Off Topic Other Stuff (anything you want to share)

Admission of spectators at Doncaster for the St Ledger meeting was banned at the last minute by the local council, which is another straw in the wind. Mind you, they've all got it up north haven't they?

What worries me is that fans were only to be admitted to football on the basis that they were to sit in family or social groups, presumably now up to a maximum of 6, with safe distances between the groups, hence the restricted numbers allowed in. There is supposed to be no singing or chanting as that projects the virus farther.

Bearing in mind what goes on in the Devonport End and what I read on social media from those people about Argyle stewarding and the disease, there is no way that's going to happen. They resent the club winning family-friendly awards as that only encourages what they call "plastic" fans to the ground where they aren't wanted. They believe they can stand where they want. It isn't going to matter where their tickets are supposed to place them, they're all going to try to mass in the middle of Devonport End as usual. They think they can sing and shout what they want, no matter how offensive and that's what they'll do. Given half a chance and sufficient excuse (e.g. last minute winner v Pompey), they'll invade the pitch and mob the players, which they regard as the summit of fan passion.

We won't be the only club in that situation and to be honest, I can't see restricted numbers of fans in stadiums lasting two weeks.

 

Been watching on and off (more off to be honest) FA Cup preliminary Round match live on the BBC.....

Stocksbridge Park Steels...1-3...Stalybridge Celtics.

Reminds me of my teenage years playing local Bromley League football....the standard didn't look any better.

Brown leather ball...weighing a ton when wet ....leather dubbined boots.....cold water shower etc, etc.

 

Jumpers for goal-posts...............

 

Very funny notDistant......we did have goalposts (and crossbars).....but did we ever get there early enough to put the net up....the problem then of course was you would have to take the darn thing down afterwards....and when you'd got to the shower...the water was definately running cold by then.

 

A win in the Brexit trade talks on fisheries would be meaningless without new legislation to encourage fishermen to land their catches in the UK, according to the British Ports Association.

Richard Ballantyne, chief executive of the BPA, said unless more fish was caught and landed in the UK.....even if by EU vessels...deprived coastal communities that depend on businesses offering services such as processing and packaging would not benefit, undermining government policies such as free ports and levelling up that are aimed at reducing regional inequality.

The BPA estimates that every £1million of seafood landed in the UK creates up to 76 jobs in the wider economy. However, it claims that 40% of the UK seafood quota is currently landed abroad. In 2017, £260 million of the UK quota was landed elsewhere, which could have supported 20,000 jobs, the BPA said.
Meanwhile, £850 million of seafood was caught by foreign boats in UK waters in 2016.

The BPA said if Britain "took full control of its waters as an independent coastal state", this extra quota would create 60,000 jobs if landed in the UK, even if it was caught by foreign vessels.

A survey of fishing ports by the BPA found 40% did not consider their current income sufficient to meet their long-term needs.

Currently, under the "economic link" conditions of UK fishing licences, at least half of landings must be made at UK ports and half the crews must be UK residents.

The BPA wants the Fisheries Bill, which will enter the committee stage in the House of Commons tomorrow, to make it mandatory for as close to all of the fish caught in the UK waters to be landed in UK ports, "This isn't about protectionism it's about supporting communities," Mr Ballantyne said, "Why not actually take back control ?".

Daily Telegraph (Business pages)...Monday...14/09/2020.



My thoughts.....How important it is for us not just to have Sovereignty over our coastal waters...but control of what is in those waters as well... and who can do what in those waters... that are part of an independent sovereign nation.

How condescending of Michel Barnier to say that he recognized the right of the UK to have sovereignty over its coastal waters....BUT cannot have control over what is in those waters....Barnier can cherry pick what the EU want....but the UK get ridiculed for stating their right to cherry pick all that happens around their coastal waters....its not just the fish that Barnier wants but all the spin off jobs that come from taking fish from UK waters and processing them in EU ports.

How have we put up with the plundering of our territorial waters for so long....we have only just started to wake up to the facts.....we have heard of the extinction of our fishing industry over the years and the dying of our fishing heritage and our ports dwindling to only one or two small boats...if any....no its got to stop now that we have prised ourselves out of the EU....and Barnier needs to wake up to the truth the the UK in now a sovereign independent nation that will control its own fate.

 

Fishing is in many ways a red herring. It accounts for about 0.1% of UK GDP and a similar proportion of UK jobs.

What we need to worry about is top end manufacturing and the technology that goes with it and professional services, at which the UK is second only to the USA. One thing I haven't heard mentioned in what passes for a Brexit debate is the huge potential gain in persuading the EU to open up Its services market. This is still a relatively closed shop with individual countries setting their own rules to keep foreign providers out. Professional services provide about 10% of UK GDP but by leaving, we've thrown away a huge opportunity to deploy our expertise in Europe. It's a closed shop now but it will be a closed door in future.

It's true fishing has become a virility symbol for Brexiteers but we should be concentrating on value, not virility.

We import about three quarters of the fish we eat from Europe but we also export three quarters of what we catch and that tends to be of higher value species than what we bring in. Losing those exports to the EU because of Brexit us more of a risk to UK fishermen than anything else.

 

Macclesfield have been wound up in the court....debts of £500,000.....not a lot really....most clubs owe more than that.

 

Seems not to be my 24 hours for sport. I sat down ar 1pm with a spot of lunch to watch the first over of the One Day International against the Australians.. England won the toss and batting, Starc bowling. First ball Roy caught in the slips. Second ball, Root LBW. England 0 for 2 after 2 balls.

I give up.

 

You should have notdistant they lost the match having looked like they might just win it. Didn't watch it as I don't have Skysport but did follow the proceedings on and off during the afternoon.

It's not the amount of money a club owes it's more a case of who you owe and whether they will continue to take an IOU. Macclesfield were a liquidation in the waiting. There will be a host of others as the season goes on if the ban on turnstile movement continues. Whatever money some have right now is going to be spent pretty soon and then what happens when nobody will loan them any more. Lets face it they aren't a great risk are they.

 

Tell me Mr S. when some fans are allowed in the stadium, will you be one of them.?

 

I have purchased a season ticket so I hope so. I'm saving up to afford a pasty and bovril now. So far I've got enough for a lick of the pastry.

 

I'm beginning to think that this League season will not be completed.....The Covid-19 figures rise each day.....as the Lemmings amongst us in this country continue to throw themselves over the cliff edge....the similarity breaks down there....because these Lemmings will mostly survive and others that come in contact with them might die..........we are surely heading for another shutdown....no socializing...no moving from our homes....no sports events on ...let alone spectators going to matches....visions of "Dads Army"....and we're all doomed Mr Mainwaring come to mind.

 

Today's Times says the Government are considering a 2 week lockdown to coincide with school half term (approx 1 month from now).

 

A month from now might be far to late....they estimate the figure can double every fortnight...the figure today is 4,322 new cases in the last 24hrs......with 27 deaths.

A month from now it could be over 10,000 by estimates.

My grand daughter woke up Thursday with a temperature....my grandson was about to get on the coach for school...they phoned him....my daughter-in-law is a childrens nurse...she couldn't go in....my son couldn't work either....they managed to get tested...the result came Friday ...all negative....but the chaos and work it caused was pressure....a positive result could have pulled in dozens of people including us who saw them on Saturday.

My Daughter-in-law has nearly 30 years experience in child nursing...so she knew that they had no other option but to get tested....they're had been contact with two Schools, St Thomas' Hospital ...plus my son dealing with many shops through his franchise.....how do you chase all those contacts down.....this could be a long hard winter....but some will moan at being deprived of their rights to spread mayhem throughout society.

 

Large parts of the north are on local lockdown I suppose: lockdown when the schools are closed anyway would minimise disruption to education and to working parents and therefore the economy. Will be a bugger if you have an autumn holiday booked though..............

 

This situation is being caused by those who are supposed to be leading and in charge of the rest of us. They could not organise a piss up in a brewery to save their own lives let alone anyone elses. There is no firm leadership from the Cabinet or firm plan for the Country. We might lock down we might not lock down. We will set new rules for this and that but it won't start now it will be next week. My Advisor didn't break any rules by driving 280 miles each way to the North. So said all of the Cabinet at the time. We will have an A1 class tracing system by next week when it is still in chaos weeks later. We can do millions of tests when half those who need or want one cannot get one to save their life. Every chlld sent back to school when schools cannot cope with isolation because they are not designed to do it. People sent back to work simply for economical reasons rather than any medical ones. The pounds worth is mightier than health it seems.

What they should do is put this whole thing in the hands of the Army Generals and let them organise things. I would bet it would work then because the planning would be proper and somebody would make sure it happened. The first task would be to sort out firing squads to get rid of the current bunch of idiots who are wrecking it all now. The even more worrying thing is this lot are going to sort out Brexit as well. At my age this could be my last year on the planet. That might turn out to be a happy release.............

 

Number of clubs going to the wall 'could hit double figures'.

More than ten English Football and National League clubs could go bust after the return of fans in those divisions was scrapped, a leading football finance expert has warned.

Kieran Maguire, a lecturer in the subject at the University of Liverpool, made the grim forecast after publishing data showing every club in the Championship and all but two in the Premier League would have made operating losses in the season before last had they been deprived of match-day income.

Data also showed all but seven sides in League One, five in League Two and three in the National League....many of which do not file detailed accounts.....lost money in the same season.

Charlton, Wigan, Oldham and Southend have all previously been identified as being at risk of going to the wall, even before the coronavirus crises struck., while Gillingham chairman Paul Scally yesterday warned his own club could do so by Christmas if supporters remained locked out of grounds.

Maguire said: "There is a danger of a trickle becoming far more than a trickle. Potentially, we could be hitting double figures. If you take a look at the worst years pre-financial fair play, we were seeing around 2003, 2004, seven, eight, nine clubs going into administration. partly on the back of ITV Digital's collapse.

"What we are facing at present is a far greater, far more universal hit to the professional sport sector. How can clubs in the National League survive if they can't play matches in front of a paying audience when 60% or more of their money comes through the turnstiles ?"

Maguire warned that the bitter battle for the ownership of Charlton put them at particular risk.

"Charlton's very worrying because there's presently an injunction against the person that wants to buy the club and somebody else who wants to buy the club who has been rejected by theEFL," he said.

But he said no club were beyond rescue provided they had, or found, an owner "willing and able to cover the losses" caused by the pandemic.

Daily Telegraph...Wednesday...23/09/2020.

 

Plymouth on the national BBC News tonight.....regarding the opening of the £48 million Museum called 'The Box'....1.5 million items of Plymouth history....including Drake and Raleigh and slavery connections as well.

 

I'll be down there tomorrow with my placard then.......................£48 million on a load of old stuff. Whatever next.

 

Will there be anything relating to Argyle in there I wonder......maybe an old Derek Adams sporran.