I expect he got Arts Council funding for it

Featuring the famous 'Pete Shelley's grown up; his voice has broken' review of 'Harmony in The Head' (sic). The review of 'Here Comes the Summer' directly underneath is arguably even more embarrassing.

#OTD in 1982 I was in the audience at the Haçienda watching the Bunnymen. Here's the majestic 'All My Colours' from that very night. youtu.be/sQqeT6WF2v8?...

Listened to this in the car today, and while there are plenty of nostalgic reminders of the force of nature The Smiths truly were, there is no new input from any band members and nothing really that you and I didn't know already.

"Hey, Micky, what does 'incoherently' mean?"

Top of the Pops (12th July 1984). Echo & the Bunnymen have a new entry at 26 with Seven Seas.

Watching the Wimbledon final and Lancs simultaneously, and trying to remember the last thing I watched on telly that wasn't football, cricket or tennis.

Hard to watch Oscar Bobb without thinking about this.

Not a single Everton fan on my timeline will concede Pickford was in any way culpable for Norway's goal. For a fanbase happy to habitually grief their team, the blind defence of Pickford is, I suppose, laudable, but also quite strange.

Hydration break.

A brilliant #Wimbledon final - it had everything. Huge resilience shown by Noskova, at just 21, to recover from a choke for the ages, and prevail in the final set. Tremendous stuff.

A huge choke currently taking place in the Women's final. Matthew Syed will be able to write his 'first hand experience of choking' article in the Times again by the look of it #Wimbledon

"Oh mum, I can't umpire the Wimbledon final blocked up like this..."

Twenty one, drunk, 3am, frying pan on fire. 'I know, to make sure the flames don't catch with anything, I'll pick the pan up and take it outside. That's sure to work.'

Listening to the unmissable @mickeyundertone.bsky.social MBRS upstairs, while Erika is downstairs watching telly. She is decidedly not a fan of Cabaret Voltaire's 'Nag Nag Nag'.

In 1983 I was invited to the BBC's The Oxford Road Show to watch the Undertones. I naturally accepted, without being aware of who else was appearing. Cue Peter Powell announcing "please welcome....KAJAGOOGOO!". Stood near the front, I was forced to duck down in order to save huge embarrassment #TOTP

Buzzcocks In Blue. In Manchester too. This week in 1978, things were great in the world. Because Love You More was in the charts. The run only lasted 6 weeks, never got past number 34, but they were on Top Of The Pops and I watched it. Now on the MBRS buff.ly/wmg4zwy It is Manchester, isn't it?

Well done, he's 39.

Bagged a brace for City last season, this lad. I wish him well.

This coming just days after Farage claimed to be 'the most attacked politician in the country'. He'll be furious with her.

The height difference when Zverev and Fery pass each other at changeovers is stark. Brings back memories of Clive Lloyd batting with Harry Pilling.

I was at OT to witness this. Watching the slo-mo replay of the one that almost decapited Close now, it seems incomprehensible they had to face that stuff sans helmets.

Taxiing my teen daughter and her friend around last night, and chuckling to myself as I hear them in the back seat playing “Football or Racist?” when we pass houses flying St George flags 🚕 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 😂

Watch the video youtu.be/RVXcZkcHRg4?... x

five living writers that you've read five books by each Rupert Thomson Gwendoline Riley John Irving Ian McEwan Julian Barnes

For the uninitiated, The Tiller Boys were an experimental Krautrock-type outfit, consisting of Pete Shelley, Francis Cookson (the inspiration behind 'Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)' & Eric Random. They existed, it seems, mainly in order to greatly piss off Steve Diggle.

Although this little altercation was pretty funny, I reckon that despite Rodri winning the Ballon d'Or, and despite *that* goal in Istanbul, almost all Berts would take Bernie's side if push came to shove.

Julie, before returning to her true love, John. 1978

A release day purchase for a Buzzcocks-besotted 14-year-old. One minute and forty five seconds of pure joy, which was played to death.

#OTD 20 years ago, a mate of mine organised a 40th birthday party in his back garden that was a little bit special.

The BBC are telling me the Djokovic match lasted 5 hours and 15 minutes, which is fair enough. But if 1 hour and 53 minutes of that relate to Djokovic bouncing the ball up and down, is it a genuine figure? #Wimbledon

What do we get for our trouble and pain? A pre-season friendly at Whalley Range #ForzaWest

The Half Man Half Biscuit Lyrics Project has just posted an update chat with the band's frontman Nigel Blackwell. halfmanhalfbiscuit.uk/im-doing-ok-... #HMHB

'If talent could be measured, my bet is Kinkladze would top the list in English football- above Cantona, Shearer, Giggs, Fowler, Bergkamp and yes, Ruud Gullit at 33.' On Gio Kinkladze's 53rd birthday, here's a lovely piece penned by esteemed football writer, the late Bryon Butler after *that* goal.

Absolutely delighted for Norway. What's not to love about them? And they were always so incredibly hospitable to me back in the day.