Political Football Newsletter

3 days ago | tonyevans92a.substack.com | Tony Evans

THE DEATH OF Brian Glanville last month got me thinking about some of the greats of British sportswriting that I’ve worked with. The best known are Brian and Hugh McIlvanney. As you might expect, they were brilliant operators. But you needed to stay on the right side of them. I came across both at The Sunday Times, where I started as a casual downtable sub-editor. My first role for a national newspaper. We called ourselves “monkey subs” because that’s how we were viewed: bottom of the pecking order.

2 weeks ago | tonyevans92a.substack.com | Tony Evans

WHAT A WEEK for football in Manchester. First, City ended the campaign without a trophy after seven successive seasons of piling up silverware. Pep Guardiola’s team lost the FA Cup final 1-0 to Crystal Palace. And before you start, Pep, the Community Shield does not count. It’s a pre-season friendly. Then United produced a truly gruesome performance in the Europa League final, falling 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. What made it so glorious is that Spurs were almost as horrible as Ruben Amorim’s side.

2 weeks ago | tonyevans92a.substack.com | Tony Evans

A TEXT MESSAGE CAME through just after the half-time whistle blew. ‘God’s good,’ it said. It was not meant as consolation. It was gloating. Across the Liverpool section in the stadium, people sat in silence, with a bemused, helpless look on their faces. It was cold and most seemed to be squirming in their seats. If there was anywhere to go to get warmth and comfort, most would surely head in that direction. Not far away, a man stood up and, with a voice filled with pure spite, started to sing.

4 weeks ago | tonyevans92a.substack.com | Tony Evans

BOO, BLOODY HOO. Has Anfield ever seen a bigger storm in a teacup? The jeers that greeted Trent Alexander-Arnold’s introduction as a substitute during Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal have divided opinion. At a point in the season where there’s nothing at stake for Arne Slot’s team, it’s given the fanbase something to get passionate over. And the pundits something to pontificate about. Political football is a reader-supported publication.

1 month ago | tonyevans92a.substack.com | Tony Evans

LET ME TELL you about my short career as an arms dealer. It started in Rome. I was 14. Cardinal Godfrey had a trip to the Eternal City for the Holy Year in 1975. When the idea of going on this school trip was mooted in September of the previous year, my dad was in relatively good health. He had a cancer on his neck but it was treatable. The cost of the excursion was £30 – we were travelling on the school coach, driven by the headmaster, Brother Cowan. You could pay in instalments.