My view and thoughts on everything!

The following is my programme article for the Ebbsfleet United v Stockport County game played on the 16th February.  The game ended in a draw. February is certainly turning out to be a month of home games for the Fleet.  In fact, the whole of this month revolves around Ebbsfleet not venturing away from the hallowed turf of Stonebridge Road.  That said, it is safe to say there are more than a few away games coming up between now and the end of the season.  This includes some very long road trips to Hyde, Barrow and Gateshead.  The players will certainly have plenty of time then to master their card skills.  Who will emerge as the Poker king? Time will tell. Fortunes can change very quickly in football.  Two games ago, and in front of the television cameras, the Fleet suffered a humiliating 0-4 defeat to Macclesfield Town.  Then a week ago, the team got back on track with a well-earned 3-1 victory over Gateshead.  This has now put the F...

The following is my programme article for the Ebbsfleet United v Macclesfield Town game that was played on 1st February. It was a televised match - the first time the Fleet had been on television for many seasons.  Despite this, it was not a good game as Macclesfield ran out 4-0 winners!  January is certainly a crazy month in footballing terms.  The inclement weather has meant that a number of teams in the lower leagues have had an “extended break”.  Whilst snow can look nice, and create picturesque photos, it can also be a nightmare for football teams.  A manager may have his team on a run of undefeated games, and then find their progress halted.  On the flipside, a team could have been experiencing some bad results, but with the postponements a re-grouping happens and, all of a sudden, the results pick up. From our point of view, we hope that the Fleet can go on an undefeated run, and hence move away from the bottom of the league.  Liam Dai...

The following is the article I wrote for the New Year's Day local derby between Ebbsfleet United and Dartford.  Ebbsfleet came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2.  Firstly, a very Happy New Year to all the supporters of Ebbsfleet United and Dartford.  Here’s hoping that 2013 is a fantastic year, not only for you personally, but also for both of our North Kent clubs.  I also hope that you didn’t all get too merry last night, especially when the clock struck twelve! The Festive Season is certainly one that involves an abundance of food, drink, family time and relaxation.  It is also fair to say that the Boxing Day and New Year’s Day football matches are part of that tradition too.  Nothing beats getting away from the house to go to the local football ground to support your team to a win. Before I go any further, please spare a thought for me.  I have had to spend Christmas and the New Year here in Australia.  As you can imagine it is a tough...

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon in Sydney way back on 28 th April 1996.  I was making my way to the local gym as, in those days, I was a regular gym junkie.  Just before I left my home, I heard on the radio that a gunman had been on a killing spree in Tasmania.  At that stage only a small number of people had lost their lives.  When I got to the gym, the number of deaths had risen to 23.  I mentioned this to my gym instructor.  His response was that it was the gunman’s form “of self-expression”.  The instructor was reading the Celestine Prophecy at the time, which probably explained his comments.  I personally preferred the term “madman”. The gunman was named Martin Bryant and the final death toll was 35.  The whole of Australia was in shock. How could anyone kill 35 innocent people?  There was an outpouring of disbelief and anger.  How could we stop this from happening again?  The Prime Minister at the time was the ...

The following is the article I wrote for the Ebbsfleet United v Grimsby Town Match-day programme.  It seems like only a couple of weeks ago that the Blue Square Premier League season 2012/13 kicked off.  But here we are in December and fast approaching the halfway mark of the season.  I am sure that both managers will have differing views about how the season has gone thus far.  As we know, Grimsby Town are flying high at the top of the BSP, whilst Ebbsfleet are just above the relegation zone. I am sure that the Mariners joint managers, Rob Scott and Paul Hurst, together with our own Liam Daish will agree on one thing – A win today!  At present a mere three points separate the top five teams , and only four points separate the bottom seven teams.  So it is a very tightly contested league at present. At this time of year the general thoughts of most people turn towards Christmas. In less than a month, a rather portly old man with long ...

Life really is full of repetition.  It seems to be the same old thing, day after day. Be honest, how often do you feel like you are repeating things over and over and over again? Just like that great movie Groundhog Day, when Punxsutawney Phil makes an appearance to decide if winter is coming to an end or not, Bill Murray lives the same day over and over again.  Despite its comedic theme, the film does make a good point that our lives do seem to be stuck living the same old scene. To make my point, I will give you an overview of how most of my days go.  Normally the weekdays rather than weekends, where there is a bit of flexibility. On most workdays I take my two daughters to their school which is about a 7 minute walk from where we live.  We really have to leave home at 8am, to ensure that I can catch a train to work and get there at a respectable time. Nine times out of ten, this is never the case.  Even though I am ready, my daughters hardly ever are! ...

In life it is important to set goals, objectives and targets in our working and personal lives.  Having a goal helps you to focus and, hopefully, achieve what you set out to do.  They can be set for a myriad of reasons ranging from really small objectives to very large ones.  Recently, I achieved one of my goals after trying for more than two years.  What was this achievement, I hear you all say.  Well, continue reading and I will elaborate dear reader. There is a weekly question and answer show on television called, funnily enough, ‘Questions and Answers’ or better known as ‘Q & A’ or as I like to call it Qanda.  The show consists of a panel of guests, generally politicians and the like, who answer questions posed to them by the live audience.  The panel then put across their point of view on the relevant subject. As the show goes out live across Australia, viewers are able to post some tweets, with a select few being aired visually ...