Search: ' Robin Cook'

Massed ranks of WSC writers and interviewees reflect on the best and worst of 2000

Jim Rosenthal
Ups
– Premier League highlights acquired by ITV
– Cardiff losing at Gillingham to ensure Oxford United avoid relegation
– Playing for the Cookham Dean Parents against 12-year-old son Tom (lost 8-7)

Downs
– Hearing the country I had backed to win Euro 2000 (Italy) had lost in the final in extra time. They were still leading with two minutes to go when I boarded a flight home after the French grand prix.
– Oxford United’s owner Firoz Kassam telling the fans after the Luton game to “piss off” unless they gave him their support. The club’s “saviour” is taking us into the fast lane out of the League.
– Sitting in the stadiums of Florence, Rome and Turin and hearing the racist abuse directed at black players of Manchester United, Arsenal and England

Hope for 2001
– It stops raining and English clubs go all the way in the Champions League.

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Alex Ferguson has always let his political views be known, which is why Michael Crick is confused about the lack of it in  his book

It’s an interesting test. Just who in public life today could ring Downing Street at 7.30am and be put straight through to Tony Blair? Gordon Brown, Robin Cook or Jack Straw? Certainly. Rupert Murdoch? Un­doubtedly. Middle-ranking cabinet members like Ste­phen Byers and David Blunkett? Pretty marginal, I’d say. As for ministers like Chris Smith or Clare Short, they’d probably be fobbed off by the switchboard what­ever time of day it was.

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Dear WSC
Steve Hughes’ thoughts on curved roof design (Letters, WSC No 114) are so far wide of the mark as to be laughable. The curved roof at Huddersfield is anything but a fashion statement. Instead, it stems from the architects taking a fresh look at stadium design, and seeking to improve the view for the average punter. To put it simply, the roof is curved because the stands are curved. Before anyone replies attacking the new and dangerous fashion of ‘curved stands’, may I point out the reason for this design. The curved stands mean there are no seats in the far top corners of the ground, as there are no corners! This makes it impossible to sit further than 90 yards from the centre circle and thus gives the paying customer a better view of the game. The curved roof keeps the spectators dry without needing any of those irritating posts that tend to block the view of the game. If Steve Hughes really wants to see a football ground that looks like a supermarket, I suggest he looks at another of Britain’s new stadiums, not Huddersfield. Wolves, Middlesbrough, Chester, Scunthorpe and Walsall have all built grounds in Sainsbury’s style. They may be aesthetically pleasing to Mr Hughes, but they aren’t much good for watching football in.
Robin Stewart, Huddersfield

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