Norman Ralph

Once again the England football team has thrown away a lead and commanding performance in the space of a few minutes. This week it was against the Russians in Moscow. 1-0 up at half time after a Waybe Rooney screamer I thought we would be ok, our qualification to the next European Championships to be held next year in Austria and Switzerland. I was wrong. A leopard cannot change his spots. They sat back and thought that one goal was enough. It happens every time they score – as if they are so shocked about scoring that they don’t know what to do with it. In the end Russia put two goals past a hapless Paul Robinson in the England goal.

Awful!

The England football team have just completed back to back victoires in the Euro 2008 qualifying stage. They put three goals past a rather hopeless Israel at Wembley then the same team (first time over two years that an England coach has named an unchanged starting XI in consecutive fixtures) have just beaten a good looking Russian side by the same scoreline.

Overall England definitely deserved the six points and played really well considering that many pundits claim that the majority of players in the two ames wouldn’t normally make the England team. Two players stood out for me over the 180 minutes, namely Emile Heskey and Steven Gerrard. Stevie Gerrard is arguably the single most talented footballer in the world. He has, however, never really reached his full potential. This is mainly die to the fact he can play anywhere on the park and rarely plays his best position – that of an attacking central midfielder – and due to the fact that his usual partner in midfield, Frank Lampard, is too similar in style so they tend to cancel each other out. The last two games (whilst playing with a broken toe) we have seen him at his very best. We saw his energy and commitment alongside his leadership and passion for the beautiful game. Emile Heskey, much maligned over recent years, is the perfect foil for Michael Owen who is getting back to his very best for England and Newcastle.

I am really looking forward to the selection for the next qualifier against Estonia and the return leg to Russia in October. it is not foten I get to say this but..

GO ENGLAND!

What an amazing weekend!

I attended my last festival of the summer this weekend – Solfest, on the Solway coast up in in Cumbria. It was a really good weekend, it was the ideal combination of good company, good music and brilliant atmosphere. I headed over to Kirkham on Wednesday after dropping Liz off in Potterhanworth so that I could do some of my to-do list before heading up to Solfest on the Friday. Due to traffic and general slowness on my part I didn’t actually get home until tea time, so didn’t really get much done. Ended up watching the England game then heading to bed.

On Thursday I set about my to-do list with some vigour. I managed to clean the car inside and out, pick up some replacement parts for the car and fit them and generally check to see how much work I am going to have to do to get the car through its MOT. I also managed to get all my washing and drying done ready for me to pack for Solfest. I managed to get it all done just in time to pick Michelle up from preston train station as she was flying voer from Jersey specially for the weekend. In the end, the train was about two hours late and I was sat on the platform for most of it. It was boring! Michelle arrived eventually (about 1am) and we headed for home and pretty much went straight to bed as we were leaving at nine the next morning!

The trip up to Solfest was generally uneventful, the roads were quite quiet seeing as it was the start of the Bank Holiday weekend though it did start to get busier throughout the day. We arrived at Sarann’s Dad’s house, with who we were staying for the weekend, at about lunchtime. We ate then headed out to Allonby to eat ice cream and walk on the beach. We had met up with Matt by this time too (Kat was also about, but was stewarding at the festival). We hit the festival about five o’clock.

One of the big surprises for me was how full the festival felt. Solfest is a relatively small, family orientated festival with about 5000 ticket holders and about 2000 stewards etc. The festival site itself wasn’t tiny yet the place felt full without being overcrowded. The next big surprise came when checking the programme for the weekend and discovering that Ben’s Brother were booked to play on the Bar Stage – the smallest venue at the festival. This surprised me as Ben’s Brother are currently enjoying quite a high level of chart and radio success and are tipped to headline some of the major summer festivals next year such as Leeds/Reading and V. I dawned on me that their debut album has only very recently been released and they must have been booked for the festival many months ago. I had to see them seeing as it was likely the last time they would be playing such an intimate venue!

They were well worth the entry fee to the festival alone. Sometimes I am disappointed by bands like Ben’s Brother when they play live but this was not the case. In many ways I preferred their live set to their album – which it must be said is a really good album, one I would recommend to anyone – as they managed to really get the audience going with their mix of classic indie guitar riffs and soulful singing. We caught a few other bands on the Friday night including the everpresent festival band that is Ozric’s Tentacles (well worth catching if you can).

Saturday was always going to be a highlight for me – Badly Drawn Boy, The Undertones and Chumbawumba all had slots on the mainstage with the former bands headlining! What a combination – Badly Drawn Boy followed by The Undertones. You would not see it anywhere else! The amazing acoustic sounds of Silent Sigh followed by Teenage Kicks!! It was an amazing night. One of the best evenings of live entertainment in my life!

Sunday was not an obvious highlight for me musicwise. There was pretty much only one band I was bothered about and that was the final act of the festival on the main stage – the everpresent Levellers. However, Solfest had one last surprise for me and it went by the name of Show of Hands. Show of Hands are an English folk group that plays a combination of traditional folk, sea shanties and rock music. They were stunning. I actually watched their set mesmerised by them. I am going to stick my neck out and say I don’t think anything has ever moved me quite so much as their music. I loved every second of their set and could have listened to them all night.

All in all it wa sa massively successful festival and I would like to extend some thank yous. Firstly, I would like to thank everyone involved with Solfest for putting on such a warm and friendly festival. Secondly I would like to thank Michelle, Kat, Matt, Ciara, Toni and Caitlin for helping make the weekend a massive success by being cool festival buddies. A special thanks to Sarann for insisting we went and making sure we all had an amazing time and a massive thanks to Sarann’s Dad for putting up with a house full of students for four days, for feeding us and for generally providing for our every whim!

I recommend this festival to all. I literally cannot wait for next year’s tickets to go on sale!!

That time of year again! The new football season is just around the corner and this weekend saw the opening game of the season, the FA Community Shield, between Manchester United and Chelsea. As usual, it was a bit of a disappointment with neither team really getting going. There was the odd bit of brilliance, the odd flash of inspiration, but nothing to really set the game ablaze. Nani was disappointing for Man Utd and Pizarro looks like he might not last the pace at Chelsea though Malouda (signed for £13.5million from French champions, Lyon) looked sharp for the London side, other than that it was a fairly tame affair. Roll on the title chase.

On the face of the game, Manchester probably deserved their penalty win but in all honesty it could have gone either way.

Blackpool 2 – Yeovil 0

That insignificant looking scoreline made yesterday into a great day in the seaside resort of Blackpool’s history. Their football team is playing in the top two flights of English football for the first time in thrity years. Yesterday afternoon’s League One Play-off Final at Wembly was a great game. Blackpool played the best football, they passed and moved and generally played at a Championship level, their footalling home for the next season at least, Kiegan Parker’s second goal being absolutely sublime – curling it round most of the Yeovil defence and goalkeeper from twenty-five yards!

Following the conclusion to the football game, Liz and I hopped on the 95 up to Woodies to meet Chris Clarke and do a mini Otley Run. Playing “no repeats” rules, we made our way through Three Horsehoes and New Inn. Due to the fact there were three of us we decided to give Arcadia a whirl, it is a small Wine and Ale bar just next to Somerfield in Headingley. We were so impressed with it we stayed for two drinks!

The Arc and Sky Rack were absolutely heaving, so after a swift drink in Headingley Taps, the Box and Original Oak we jumped on the bus and headed to Hyde Park Corner. We were planning to keep going on the Run, but having done some negotiating we headed up to Izzy’s to help her celebrate her 22nd birthday.

There was a house full of people when we got there, a mixture of Leeds and Kirkham folk. Inf act it was a remarkable turn out. After a Dutch courage drink, I decided it was time to bury the hatchet with Izzy. I hope I got my message across, the right mixture of apology, sincerity and humility yet maintaining enough dignity for the apology to carry some weight. I cannot be sure of the outcome of what we talked about, I think we decided not to dwell on it there and then as it was the middle of a party. We did, however, get an invite to the after party in town. Unfortunately, the afternoon’s excitement had taken its toll on Liz so I had to take her home.

Having just Googled my name, I have discovered that www.normanralph.com is the first result returned! That’s quite cool. I did the same for Liz and her site is the fifth result returned. I should probably know this but does anyone know how Google’s ranking works?

On a different note, I found Liz’s limit last night. Cryptic? Yes, it is meant to be.

Seetickets.com have also excelled themselves, I bought The Who tickets last night and they arrived this morning! That is service. Just waiting on another delivery now, which I hope will come this week.

Anyway, off to watch Blackpool lose to Oldham in the League One Playoff semi-final then hopefully see Man Utd beat the crap out of Chelsea in the FA Cup later on.

Regular readers of my blog will be aware that I have recently embarked on a new relationship with a lovely young lady called Liz. Well, for the past week I have been staying with her at her Nan’s house whilst her grandparents are away on holiday for a couple of weeks. The reasons for me staying are two fold, a) it gave me an opportunity to spend some real and quality time with Liz away from the pressures of Leeds, friends and family and b) it gave me an opportunity to recharge my batteries and take stock of my life in a relaxed atmosphere.

I think both reasons have worked out for the very best. Liz and I have really gotten to know each other this week in the way you only achieve through spending time together. Having the house to ourselves was a real bonus, it has led to our relationship really developing into a beautiful adult relationship. Liz is a pretty good host too, she brings me cups of tea in the morning! Although, to be fair, I have actually done most of the work in terms of cooking, cleaning, washing etc and I have decided that Liz only really wants me for my car – it seems my chauffering skills are second to none, literally as there is no one else!

The second reason has almost been as amazing. I have really gotten to know myself through letting Liz get to know me. I think I am now in a position to move forward with my life, to start again as it were. The future holds many challenges for me and until recently I would have shied away from them and stuck my head in the sand. Now it is different. I am up for the challenge, I am relishing the challenge and most importantly I am willing to fight for what I want and fight to win.

The week in Potter’ has been relaxed although not entirely without action. Liz and I arrived from Leeds on Sunday afternoon and chilled out for most of the afternoon, we had take away – which wasn’t really up the high stabdards of Milano’s but not entirely inedible, after watching some telly we ended up going to bed relatively early. Monday was fairly standard too, didn’t really do all that much apart from a bit of shopping and some work. Tuesday saw me head back to Leeds for the morning, I picked up some quality newvinyl which gives m an excuse to update my hi-fi system, which is in the process of coming to fruition. We ended up going out into Lincoln with Liz, Edd and some of Edd’s friends to a club called Sugarcubes. It was a dive. Your standard student rock based night. Cheap drinks though at £1 for a bottle of lager/soft drink. Liz got very very drunk and I took her home. We were both quite ill on our return and as I hadn’t been drinking I wasn’t convinced it was the alcohol.

Liz returned to work on Wednesday after a few days off due to stress. Whilst she was there I did some reading and caught up with some work. A few problems occurred during the evening, none of which are really suitable for discussion here. Thursday was a faily quiet day, we watched the Lincoln City vs Bristol Rovers play off semi-final 2nd leg and I was a little dismayed to see Lincoln lose. Lincoln are not my team, but as I have several connections to the city, I have a certain affection for the club. A couple of films and a late night later we arrive at today, Friday. Liz is at work from 4-9pm this evening and then I imagine we will be heading back to Leeds.

Our plans for the weekend include watching he Blackpool game on Saturday, followed by the FA Cup final then Wendy House. Sunday will be a chilled out day then liz will head home whilst I get on with some chores and errands. Finally, I thought I would mention the fact that I have tickets to see The Who!!

Man Utd lost 3-0 to AC Milan in the Chanmpions’ League semi final 2nd leg. They deserved to lose because they played really, really badly. The upshot of this result is that Liverpool will now play AC Milan in the final, a repeat of the 2005 epic encounter where Milan were leading 3-0 with 20mins to play, Liverpool drew level and then went on to win on penalties. One of the most enthralling football games I have ever seen, only eclipsed in recent memory by the 2006 FA Cup final between Liverpool and West Ham.

I am really looking forward to the Champions’ League Final this year, to be held in Athens, as I think it is going to be a very close game and hopefully Liverpool will once again edge it.

I am by no means a Liverpool fan, although if pushed I would probably say they were one of my favourite teams in general, but they are English and I support England wherever possible.

My blogging has been a little sporadic recently, not just that, but it has also been a little disjointed. I apologise for this but I have good reason. Things have been going on that couldn’t be openly blogged about and I have been a very busy chap indeed with one thing and another.

Firstly, it is official (because Facebook says so) that Liz and I are going out. We have been for a few days now but unfortunately circumstances dictated a certain amount of discretion. people needed telling in the right order. The right people know, so now the world can know.

There is a story to be told about how this happened and came about but it is not to be shared here, memories are still too fresh and people involved do not deserve to be hurt. Today is the beginning of something beautiful.

I took liz home on Sunday and met her parents and brother. We also ended up meeting Ed and heading to the pub. It is quite a nice little pub and you cannot go wrong with 40p games of pool! Had a cup of tea with Liz then headed home. I hate leaving her.

Monday saw me start fulfilling my duties as A-Soc secretary and also meant getting fed by Sarann. Sarann is an excellent cook and made a delicous sausage casserole followed by rice pudding. The pub followed, which wasn’t the best experience all round. A few demons surfaced and they took some sorting out, I ended up crashing at B’s.

Met MC and went to the cricket this morning, watched the Second XI game. I left about 2pm and headed to uni for a faith and cultural assembly meeting – which was postponed without notice (well everyone but me and Chris got notice). We then had an A-Soc committee meeting followed by a general meeting, Was quite a good meeting and we got lots sorted out. Just need to write the minutes up now…..

Liverpool beat Chelsea!

I had nothing formal on yesterday, a few bits and bats that needed sorting out but nothing pressing and essential. I like these kind of days, they can turn out quite well sometimes. It did!

I was woken up with a message from Chris, suggesting The Library for lunch. Not our usual haunt, but I quite like it in there. With two hours to kill I set about sorting out some admin. Got some emails sent off, confirmed a few bits and sorted out about a weeks worth of post.

Midday rolled round so I headed down to the pub where Chris and I were joined by Sarann and Michelle. Was quite a chilled lunch, although I was dismayed that they are changing their menu – seems to be a trend amongst food places in Leeds. They are changing their burgers and adding more variety apparently.

Following lunch, I headed over to Essentials to get the paper and then headed down to the cricket. I am a season ticket holder at Yorkshire County Cricket Club and this was the first home game of the season. Caught most of the first day of Yorks vs Durham – got there just after the lunch interval and stuck around until about 5.30pm. Yorks had a really good day, Durham won the toss and elected to bat and were 117-3 at lunch. They were eventually bowled out for 247. Abdul Rashid taking five wickets in a glorious spell of slow bowling.

The evening was spent watching the second Champions League semi-final in a packed out Old Bar. Chelsea snuck the result, winning 1-0 at home to a really good Joe Cole tap in following a Drogba run. I think Liverpool should edge the game at Anfield, so this could get interesting. I really hope Man Utd hold off AC Milan next Wednesday and we get an all-English final!