Tag: England

The VAR Soccer Controversy – It isn’t ‘Cricket’!

action activity balls day
Photo by Lukas on Pexels.com

VAR (Video Assistant Referee) is at times making more headlines than the football (soccer) action these days.

The latest controversies, decisions which have swung on measurements of no more than a few millimetres, plus perhaps inconsistent interpretations of the offside rule, have affected the course of games and perhaps even decided the results of some.

For years there was a clamour for the use of such technology, now it seems many can’t wait to get rid of it. I also detect that there is a sense among some that the technology somehow favours the ‘bigger’ clubs, although I don’t think this is true.

However, when you examine the great majority of incidents, even if the decisions are minimal, they are invariably correct. Yet, as in some cases, a player is adjudged to be a few millimetres offside after the referee initially gave the goal, there is no leeway, no place for ‘commonsense’ or the application of the spirit rather than the rule of ‘law’.

My own opinion is that VAR should only be used sparingly, and, if an attacking player is only the merest snip offside through VAR but looks onside by the naked eye, then the referee’s original decision should stand and the benefit should go to that attacker, otherwise I believe the whole nature of the game (and it is a game) is surely in doubt in the long term.

copyright Francis Barker 2019

English Town Centres In Need Of Support

people walking on street
Photo by Krisztina Papp on Pexels.com

Town centres and high streets in England have been in decline for some time, yet action by local and central government has been slow, inconsistent and at times non-existent.

Now, at last, it would appear some concerted action is being organised.

What is puzzling is that is has been clear for some time that the odds are stacked against town centres. Three factors should have been recognised and addressed over a decade ago:

  1. The growth of out of town shopping malls has detracted from the town centres.
  2. The internet has discouraged people from visiting shops so often and certain shops have been slow to develop their own websites which could actually boost their trade if applied intelligently.
  3. Business rates are invariably too high.

Until the government seriously addresses all these issues, English town centres will continue to experience a slow decline and eventual death.

copyright Francis Barker 2019

On This Day: The Birth of Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England

sky blue windy flag
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

On this day in 1485 was born the ‘Spanish’ princess, Catalina de Aragon near Madrid, known in the English speaking world as Catherine of Aragon.

Catherine married the heir to the English throne, Arthur Prince of Wales, in 1501. However, Arthur died soon afterwards. When Arthur’s brother, Henry ascended the throne on the death of his father in 1509, he quickly married his brother’s widow, forging an important alliance between England and Spain.

However, over the course of the next twenty years, Catherine failed to deliver Henry a living male heir, her only major ‘crime’. Following a long protracted dispute between Henry and Papal legates, during which the Pope refused to annul the marriage, Henry declared himself Head of the Church of England, allowing him to divorce Catherine and marry his mistress, Anne Boleyn in 1533.

Catherine died in January 1536 at Kimbolton Castle, and is buried in Peterborough Cathedral.

copyright Francis Barker 2019

On This Day 1936 – Edward VIII of Great Britain Abdicates

art carving close up crown
Photo by Mike on Pexels.com

He had been king for less than a year and hadn’t had a coronation.

Edward VIII officially gave up his kingship, his rule over an empire which spanned the earth, on which the sun never set. All because, we are famously told, for his love of an American divorcee, Wallis Simpson, a situation which could not be tolerated by the highly conservative establishment of the time. But of course it was a bit more complicated than that.

Like quite a few Britons at the time, Edward was an admirer of certain European dictators. After the abdication he became more than a mere acquaintance of one of them, something which didn’t go down too well in certain parts of the British establishment, as Europe and the world was led inexorably towards war.

As Prince of Wales he had been quite popular with his people back home and throughout the Empire and Commonwealth. He was able to relate to them despite the most privileged upbringing one could get. He was, however, quite shy and perhaps felt somewhat unworthy of the role fate had given him, something which led to several bouts of depression.

For these reasons and perhaps others too, he probably never felt he was not cut out for being a monarch of a vast and populous empire.

Falling in love with Mrs Simpson was only one reason among several which made him feel incapable of carrying on as king, a heavy responsibility which in the end he was forced to leave behind.

copyright Francis Barker 2019

Haiku: Saint Edmund’s Day

closeup photo of black and white dog
Photo by JoergK. Photography on Pexels.com

You aren’t forgotten
Some of us will remember
until bitter ends

copyright Francis Barker 2019