Never leave football again* Never.

Selected quotes taken after the Coventry v Ipswich match - which ended in defeat for the Tractor Boys. :

“I’ll be down tonight but the day my appetite isn’t affected by defeat I’ll be out of the game. I am trying to learn from my experiences at Sunderland and not get too downhearted but I will not get home, put my feet up and have a whistle.

“But I’ve been like that since I was eight or nine years old. the beauty of it is that we have a game on Tuesday night so that can cheer me up.

“There will always be disappointments in football but I will be okay – don’t worry about me.

“This will put a dampener on my birthday for sure but Roy Keane’s birthday is not, and should not be, important in the grand scheme of things.”

Via the BBC

* Of course you can leave Ipswich if you want, but don’t wait too long to come back again next time.

** Image nicked from Fisted Away.

*** Bonus: Something originally posted over on Red Rants:

From the Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show podcast – this is something from those funsters Gift Grub which is sung by quote: “Roy Keane” about that boy Ronaldo. You know the one, just moved to that Spanish club…

[See post to listen to audio] » Gift Grub – Gift Ronaldo (Roy Keane)

Oh and have a Happy Birthday.

Update - The original song:
[See post to listen to audio] » The Kinks – Lola

Yet Another Update: More Keano quotable goodness.

“…I feel capable of running a top, top club. I want to manage teams who are challenging for trophies and playing in the Champions League.

“I need to be a little bit more patient with myself. You have to have a hell of a lot of experience to manage the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea.

“But I am confident that one day I will be manager of one of the big teams.”

» source

No disrespect to his current club at all there…

I mentioned in a previous article that Sir Bobby Robson was on borrowed time. That was August last year. He defied all the odds and continued to fight, but finally as everyone I’m sure now knows…

I loved that man, so easily likable, approachable and friendly. Which I supposed is all the same thing but I don’t care. When you are eulogizing someone you can get away with it.

He is part of history, of all our history.

He is Ipswich, he is Barca, he is PSV, he is Porto, he is Newcastle, he is England. He is football.

As the man himself said he won bugger all as a player, but as a manager he is unsurpassed.

You can pinpoint exactly where everything started to go wrong for Newcastle. It was when they decided to sack him (they were 5th at the time). But it was Fat Freddy and Douglas Hall, who like Mike Ashley, were running the place into the ground.

But this entry isn’t to dwell on that, it is to celebrate his life.

Newcastle made amends for their past mistake by hosting a charity benefit match for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, in which members of the 1990 England team took on a Germany team.

It was only last Sunday (July 26th) and the man himself was there (as I said, fighting to the end).
Before the match there was a ceremony to present Sir Bobby with the UEFA Lifetime Achievement Award:

Singing Nessun Dorma was Tenors Un Limited.

When the sun is setting tonight go out and stand on your balcony or on your doorstep or wherever and remember when…

[See post to listen to audio] » Luciano Pavarotti – Nessun Dorma

(If you were going to ask. Yes I do have one song done about Sir Bobby, but it’s so bad that it should remain unknown.)

Further YouTubery:
- BBC Sports Personality Of The Year: Lifetime Achievement Award
- Eircom Soccer: Eircom International Personality of the Year Interview
- BBC Inside Out: Sir Bobby Robson’s 75th birthday
- ChronicleLive: Sir Bobby Robson’s Night of Knights

Lastly…
Donate to the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation via the Justgiving page.

Update: The F.A has opened an online Book of Condolence.

Yes that’s right, there are so many footie&calypso songs that I had to split this in half.

In the 50′s there was a craze for the music in Britain and this even spread over to football.

There were some notable and very famous calypso singers… and I’m not talking about Harry Belefonte, he was the commercial populist version who cashed in on the craze. The real stars of the genre were singers like Lord Kitchner and Mighty Sparrow.

It seems with calypso you gave the artist a subject he would then create a song about it. Anything at all. I’ve seen calypso titles about the New York Subway, buying a TV and about not needing glasses to see. (Long story, don’t ask).

So with the beautiful game being such a big obsession with us it was only natural that it would eventually be covered.

  I wanted to post these in order that they were released, but I couldn’t verify what year some of them were done. So taking a best guess… Update: Just found some info about the year each song was released.

So then:

- The very earliest one is from 1953, this one I know because it was entitled as such.
In this one the singer Edmundo Ross is in the pub when some people come up and ask him to settle a bet on who is the better football team:

[See post to listen to audio]
» Edmundo Ross – Exotic Football Calypso of 1953

- Next up is from 1 year later is Edric Conner with a short one, but a long lasting one. This song has been re-recorded and re-released often since it’s first outing in 1954:

[See post to listen to audio]
Edric Conner -Manchester United Calypso

- Two years after that and the king of calypso steps up to give us some footballing history about Manchester – United and City.
He tells us in song form about the fortunes of the clubs from the 1940′s to the present (1956) day:

[See post to listen to audio] » Lord Kitchner and Fitzroy Coleman Band – The Manchester Football Double

Then there’s a space of 8 years and in 1964 Ronnie Hilton sings about the very successful (at the time) Leeds United…
*WARNING* At the very beginning some blokes remind you – very loudly – of which team the song is about:

[See post to listen to audio]
» Ronnie Hilton – Leeds United Calypso

- Fast forward another 8 years to 1972 and two tractor fancying/turkey plucking rivals release their calypso’s:

[See post to listen to audio] » Johnny Cobnut – Ipswich Football Calypso

[See post to listen to audio] » Chic Applin Sound – Norwich City Calypso

There will be more general football calypso’s posted another time, for now if you want to discover more calypso music have a look at Honest Jon’s Records, which has some history about the arrival of some immigrants to London in the late 40′s and the resultant rise and craze for the music.

Also have a visit to Schadenfreudian Therapy which as collected some 50′s & 60′s vintage calypso.

Sir Bobby admits defeat in battle against cancer

Former England manager Sir Bobby Robson has admitted he will lose his battle with lung cancer ‘sooner rather than later’.

Robson has been battling a fifth bout of the illness and has accepted doctors’ prognosis that he is unlikely to beat it.

Speaking to The Sun, he said: ‘I have accepted what they have told me and I am determined to make the most of what time I have left.

‘I am going to die sooner rather than later. But then everyone has to go some time, and I have enjoyed every minute.

‘I have been fortunate to survive this long. It is thanks to the doctors and their dedication.’

Sir Bobby, who took England to the brink of a World Cup final in Italy in 1990, has enjoyed a football career spanning six decades – from playing days with Fulham and England, to managerial triumphs first with Ipswich and then as national coach at two World Cups, to continental coaching appointments.

He later returned to his native north-east to take over at Newcastle and most recently spent a short time as consultant for the Republic of Ireland.

» Full article

- Here is the legend accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year last December:

Update: Video removed from YouTube. Can still be watched via the BBC

- TWTD : An independent website for news and views about Ipswich Town has set up a poll and somebody has started a campaign to get the North Stand named after Sir Bobby.

- You can vote in the poll and sign the petition but what would be a more fitting act right now is to donate to the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation via the Justgiving page

Another mini collection I’ve got going is (unsurprisingly) from Liverpool. Not just the Anfield Rap. A low moment even for them. Because of the amount of items from or about just the one team I’ll be doing a Liverpool theme week in the future. So any non-supporters of them if you want to…
No don’t switch off. Stay and have a listen to what they offer, it is interesting and you’ve never heard some of it before.

If the featuring of these songs annoys you then fight back ! Stand up for your club and email me with evidence of your teams vocal prowess.

Before all that I want to highlight one song about Ipswich. It ties in with the current news that a mystery investor has just become the majority shareholder of the club. Pretty boy Sheepshanks stays as chairman though.

Sheepshanks… Why is it every time I read that name I hear the chant in my head: “SHEEPSHANKS OUT !”
There was a time I think when he wasn’t all that popular and now with a new bloke holding the purse it will be interesting to see what happens if they get up to the Prem. Going by their current form it is looking favourable for them. But I’ll say no more because I don’t want to jinx them.

I’ve gone on a tangent there. Back to the main subject:
A local band who are fans of the team have re-recorded an old Ipswich song in order to raise funds for the M/S Society.

Research into Multiple Sclerosis is a cause close to my heart. My Dad had M/S and I would do anything in order to help them.

The band are called The Ballistics and they are self described Ska Tossers. The old Ipswich song they covered is one originally recorded by “Edward Ebeneezer and Supporters”.

I can’t find much more info about them than that. It is a classic down Portman Road and the fans still sing it. Originally released in the 70′s it is a singalong song which seems to run out of lyrics near the end. (I could insert a joke about keeping it simple for the Town fans, but I won’t).

The Ballistics version of the song isn’t online for listening anywhere yet, so until then have a taste of the original:

Edward Ebeneezer and Supporters - Come On The Town:

No downloads of this track, if you like it enough you can buy it for yourself but I urge people – especially the Town supporters to purchase the CD from The Ballistics.

More info can be found at:

- http://www.itisc.org.uk/news.htm

- http://www.oxfordmusic.net/product.php?link=new&id=1733