"Even though large tracts of the Championship and many old and famous Skates have fallen or may fall into the grip of the administration and all the odious apparatus of liquidation, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall play in Blackpool, we shall play on the South Coast, we shall play with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our lead, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the away grounds, we shall fight in the fields but not in the streets (as that may give us a points deduction), we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender our lead on the Championship, and if, which I do not for a moment believe, this club or a large part of it were losing, then our Fans beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New Southampton FC, with all its power and might, steps forth to the Premier League." Inspired by St Godders uplifting thoughts today! COYR!!! Lets do it!!!!!!!
This one requires no alteration from Churchill's orignal: 'This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.' You could easily think it was one of NA's just adding we can only control the controllables and we're taking it one game at a time
Maybe he would but unlike you Joe he wouldn't have said it in public and would've kept it as a thought.
Absolutely wonderful stuff and the kind of spirit we need. Sorry I did not comment earlier but the very lovely Mrs Godders and I have been to the theatre this evening.
Yeah that was him all over. Not sure if I would go as far as to call him racist, but xenophobic for sure.
I think there were a lot of factors involved in that. Arguably the most important being that our airforce was superior to theirs, meaning that they had no way of crossing the channel. They then turned their attention to the east and were beaten. Then our friends over the pond came to help out. He was a good wartime leader, no doubt, but he also had plenty of faults (and failed to be re-elected afterwards by the way). He was also very witty. Not a suitable idol though I don't think.
Joe is mostly right however what Winston thought and what he said was a vast difference. Many memos he originally wrote have been released over the years and are vastly different to the ones released at the time That was all I meant.
Churchill may not have been everyone's ideal peacetime leader, certainly not mine. But as a leader in wartime he was absolutely what Britain needed. It shouldn't be forgotten that had Churchill been listened to in the 1930's, the appeasement of Hitler, the rearmament of Germany, the annexation of the Rhineland, and the inevitable slide towards war might not have happened at all. Once Churchill became PM in 1940 he proved an inspiration to a country facing its darkest hour, and his American mother gave him a lever to get aid from the USA long before they came into the war themselves. Well I never thought I would be defending Winston Churchill on a football forum!
He was also a great writer. I read his Approaching Storm and History of the English Speaking People at school. He won the Nobel prize for Literature in 1953, partly for his books and partly for his oratory. A great leader and speaker...the right man at the right time.
Tea! Don't be silly dear boy. I had a scotch with a splash of water. We saw Barefoot in the Park at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford with Maureen Lipman. It was superb and as an educated and sophisticated man of the world you should make every effort to see it. You'll also like the pub across the river from the theatre, the Brittania I think, as they use the Pompey Crimes to alert staff that a food order is ready in the kitchen. It seemed to go off continuously while we were having our supper and the very lovely Mrs Godders eventually complained to the manager saying it was putting her off her meal!
I fell into that river once, during my salad days, to the amusement of all present. It was outside a pub (the same one?) by the river, that's all I can remember, due to being horribly drunk at the time. Neil Simon is a particular favourite of mine, I would definitely like to see that. I love his films too, especially the ones featuring Jack Lemmon, Odd couple and Out of towners spring to mind, who is one of the greatest comedy actors of all time IMHO. Jack's scene in The Apartment, (Billy Wilder, I know!) where he's hastily rearranging all the dates and times, via rolodex and telephone, so his bosses can use it for their collective philanderings, is a cinematic tour de force.
