Stoopid

Remember driving to Port Vale. Must have been that season. Apart from knowing it was vaguely in Stoke, had no real idea where it was. And in those pre-satnav days we had the devil's own job finding it. Must have asked about 10 different people the way - and this was after we'd reached Stoke - and got 10 different answers. In the end I spotted a kid in a Vale scarf, and he took us there - after we stopped at his grandma's to drop some shopping off! Can't recall anything about the game itself, save for standing on a sizeable windswept terrace, flicking fag-ends on to the pitch. Different days...

Yeah - last week he was Manuel Neuer, this week he was Manuel from Fawlty Towers. In general think we blew it at Stamford Bridge. Perez babbooned it wide, and as Paul Hawksbee said; 'There goes your Champions League, right there!'

Fancy us to win fairly comfortably - a rare feeling for me against Spurs - and for Villa to get a draw. With the Cup there, and the crowd, feel we'll be irresistable. Vardy hat-trick incoming...

Agreed, but thought Ricardo looked sharp when he came on last night. The team looked flat though - depressingly predictable - but the steel we need to claim CL football isn't quite there. Still a wonderful season, and anything could happen on Sunday. Fancy us for a win personally, and the opportunity to show Tottenham what an actual trophy looks like.

When they 'scored' I just felt a massive kick in the guts. Thinking we were so close - a couple of minutes from glory. Should have known it was too good to be true. So sodding cruel. To be on the edge of glory only for it to be snatched away. Hot tears beginning in the corner of the eyes. Oh no - it was Wes... Chilwell you fuc... Hang on! What's happening? Some doubt? Oh please, God. Please...I promise. Just give us this one and I'll never... He's making the sign! He's pointing! He's only bleeding disallowed it!!! Yes! Yes!! YES!!!

Feeling ok. Sort of positive, but crapping it too. Not as worried by Chelsea as I thought I'd be. Can't work out if that's a good thing or a bad thing. First football memory is of the Spurs final 60 years ago. For all intents and purposes I'm that little kid again today. Thinking of my Dad and all the great City fans who would have loved to see our blue ribbons on that Cup, but never did. Come on City!!!

Well, I'm old, white and working-class and would never vote Tory. Nor would most people in Leicester - if the make-up of the city council, local MPs etc is anything to go by. I don't really buy this received wisdom about traditional Labour voters switching sides for 'patriotic' (ie nationalistic) reasons.(Leicester also voted against Brexit of course). Think it's more to do with the gentrifying of Labour in recent times.

It's cheap though, innit? Blimey - might even go meself now I've got the 2nd jab.

Pretty good going for a shirt that's "a complete one off."

These clubs will suffer long-term reputational damage as a result of the naked greed and frankly jaw-dropping levels of stupidity they've displayed. Sh#t sticks, and the amount they've covered themselves in isn't going to be easily removed for years. There's always a temptation to be vindictive in victory - but it rarely works. And it isn't their fans' fault. But the level of embarrassment they are going to have to live with is the real punishment. Strong punitive measures would only give them something to react against, and a weapon to use against the disgust and ridicule that's going to dog them for years. (Maybe just kick Chelsea out of the FA Cup!)

Everton - for personal reasons - are not a club I've ever been fond of. But I have to say I'm deeply impressed by their statement this morning (in which we get a mention, pleasingly). It's a real 'Speak for England, Arthur!' moment (in which a Labour MP stood in parliament to denounce Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler). Everton just spoke for football.

Found myself in tears last night. From b&w telly pictures in 61 to a punch-up in Perry Bar in 82, most of my Cup memories (Clarkie in 69 apart) are negative and painful. But we're back! And against the pantomime villains of Chelsea... The football gods, for once, seem to be smiling on us in this most beautiful of all competitions.

Perhaps. Certainly your point re the money - or how it's spent at least - seems pertinent. Even as a kid, I remember being impressed (and grateful) that it was considered right that making & maintaining such things was accepted. Even such small stuff can have a lasting, positive impression on a kid. We neglect them at our peril.

Remember being entranced by the Abbey Park pool when I used to go there with my Mam when I was about 5. It seemed vast, sunny and happy to me then. Recently saw it from the top of a bus. Was struck by its scabby, neglected appearance. And of course, its smallness. Useful metaphor of the difference between life as a 5 and a 65 year old, I suppose.

In the 60s me and my mates regularly used to go to some fields just north of Leicester where magic mushrooms grew in profusion. They seemed stronger and didn't taste as disgusting as the normal run. Then they built a massive housing estate over the top of them - Just one more reason why I find Beaumont Leys so bloody depressing!

Not really.

Not in my world. It's one of those words that still brings out the old class-warrior in me, even at my advanced age.

Dinner is what you have in the middle of the day. Tea is what you have about 6/7 pm. Lunch? No such word in my vocabulary.

His life spanned three generations and twenty Prime Ministers. One of the rapidly dwindling number who fought in the Second World War. A link to another Britain, tougher and harsher than ours perhaps, but surely one that demands some respect. Sorry to see him go.

I agree with you. Not only is it fascinating in itself, but quite often it turns out to have practical applications anyway - often in ways that are quite unexpected or in future developments in other fields.

There seems to be a bit of a mystery about it then? Kind of blows my mind a bit that so much is still basically unknown - dark matter/energy even gravity itself as you point out. In another way it's quite comforting. I mean, we've come a long way, no doubt. But the deepest questions about the universe and our place in it remain stubbornly out of reach. I quite like that, in an odd way.

I'm no expert on this, but as I understand it gravity isn't really a force in itself, more the effect on bodies of the curves in space/time (caused by the mass of other bodies). Could have got that totally wrong, but it makes a kind of sense to me.

The Kevs - ie the Kevin Keegans - ie the vegans - ie FGR - ie Forest Green Rovers.

Hmm...Interesting point. Might be something in it. I believe something like 80% of British gardens have a lawn. Because they're so prevalent it's something most tend to overlook or just take for granted. But when you think about it, it is quite odd.

Seems a bit harsh. Like I say, just a thought.