MalcolmW

Indeed.

I read that Liz Truss's maternal grandfather was head of Classics at Bolton School c1955-1980.

5th September.

His father never missed a game, but on this occasion problems with his ticket meant he didn't get in until half-time!

Pointless in that there isn't an election now but a useful feel for the current feeling. Since DC's foolhardiness no PM can simply call an election. Would Labour rather let the government continue till May 2024 or take on the immediate task? Surely we all know the answer to that one.

They are not in your constituency, so you won't be doing so.

The latest prediction I have received says: 63% Labour majority majority, 21% Labour minority government, 5% Conservative majority government, 11% Conservative minority government.

Rishi resigned because BoJo wanted to do something more to ease the cost of living crisis. His views resemble those of Osborne far too closely for my liking. Truss also wanted to ease the cost of living crisis. She believes that it is proper to pay for the unexpected costs of the pandemic over 20 years rather than ASAP. On this she is surely right. It may yet be that RS manages to dredge up her adultery as a prospective candidate with her MP mentor, thereby committing a Leadsom style gaffe leading to an early changeover.

In her student days.

Brilliant ride by Pidcock today. He is Olympic mountain bike champion and world cyclo-cross champion, but today's performance makes him a real name in cycling. He took the advice to pedal harder, and reached 65 mph (106 kph) downhill. Froome managed third on today's classic stage and GT regained third spot overall.

No Manifesto should be regarded as sacred. No party explained how they would cope with a pandemic because it hadn't quite happened. To me a Manifesto equates to a Balance Sheet and is a snapshot which can be dressed up. What really matters is the Profit & Loss Account.

Truss or Hunt. Truss is easily mocked but she has been preparing for a very long time. You may not remember when Thatcher was elected leader in 1975. She had the temerity to takr Heath on, while all the leading contenders waited to enter the contest at the second round. Truss's journey from left (daughter of a Communist Maths professor father and a mother who took her to Greenham Common demos, through LibDem at Oxford (at my old college), to Con when working for Shell. Her story, correctly told, will work better in the North than any other candidate's would. Hunt apparently refused a (demotion) post under Bojo, so has stood aside from the circus. It seemed inconceivable that someone so hated by NHS staff could ever get the top job, but his recent book about the NHS shows him in a better light. Sunak is sounding more and more like a latterday George Osborne, so I am very wary of him, even though I know the father of his best friend at school and college.

In case anyone hasn't raised it, his long-term aspiration may be to head NATO.

I'm from Warrington, and as kids we played soccer or rugby (by which I mean league). The clubs you name have an interesting history and all need to be distinguished from RFC.

Indeed.

This is the series before last.

As she is the Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport it is definitely the former.

Can't win Wimbledon in a Union Jack kit!

Stockport's Liam Broady (looking like a gaucho) has just beaten Diego Schwartzman (looking like a plucky little Englishman). DS won 11 games in succession but Broady came back from 0-4 in the fourth set to win in five.

Jamie was playing his doubles first round (win) at the same time as the Isner match. However the Mixed D hasn't started yet....

Div 2. My fascination with that season's Div 1 goes back many decades and began with a look at the final league table, where 4 pts separated sixth place from 19th (and relegation).

There were set fixtures on the 16 Saturdays from 5 September to 19 December. The reverse of these fixtures were on 16 of the for 17 Saturdays in the New Year (excluding 16 January which was FA Cup First Round Proper). No matches could be played in the months without an R - the football season ran from 1 September to 30 April. At some time after clubs had been advised of their 32 mandated fixtures I believe there was a meeting in a smoke-filled room where club representatives agreed their remaining fixtures with the 3 remaining clubs. The extract you have shown indicates that 9 matches were scheduled for Christmas Day - why did neither PNE nor Sunderland play? They were actually paired the previous Saturday, so the Christmas fixtures were clearly ad hoc. Six of the nine Christmas Day fixtures were reversed on Boxing Day, with all the remaining eight clubs playing. Were Blackburn required to host Middlesbrough on the Friday and then visit PNE the next day (PNE not having played on the Friday)? A full set of matches was scheduled for 6 February even though this was FA Cup Second Round day. In the event none of these matches was played on that date. Seven were re-arranged for later dates but three were brought forward to September. I'd be interested to know whether that was before the list you quoted was printed, or done soon afterwards. Chelsea's fixtures with PNE were not on mandated Saturdays. Their home match was on Tuesday 1 September with the away match on Monday 7 September, after Chelsea had visited Liverpool on the opening Saturday. Similarly Arsenal hosted Everton on Wednesday 2 September then visited Notts County on the Saturday and visited Everton on Monday 7 September. There were six matches on 1 September and two more on 2 September, but Manchester United, Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest and Notts County did not play until the full fixture round on Saturday 5 September. Incidentally the listed match for Tuesday 29 December (Sheffield United v Bury) was postponed and eventually played on Monday 1 March. There were seven matches on New Year. Their reverse fixtures comprised one on 1 September, two on Boxing Day, one on 9 April (Good Friday), two on 12 April (Easter Monday), and one on 13 April. I believe the League agreed the fixtures before publication but did not initiate them. I'd also be interested to know whether the Sheffield United v Liverpool match was listed for the final Saturday (Cup Final Day!) because it was actually brought forward to Monday 14 September.

BoJo has now said he wants to win the next GE and the one after, taking him beyond 2030. One of his MPs said he doesn't mind him staying beyond 2030 as long as he is gone by 9pm.

Pre-computer days were more interesting. I studied the Division One 1908-09 season ( even though we were in Div Two). Each of the 20 clubs were given Saturday fixtures home and away against 16 opponents and left to arrange the matches with the other 3 clubs. Newcastle (eventual champions) began with 3 home games, placing one on the first Wednesday of September (the football season was strictly only months with an R in), and bringing forward one from FA Cup second round date (by agreement of Bristol City) to the next Wednesday. Manchester United opted for the money option, playing home matches on Boxing Day, New Year's Day and Good Friday, (with away matches on Christmas Day, Easter Monday and Easter Tuesday). The Wednesday went for a fan friendly Christmas period, with their scheduled home match against Bury on 19 December followed by Sheffield United away on Christmas Day, with the home reverse fixture on Boxing Day, then Arsenal home on Bank Holiday Monday 28th December, and home to Leicester Fosse on New Year's Day before a scheduled home against Aston Villa on Saturday 2nd January.

And Lincoln is our fixture pair this season.