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| | | 14/11/2024 What do St Pauli and this tea-timely email have in common? |
| | | | OVER AND OUT | Where Big Website goes, other wishy-washy, left-leaning hipster havens naturally follow, so it came as no surprise that following Wednesday’s announcement that we would no longer be posting content on the particular Social Media Abomination that known as TwiXer from official accounts, one of Europe’s most right-on football clubs duly followed suit. A traditionally left-wing outfit that was founded in 1899, St Pauli play their football near Hamburg’s Reeperbahn and are famous for their iconic skull and crossbones logo. They were the first Bundesliga club to sign a black player, the first to officially ban right-wing nationalist activities at their games and almost certainly the first purported socialists to charge an eye-watering €37 for a snow shovel in their official club shop. Last season, under the stewardship of the current Brighton manager Fabian Hürzeler, they returned to the Bundesliga after an absence 13 years, to the delight of a fanbase often ridiculed by their counterparts at other clubs for the heinous crime of having a social conscience, not seeing refugees as a threat and being anti-racist, anti-fascist and anti-authoritarian. “So if that’s the case, what’s their problem with Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, Donald Trump’s electoral money-bagman and the proprietor of TwiXer?” we hear you ask. We’ll let their club statement fill you in: “Since taking over … Musk has converted [TwiXer] into a hate machine,” they declared. “Racism and conspiracy theories are allowed to spread unchecked and even curated. Insults and threats are seldom sanctioned and are sold as freedom of speech.” The club went to say that given Musk’s appointment to a major government role, “it is to be assumed that [TwiXer] will also promote authoritarian, misanthropic and far-right content during the forthcoming German election campaign, this manipulating the public discourse”, before inviting their fans to join them on Bluesky, which is – for now at least – a comparative oasis of happy-clappy harmony, peace vibes and general goodwill. Much like Big Website’s decision, St Pauli’s declaration generated widely contrasting reactions, with many applauding their decision while others whatabouted to within an inch of their lives or took the time and trouble to show how little it mattered to them by posting clown emojis and Kylian Mbappé “crying” gifs, while announcing how little they cared. Other, more considered criticism suggested that Social Media Abomination need the likes of St Pauli around to try to rail against the moon-howlers, even if at this stage, it would be the equivalent of eschewing the safety of high ground in favour of standing on the seashore trying to repel a tsunami with a net. |
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LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE | Join Scott Murray from 7.45pm GMT for hot Nations League minute-by-minute coverage of Greece 1-2 England. |
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QUOTE OF THE DAY | “David Coote remains suspended pending a full investigation. David’s welfare continues to be of utmost importance to us and we are committed to providing him with the ongoing necessary support he needs through this period. We are not in a position to comment further” – a PGMOL statement confirms it is aware of new footage allegedly showing the referee sniffing white powder. |
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FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS | | With all due respect, isn’t it time for the massively overused phrase ‘door marked Do One’ (Football Daily passim) to, well, do one? I mean it was funny the first few times, was getting trite on about its 100th appearance, but after about 178,357 uses, it really has become tedious” – Ric Arthur (and one other). | | If Alanis Morissette is looking for an updated line to add to her biggest hit, may I suggest: ‘It’s like Rick Parry accusing the Premier League of undervaluing the football pyramid.’ Admittedly, it doesn’t scan, but the man who helped to create the English game’s ‘global entertainment product’ saying this seems a tad more ironic than rain on your wedding day” – Joe Stafford. | Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s letter o’ the day winner is … Joe Stafford, who lands their very own piece of Football Weekly merch. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here. |
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JOHN DEMPSEY (1946-2024) | Chelsea’s 1970s took in quite the spectrum. It began in glamour, Kings Road just an Ian Hutchinson throw-in away, and Raquel Welch sashaying into Stamford Bridge to see the likes of Peter Osgood, Charlie Cooke and Alan Hudson play the attacking brand of football that brought an FA Cup and a Cup Winners’ Cup in 1970 and 1971. By 1979, a decaying Bridge was now home to a struggling team, the stadium most recognisable for the cars parked round the pitch. John Dempsey played through it all, in central defence, scoring versus Real Madrid in that 1971 final in Athens until eventually heading to the United States. Last week saw Chelsea lose one of its finest servants, someone whose post-football career saw him work with people with learning disabilities. Dempsey, in his heyday, was known for a combover that put Bobby Charlton and Ralph Coates in the shade. Remember him as a Chelsea player, who with his teammates spoke to Pathé News and a young John Stapleton about the injury problems that often stymied his career. And read Peter Mason’s obituary, too. | | John Dempsey in the 1972 League Cup final. Photograph: Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy |
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NEWS, BITS AND BOBS | A football coach has sparked a grassroots movement to improve inclusivity in the game by demanding that toilets are opened for girls. “Every Saturday morning, at my sons’ matches, toilet facilities are nearly always available. When it comes to the girls’ teams on Sunday mornings, there are often no facilities, or they are locked,” said Natalie Booth, whose petition has now attracted more than 28,000 signatories. “Our young female players, just like their male counterparts, deserve equal comfort and dignity during their games.” Tottenham are resigned to Rodrigo Bentancur being given a lengthy ban of at least six matches by the FA for making an allegedly racist remark about his Spurs teammate Son Heung-min. The new coach of Roma is none other than Claudio Ranieri, lured out of retirement at the age of 73 to take charge of them for a third time. Chelsea are still in possession of a 100% record this season after their much-changed lineup were made to work in a 2-1 Women’s Big Cup win at Celtic. “I’m really happy with the three points and the victory, but not really happy with the performance,” sighed boss Sonia Bompastor. “We were not efficient enough.” | | Ashley Lawrence (centre) with the decisive goal. Photograph: Stuart Wallace/Shutterstock | Harry Kane is set to be left out of Lee Carsley’s England team for their must-win Nations League match against Greece. How is Andrés Iniesta enjoying retirement? By becoming co-owner of Danish third-tier outfit Helsingør. And Diego Forlán’s appearance at a tennis event in Uruguay, which more cynical tea-timely emails than this would suggest was a shameless bit of PR, is over after going down to a 1-6, 2-6 doubles defeat alongside Federico Coria. “The atmosphere on this court that I love so much was incredible; my friends, my family were here,” he whooped. “It was very special, and I enjoyed it. I felt like a tennis player for a moment. I’ll take with me a few volleys, a good smash, and some forehands during the exchanges. Overall, I’m pleased.” | | Diego Forlán in action, earlier. Photograph: Ernesto Ryan/Getty Images |
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MEMORY LANE | To September 1967 as Beatles drummer Ringo Starr takes time out from the Magical Mystery Tour film for a kickabout near Newquay in Cornwall. It’s giving us memories we’d rather forget of this old Knowledge episode. | | Photograph: Express/Getty Images |
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NOT SELLING OUT ON THAT SONG, SIGH |
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