The Wizard of the Dribble and The Magician.

After a terrible performance by the English national team in the world cup yesterday I saw a short film about the great Sir Stanley Mathews and all the good work he had done in Soweto and amazingly I had never heard about his great work there. Mr Capello has stated his English players were tired and yet Sir Stan played football for England at the age of 42 years 103 days.

Longest England career
Stanley Matthews, 22 years 228 days, 29 September 1934 — 15 May 1957

Oldest player
Stanley Matthews, 42 years 103 days, 15 May 1957

Appearances in three separate decades
Stanley Matthews, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s


Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the English game, he is the only player to have been knighted while still playing, as well as being the first winner of both the European Footballer of the Year and the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year awards. Matthews' nicknames included The Wizard of the Dribble and The Magician. A vegetarian teetotaller, he kept fit enough to play at the top level until he was 50 years old, the oldest player ever to play in England's top football division and the oldest player ever to represent the country. He played his final competitive game in 1970, at the age of 55, for Hibernians in Malta, which team he also coached at the time. Matthews was also an inaugural inductee to the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002 to honour his contribution to the English game.[1]
Matthews played in the famous Battle of Highbury where England defeated the World Champions Italy 3-2 with a brace from Eric Brook and one goal from Ted Drake. Matthews later recollected that this was the most violent match that he had been involved in with Brook suffering a broken arm and Drake acquiring two black eyes.
A testimonial match in honour of Sir Stanley was played in April 1965 at the Victoria Ground, where almost 35,000 people watched a 10-goal thriller between a British XI and a Europe XI, that included greats such as Lev Yashin, Josef Masopust, Ferenc Puskás and Alfredo Di Stéfano, which finished 6–4 to the Europeans. Matthews was carried shoulder-high from the field at full-time.
Praise
"The man who taught us the way football should be played" - Pelé

"I grew up in an era when he was a god to those of us who aspired to play the game. He was a true gentleman and we shall never see his like again" - Brian Clough

"It is not just in England where his name is famous. All over the world he is regarded as a true football genius" - Berti Vogts

"For me this man probably had the greatest name of any player ever, certainly in Britain. I don't think anyone since had a name so synonymous with football in England" - Gordon Banks

"He [Stanley Matthews] told me that he used to play for just twenty pounds a week. Today he would be worth all the money in the Bank of England" - Gianfranco Zola
Honours
Blackpool
• FA Cup winner: 1953
Stoke City (second spell)
• Football League Second Division winner: 1962/63
Individual
• 1948: Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year
• 1956: European Footballer of the Year (Ballon d'Or)
• 1957: CBE
• 1963: Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year
• 1965: Knight Bachelor
• 1992: FIFA Gold Medal Order
• 2002: English Football Hall of Fame
• 2010: Stoke-on-Trent Sporting Hall of Fame

Michael Jackson

One year on, so sad to think the genius of pop will perform no more, he was a great inspiration for many people including myself.

So glad I got the opportunity to see him perform.

Thank you very much for the memories,RIP Michael

Ralph Little's Brazil charity trip

Royle Family and Married Single Other star Ralf Little has returned from a trip to Brazil on behalf of Action Aid
Actor Ralf Little has just returned from visiting an ActionAid project in Rio de Janeiro's notorious City of God, where he is an ambassador for the charity, which is using football to try and bring children out of their poverty stricken lives to show them new opportunities, particularly as Brazil is set to host the World Cup in 2014.
In Brazil, Ralf visited its world-famous slums and shantytowns - known as favelas - to meet the children who need help.

The most notorious of the slums is the Cidade de Deus (City of God), Brazil's poorest and most notorious shantytown, where ActionAid has one of its key projects.

The slum is now home to 65,000 people although it was planned for just 25,000. And, in this slum alone, 10% of children are in a state of malnutrition. It's a jarring contrast to the glamour of Copacabana Beach.
Brazil's slums
Children make up 40 per cent of the population of the slum, and it's estimated that up to 20 per cent of those children will not make it into their teens due to gangs, gun crime, drugs and poverty.

The actor was quickly followed around by the women and children who call it home - meeting families who live five to a room beside huge piles of rotting rubbish washed down the hillside by the frequent rains.

The project Ralf visited is called the Centre for Education and Cultural Actions (CEACC), an ActionAid-supported after school club that gives children in the area a safe place to play, and a chance of learning new skills like computing, football and capoeira and a refuge.

The centre supports hundreds of children with activities and further education to help prevent them from falling into a life of drugs and crime.
Knowing that this year's World Cup legacy is to provide education for all, and that World Cup 2014 will be taking place in Rio de Janeiro, ActionAid has found a great opportunity to make a connection between this event and education through sport, which can raise public awareness in tackling poverty.

Trooping of the Colour

It is day's like today, I feel proud to be British, watching the Trooping of the Colour ceremony on TV and hearing the Guys 8 weeks ago were actually on active service in Afghanistan and here they are today on parade in front of the Queen.Well done young men, you are a fantastic example to everyone but especially your generation we we hear so much bad press about the youth of today.

It is also great to see so many women know part of what was once totally dominated by men, keep up the good work girls, I personally believe there are some jobs ordinary women cannot do (there are always exceptions to the rule) but women have proved that they can also play a very important role in the defence of the realm.

It was also refreshing to see more coloured personnel in the guards and household division once again after years of being part of the elite and with as usual many people quick to jump on the bandwagon of immigrants in the UK, it is a great reminder how the UK is loyally served by many nationalities from the commonwealth, 4 brothers from I think from Gambia having some part in the proceedings.

This is why 'Help for Heroes' was chosen as one of the deserving dozen charities I will participate in this endeavor and with you help raise money for them.



Finally I have to mention the horses the drum carriers carrying the rank of Major and one is 23 years old, brilliant.

Soccer Aid

It was fantastic to watch Soccer Aid last night, living in Brasil for the last 5 years I have never had the pleasure previously, what a inspiring idea from Robbie Williams to get the world of entertainment with football legends to play a footie match for such a worthwhile cause.

what a great atmosphere and spirit the game was played in.