Wednesday, April 04, 2007

The Roodee and Gary Lineker


I've just returned from a couple of days in Chester with the family. It's years since I've been on The Roodee, the oldest racecourse in Britain; organised racing was taking place there in 1540 according to the local museum. I couldn't resist spending a few minutes there on a glorious spring day - this photo is taken about two and a half furlongs from the finish, looking back towards the stands. Preparations for the meeting in May appeared well under way.

The thought of having to spend the evening in a hotel making coherent conversation with the family led me to do some rather stupid - I purchased a copy of The Sunday Telegraph. Much to my surprise, it contained some wry comment. It also contained an article by Gary Lineker bemoaning the fact that the BBC had lost the rights to live coverage of the FA Cup and England matches to their arch rivals at ITV. Call me a cynic, but do I detect a hint of sour grapes? Mr. Lineker, an ex professional footballer, tells us 'The chequebook always wins, with little sense of what damage might be done as a long-term consequence.' As a fan of lowly Wrexham football club, let me say you'll find little sympathy in these quarters, Gary. Since the advent of The Premiership, it appears to me that the people with the money have called all the shots.

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