Of course they were illegal in Ireland and the UK. In Melbourne they were also banned from entering any sports ground, you know just like you are not allowed to take a metal bucket to throw at a goal keeper. But people do smuggle things and themselves in. And when you have a group of four burly...

You reminded of this little ditty from my youth:

Wrong. Way back in the 70s when the Troubles were starting to really heat up, there were a Irish immigrants coming in from both sides. And there were fights and all that shite. Even former and late AFL captain Jim Stynes wrote in his auto biography that one of the first thing he wanted to know...

I still can't understand Scots - even when they claim they are speaking English :)

If you must know I am old. So yes it was 40 years ago that I went to a SM match. My last time at Lakeside Oval was when Carlton SC (remember them) played and members of the UDF (Ulster Defence Force) were going around shouting their crap.

Great he made it - but I still prefer Valodon.

Ahh. Not 40 years ago.

when was this taken?

Not really. Watch any game and goals are celebrated or mourned as a tribe. As a neutral you pick up the vibes around you. The only people who watch the game in an almost emotionless state are scouts and coaches (at least they try to).

FWIW not Asian heritage but decades ago I went to a few SM games and I could not understand a word being said around me. Didn't go back.

FWIW it made the channel 9 news in Melbourne.

He had an operation and AFAIK he is still in the recovery phase and won't start training until the new Belgium season starts.

I hope he does not play 2nd division in Scotland. He would be better off coming back to Australia. CCM would have him back. If Valadon or Teague move abroad then he could slot into MV and similarly he could slot into MC.

For some reason I thought that both were on FTA - which is what it should have been.

I have been thinking on this and there is a sticking point for me. The WC now show cases your talent to club recruiters around the world. Specially for players who do not come from the traditional footballing nations - ditto the managers. For those who were born in football countries like the...

Well Kisnorbo took Troyes to the third division and now he is doing the same to YFM. When will clubs learn?

Who should referee the match?

Sorry, not a big fan of Segecic. As an super sub player he can be the difference but whenever he started for SFC, he was not able to have the same impact as when he came on in the second half. I don't know why but a new club maybe capable of improving his performance.

I was quite surprised at the state of AAMI park given that yesterday WU played MC on the same pitch yet that was quite decent. I know that there has been a lot of rain today but in the past there has also been quite a lot of rain without the pitch deteriorating so much. As for the refereeing...

As I eat my humble pie (I had MC bottom 4 at the beginning of the season) I think that Vidmar (& the coaching team) are hitting their straps. Too often MC were able to switch play to players that had acres of space. Their passing accuracy was also higher. They were better organised than WU who...