Thursday, June 25, 2009

The new whistle blowers team


That's me and some of the boys from our refs course. Ray Gibson, Chair of Tower Hamlets Sports Council, Cllr Rofique Ullah with Lead Member for Culture at Tower Hamlets Council as the new referees make the most of their new powers.

The football season might be over, but Tower Hamlets has eleven newly qualified referees and they are all raring to go.

Completing a nine week training course that was part funded by Tower Hamlets Council, they will be ready to referee non-league football matches next season.

Councillor Rofique U Ahmed, Lead Member for Culture at Tower Hamlets Council, congratulated the newly qualified referees.

He said: "Good referees are vital to football. It’s fantastic that these guys have shown the commitment and dedication to become referees. They’re role models for the borough’s young people and their support will help develop the sport in Tower Hamlets.”

The referees successfully passed a written theory examination. They now have to take part in the practical element of the course, which will see them referee six matches with the support of a mentor. On completion they will be presented with a Football Association Referees' Certificate.

The referee course was heavily funded by Tower Hamlets Sports Council with participants making a small contribution. It is one of a host of initiatives spearheaded by Tower Hamlets Football Partnership. Led by Tower Hamlets Council, the Partnership aims to improve football participation and accessibility in the borough.

So far the Partnership has increased the number of Chartered Standard Football Clubs, from three to 10, and has welcomed the borough's first women's football club.

To find out more about the training opportunities available through the partnership, contact Derek Bennett, Tower Hamlets Council's Senior Football Development Officer on 020 7364 2681 or email derek.bennett@towerhamlets.gov.uk

Monday, June 22, 2009

BILLY LIDDELL MEMORIAL GARDEN TAKES SHAPE

Work on a memorial garden and cairn is underway in Townhill Park, just across the road from the house where Billy Liddell grew up and lived in until he signed for Liverpool Football Club in 1939.

Jimmy Ferguson who started the campaign said: ‘In just a year we have campaigned successfully for Billy Liddell to be entered into the Scottish Football Association’s Hall of Fame, and now we look forward to the creation of a garden and memorial dedicated to one of Scottish football’s greats. He made 534 appearances for Liverpool, scoring 228 goals, and was capped 28 times for Scotland.’

Local Labour Councillor Bill McCulloch, convenor of the Billy Liddell Campaign says: ‘We are really pleased at the level of support for the campaign locally and from fans of Liverpool throughout the world. We are planning to have the work in the garden completed, and for it to be officially opened in late September or early October.’

Thomas Docherty Treasurer for the campaign group is asking for members of the public to provide some financial support to the campaign. He says: ‘We are looking to raise about £2000 to provide a fitting and lasting memorial to Billy in his home village of Townhill. Members of the public can make donations, including taking part in an online raffle for a limited edition ceramic figurine of Billy Liddell – an item likely to sought after by collectors of football memorabilia (photo attached). Tickets cost only £2 and can be purchased on line from the campaign’s website shortly.

www.billyliddell.org.uk
Donations can also be made via the website.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Still looking for Eric (Cantona)


1.2 mil the magic number
Au Revoir Leeds, the title won
Short swift leap across the Pennines
To become Salford’s favourite son

Rebel with a touch of danger
We prefer to call it creative flair
Flawed genius, yes that’s what he was
Seducing all in a frantic love affair

In strolled Kung Fu King Eric
Selhurst Park saw yob law met head on
Simmons became a speck on the legend
By the right boot of the Stretford Don

And so all the seagulls followed the trawler
In frantic search of sardines they trailed
Nobody thought, everybody just knew
“Ooh aah Cantona!” the faithful wailed

Unmatched influence on the English game
That regal air and the poise of a cleric
Twelve years on we still seek that hero
Yes that’s right, we’re still looking for Eric

Number7
© Emdad Rahman
www.football-poems.com

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Grande Platty (David Platt)


Nineteen Hundred and Sixty six
Born and raised in Oldham’s Chadderton
Excelling at Dario Gradi’s Crewe
After heartbreaking rejection by Big Ron

Nurtured and refined by the master Taylor
Acclaimed by many as the new Robbo
With injury cursing our captain Marvel
Stepped up the Holte End hero

My supreme Platty moment in Italia 90
Bologna’s Stadio Renato Dall'Ara
Last sixteen, 119th minute
All seen from London to Guadalajara

Belgie Belgique had performed slightly better
Ceulemans, Gerets, Van Der Elst and co
The wily Guy Thys pulling strings
Orchestrated by the irrepressible Scifo.

“And if England could just unlock
Observed the Sage Mooro from afar
“The door with this free kick
“We could save all that drama”

Gazza raises arms and runs up
Deft chip towards the gaping net
Floating butterfly and inevitable bee sting
Focus, lock, swivel, volley, pure velvet

Last eight for glorious England
Agony for keeper Preud Homme
Platty went on to net twenty six more
But none so with such great aplomb

Number 7
Emdad Rahman
www.football-poems.com

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Red and Blue

Inside the Chinese fur trade

Still insist on wearing fur? Take a look inside the Chinese fur trade. This is a shocking video, so don't click if you're averse to violence, blood, gore :(


Pledge to go fur-free at PETA.org.

Before they are skinned alive, animals are pulled from their cages and thrown to the ground; workers bludgeon them with metal rods or slam them on hard surfaces, causing broken bones and convulsions but not always immediate death. Animals watch helplessly as workers make their way down the row.

Undercover investigators from Swiss Animal Protection/EAST International recently toured fur farms in China's Hebei Province, and it quickly became clear why outsiders are banned from visiting. There are no regulations governing fur farms in China—farmers can house and slaughter animals however they see fit—meaning miserable lives and excruciating deaths. The investigators found horrors beyond their worst imaginings and concluded, "Conditions on Chinese fur farms make a mockery of the most elementary animal welfare standards. In their lives and their unspeakable deaths, these animals have been denied even the simplest acts of kindness."

On these farms, foxes, minks, rabbits, and other animals pace and shiver in outdoor wire cages, exposed to driving rain, freezing nights, and, at other times, scorching sun. Mother animals, who are driven crazy from rough handling and intense confinement and have nowhere to hide while giving birth, often kill their babies after delivering litters. Disease and injuries are widespread, and animals suffering from anxiety-induced psychosis chew on their own limbs and throw themselves repeatedly against the cage bars.

The globalization of the fur trade has made it impossible to know where fur products come from. Skins move through international auction houses and are purchased and distributed to manufacturers around the world, and finished goods are often exported. China supplies more than half of the finished fur garments imported for sale in the United States. Even if a fur garment's label says it was made in a European country, the animals were likely raised and slaughtered elsewhere—possibly on an unregulated Chinese fur farm.

Because a fur's origin can't be traced, anyone who wears any fur at all shares the blame for the horrific conditions on Chinese fur farms. The only way to prevent such unimaginable cruelty is never to wear any fur. Take PETA's pledge to be fur-free today!

Monday, June 01, 2009

Ciao Maldini - Il Grande Capitano

With his soft face yet to feel the touch of a blade
Cesare’s young stallion learnt he had just made the grade

Fledgling sixteen he took to the splendid stage
In the days when skinny shorts were still all the rage

Whilst steel solid Berlin’s wall was still to be laid
Capitano Maldini was a mere junior grade

Barring a lengthy lay off through critical injury
San Paolo would serve a quarter century

And if the memory banks are murky and hazy
Who remembers a certain debut at Udinese?

Audacious and intrepid, he played to the libretto
Secured in eighty seven the foremost Scudetto

Formidable, he hit with the force of a Tsunami
Sharp lessons from Bergomi, Tassotti, Baresi

Honing defensive art aside the games best
"Piscinin’s" brutal streak which strikers would detest

Miracle defensive bond with Franco Baresi
Five Champions league wins, and seven Scudetti

Super Cups, Club World Cup, the Coppa Italia
Global acclaim from Rome to Santa Maria

First defender to lift FIFA’s World Player
Whilst Zoff’s record shattered on a wing and a prayer

Be it central or left, daily the legend would grow
Soon sharing Euro final’s with “Paco” Gento

Azurri caps also led to the top of the heap
Sour end with Ahn Jung Hwan’s frog like leap

Maldini Junior strutted catwalks looking very dapper
Yes Milano’s heartbeat had long surpassed Il papa

And yet stood in the arena where it all began
The greatest defender ever ill treated by his clan

San Siro swansong where Seventy thousand cheered
Whilst reminiscing Istanbul some five hundred jeered

To disregard quite simply a world revered icon
Even his old partner intervened thereupon

Not much left out with Franco’s wise address
He said, “He deserves more and they much less”

Now will it be Puyol or maybe Inter’s Santon?
Another Maldini ushered in, make way for Christian

Adventures aplenty, most with the Rossoneri
Into the sunset he rides roaring Arrivederci

Number 7
© Emdad Rahman
www.football-poems.com