Search: ' Theo Walcott'

The immediate past is traumatic and the future as yet unclear. Portsmouth fan Leon Tricker assesses the mess at Fratton Park

As the Chelsea players went up to collect their 2010 FA Cup winners’ medals, all you could hear ringing out across Wembley was the Pompey Chimes. We had dared to dream that we really could win the Cup again, a final act of defiance from fans, players and a manager united in adversity. But what do Portsmouth now have to show for seven years in the  Premier League? We’ve got the same “stadium” we’ve always had, the same antiquated infrastructure, a shattered reputation and a mountain of debt. Fans up and down the country have expressed anger at Pompey’s predicament. But if you feel you’re missing out on something don’t worry – your club could be next.

Read more…

David Stubbs runs the rule over this summer's musical offerings and finds a distinct lack of national pride swelling in his chest. Quite the opposite

 Time was when it was possible for the relevant authorities to frogmarch the England team en masse to the studio to record the official England song, in which they would assure us, back home, that this time they were going to get it right, their stilted choral tones betraying an appropriate lack of conviction that they wouldn’t come up short around the quarter-final mark.

Read more…

Growing Up Fast
by Theo Walcott
Bantam Press, £18.99
Reviewed by Cameron Carter
From WSC 297 November 2011

Buy this book

This is not a life of peaks and troughs. There are no regrets, no fatal flaws, no falls from grace – just a rapid rise to the top by a polite young man from Newbury. Theo Walcott's story is an incredible one, but only from one angle: his youth.

Read more…

As England captain John Terry's affair with Wayne Bridge's former girlfriend became public knowledge, WSC 277 examined the press reaction and questioned what the most important attributes for a captain of a football team really are

There’s a general rule to bear in mind if you’re unsure of what to think about a major talking point in football – find out Piers Morgan’s opinion then take the opposite view. In his latest Daily Mail column, the former Mirror editor declares that John Terry “is finished as England captain” now that his affair with Wayne Bridge’s former girlfriend has become public knowledge.

Read more…

With Michael Owen overlooked by Fabio Capello once again, Darren Bent will be desperate to prove he has what it takes at international level

How times change. In March 2006 Darren Bent received his first England cap while playing for Charlton, who were the epitome of a solid mid-table Premier League team. Three years on, Charlton are close to sealing relegation to the third level for the first time in 30 years – and Bent’s latest call-up, the result of an England striker injury-list to which his name would soon be added, prompted consternation in the press.

Read more…