2006

More news from home — it looks like our local co-op is making a bit of a meal of its vegetable branding. Icebergs in the icebox?

Strange goings on in the fridge

This video by spizzenergi (anyone remember Where’s Captain Kirk?) made me laugh.

And the burning question in my head is: why didn’t he do his robotic dance yesterday when he scored? What was he thinking? Next time, eh, Peter? There will be a next time, won’t there?

So The Ball has left Battersea Park and is now bouncing its way to Europe. Phil and I have reached the most iconic stretch of English coastline there is: the White Cliffs of Dover. Last time, in 2002, we kicked a long ball straight across the Channel to a beach near Calais… and the idea was to do the same this year. Until the (in)famous Phantom Fouler intervened, that is…

The Phantom Fouler in Xi’an

If you haven’t come across him before, he’s the Terracotta Warrior who ruthlessly hacked Phil down in Xi’an, providing us with the free-kick that took us direct to Tiananmen Square. You can watch the video in this post.

So then, will The Ball make it across the Channel? Will “fair play” win out in the end? Watch the next episode to find out if we make it…

 

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The Ball 2006

They gathered at the Peace Pagoda, Battersea Park at 2pm to do battle.
For some, it invoked memories of Passchendaele, Monte Cassino, Stalingrad, Trafalgar.
For others it was merely a game of football. Jumpers for goalposts.

[You can watch the video of the game in the previous entry]

There were some old faces and some new, an interesting variety of footware and “football kit” and some shockingly white legs but the spirit and belief were high. After the necessary delays to greet the assembled worlds’ press (well…CNN) teams were picked and lined up Lights vs Darks.

Let the game begin

The Lights sprinted off to an early lead thanks to some excellent play by Phil down the wings and Chas, Shilton-esque, in goal by half time they were easily in front at 5-1.

The music of the fans provided by Andy on sax and Brian on flute

Whatever the Darks were drinking during the break (I believe it was Champagne) they came out a team transformed for the second half.

It was nip and tuck in the midfield with the Darks adding three goals to be answered only by one from the Lights. Phil then switched teams playing for the Darks and the introduction of doggy Maisie to harry the Lights attack saw the Darks draw level in the very last minute with a stunning effort on the half volley by Einar.

Gooooooooal!

So, to penalties and it was and Chas in goal for the Lights using the old Grobbelaar wobbly to great effect, saving three penalties. This just left Tom to score which he duly did, giving victory to the Lights. The post match analysis in the pub afterwards concluded that everyone had a very enjoyable day and it was a fitting send off for Phil and Christian on their journey to the World Cup.

Best of luck guys!

Kickoff for Germany

The Teams celebrate

Many thanks to everyone who turned up at Battersea Park on Sunday — we love you all! What luck we had with the weather, eh?

Final score: Lights: 8 — Darks 8 (Lights won on penalties)

Full match report to come…

 

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The Ball prepares itself for kick off

This Sunday, May 28th 2006 in Battersea Park, London
Meet us @ 2pm at the Peace Pagoda on the river

So then, here we go again… it’s time to visit our Mount Olympus as we prepare for the epic overland journey to, er, Munich. Oh well, not quite the same epic as Seoul was last time or Cape Town will be next time, but hey, continuity is what it’s about this year. In the spirit of the low-key, low-effort* nature of this trip, we’re playing a kickabout on Sunday, May 28th at 2pm in Battersea Park.

(*since I wrote this Sky News have announced that they’re coming along to broadcast the kickoff LIVE on TV — *gulp* — not so low-key anymore then)

The Park

It may not be well organised, it may even end up as mob football, but we’ll be there all the same. Come along! Meet us at the pagoda by the river and help us make a spectacle of ourselves… bring along a dark and a light shirt so we can divide up into recognisable teams.

 

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And as a reminder of what this is all about, I’ve included the 5 minute movie from 2002 in the video podcast for those of you who are subscribed to this in iTunes (or whatever) and haven’t seen it yet. Check out our feeds page for details of how to subscribe.

The Global Game sent me a timely reminder that there’s a very special football game going on today. It’s the second of two games that have been played consistently over the last 1000 years or so, and, to many, is the precursor to the modern game whose birth we celebrate at Battersea Park. The game, more commonly referred to as “mob football”, takes place on a pitch three miles long in Ashbourne, Derbyshire and is played over the course of eight hours by two teams; the Down’ards and the Up’ards. Yesterday’s game was won by the Down’ards with the only “goal” being scored by a certain Brendan Harwood. Actually, the talk is of “the ball being goaled” — the ball itself being made of cork and hand-painted. Ouch!

Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger notes that interest in this traditional game is still rife amongst modern football’s higher echelons. According to him, just before West Germany played the USSR in the 1966 World Cup semi-final, Adi Dassler (founder of the eponymous adidas) had paid a visit to Ashbourne. The Germans beat the USSR in a closely fought match, and…

There were smiles all around, but one of the broadest did not belong to a player. Adi Dassler had gone to Ashbourne in Derbyshire to investigate the traditional Shrove Tuesday football match and had dug up and age-old, mouldering football boot which he proudly took home to display in his semi-private museum. The worth of a trophy is always relative.

The BBC has a mini-site devoted to Ashbourne Shrovetide Football 2006 which is very informative and worth a look if you’re lucky enough to be able to go this year.Something I liked very much, and had no idea existed, was the The Shrovetide Anthem, which was written for a concert in 1891:

The Shrovetide Anthem

There’s a town still plays this glorious game
Tho’ tis but a little spot.
And year by year the contest’s fought
From the field that’s called Shaw Croft.
Then friend meets friend in friendly strife
The leather for to gain,
‘And they play the game right manfully,
In snow, sunshine or rain.

‘Tis a glorious game, deny it who can
That tries the pluck of an Englishman.

For loyal the Game shall ever be
No matter when or where,
And treat that Game as ought but the free,
Is more than the boldest dare.
Though the up’s and down’s of its chequered life
May the ball still ever roll,
Until by fair and gallant strife
We’ve reached the treasur’d goal.

‘Tis a glorious game, deny it who can
That tries the pluck of an Englishman.

Amen to that!

Image from the Pitch Perfect project

Another great find by The Global Game, this time alerting me to Pitch Perfect. This from the website:

“Pitch Perfect will see the creation of a brand new football anthem to reflect football in 2005. It will be fully accessible, culturally reflective of the communities involved and, more than anything, fun for those singing it! Pitch Perfect aims to develop links between football and music. It draws upon the musical tradition present in football history through the commissioning of a brand new choral and instrumental work which is written to celebrate the ‘beautiful game’.”

The song will be premiered on Friday 18 November 2005 at Wembley Conference Centre. I look forward to hearing it.

Update: The Guardian posted an article which reports that Sepp Blatter wants to ban the playing of national anthems prior to internationals - perhaps they could be replaced by this song instead?

Phil and I will be showing the five minute film and talking about the Spirit of Football project at the next London Englandfans meeting at the Offside bar on City Road in London on Thursday evening. My word, that’s today…

The Homeless World Cup will be held in Edinburgh from 20th - 24th July, and The Ball is scheduled to make an appearance as a precursor to the trip to Germany. More information can be found on the Street Soccer website.

The Ball rolling through China in 2002

The Guardian’s chief sports writer was so enthralled by the Liverpool v. AC Milan final that he wrote his latest column entitled Magic and hypnotism of the rolling ball based on the question “what is this strange power football has over us?”

One of the answers he provides is that ‘it’s the magic of the rolling ball. You can’t resist it.’ Indeed. Neither can we. That’s what the Spirit of Football has always been about.

I just stumbled across a promo video for the World Cup preparations in Berlin which has a remarkable resemblance to our video from the 2002 trip to Japan and Korea… really nicely (read expensively!) made and worth a look.

Ready for 2006

Sets the standard for 2006, I guess. Enjoy!

When we were in Moscow, on our way to Korea in 2002, Phil and I went to see a game at the Spartak stadium. After the game, as we were wandering around looking for the way out, we stumbled across a sign overlooking the training pitches which seemed to sum up the spirit of our trip.

At the time, Israel and Palestine were going through a particularly confrontational phase, and we questioned whether such sentiments could be put into practice in the region. Well, it seems like an attempt to do so is underway: Street Football World reports that a Mini World Cup Tournament for Palestinian-Israeli youth will take place on 15th April, 2005. It’s being organised by the Peres Centre for Peace as part of their “Twinned Peace Soccer Schools” project.

How about we use a fair-trade football instead?

In a previous post, I wrote about scientists researching the perfect free-kick. Now, with the rebirth of the video-replay debate as a result of Roy Carroll’s shameless lack of sportsmanship in the Man Utd v Spurs match a week or two ago (where he appeared - to the ref at least - to “save” what was clearly a goal) I thought I’d have a little look at some of the technologies which may be part of high-end football’s future.

“This is what we play with. Go and get it!”
Brian Clough

An article on The Register entitled “Scientists learn to bend it like Beckham” suggests that the sight of our David skying a spot kick over the goal and into the stands may be numbered. “Scientists at Loughborough University have developed a system that will measure a football’s speed and spin, something they say has not been accomplished before”, reports Lucy Sherriff, and suggests that one outcome of this research may be a “perfect penalty-taking cyborg”. Strangely, she goes on to quote a colleague who claims that “in fact the most confusing ball to face, when standing in goal, is one that doesn’t spin at all”.

Well that clears that one up then.

FIFA have announced that tickets for the 2006 World Cup will go on sale on the 1st February 2005.

The ingenuity that people have when trying to get a game together is exemplified by these children in Burundi who turn old plastic bags into a football

This is the lineup for the DPRK v Thailand World Cup Qualifier at the Yangdakdo Stadium on the 8th September 2004 — sparsely attended by the looks of things. The result… DPRK 4 Thailand 1. “No 10 Mr Hong standing out as North Korea’s answer to Rooney.” reports Rich.