London, UK
You may have heard that there's been a bit of bother over the proposed interview between David Beckham and the gorgeous Ilaria D'Amico of Italian Sky Sports. Apparently, Victoria doesn't want her hubby to chat with "Italy's sexiest sports presenter" according to newspaper reports. Victoria may have seen photos of Ilaria on the internet. Point is, if she can't trust her husband why stick with him?
London, UK
I've been saying for quite some time that Portsmouth have their name on the FA Cup. The south-coast team have only won the Cup once, in 1939. Also through to the semis are Cardiff City who famously beat Arsenal in the 1927 final. Barnsley, conquerors of Chelsea yesterday, captured the trophy in 1912. West Bromwich have won the Cup on 5 occasions and are expected to despatch Bristol Rovers later this evening.
London, UK
The Arsene Wenger/Eduardo incident yesterday in Birmingham got me thinking about the number of sporting blogs I occasionally read and link to. I guess one of the most popular is Iain Dale's West Ham Blog.
Others that deserve a mention:
SportOnAir brought to you by Jonny Gould's Sportsmedia
Think Wink Blink - by Caroline Barker from the BBC London 94.9 Non-league Football Show.
BBC Sports Editors Blog
Arseblog
Daily Telegraph Sports Blogs
and a couple who link to me:
Bestre
Kris
London, UK
Iain Dale chats to me about his other great passion - West Ham. Here he is discussing his West Ham blog.
London, UK
For the first time in years Spurs finally beat Arsenal. Mind you, I didn't expect them to hit 5 against the Gunners. Read this.
Margate , UK
Margate FC forward, Rob Haworth celebrates his goal against his former club Carshalton Athletic. Margate went on to win 4-2 and to stake their claim as play-off contenders in the Ryman Premier League.
I've posted this as it's one of the best photos taken by "Margate Don" whose work can be see here.
The local derby everyone's been looking forward to!
Catch me and Steve Wells, live only on the Internet from Hartsdown Park on Boxing Day at 1pm. Go to www.margate-fc.com
London, UK
This day, December 13th, there are two interesting results in the history of Margate Football Club. I mentioned one last month, here about the FA Cup clash with Yeovil in 1967. That 3-1 away victory was a great achievement for Margate who then lost to Peterborough United in Round 2.
A couple of years later, Margate, like many other senior non-league clubs at the time entered a new competition, the FA Trophy. I remember the draw being made for the 3rd Qualifying Round. It was to be either St Neots or Thorneycroft Athletic. This is a bit like Arsenal or Chelsea having to play Brentford or Rochdale in the FA Cup. Expecting an easy away win, I called the "away" results line. I rang back because I couldn't believe the 0-2 result. Margate FC's record since that time has been less than impressive.
The furthest Margate has reached in this competition was the 3rd round proper, when they were defeated by Runcorn (after a replay) in 1979, then to Morecambe in 2002 at the quarter-final stage. This season, Margate lost to Leamington (formerly AP Leamington) 1-0 in a 2nd qualifying round replay.
London, UK
It's the FA Cup 2nd Round Proper this weekend. It's that time of year when the smaller clubs have the opportunity to advance to the 3rd Round and meet one of the "big boys" like Arsenal, Liverpool or Manchester United of the Premiership. Some of those smaller clubs are from outside the Football League
The two fixtures that stand out for me are Horsham v Swansea City (playing Friday night) and Staines v Peterborough United. Both Horsham and Staines play in the same league as my club Margate and both play teams that Margate have played previously in the FA Cup. In the 1972/3 season, Margate beat Swansea (then of League Division 3, now League One) 1-0. Four years earlier, Peterborough United beat Margate 4-0 in front of over 7000 spectators at Hartsdown Park.
The last time Margate had the opportunity to reach the 3rd Round was 5 years ago. After beginning their FA Cup campaign with a 2-1 victory over Gravesend & Northfleet (now affectionately known as Ebbsfleet United) in the 4th qualifying round, the 'Gate beat Leyton Orient 1-0 after a 1-1 draw at Brisbane Road. Due to the ground re-development at Margate, the victory over Leyton O. and the ensuing 2nd round clash with Cardiff City were played at Crabble, the home of Dover Athletic
In front of BBC "Match of the Day" cameras, Margate lost 3-0. But hit the woodwork twice.
London, UK
In 1968, Yugoslavia beat England 1-0 in the semi-final of the then European Nations Cup. The goal was scored by the world's best ever left-winger Dragan Dzajic. A couple of years later, England bowed out to West Germany in the heat of Guadalajara in the quarter-final of the World Cup. For me, those two results started the sticky slope that the English football team has been on ever since.
Earlier this evening, the team that represented Croatia (a former part of Yugoslavia) out-played, out-thought and out-witted a below-par English team. It'll probably mean the end for manager, Steve McClaren but when will we all realise it's not down to him or even the hapless goalkeeper Scott Carson?
In my view, these are the fundamental issues that need to be addressed:
1. Sport in my opinion, is not taken seriously in England.
2. There is no national centre for football excellence.
3. In recent years, 34000 playing fields have disappeared in England under both Labour and Conservative administrations.
4. Footballers in this country are still drawn from what was working class backgrounds. In France, Spain and Italy, in particular, footballers come from all levels of society.
5. The Premiership and Championship appear to be more important to players, supporters and officials than the success of the national team.
6. Continental players have better ball skills than English players.
7. All too often, players and managers and coaches are one-dimensional in their approach. (Just look at the first 45 minutes this evening)
8. A "quick-fix", short-term solution is the answer to everything. (i.e. the appointment of McClaren?)
9. A lack of leadership and vision from the footballing authorities, politicians and educationalists.
What's your view?
I think I'll tag
Iain Dale City Unslicker Crushed Beamans World Ellee Seymour Croydonian The Last Ditch Dr Simon Moores
Not sure about the American commentary!
2-1 Israel vs. Russia | EURO 2008 Q
Video sent by 90tsunni
Israel vs. Russia
UEFA EURO 2008 Qualifiers | group E
17 November 2007
fulltime score: 2-1
goals: Barda 10', Golan 90+2' - Bilyaletdinov 61'
If Israel can avoid defeat to Russia later today in Tel-Aviv, England would still have a chance of qualifying for the Euro Championships in Austria and Switzerland next year. UPDATE - Israel 2 Russia 1
Should they do so, perhaps a member of the Royal Family will finally visit Jerusalem. (About as likely as me dating Angelina Jolie)
Read this from yesterday's Jewish Chronicle:
Former Luton Town Chairman Bill Tomlins together with other former colleagues are in hot water with the Football Association.
Here's the BBC report in full:
 The FA's investigation into Luton began in March |
The charges relate to player transfers and contract renegotiations between July 2004 and February 2007.
The club, former chairman Bill Tomlins, ex-finance director Derek Peter and current directors John Mitchell and Richard Bagehot have been charged.
Six licensed players' agents have also been charged.
The investigation, which began in March this year, found that payments made to the six agents, totalling about £160,000, by the club's holding company Jayten (also known as J10) Stadium Limited were not disclosed to the FA on the required forms.
The six agents have been charged with accepting payments from Jayten for their services to the club in securing the services of players. 
It's purely to do - on our side - with technical breaches on paperwork
Football agent Sky Andrew on the FA charges against him
In addition, it has been alleged that services for the benefit of a Luton player, totalling approximately £7,000, were paid for directly by Jayten but were not disclosed on the player's contract.
Sky Andrew, one of the six agents charged, was quick to play down the allegations.
Andrew, who is agent to a number of Premiership stars including Sol Campbell, Jermaine Pennant and Jermain Defoe, told BBC Radio 5 Live: "People mustn't blow this out of proportion, there's no question that irregular payments were made to officials or anyone like that.
"It's purely to do on our side with technical breaches on paperwork, which will come to light. Ultimately it vindicates me of the stance I made
Former Luton boss Mike Newell
"We've spoken to the FA and the FA have conducted an investigation into dealings there - and it's only right they conduct their investigations and they've got rules in place and then they hand out charges to people.
"In our case it's just a technical breach of paperwork."
The charges follow an FA investigation after former Luton manager Mike Newell claimed in early 2006 that illegal payments in the game were rife.
"Ultimately it vindicates me of the stance I made," Newell told BBC 5 Live.
"I think as a manager of a football club, you have a duty to the supporters to make people aware of things like this.
"It was said over the last seven or eight months that there wasn't a time when I thought maybe it was the wrong thing to do because it's cost me my job. But ultimately this proves it was the right stance."
The full charges are as follows:
All parties have until 30 November to respond to the charges.
Luton issued a statement on their website, stating that "at this point in time the club has no comment to make on these allegations".
There is no indication yet as to what punishments might be enforced if the charges were proved.
BBC Radio 5 Live sports news correspondent Gordon Farquhar pointed out that the FA's investigation had been triggered by Tomlins when he resigned in April after admitting making irregular payments to agents on three separate occasions.
Farquhar said: "In a statement at the time, the club said Tomlins had approached the FA earlier in the year to clarify certain matters relating to the club.
"He also told the BBC he made the payments from the club's holding company but was at pains to point out that he made no private gain himself.
"He admitted he did the wrong thing at the time but also pointed out he contacted the FA personally to report what had gone wrong.
"It's also important to mention that the manager at the time Mike Newell made a number of allegations following his dismissal the month previous to Bill Tomlin's disappearance.
"And also another director, Martin King, resigned in the wake of the manager's departure, saying he was concerned with a number of issues and not just the one to sack Newell at the time."
London, UK
Poor old Yeovil. For years they stunned the football pundits by their several shock FA Cup victories over clubs from the Football League. The most famous being the 2-1 defeat of Sunderland in 1949.
But today, as a League club now themselves, they suffered the humiliation of being defeated 4-1 by Blue Square side Torquay United, who lost their League status after 80 years last season.
So the famous "giantkillers" were "giantkilled" themselves. But I do find the term "giantkillers" in relation to Yeovil a tad incongruous. Yeovil is a market town in south-east Somerset with a population of not much more than 40000.
I've never liked the "green slime" from down the A303 - it all goes back to a nasty incident involving their goalkeeper just after the final whistle in a match against my team, Margate FC. It was a Southern League fixture at Hartsdown Park on December 2nd, 1967. Coincidentally, Margate had already drawn Yeovil in the First Round of the FA Cup. The fixture was meant to have taken place at Huish on Saturday, December 9th. Inclement weather and an icy pitch meant that hundreds of Margate fans had to curtail their journey at Paddington Station. But just a few days later, in front of over 6000 fans, Margate dented West country pride by winning 3-1 in the re-arranged tie. A gallant 4 made the journey from Margate.
Well what do you expect if you don't take your chances and play badly in defence?
Answer, you tend to lose.
Today's FA Cup exit at the hands of Hitchin Town (how embarrasing is that) was awful. We allowed a very average side to dominate possession and paid the price. 1-0 down after 20 minutes, Margate did come and should have equalised before half-time. Two further goals were conceded before a dramatic comeback. Three goals in ten minutes to get back to 3-3 before the home side slotted their winner with a quarter of an hour to go.
Three goals in the last 10 minutes were enough to beat Fisher Ath. in the last round but no such luck today.
Elsewhere, "les rosbifs" shatter French dreams by reaching the Rugby World Cup Final with a 14-9 victory over the home side in Paris.
London,UK
So England take on "les frogs" c'est soir at the Stade de France. I think England will bow out gracefully to the French tonight, who in turn, will be beaten by South Africa in the Final.
In football, England will breeze past Estonia, whilst yours truly will be biting nails at Hitchin, hoping to see the blue & white army progress to the next round of the FA Cup.
Have a great weekend!
BTW, On this day 6 years ago, Margate drew 1 -1 with Doncaster Rovers in the Conference (now called the Blue Square Premier)
A title of a poem or some form of abstract art? Well neither, just the latest post at MFC's official website. It's the FA Cup again next week. I'm travelling a few miles up the A1(M) to see, hopefully, Margate conquer the Canaries. Not Norwich City but Hitchin Town who share the famous Norfolk club's nickname.
Whilst the rest of the population is glued to the "box" watching England v Estonia ( how riveting is that) in the Euro qualifiers or France v England in the Rugby World Cup, several hundred souls will be watching one of the most fascinating qualification round ties of this seasons FA Cup. For those of you who'd like to know a little more, please go to the FA website.
If you live in the London area, BBC London 94.9FM, has the "Non-League Football Show" on Monday nights at 9pm.
BBC Look East's report 
