Football
Let’s show vaccine passports for football fans the red card
As I’ve written before, the thing I’ve missed the most in the past 12 months is going to see QPR…
Which football teams are the biggest losers?
Mounting losses The England football team beat San Marino 5-0, taking to 56 the number of competitive games that the…
My plan to kick off life after lockdown
The last time I went to a football game was on Saturday 7 March last year when my 12-year-old son…
In defence of horse racing
Rugby has enough problems — from baffling rule changes to concussion — without the referees muddying the pitch even more.…
Contains nothing you couldn't get from Wikipedia or YouTube: Netflix's Pelé reviewed
Pelé is a two-hour documentary about the great Brazilian footballer — the greatest footballer ever, some would say — who…
Are we returning to ‘normalcy’ or ‘normality’?
New normal Why have so many people started saying ‘normalcy’ rather than ‘normality’? — Normalcy has been traced back to…
Trump's exit is an opportunity to ditch the nuclear 'football'
Among the most alarming episodes during Donald J. Trump’s tumultuous final weeks in the White House was an announcement by…
Footballers have made a pig’s ear of Covid rules
It’s the Portuguese piglet you feel really sorry for. The diminutive (ready cooked) porker — a festive delicacy all over…
Dear Mary: Should I rename my grandmother’s dog to avoid offense?
Your problems solved
This has been the year of epic derangement
I wonder if British universities will follow Cornell’s innovative approach to ensuring students are protected from wretched viruses? The American…
In defence of the booing Millwall fans
It is an enormous shame that the Millwall fans who booed their players for ‘taking a knee’ in support of…
Rugby must try harder
Remember those lazy, hazy, crazy days of last year’s rugby World Cup, when as perfect a performance by England as…
Cheering for Jürgen Klopp: Liverpool FC’s manager can do no wrong
As his biographer, I feel obliged to quote John Updike’s wise sayings — among them the first rule in his…
Farewell to Graham Cowdrey, cricket’s king of the dressing room
So the Good Lord really wants to fill out his team: how else to interpret the passing in recent months…
What’s the difference between ‘gifting’ and ‘giving’?
Boris Johnson, the Telegraphsuggested last week, is understood to have a personal interest in rewilding, ‘recently gifting his father beavers…
The joy of red wine
Everything is happening so fast. First we were put under a night curfew. A few days later M. Macron announced…
Sporting spectacles to look forward to in lockdown
‘At least there’s sport,’ said the woman in the supermarket queue. True enough, and in a welcome sop to an…
What I’ll miss most in Lockdown II
A second lockdown won’t cause me much suffering. I don’t have a shop selling ‘non-essential’ goods (e.g. books) that will…
Thanks for nothing, Jordan Pickford
You might hate the Premier League for its determination to suck all the money out of football, but at least…
Football is better without the crowds
The Liverpool defence might have decided in a rare show of togetherness to demonstrate what the word ‘appalling’ means, and…
DeChambeau’s the one to watch in the Masters
José Mourinho, it was surprising to read, recently said how relieved he was that the Amazon Prime cameras were out…
Foden and Greenwood’s ingenious Icelandic rendezvous
You suspect that a bar of duty-free Toblerone, no matter how supersized, wouldn’t really do the trick when hapless England…
Zac Crawley, a cricketing giant
Crowds, Covid and sport: could it get any crazier? I don’t mind about golf: no idiots yelling ‘Get in the…
Letters: What cycle helmets can tell us about face masks
Masking the truth Sir: Matthew Parris is right to laud the importance of embracing the scientific method (‘Why should opinion…
Will masks mean the end of smiling at strangers?
I’ve been a regular runner for 40 years, pounding my way across Hampstead Heath to Kenwood House and back. This…
