Stories from the netherworld of reserve & academy football - by @gavinwillacy Part of the @guardian_sport Network
England, United Kingdom
Joined October 2018
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After six years away, delighted to be back writing about football and starting off with a piece about the Brits playing all summer while you’ve been lying on a beach or moaning about the heat at home 👇🏽
Starring @larnefc @danbent theguardian.com/football/202…
Attention #PEteachers: I'm looking for a qualified tutor to deliver #Btec Level 3 Sport to a small group in Herts on Mondays & Wednesdays. It's illness cover so don't know if it will be for a few weeks or months. Anyone suitable please contact gwillacy@lfe.org.uk. Thanks!
Playing In The Shadows retweeted
Marvin Park - who spent three years at Tranmere Rovers - is in Real Madrid's squad for Champions League trip to Liverpool. Son to a Nigerian father and South Korean mother - who briefly spent time in the UK for work purposes. What a story.
Playing In The Shadows retweeted
Loving that ‘Sir’ Clive Sullivan is the Google search image today! Absolute rugby league legend. 👍🏾👏🏽 For those who don’t know, he was British sport’s first black captain of a major sport’s national team and the last Brit to lift the Rugby League World Cup.
Playing In The Shadows retweeted
Tomorrow night's all-Basque Copa del Rey final is one of the most iconic matches ever in Spanish football, despite fan absence. That it is not even being broadcast (again) in the UK represents a total failure from Spanish football to market itself to an international audience.
No, this is not a misprint. From 1987-88 when @YTFC drew over 6k for a game in what is now National League South! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 @stalbanscityfc played in front of crowds ranging from 184 to 6079 that season! 🧐 @NonLeaguePaper @Ollie_Bayliss
It’s 10 years since my last managerial triumph! Won South East @SchoolsFootball title with @middxfa Schools u17. GK @LawrenceV93. Great management to leave future Championship players @JamzLowe & Josh Clarke as subs! 🧐(Pic is from next game v @StevenageFC missing Jammers) 😊
A fine example of the absolute folly of mid-size non-league clubs having full-time playing squads and/or part-time players on full-time money. It’s the 5th division!!
Fed up of so much football on TV? Well, hark back to 1970 when @ManCity fans couldn’t even watch their own team play in European Cup Winners Cup Final! Was same night as FA Cup Final Replay so FA refused to let BBC show it live! Nothing was seen until highlights following night😳
Playing In The Shadows retweeted
Allt i samhället var skit, men fotbollen gick bra.
Degerfors var i princip klart för allsvenskan. När sagan blev en mardröm.
Jag har gjort en film om ångesten. Om att ha gett alla en framgång, men sedan höll på att ta det tillbaka.
Serious question: had the six-second rule gone? Cheltenham GK just held the ball for 18 and 15 seconds on last two possessions. Does ref just add time for this nowadays? Assume so, as they never seem to even warn a GK for that any more. GK could waste a couple of mins over 90mins
Major impact on Brits abroad. They can only play in Sweden for 3 months without a work permit - ie half a season - and it seems only Div 1 & higher will get those. 😬
🇸🇪 Swedish club Piteå announce 4 of their English players have had to leave due to post-Brexit regulations. The new rules mean they count as non-EU players.
All 4 helped the club to promotion last year.
Let's hope this isn't a sign of things to come.
svenskalag.se/pifherr/nyhete…
More evidence football is upside down right now: Derby have won 1/12 home games, Brighton 0/9, Millwall 1/11, Shrewsbury & Harrogate 1/9, Rochdale 1/10. Yet only Derby are in the relegation places! 🧐 Football without fans is a weird world.
😊
I can imagine having to leave a friendly at halftime to go to a @neworder gig, but when you’re actually playing in it for @ChelseaFC? That takes cool to a whole different level. Class @PatNevin. Mind you, @peterhook would probably leave a gig at halftime to watch United 😉
Playing In The Shadows retweeted
I think anyone who scores an Own Goal should be made to celebrate with the opposition team.
Also proves we all had hair in the late eighties... 😉@OfficialPanini Italia 87-88
