Football
The ugly game
I’ve spent years defending football from middle-class disdain. But I can’t do it any more
Caught offside
It’s not surprising that politicians have such an on-off relationship with the broadcast media. One slip. One casual comment. One…
Own goal
For nine years Patrick Marber has grappled with writer’s block (which by some miracle doesn’t affect his screenplay work), but…
The Spectator’s notes
Two beautiful volumes in a cloth-bound case reach me. They are Speeches and Articles by HRH The Prince of Wales…
Low life
On Sunday morning, I was kicking a football in the back garden with my grandson. I had bought him his…
Football’s elite deserve the foulness of Fifa
My favourite moment in the crisis engulfing football’s governing body, Fifa, came with the intervention of a man called Manuel…
Low life
I’m watching Manchester City being taken to the cleaners by Barcelona on the telly, while at the table behind me…
Why I won’t cry for Harry
I can’t say I’m surprised by the departure of Harry Redknapp. Since I started supporting Queens Park Rangers in 2008…
Prolific
I read somewhere recently of a Soho artist who was a ‘prolific drinker’. The meaning is clear, but hasn’t the…
Myths and legends
‘As a leader and a man, he is incomparable to anyone I have ever worked with.’ Obviously quite some guy,…
In a world of their own
Cilla Black has become a strange creature during her 50 years in showbiz. When her husband Bobby was in hospital…
Tackling Jim Murphy
The author of a rather brilliant little book about football could just hold the key to Labour’s otherwise negligible prospects…
The bill that keeps on building
Giving London’s Olympic stadium a ‘legacy’ is proving to be a very costly business
England’s golden boy
Nothing illustrates the transformation in the working lives of professional footballers since the end of the maximum wage better than…
They don’t make footballers like Roy Race any more
It has become a weary cliché to say that a book’s publication is eagerly awaited, but when an event is…
Set our footie fans free!
‘Bubble matches’ sound like something quaint. In fact,they’re an outrage against civil liberties
Squash hits
Thank god for the Commonwealth Games: at least they gave us a brief respite from football transfer stories. Instead of…
Being the best
This time last year, England’s cricketers were 2-0 up against Australia, two thirds of the way towards their third consecutive…
Diary
Can there be anything more perfect than early July in London, when the sun is shining, the sky a cloudless…
Barometer
The not-so-great charter David Cameron wants every child to be taught about Magna Carta. Some bits he might want to…
Barometer
Old world Brazil has struggled to get ready for the World Cup, even though it hosted it before, in 1950.…
The true gods of football
The World Cup has started, and the gods of football will be in their heaven for a whole month. Not…
Now even Fifa’s dinosaurs have learned to cry racism
Are all white women really prostitutes who should be avoided, as some children at those schools in Birmingham were apparently…
Did anyone really think that Qatar won the World Cup fairly?
I suppose the appalling shock to the soul that was occasioned by the allegation that Qatar bribed its way to…
What’s right with Saracens– and José’s Chelsea
It’s hard to love Saracens rugby club — their centre is called Bosch, a word that also describes their bulldozing…
