Grovesred

So just think.... there are probably people out there thinking about YOU this morning, folk that you haven't thought about in ages! People you worked with years ago, people you were at uni with, people you had a one night stand with!

I'm certainly looking forward to seeing a certain former Football league referee who gave me a (good-natured) verbal battering for wearing my Saints scarf at the Matt Gadsby memorial game at Harrogate Town last night.

I think I might go one better and wear the shirt behind the bar tonight 8)

York City of course 8)

Impressed? Many times (Man U 0 City 3 in '95, romping to the Div IV title in '83/4, to name but two).

Decidely unimpressed every now and then, as well.

How did you get an Elgin and a St Johnstone fan under one roof?

I give up - how do you get an Elgin fan and a St Johnstone fan under one roof?

This Saints/York City household is particularly tense this afternoon with York down to ten men and losing 3-2 at flipping St Albans and Saints playing fast and loose with our hopes of going top...

If the score is level after ninety minutes, perhaps the teams could change codes and play a game of American Football, which never ends in a draw and which seems to be the model most of our sports are emulating these days.

Failing that, a game of Snakes & Ladders might do the trick.

Premature death due to undetected heart conditions is more common than most people think.

I was certainly unaware of it until I witnessed the death of David Longhurst at Bootham Crescent 16 years ago, but in addition to the likes of Foe, whom someone mentioned earlier, there have been many other deaths such as Daniel Yorath, a Hartlepool youth player whose name eludes me, and a young man died playing for Folkestone Invicta last season.

It's not just football of course, and there have been similar deaths in all sorts of sports.

I don't know enough about it to argue whether defibrilators would be enough to make a big difference, though the difference to clubs' bank balances might be the deciding factor.

What would make a big difference would be for screening for such problems to be an integral part of the medicals players undergo when signing up for a club. It would probably mean the end of some lads' careers before they even get started, but at least it might mean avoiding tragedies such as we've seen recently.

Anyone who wishes to post a message of sympathy for Matt Gadsby can do so on the Hinckley message board

I hope the news from hamilton means the player will soon be on the mend.

Unfortunately, it's being reported on Hinckley's message board that Matt Gadsby has passed away.

Doesn't sound good, but let's hope the lad's OK, and send good wishes to him, his family and friends and all associated with Hamilton.

Harrogate v Hinckley was also abandoned this afternoon for similar reasons when a Hinckley player, Matt Gadsby, collapsed. Talk on the message boards suggests paramedics were giving him CPR for twenty or thirty minutes before taking him away.

It sounds like a bad day for everyone who loves football.

Panther wasn't good enough for the Scottish First Division in my opinion.

I couldn't say, as it's a long time since I've seen a game north of the border, but while Panther had a patchy season, I reckon he's improved over the last year.

He himself saw the move to York as a step forward in his career, though again it's not for me to judge whether he was right. He's been offered a contract for the new season, but hasn't signed yet.

what is worrying is the level of club they are going to in England, basically third and fourth divisions.

Is the average SPL club now at English third division level?

When David McNiven went to Scarborough from QOS he said on local radio that in his opinion Conference football was on a par with the Scottish First Division.

The way Manny Panther has established himself as an important part of the York City squad, but not (as far as I know) attracted any serious interest from higher-placed clubs perhaps supports that assertion.

If Steve Bowey has moved south for the money, QOS must have been paying peanuts - City have been offering ten-month contracts and have just lost longest-serving player Darren Dunning (possibly to Harrogate or Halifax) because we were trying to cut his pay for the second consecutive year.

You'll get them for a tenner now they are out

That's right... rub it in!

FFS!

Mind you, there's pillocks like that all over the place. There was a report in the local paper here of an Australian bloke being attacked in York for flying the Aussie flag from his house

...and mine's still not arrived.

If it's as well stitched up as I've been, it'll last for years

Couldn't get the shirt in time for tomorrow, so will have to wear the Soca Warriors/I'm Supporting Scotland T-shirt for my stint behind the bar at York City FC Social Club, as I did for England v Paraguay on Saturday, when, disappointingly, everyone steadfastly refused to allow themselves to be wound up by it

Gratifyingly, one or two were a bit put out by my negative answer to their question, "...but you'll be supporting England on Thursday, right?" 8)

You can't get the single down here for love nor money - I'd been hoping to slip that in among the selection of England CDs that are due to be played as a curtain-raiser to the game...