View from the Cemetery

According to the league chairman our game at Jarrow Roofing the other week was poor, poor and poor. Harsh I'm led to believe. Usual mistakes cost us dear, but we played with some spirit and might have got something from the game but for the Jarrow keeper who was excellent, or at least that was the way I heard it. And mostly a fairly contested event, and a small but engaged and vocal crowd. And anyway not the kind of promotional chit chat from the bigwigs which is likely to bring more in, if you ask me. Only saying. But what would I know?

A point at last, well done boys! And well deserved from what I saw through the netting. So on we go, many more to follow in coming weeks I'm sure. And the Lucky 7 is a rollover I believe, which always gets the locals excited, three figures is big money in these parts. Mind I can remember buying one of my best ever cars for £50, so it goes to show that values change over time. It had no seatbelts and little in the way of brakes, but it went well, as long as it wasn't raining, happy days....

I digress. Deadline day for the big boys yesterday, did our friends at the Stadium get Borini after all? Or decide on a Uruguayan centre half in the Liverpool sales instead? Alvarez? Welbeck? You will know all by now. There will be a few expensive turkeys bought by somebody desperate you can guarantee that. Just got to hope they end up in Black and White.

For obvious reasons we don't get to see a lot of televised football in this place, but I did manage to see a bit of Manchester United this week. Typical of Sunderland that they manage a draw against the Reds and it turns out to be the worst anybody has done against them so far this season. Some side those Wimbedon exiles, and the troubles of the long time big boys does seem to give a lot of people pleasure. The Germans have a word for it, though we normally use two....

Back to the real thing though. Not a great start to the season, he says diplomatically. Although from what I saw we should probably have won against West Allotment and the replay with Bishops was a close run affair, but most people only see the result, and make their mind up on that basis. Never mind, nothing' s won or lost in August, it's a long season. And the new kit looks very smart.

A factor in this new season which had escaped my attention until Sunday, and which for some reason has tickled me more than somewhat, is the new name under which the Conference clubs will be operating this year. You probably already noticed. It is now the Vanarama Football Conference no less. Vanarama are no doubt a top class outfit, the go to guys if you need to lease a van, part of the Autorama Group, based in the fine footballing town of Hemel Hempstead, and obviously determined to raise their profile through the medium of football. Good luck to them I say. But I can’t help thinking that as they started casting the net for new sponsors the good people of the Conference management committee were hoping for something maybe a little bit more upmarket, or at least more upmarket sounding. BT Sport maybe, or perhaps British Gas. Or if not more upmarket then one of the apparently endless supply of betting firms now on the go; the Paddy Power Conference, or the Bet 365 Conference. But no, after much diligent effort it is the Vanarama Conference after all. And very good it sounds.