Belgium beat neighbours Holland 4-3 on October 24th 1954. That year they also drew 4-4 with England at the FIFA World Cup that was held in Switzerland. Switzerland (famous for cuckoo clocks, Nestle' and Nazi gold) are in Group A, and play on Saturday at 2pm against Hungary. The last time Hungary played Switzerland in a major tournament was in 1938. Adolf Hitler was in charge of Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia in 1938. The Hansen Office of Switzerland won the Nobel Peace Prize for their work with homeless refugees. Adolf Hitler was Time magazine's 'Man of the Year'. And Hungary lost in the final of the World Cup to Italy, Hitler's axis ally.

  None of us can escape the wall-to-wall coverage of kickballing entertainment over the forthcoming few weeks. And as a sports fan, I welcome any distraction from broken electoral systems, political soundbites, adversarial doggerel, and an alarming rise in popularity on the right-wings of our troubled continent. So as the ad execs finalise their positioning of livery, and the chief execs of Atos, Just Eat and Visit Qatar watch the cash roll in, I thought I'd put my lack of money where my large mouth is, and stake an armchair supporter's claim to an 'interest'. Ireland will not be there. Neither (rather surprisingly!) will Israel or Australia. As a kilt-wearing clansman, my heart will be with Scotland. But as sure as a cold Bitburger will taste better than a warm Irn Bru, we all know that Scotland's progress will be over after the first 90 minutes of the competition. Somewhere an English commentator will look upon the tartan fans and utter the immortal cliche': ...

  ………thanks Billie. So with only a few games left in the Premier League this season (and mainly because I’m poorly), we thought we’d switch our attention from Pecking Order action (and Lawn Bowls inaction) to the ever-so-exciting fiscally-dependent ‘run-in’. Technically, all Arsewipe, Shitty and Liverplop have to do is NOT let Spurs, Villa or the Hammers anywhere near them. As long as Abu Dhabi don’t go to war with themselves, and the beautifully sports-washed denim of the Gulf States continues to shine, normal service will be resumed again and again. Should any of them actually lose any money, any interest, any interest on that money, or the basic plot, 90+ points could be arbitrarily deducted at any point between now and Saudi 2034. As this would historically affect any of the teams previously relegated from the Premier League, QPR, Swansea, Barnsley, Blackburn Rovers, Oldham Athletic, AFC MK Wimbledon Dons, Ipshit, and Norwich Canisters would be reinstated. A new 68 team league...

  Is anybody else still dogshit poor after the Cost Of Living Crisis, the Energy Fuel Crisis, Covid, Lockdown, Brexit, brutal benefit ‘reforms’, and the Premiership Football financial-dealing investigations? Or is Facebook just winding me up about peoples’ purchases, new homes, expensive hobbies, sparkling outfits, posh meals, foreign holidays, nights & days out, festival tickets, gigs, parties, and coronation celebrations? It was only a few months ago wasn’t it? When we were all poor? When everyone’s business was failing, no-one could get work, bills were going unpaid, houses were remortgaged or sold, everyone was using foodbanks, people were dying, children were unfed, and the economy was never going to recover from the multiple Winters of Discontent. I can see that people are angry. I can see that people are striking, and/or protesting. But I can’t see that there’s much sympathy. Not in the world of narcissistic endeavour. Not in the world of funny memes. Not in the world...

  Four matches in, and I accidentally stumbled on The Boy watching the Welsh destroy America. My boycott was over. I hated myself. I tried not to watch, but like most of us I was subliminally entranced by the advertising hoardings. Bigger, brighter, better than ever. Revolving, shining, begging for attention, in the middle of the Gulf’s desert. Among the usual suspects - Coke, Micky D’s ‘We Deliver’, VISA (and a tiny subordinate and seemingly unwanted Budweiser in the corner), there were the global behemoth ‘Others’. Congruent and apparent were the heraldic emblems of Qatar Energy and Qatar Airways; the CEO of the former being Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, who is also Qatar’s Minister of Energy, and Chairman of Qatar Industries petrol company, Qatar Gulf drilling company, and Qatar Adriatic liquid natural gas company. And all so close to the COP27 summit. He has an honours degree from Penn State in 1991. He states this on his Wiki page. There were one or two In-Yer-Face ads that seemed to...

               ****May contain triggers for those suffering from jingoism, or misplaced loyalty**** War! What IS it good for??? HEAR YE! HEAR YE! I was banging-on in Part 1 about how we should maybe give the monarch a bit of rest now? We expect her to serve us, we expect her to maintain fuck loads of posh houses, we expect her to be morally upright, head of the Army, unflinching in the face of adversity, and good on a horse. She never gets a moment’s rest, but her offspring & her offsprung-offspring get to go to Mustique, Muscat or Meribel, Dubai, Dakar or Dar Es Salaam. The latest lot got to go to the 'colonies' of Belize, Bahamas & Jamaica, and boy did they read that one wrong! Bu where does the Queen go? Norfolk if she's lucky, Aberdeen, or Windsor near Bracknell (opposite Maccy D’s). We wouldn’t inflict this life on our WORST enemy, so why do we persist in doing this to our sovereigns? Republican or Raving Loony, you’d have the family...

 *****Look away now if you love HM the Queen, because she reminds you of your nan or your mum, and you want her to live forever, regardless of what condition she may be in.******* He does. Hear Ye! Hear Ye! So…. as you all know by now, I’m the Unofficial Town Crier for Olde Beccles, Wymondham and parts of Kenninghall. There is very little expected of me, and enormous pressure on me to shout stuff. Traditionally, in days of olden, the Town Crier would announce things of importance to the town, mainly concerning royal diktat, royal births, royal deaths, or executions (royal or otherwise). So……. with Her Madge’s Jubbly already gone (Feb 6th), and a 4 Day Bank Holiday planned for June, it would be remiss of me NOT TO put out a massive shout to the old girl! 😄 But first a request: Can we give her a break now? Let her retire gracefully? Take the pressure off a bit? Imagine if YOU woke up with all that expectation on your shoulders? I know she was born into it, but even she didn’t e...