Category: sheffield

One Last Shot

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I’m heading out of Sheffield this afternoon, leaving the Steel City for the Groot Trek back home to Cape Town.
It’s been a good visit, and my last evening here was capped off by this sunset. Which was nice.

[Big on black here]

The length of the summer days here is something I’d forgotten, but it’s basically light from 3:45am until almost 11pm. Returning home from the pub the other night, there was still light in the sky at midnight. I think I arrive back in Cape Town late afternoon tomorrow, and I’ll probably only get about an hour’s daylight before the winter night sets in.

Still, I bet South Africa will still be a bit warmer than South Yorkshire…

Replan

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Uploading to flickr is not an option right now – presumably thanks to some problem at their end. So here’s a replanned quota photo:

IMG-20150607-WA0010

Last time I was up here, the snow was going horizontally through the air and my inadequate clothing was proving to be… well… inadequate.

Today was much more pleasant, and we saw heaps of voles. (Not literally heaps, just a lot.) I’d love to share some photos, but there’s a problem with uploading to Flickr…

Wonky

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And so yes, I’m up in the UK for a little while, doing hometown glory and family stuff. Google Now has gone mad, giving me bus timetables, suggesting things to do and making me cry over the exchange rate. It also suggested that I “explore” my local area. That might include the Sandygate Road ground – the oldest football ground in the world  and the home of Hallam FC, the world’s second oldest football club.
Something tells me that their groundsman might not be too happy about the Google Maps shot of that historic pitch though:

image

That halfway line… It’s… It’s a bit wonky, isn’t it?
I wonder if it’s like that every week or if someone had had an off day just before the satellite passed over? Also, I wonder how noticeable it is/was at pitch level.
What if the left winger got substituted at half time because his manager thought he hadn’t crossed the halfway line enough, not realising that it was further up than it should have been? (On the flip side though, he was delighted with the unusually good penetration on the right.)

I’ll pop up to Hallam later this week and peep over the wall.

Alan Woodward

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awI’ve just heard the sad news that Sheffield United legend Alan Woodward has died at his home in the US aged 68.

Alan made an incredible 640 appearances for the Blades over 14 years and remains the Blades’ second highest ever scorer. As a kid, he was one of the first players I can remember recognising – perhaps because of his distinctive “silver” hair.

As one of the club’s biggest stars, he was among the contingent of ex-players who celebrated the 125th anniversary back in September last year – including a lap of honour ahead of the Gillingham game which I was lucky enough to see.

Here he is describing coming back to Beautiful Downtown Bramall Lane.

Of course, there will always be discussions over the best players ever to wear the Red and White, but I think that any United fan who had seen him play would include ‘Woody’ in their top three.

Sad news indeed.