Author of 'Morbo', 'White Storm' and sundry epics. Columnist for La Liga when I can be arsed. Grimsby Town till I expire.
Joined January 2011
- Tweets 17,290
- Following 323
- Followers 4,811
- Likes 3,066
963 Photos and videos
Jun 10
Quick piece (3rd down) on the little event that starts Thursday. Had to keep it down to 700 words. Whatever.
aficionadosft.com/worldcupvi…
1
3
392
May 30
Final bus-visit of the season from León (relegated) to play Real B. Love the natty use of the wheel shape to finish the badge, and some decent aesthetics all round. 8/10. The last king of León was Alfonso IX, an infamous 13th century skirt-chaser. But the lion ain't roaring today
6
460
May 25
Lost 0-1 in the semis to Jersey, having beaten the hosts France 3-1 and drawn with Italy 1-1. England won it again, but they didn't beat us (2-2). I scored the equaliser and there are rumours that my British passport is to be annuled. I don't care. Basque food is way better.
1
13
694
May 20
Champs League, Europa League? Bah. Six Nations Trophy in St Porchaire in France this weekend. England, France, Italy, Jersey, Ireland and the Basque Country, whose 60-70 squad I shall be proudly representing. You wouldn't mess with some of these fellows. I'm the good-looking one.
11
493
May 19
It's been posted elsewhere, but the Antiguoko photo is a classic, circa '94 with Iraola and Arteta.30 years later, Iraola helps his old mate win the Premier. Xabi Alonso was there too. My son too - it was kind of brutal but effective. Anyway - look what they've gone and done now!
2
1
11
659
May 18
I do love the Stones, but maybe it's time for them to just draw the old-age pension.
'Jumping Jack Flash' (Got my bus-pass): Phil Ball youtu.be/xjJnruQ8W9w?si=jcOd… via @YouTube
4
414
May 17
Slight touch of minimalist late-phase Rothko here, but let's not get pretentious in this end-of-season 'Footy buses near my flat' version. Cool black stuff from Valencia, with a play on words 'Valentía' - the Roman name for the city. Bat-themed too, but a solid 9/10 on aesthetics
1
17
894
Apr 18
Brilliant stuff. Great game. I'm as happy as a sandboy, whatever one of those is!
3
28
578
Apr 17
I won't be there - I prefer the sofa. Interesting though. Griezmann grew up with Real, and so it would be a painful irony if he scored the winner in maybe his last game in Spain - mais c'est la vie. Last time Oyarzabal won us the cup, there was no-one there (Covid). Irabazi arte!
1
1
15
1,114
Apr 10
Whilst the world goes to hell in a whatsit and a June World Cup ticket just got pricier as I blinked, this mag is still going, and is still the best, by a long shot. I first wrote for them in late 1986 and without them, 'Morbo' would never have seen the light. Here's to 40 more!
5
9
79
4,466
Apr 2
No. 69 of 'Footy Buses in my Hood'. Eibar's turn today as they face Real Soc B in an attempt to get back to the top flight. The royal purple is ironic, given the town's status as the first in Spain to proclaim the 2nd Republic in April 1931. Good rabbit ears though. A solid 8/10.
2
14
1,438
Mar 31
I find this 'Tottenham are too big to go down' and 'it would be a crisis' discourse slightly amusing. This is Div 1, 1934-35. Grimsby 5th, their highest-ever finish, but healthy sport depends on preserving both possibilities. Note Man U and Newcastle in Div 2. It does you good!
6
915
Mar 12
Anticipating the Real Sociedad v Atlético cup final, 'El Txolo' has come over in disguise to San Sebastián, to learn Basque ways. A bit of Basque/Spanish humour - but if you want the punch-line explaining, just write. 😎
8
1,387
Mar 9
Bueno - aquí la redacción de Liga Fever en castellano, al estilo de Cervantes. Se trata del 'shithousery' (marrullería) y el gran rebelde Puyol, al que echo de menos.
ligafever.wordpress.com/2026…
1
1
352
Mar 8
Hot off the press. 'Liga Fever' presents 'Strafing the Forests of Shithousery' - starring Carles Puyol and a few others. Enjoy.
ligafever.wordpress.com/2026…
4
384
Mar 5
Just a tidbit from last night's all-Basque semi-final. Real Soc started with 8 players from their youth set-up, and Athletic with 9. After the subs, there was a total of 19 youth-teamers on the pitch. Top stuff. Unique in the world? Yep. And the fans' friendly mix. Brilliant.
7
21
222
19,094
Mar 4
Oooooh I enjoyed that!😃 It's great getting to the cup final, but even better when you get there by beating Athletic. Great atmosphere. Correct result. Should be an interesting final against Atlético Madrid.
1
16
675
Mar 1
How the mighty have fallen eh? Deportivo in town to play Real Soc B this afto (I'm going up to see it). Decent bus, but I preferred the Oviedo blue. The '.....tivo' bit missing from the name I guess because there's no room. A fairly solid 7/10 for semi-minimalist tastefulness.
1
5
591
Feb 28
I'm ok with some of this - a step in the right direction. But surely, VAR can also help a ref to reduce shit-housery, which is growing to such an extent that it's becoming normalised. La Liga leads the way in players doing 'the dying swan' every 5 mins. bbc.com/sport/football/artic…
1
1
4
582
Feb 21
Oviedo turned up in the 'hood this morning in a natty blue bus with some rather interesting gold splashes of 'Pride, Valour and Grit' and all that jazz. A decent aesthetic, good frontal rabbit ears and a generally well-designed conceit: 8/10. Result was 3-3. Thumbs down for that!
1
5
529