The rebirth of Newcastle United

I break away from writing on recent television programmes to comment on an excellent day on Easter Monday (2012) to visit St James Park, but now known as Sports Direct Com by the owner, to witness the emergence of Newcastle United as a major Footballing skills and winning ability team in the UK and consequentially in Europe.

This involved eating a large spoonful of humble pie on my part because disgusted by the treatment of Kevin Keegan and the general conduct at the time by the relatively new owner of the club Mike Ashley; I had vowed and placed on record my intention not to return to visit the stadium for a Newcastle game while he remained. For a while it looked as if he intended to sell the club and I had hoped that the Middle East billionaire who bought Man City had selected Newcastle for his venture. It would have been geographically fairer if he had chosen the North East, Yorkshire or the Midlands for his location and now we have the imbalance of the top two teams in the UK located in the City of Manchester.

So what has happened to change the position taken four years ago? Whatever his original motives and approach in fairness Mr Ashley has stayed the course and whether by luck and good fortune or by skilled business and football antennae he has now created a situation which has caught the football world unawares.

According to recent statements made by the club it is now solvent having taken five years to clear the kind of massive debts which has and is threatening some of the best teams in the land as they attempt to stay ahead of the competition. This perhaps explains why a year last January the club did not immediately invest the £35 million gained from the sale of one Andy Carroll to Liverpool in new players, particular a goal scoring centre forward.

Carroll who then had major questions about his character to answer was purchased by Liverpool who had made £50 million by the sale of Carlos Tevez to Chelsea. Both these players have been failures as centre forwards and ac cording to commentators about the game. For a time it looked as if Liverpool or Andy’s agent was trying to offload him back to the Toon where he was regarded as one of the lads in the pejorative use of the term. Those now in charge of Newcastle had other ideas and so far it has worked.

It is worth my time placing recent developments in perspective. Until the appointment of Kevin Keegan as Newcastle manager in February 1992 and I had been an established supporter of Sunderland at Roker Park since being impressed by their 1973 FA Cup win over Leeds and moving to a house a short walk from the stadium in the following season. I had held a season ticket until their relegation from first to second and then to third division as it was.

Going to St James Park to watch Newcastle during their first season back in the Premiership was tantamount to a change of religion and some individuals have never forgiven for the change in allegiance, although in fairness to me I also remained a Sunderland supporter through those dark years and witnessed with pleasure the development of both clubs with super stadiums and a combined support of over 100000 from throughout Northumbria, North Yorkshire and Cumbria in addition to Tyneside.

Both clubs therefore have the support to make a financial successes but winning trophies has eluded both in Cup and League competitions apart from getting back from the lower divisions into the Premiership. For a period it seemed to me that the getting promotion fight was the only period when having a season ticket was worthwhile. There is no pleasure in watching visiting superior teams wining at home or making the effort and undertaking the expense of watching away games although this was something I did for three decades.

I attended two Wembley Finals for Newcastle, once getting the most expensive seats, and they lost on both times mainly because Alan Shearer failed. I also watched a semi Final at Cardiff which they also lost. Kegan failed and then walked away from the club the first time round when he felt he could take it no further. Terry McDermott took over until the appointment of Kenny Dalgleish, a great Liverpool player but in my judgement he is too dour a personality to ever make it as a front line manager as his present failure with Liverpool in the Premiership demonstrates. Ruid Guillot is another who had been an exciting player but failed the Newcastle Test and Steve Clark was something of a stop gap until the appointment of local hero Sir Bobby Robson, the former England and Ipswich Manager.

The club maintained its position as a leading club during the five years of his reign during which he achieved a Champions League position twice It was difficult to understand why after a sudden drop in fortunes the ownership decided to change and commenced a period of eight years in the wilderness with John Carver taking temporary charge followed by Graham Souness, Glenn Rodder, Nigel Pearson, Sam Alladyce, Nigel Pearson as caretaker.

Kevin Keegan back for a brief and controversial second period of 8 /9 months was followed by Joe Kinnear, Alan Shearer, Chris Houghton and now Alan Pardew. He is the 19th appointed manager/ caretaker manager since 1992 which makes it around one a year! The longer term problem has been matching the ambitions of Club and supporters against the realities of the contemporary Premiership.

Part of the problem was Alan Shearer the legendary man from Tyneside who scored more goals in the number 9 shirt as anyone in the Premiership during their career as. But you cannot build a winning team based on one man however good they are at their role and during his time at Newcastle the club won nothing.

In terms of being the manager Alan Pardew is still a long way short of the achievement of Chris Houghton who holds the record for winning nearly two out of every three games he managed during the past three decades. What Pardew has achieved however is to take the team forward into the top group of clubs against all expectations. It is only in part because the club is now playing three of the most exciting and inventive forwards in Europe. What has impressed me is the organisation and character of the team which is due to Pardew and his team.

He had a good if not brilliant professional career playing for my boyhood club Crystal Palace in that famous 4.3 semi final win which took them to an F Ay cup final replay against Manchester United which they lost.

Pardew made his name as a Manager with the rise of the Berkshire club Reading taking them from the second to the first division, finishing fourth his the first season and losing out in the playoffs to Wolves.

His success led to West Ham making a bid and although Reading refused to give permission, Alan resigned and this forced the issue. Alan again took the club into the play offs where he again lost but he was successful the following year and the team gained ninth position in the 2005 2006 season and to a Wembley Cup final losing to Liverpool on penalties. The following season although the new owners of the club stated their support in the best tradition they sacked him soon after.

He was almost immediately appointed manager at Charlton his most unhappy and unsuccessful time where the supporters wish for him to be sacked was granted. His period at Southampton was also mixed so that his appointment to replace Houghton was a great surprise, given that Houghton had taken the team back to the Premiership. Pardew was not the fans first choice with fewer than 6% said to favour his appointment. He has become known for the club’s 3. 1 defeat in the cup against League 2 Stevenage but also for the heroic fight back at Arsenal from 4 0 down at half time to 4.4. This was first indication of a determination which has been carried forward coupled with attention to developing a defensive mentality which was also the weakness of the Kevin Keagan’s original era.

It was at the commencement of the present season that he led the club to an astonishing series of opening game wins and an unbeaten run of eleven games in all competitions that got the football world talking but no one believed it would last. Pardew himself expressed caution about the club’s ability to continue to match the likes of Manchester Unity and Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal and the also resurgent Spurs under the favourite of the England Managers Job Harry Rednapp, under the cloud for taxation evasion until cleared in court later in the season and where the authorities have decided not to name their new man after parting with the current manager only weeks before the start of the European Cup Competition.

Before the start of the game on Monday the club had won their previous four games placing them in sixth position and a chance of getting not just as a place in European competitions next season but the converted European Championship competition. Before the recent run it looked as if they had faltered with heavy loss at rivals Spurs and defeat at Arsenal and with home draws against relegation likely Wolves and North East rivals Sunderland.

The last quarter of the season ten games are always the most testing and will make the difference to how the whole season is viewed. The solid 1.0 home win against Norwich did not signal what was to follow with an impressive 3.1 away at WBA. It was the professional 2.0 win at home against long standing rivals Liverpool where in Keegan’s day they twice lost 4.3 at Anfield in exciting talked about games. Their 2,0 win at Swansea was also professional and it was this professionalism as well as the exciting goals scored by their three forwards which led to me on impulse to decide to get a ticket for Monday’s game late at night on Sunday.

I had a struggle to remember my log on details and then to find an inexpensive seat in the area which interested. I had intended to go into Newcastle for a cooked meal but stayed home longer than was needed so when I arrived in the city it was already packed with others with the same thing on their minds, only they had arrived an hour before me. I thought I would find something suitable at the Monument Mall Food Court only to discover that since February the top two floors have been closed for building work. In fact only Tymark on the lower floor seems to functions as usual. McDonalds was as busy as I have seen it. The seating area is huge but was full with standing room only. In the end I opted for a local Tesco sandwich deal of a chicken and bacon sandwich, a small bottle of orange fruit juice and a small tin of Pringle crisps for £2.50 which I eat standing against a barrier at the roadside having abandoned the earlier plan to collect the ticket from the ground and then find somewhere to have a relaxed meal. The change in plan and late start meant that I went for the ticket as the ground was opening to spectators although obviously those taking hospitality packages had arrived and were enjoying their food and drink.

The ticket was not immediately available and had to be printed. I was still one of the first at the stadium with over an hour to wait. It was a great squeeze to get through the turnstile and I had forgotten the introduction of the electronic ticket into stadiums.

Although I had a book with me I was not in the mood to read. On the way I had remembered that the old box office had been moved to the former shop and you have to go to the first level of the Gallowgate end for the two banks of booth for tickets allocated by phone and on line to be collected;. I checked out the concessions which unlike those at Sunderland are concentrated into three outlets on the long L shaped walkway which continues along the North end of stadium and to one side until reaching the police monitoring area and the Magpie restaurant. My seat was over the corner flag back at the top of the middle tier with a cushioned bar against the concrete. Being at the back meant that I could stand when I wanted. I was one seat in from the aisle. The seat on the other side remained free throughout the game although I think the occupant was sitting n the step one up with permission from the steward who he knew suggesting a season ticket holder or someone who managed to book the seat on a regular basis. The seat is at the level as the first tier of boxes in the man stand and below that of the second tier. You get a good over view of the play but nothing like as good as the seat I had for about five years in the stand opposite

The seat cost £21 plus a £1 administrative fee. Had I remained a club member it would have been £1 less. Initial membership costs £25 for a year with a presentation box which previously includes a pack of photo cards. It cost nearly half that of seats in the special areas with individual lounges. An end of the season hospitality deal for a party of 12 coasts £175 plus VAT for the tour, meal, drinks and four car space deal with match programme and team sheet. My day would cost £24.50 using my metro travel card which costs £25 and where a one day travel card costs £4.20. If you do not pay the annual concession fee then you pay the adult fare so all you need to do is make more than 6 trips of three zones to gain. With not having a season ticket I do not make that many trips, with so far this year this was my third but there are the two three visits planned by train, two London and one Brighton. I will also make use of the Ferry across the river a couple of times.

The aspect of the last couple of games seen on television was the way the team is organised and its disciplined professional manner prepared not to entertain or show off unless the situation merited and where the win and the invaluable three points is the priority. Thus it was a largely uneventful first half with a few supporters commenting that the team had not turned up. It is difficult for your average supporter not to realise that playing two games so close together is a great challenge even for these players. Usually I would have little expectation for games played at Christmas, New Year and Easter if they are the second game closely following another. I was not disappointed especially as it was evident that there are an extraordinary number of skilful players in this team and several will be wanted by the European Championship teams so qualifying means that the temptation to sell to the highest bidders will be resisted.

In the second half it looked for the first 20 minutes or so that the opposition would spoil the party as they had three good chances to score the first goal and which could have changed the outcome. It was evident that that the goal when it came was special but I needed to watch several replays on the evening programmes to appreciate that it will be considered the goal of the season or one of the runners up. It was that good.

Hatem Ben Arfa is regarded as one of the best attacking midfield players in France. He has played in ten of the first team games this year scoring 7 goals. Earlier he was not always in the side because he could be caught in possession tending to hang onto the ball when it should be passed. On Monday all his shortcomings past and the future were forgiven. He got hold of the ball in his own half and by a clever surge in pace and twist of body left the defender dead and another surge and step avoided a potentially crunching tackle. He continued to run forward and Cissé had run into an excellent position on his left to receive the ball which he signalled for. Most in the same position would have gladly passed because out of steam the ability to manoeuvre and shoot in the net eludes most players. Arfa side stepped the third defender and slid the ball with sufficient pace but not great pace into the net. Everyone stood as they do but the applause was prolonged. Whatever the result we had been there and seen that. Later in the 85 minutes he was taken off to receive the public adoration he deserved again the applause was prolonged and he was clearly delighted with himself and the reception.

Between the goal and standing down he had one more similar effort although this time he passed the ball to Cissé who misfired when the expectation was, probably that of Cisse that he would go it alone once more. Cissé was to continue his club record of scoring in every game since his transfer to the club in January.

Papiss Cissé is an African from Senegal who previously played in Germany. He was acquired for £10 million as a number 9 replacement for Andy Carroll sold the previous January. He works hard always on he move which means defenders have to watch him closely. I noticed that for the greater part of the first half two defenders concentrated on trying to keep Ben Arfa contained. This meant others were stretched because of the movement around the final third which Cissé generated. There is a question that his goal should have been declared off side although repeated showings of the position if you watch the cut squares on the turf suggest that he was not. His legend continues.

Until his arrival the accolades were going to Demba Ba another Senegalese footballer although born in France. He played a year for Watford as a youth player and since then in France and at West Ham where his knee condition meant his future became suspect. Since joining Newcastle in the summer he has scored two hatricks and became one of the leading scorers with 16 goals to his credit. There was interest from a number of clubs. With the arrival of Cissé he has lost his position as lead striker and plays to the right with Ben Arfa going to the left in a three pronged forward attack. The Newcastle team has other players of established quality which makes the idea of competing in Europe not as far fetched as it would have seemed commencing the season. I will cover these if the run of success continues.

There was further good news before leaving the ground as Norwich beat the Spurs at home and Chelsea later were only able to draw. This means that spurs in 4th have the same number of points and played the same number of games as Newcastle 5th with Chelsea in sixth two points behind. Spurs have hit a bad run off form while Chelsea who has recovered from their blip having a semi final game against Spurs this coming Sunday and then a two leg semi final game in the European Championship. Newcastle’s next home game is when I am away in London.

Before returning home I visited the supermarket for something for the evening meal and for breakfast but although I bought a cheap pizza I decided on some fish with the rest of he beans and tomato from the previous day. It was a good day as I stayed up to view the replays and highlights.

Sitting watching the rest of the stadium arrive I was struck by the number of families with young children and also the groups of young people, some students and some visiting football teams. It is a very different crowd from those dark days in the late seventies and eighties.

April 2012 Cricket Catch up and Football

On Sunday I visited the Durham County Cricket Ground for the new Season. The club opened its doors with the Members lounge opened and available arranged for throughout the two days. Having not visited part of the existing stadium and anxious to see if the upper tier of the extension was now open I signed up and participated in the first available commencing at 11 am and which lasted an hour.

Understandably the emphasise was on showing the facilities available for people to hire or spend money but those on the first tour, apart from one young man did not appear the kind to spend a lot of money. There was no regular food provision in the Member’s lounge with an emphasis on Austin’s the separate and open to the public all year restaurant. They do a main course roast for just under £9 and a three course meal for around £15 although the menu is interesting and compared favourably with that experienced at the Theatre Royal Nottingham recently.

We then visited the Board room and the Vice President’s lounge which caters for VIP visitors, and an individual sponsor’s room table seating for 12 with balcony outside. There was opportunity to view the two lounge hire facilities. On the ground floor there is to be a public bar reminding of the Shed in Yorkshire but at a very different level of ambience and facilities. It was set out for a Christmas party as was the upstairs where there is also seating and suggesting hospitality packages for internationals and special matches with the lower area available for non members on rainy days.

On one hand compared to football the hospitality packages are better value in terms of the hours of play offered for County Cricket including the pro 40 competition held on Sundays. That offered for 20 20 games is more questionable. For the county games and the 40 overs the options are a private room for 12 with the cost is around £75 plus VAT per head and for this there is Tea Coffee, ground entry, hot Breakfast Roll on arrival, scorecard 2 course lunch and after noon tea or no breakfast roll and 3 course meal with afternoon tea for the 40 over Sundays. The individual price for lounge hospitality is £10 more.

With ground entry at £15, the breakfast roll and coffee at £3.50. Scorecard £1 and a three course meal at Austin’s £15, one is paying double for a balcony view which can be distant and out of the sunshine depending on the pitch and time of day. The cost of the 20 20 game is exorbitant at £137.50 plus VAT per head for 12 for this only a two course meal and tea or coffee on arrival. The individual pays £120 plus VAT. There is no mention of parking.

What proved the most interesting was the visit to the education centre where schools can send pupils struggling with their spelling and arithmetic? Upstairs the Sky studio is also used by young people around the year for media work. The best view in the ground belongs to the handful of cricket reporters. There is a huge two story window the width of the whole playing surface the is needed because the commentators are able to sit directly above and over the wicket whichever pitch is used. There is a separate room for the scorer who controls both electronic boards as well making a written record and an announcer who is a volunteer.

On the walkabout I we were shown the completed transformer unit for the floodlighting system which remains to be installed and the bushes on the banking by the fencing before the riverside have been cleared to make way for the hotel which will have parking on the ground floor and have two floors for the rooms with sixty on each floor.

As for the cricket Durham won the toss and had a good day at the wicket because of another great century by opener Di Venuto with 143 out of the total of 337. Stokes, Borthwick, Collingwood, Mustard and Plunkett all had good little knocks in the 20’s and 30’s, Smith 4 Stoneman 12 and Muchall did less well. With Braithwaite and Breeze playing I assume Steve Harmison did not... His brother has moved to Kent. Rain interrupted the play on the cold Monday and I wonder how many spectators braved the conditions. Durham remain coy about the details of the play with York’s scoring some runs and Durham bowlers getting a limited number of wickets. I did see that all rounder Ian Blackwell got a century for the MCC out in Dubai against the championship winner Lancashire. It will have been galling for Yorkshire fans that this was the year which saw them relegated to Division 2 especially as Middlesex and Surrey have moved back up.

Having secured the title as the World number one Test side England lost all five Test Matches against Pakistan and the first of two against Sri Lanka. At present things look brighter in the second Test with home side out for 275 and England 154 for 1 with Cook going strong on 77 as day 2 ended Captain Strauss did make 50 which may silence sum of his critics. They will need to win the game to hold on to their number one spot.

In contrast to the Test match Performances the male and female teams have done well in their respective one day tours. The ladies beat New Zealand by 5 wickets out in Lincoln New Zealand in February with the home side dismissed for 233 and Edwards leading the Brits home with an opening knock of 88, They improved to a six wicket win in the first 20 20 game with Shrubsole taking 5 wickets for 11 as the home team struggled to 80 for 9 Taylor not out with 37 saw the team win in this low scoring game. Edwards 33, Taylor 45 and March 48 led the team to 166 for 7 in their innings in the second 20 20 game while four of the English bowlers took 2 wickets to remove the New Zealanders for 118 to win the second. The third game was more closely contested with Gunn the lead scorer at 30 not out setting a total of 108. New Zealand Openers made a good start but collapsed to 90 for 7 and 10 short of the revised Duckworth Lewis total as the game was interrupted by a violent rain storm. Both sides struggled to make runs in the fourth game with the highest individual score 29 but New Zealand had the star Bowler as Nielsen took 4 wickets for 10. However this was not good enough as England managed to get the required runs with 5 wickets in hand and 7 balls left.

The men had an excellent start in their first 50 over game because of Cook with 137 and Bopara’s 50. Ajmal took 5 of the 7 wickets as England made 260 and then Finn with 4 for 34 and Patel 3 for 29 destroyed Pakistan for 130 in 35 overs. Cook scored a second century in the second and closer game with England 250 and Finn 4 for 34 and Patel 2 for 51 as the official home team playing in Abu Dhabi were all out for 230 at the end of the 49th. The third game was extraordinary with Andersen 2 Finn 3 and Broad 3 wickets as Pakistan made 222. Cook 80 and Petersen 11 achieved a 9 wicket win with 16 balls to spare. It was an outstanding performance. Petersen who had failed miserably against spin rescued his place in the team. He then dismissed all the doubters like me with a second century 130 as England achieve the required 237 runs with 4 balls to spare. Dernbach 4 for 45 did the damage.

There was a short three match 20 20 series with Pakistan winning the first as batsmen failed to progress individual good starts so that there was a loss 8 by runs after Pakistan made 144. Swann 3 for 13 was the best of the bowlers.

England won the second game impressively with Bairstow not out at 60 and 150 in total; Finn 3 for 30 headed a team effort which had Pakistan all out for 112.

England then won the series because of a fine 67 run effort by Petersen and Pakistan only failing to make the required 129 by 5.

I decided to record the visit of Liverpool to St James Park on Sunday despite the game being in 3D. I was horrified on return to find I had not set up the recording as I believed and had to settle for the extended highlights in game which Newcastle won 2.0. I then watched the whole game again in 3D on Monday and most enjoyable it was. Although Chelsea and Arsenal had wins Newcastle are still in with a shout of a European place, especially if Chelsea go on to win the League. They play tonight. The new star at Newcastle is Ba’s compatriot Cisse. The comparison between him and Carroll was evident with Carroll sold for over three times as much and failing to impress. Newcastle have become a much better team with out him. Good riddance Carroll I say.

I waited until the evening’s extended highlights to watch Sunderland away at Man City. It was an extraordinary game with Sunderland 3.1 up until the last five minutes of official play and then losing to goals in seconds. Although the one point from the draw was welcome they should have won and even with the single point City are now 5 points behind United and their championship hope which appeared certain at one point may have vanished. Looks like Alec is going to do it again!

Birthday 2012 Sport

I now turn to what was a mixed sporting weekend. The Highlight was the radio commentary followed by extended highlights in the evening of Sunderland’s hard fought 1-0 win against Liverpool at home. Liverpool aware they had an important derby with Everton midweek kept Gerrard and Carroll on the bench. There was not much good football in the first half and the goal had a strong element of good fortune. Frazer Campbell hit the post and the ball rebounded off the keeper to Nicklas Bentner who side footed into the net. His reaction was excellent and skilful. Liverpool then through their kitchen sink but Sunderland held out. Sunderland whose impressive recent run had made them the form had halted with a draw and two defeats from the previous three games are not firmly in the top third of the table and rivalling Newcastle for the top team in the North East although there remains a gap of 7 points to make up. They are now joined by Everton who they meet in the FA Cup on Saturday. Newcastle could have widened the gap on their visit to the Gunners on Monday night which was shown live on Monday and in 3D.

Hatem Ben Arthur bought for five million is a talented midfield player but with tendencies to be caught in possession as he tries to make that extra touch. He has an amazing left foot which enables him to shoot with force at tight angles and it was such a run which achieved the first goal at the Emirates to stun the home crowd in the fourteenth minute. It was only sixty seconds later that Van Persee took a pass from Theo Walcott and the score was 1.1.

Newcastle then fought a rearguard battle for the greater part of the rest of the game although they also had opportunities, although significantly less than the home side. It looked as if there was to be a point from the draw as goalkeeper Tom Krul performed great athleticism to push a looping ball which looked as if was about to slip under the bar into the net away and out of danger. However a super fast move saw Vermaelen get the winner in extra time. The three points mean that Arsenal is now jockeying with North London Rivals Spurs for the third position in the table when not long ago the gap was 12 points and three points clear of Chelsea outside the top four for the first time in yonks with the consequence Chelsea has have parted company with yet another manager and for whom the reputed to have paid £15 million to prize him way from his previous club.

Sky also showed the visit of Warrington to Leeds last Friday and the game lived up to the billing as the clash of the season so far despite a slippery ball in the wet. It was Warrington who made the greater number of mistakes especially at the end. Leeds looked as if they were going to take the game with a 12.0 lead before Warrington respond to take the score to 12.12 at the interval. They lost 26.18.

I missed England’s 24 22 win in the International Rugby Union against France in Paris which reported to have been an excellent and exciting win which augurs well for the future after a mixed fortunes start with the loss to a rampant Wales at Twickenham. Having lived close to the ground in the sixties before it was developed it is one of my regrets not have ever visited. England could still finish alongside Wales in terms of total points if they win against Ireland on Saturday but I anticipate Wales will win against France in Cardiff to rightly take the honours with five wins from five matches. They are some 38 points better than England whatever happens this weekend.

I also missed on the Olympic swimming Trials which were held at the new stadium and were open to public with some 2000 present of the 17000 who will be present for the Games. It was amazing to see the out best ever twice Gold Medal Winner Rebecca Ardlington ultra nervous as she stormed to win the 400 and 800 freestyle events and therefore has the prospect of another two wins which if she achieved would make the greatest of the great British swimmers. As a result of the trials 38 swimmers have been named for the team with a second opportunity for others to join them later. Reports suggests that a number of the established swimmers were given a close run by a the next generations, some of whom may be given the opportunity to experience what for everyone concerned will be the opportunity of their lifetime.

Ayrton Senna

Sky had added a new sports channel dedicated to Formula 1 racing and which in advance of the new season is showing wall to wall programmes on the shirt of the sport, covering seasons, famous races and drivers and the cars. It was therefore fitting that to mark the event Sky is also showing the midsummer 2011 documentary film on the life of Ayrton Senna the Brazilian racing driver who was killed on track in May 1994 aged 34 years. This is a film which merits being seen by all sports fans and indeed by those who may not be interested in motor racing or professional sports.

Senna was open about the fact that he came from a privileged background with his Italian background parents owning land and factories and resulted in establishing a genuine concern for the less fortunate, especially the education of children which continues to this day through his sister.

At the age of 21 he came to England to race in Go Karts which had been his love from an early age and has become the standards way for young drivers to learn their art. His stay was short lived because of pressure to work in the family business. Before returning home he was offered a contract to race Formula 3 cars and won the Formula Ford Championships in 1982 and then won the Formula championships in 1983. In 1984 he tested for a Formula 1 drive with a number of teams and commenced with a comparatively new team of Toleman and he amazed everyone coming second in the Monte Carol Grand Prix because of his skill in wet weather conditions having commenced 13th on the grid. He achieved two podium finishes and came 13th in the driving table at the end of the season. It was a performance bringing him to attention of major teams.

It is important that this is in the era before the use of technical wizardry both in the preparation and running of cars and in communication between the driver and the team regarding vehicle performance, race positioning and tactics. It was the skill of the driver in learning and driving the car which won races.

He moved to Lotus for the 1985 season and again in wet conditions he won his first race in The Portuguese Grand Prix, the second race of the season. He won again in Belgium also in the wet and this was followed by finishing 4th in the table a position is also held the following season with 55 points improving to third with 57 points the following season. He had become a recognised top rank driver but not yet in the frame for the world championship.

With the approval of World Champion Alain Prost he moved to the second car for McLaren Team but the good relationship was short lived and quickly developed into one of the fiercest rivalries there has been in motor sport. They won between them all but one of the sixteen races in 1988 with Ayrton winning his first World Championship, just. The rivalry commenced when Prost accused Senna of forcing him out of the lead as they approached the first corner at the start of a race.

Relations became strained to breaking point the following season when Senna needed to win a race for the championship and the cars touched and Prost crashed. Senna was forced into an escape lane but was able to continue and win the race. However Prost immediately complained to the Race Stewards after the incident and this led to the disqualification of Senna. There was a bad odour about the decision because was known to have a close relationship with the then head of Formula 1 Race who was also a Frenchman. Prost joined Ferrari for the following season.

There was a further confrontation towards the end of the following season also at the Japanese Grand Prix which was the location of the first clash. What happened is that Senna arranged with the race official that should he finish in pole position they would change the pole position because the nature of the track gave advantage to the second vehicle. The president intervened reversing the decision so Senna had charged holding the preferred line with Prost refusing to give way again crashing and was so incensed that he considered giving up racing. The outcome is that Senna won and took the championship and then again the following year, the year in which he also won the Brazilian race this turning him into the famous Brazilian of the decade and a legend since his premature death.

The problems commenced in 1992 because his car was outclassed by the new electronics used by the Williams Team result in a fourth position in the championship. Because of the reactions to the growing use of electronics the governing body made changes in 1994 after the cars had been redesigned. The impact was that they became unstable and Senna was one of several drivers who forecast there would be disasters.

His team mate Barrichello suffered a broken nose and arm after crashing in to the barrier. The Austrian driver Roland Rozenberger in his first season was killed outright after crashing into a concrete wall at maximum speed. It was then Senna turn to be involved in a major accident and there was devastating bad luck because he was uninjured except that the right suspension frame was sent stabbing back into the cockpit with a piece penetrating his helmet and causing fatal skull fracture.

Given the acclaim he had received in Brazil the death shocked the nation who saw in their young hero hope that the country would rise from its political problems and the poverty. There was three days of national morning. Some three million people descended on his home town for the funeral the largest recorded group of assembled mourners in recent times. Among the pall bearers were Alain Prost and Britain’s Damon Hill. For the next race the first two positions were empty painted with the Brazilian and Austrian Flag. Legal preceding followed the accident for years with McLaren investigated re possible manslaughter the more positive impact is that major changes were made to the cars and to the tracks to reduce the possibility of further fatalities.

Sienna was a devout catholic reading the Bible and able to quote from it and his beliefs led to development an extraordinary concern for the welfare of children in his homeland and to devoting the greater part of his personal fortune to their education and general help. When he first became famous is donated to those requested his help and personal appearance but he decided something more substantial was required any by the time of his death he had established what became the Instituto Ayrton Senna and managed by his sister with the advice of Bernie Eccleston Frank William Alain Prost and Gerhard Berger investing some $80 million in various ventures and which has led to the education over 100000 children. His spirit and endeavour therefore lives on in his homeland.

cricket, Football American Football Tennis and game play

There have not been the usual references to sport of late although this does not mean I have not been watching and listening to events over the past two weeks.

First cricket, my consistent sporting love, and where unlike football I have supported the national side regularly attending a Test Match day each year until the past couple of seasons. England are playing Pakistan in the Middle East with a humiliating defeat in the first Test held in a near empty stadium in Dubai although there were a few more people attending the second Test in Abu Dhabi. England ended the first day having taken 7 wickets for 256 runs. Yesterday Pakistan were only able to add 1 more run and England survive the morning with the loss of one wicket and making 48 runs. The going was slow but keeping wickets must be the priority given the two collapses of the first game. I will watch and listen until Leveson, then watch while listening to Leveson.

England appeared to be doing well after the early loss of Captain Strauss with Cook 94 and Trott 74 and a total of 197 for 2 but then 4 wickets fell cheaply. This morning before I arrived down stairs England had progressed well with an excellent innings from all rounder Stewart Broad of Nottinghamshire who was left all out at 58 when the innings quickly ended immediately after the lunch with the two last men out in the first over. It is now up to the opening bowlers not just to bowl accurately but take wickets if the lead of 70 runs is to have impact. I switched channels to watch Scotland‘s Andy Murray start his semi final game against world champion Djokovitch and the opening games suggested the difference between top man and nearly man is as wide as ever.

I have not mentioned American Football much over recent years, rarely watching a full game on TV except the annual Super Bowl. In part this is because of the demise of the two teams I commenced to support in the mid 1980’s seeing two live games at Wembley as well as regularly staying up on Sunday nights to see live relays. My chosen team was the Chicago Bears but after being given a shirt one season for the San Francisco 49ers I also followed their fortunes. This weekend I watched the play off between the 49ers and the New York Giants. They lost in a thrilling game in extra time having had the chance to win it.

Another disappointment was on Tuesday in the penalty shoot out of the second leg of the semi final of the League Cup competition in which my boyhood club, Crystal Palace, down to 10 men, held out to and through extra time before collapsing to Cardiff City when it came to the penalties.

Newcastle were smashed at Fulham in strange game which they dominated throughout the first half and then went to pieces in one crazy period in which they gave away three goals and lost 5. 2 in the end.

The only bright light was Sunderland who managed a hard fought 2.0 at home win against Swansea with two great goals and who are now out of the relegation quagmire in mid table but still 9 points adrift of Newcastle who remain in 6th a point above Liverpool having played he same number of game. The Sunderland Newcastle F A cup game is on television lunchtime Sunday which is excellent news. Newcastle visit to Brighton is the featured game on ESPN where I regarded the additional premium a luxury.

My game playing against the computer has improved in several respects so that after three years of trying I managed to achieve 18 million points at Luxor Mah-jong. I have also now won 2000 games at Spider patience out of 10047 and achieved another run of 101 games but still short of the maximum of 243 to date. Having decided to move up between levels in Chess each time I manage a run of 101 games I am stuck within level 3 because of lapses of concentration. The main success continues to be with Patience Hearts where my record breaking run is now over 2250 wins where previously it was only over 1000. Over all I have won 6400 games losing only a dozen early on before I got the hang of the play and maintain the 99point something average.