I might sound like Victor Meldrew but I can’t believe it! The shameful decisions to end FA Cup replays and the exclusion by the ECB of Sussex Women from the top tier of English cricket

(This item first appeared in the Brighton Argus on 24th April 2024)

I’m told that I am rapidly turning into Victor Meldrew, grumbling and complaining at the smallest incident that annoys me. On Saturday, I was unable to find the stream for a rugby game from Cape Town that I had been looking forward to watching. Apparently, according to my wife and daughter, I kept muttering: “I don’t believe it”. The daughter’s boyfriend even called me Victor, thus making us two peas in a pod. I finally found the stream on BBC Wales but the commentary was in Welsh. My mood wasn’t helped by my beloved Stormers being beaten by the Ospreys from Cardiff.

In mainstream sport, there have been two decisions taken in recent weeks that have put me in Victoria-Meldrew-on-steroids mode. These decisions demonstrate that both football and cricket are run for the benefit of elite clubs rather than for all.

In football, the Football Association and the Premier League have decided that no longer will there be replays in the FA Cup.  There was no consultation with Football League, National League or grassroots clubs for whom the competition represents not only their best opportunity to create life-long memories for supporters but also a hugely important source of income. FA Council members were not consulted about the changes.  The decision, and the way it was taken, demonstrate a total lack of respect for the football pyramid and its fans. Football belongs to all of us and decisions should not be taken in back room deals in which only the very wealthiest clubs are allowed to participate.

Those behind this decision are the clubs that compete regularly in European football competitions. They complain that there are too many fixtures and, for them, the FA Cup is a minor irritation, especially in the early rounds when they run the risk of slumming it with the likes of Yeovil Town, Crawley and Stoke City. After all , what sums up the FA Cup better than a replay on a cold Tuesday night in Stoke?  Even worse, the foreign-owned clubs might get drawn away against a non-League side. My fantasy fixture would be either of the Manchester teams, City or United, being drawn away at The Dripping Pan to face the Mighty Rooks, Lewes FC. A replay could mean that their pristine grounds being contaminated by teams from the lower leagues and, worse still, plebs like me who support the likes of Lewes.

In cricket, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed last week the eight First Class Counties who have been successful in their bid to be awarded Tier 1 women’s team status from 2025: Durham, Essex, Hampshire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Somerset, Surrey, and Warwickshire. Joining them, by 2027, will be Glamorgan and Yorkshire, who have been named as the first two Tier 1 expansion teams. Sussex and Kent, who have done so much to nurture women’s cricket in this country, have been excluded. As longstanding Sussex supporter Steve Hanson said, “Sussex were the forerunners for women’s cricket” and that “we staged matches when no-one was interested and now they don’t want us.”

The decision on who to include was not taken on cricketing performance. Had this been so, Sussex, led so well by Georgia Adams, would have definitely been included. They have won the Women’s County Championship six times since 2003 (twice as many championships than the Sussex men have ever achieved), and have won the Women’s Twenty20 Cup twice in the 15 years of that competition. Last year, playing as the Sussex Vipers, coached by the former England captain Charlotte Edwards, they won the Rachel Heyhoe Flint Trophy and retained the Charlotte Edwards Cup.

The ECB has announced that First Class Counties like Sussex, who were not awarded Tier 1 status, will now be involved in a process to determine the composition of Tier 2 and Tier 3 which will also involve National Counties (i.e. not First Class Counties) in the new-look women’s domestic competition structure.  But what is as egregious as the decision to exclude the likes of Sussex and Kent, is the decision that for the duration of the 2025-2028 seasons all three tiers will be ‘closed’, with no promotion or relegation.  How ridiculous and how protectionist it is that the favoured few will be guaranteed a spot in the elite Tier 1, no matter how poor their cricket and how deserving the winners of Tier 2 might be.

Clearly merit is not something the ECB cares about, and women’s cricket will be the poorer for this shameful decision.

I have morphed from being a ‘fighter pilot’ at work to gently walking with penguins on deserted beaches

(This item first appeared in the Brighton Argus on 31st January 2024)

I recently read an account, apocryphal I suspect, about an Airbus 380 on its way across the Atlantic. Flying consistently at 800 km/h and at a steady altitude of 30,000 feet, a Eurofighter, capable of flying at twice the speed of sound, suddenly appeared. The pilot of the fighter jet slowed down and flew alongside the Airbus. The Eurofighter pilot greeted the pilot of the Airbus 380: “Airbus, boring flight isn’t it? Now have a look here!”

He rolled his jet on its back, accelerated, broke through the sound barrier, rose rapidly to a dizzying height, and then swooped down almost to sea level in a breathtaking dive. He looped back next to the Airbus and asked: “Well, how was that?” The Airbus pilot answered: “Very impressive, but watch this!”  The jet pilot watched the Airbus, but nothing happened. It continued to fly straight, at the same speed. 

After 15 minutes, the Airbus pilot radioed: “Well, how was that?” Confused, the jet pilot asked, “What did you do?”  The Airbus pilot laughed and said: “I got up, stretched my legs, walked to the back of the aircraft to use the toilet, then got a cup of coffee and a Danish pastry from the galley.”

The moral of this story, which I lifted from Facebook, is: when you’re young, speed and adrenaline seem to be great. But as you get older and wiser, you learn that comfort and peace are more important.

My last day of employment before I retired was a year ago today. Having worked long hours , including at weekends, for the better part of 40 years, few of my former colleagues at the housing and homeless charity, BHT Sussex, believed that I would simply stop. They thought I might join a board, do some voluntary work or mentoring, or take on some consultancy work. But I had no desire to do anything other than stop. Yes, I have this weekly column and most weeks I visit an old acquaintance who is now in a care home, but I have no other commitments. And it is great.

Walking on deserted beaches has been a highlight of my retirement

Over the last 12 months I have read many more books than I have ever read in a year. Molly the dog has been walked to the point of exhaustion, and I have caught up with old friends. I went to South Africa where I spent time with family, walked with penguins around my ankles, and explored deserted beaches up the barren west coast of that beautiful country. I sorted out some long term health issues including having a cataract operation and a hernia repaired. I have stopped eating bread and reduced my carbs intake, meaning my diabetes is better controlled.

My wife can’t believe that there has been so much sport that I really had to watch on television, including South Africa winning the Rugby World Cup for a record fourth time, the Cricket World Cup, and the Lionesses in the Football World Cup. With my friend and former colleague, Kim, I have been to watch the Albion on a few occasions, and with another friend, Robert, I’ve watch the Mighty Rooks, mainly Lewes FC’s women’s team. My leaving present from BHT Sussex was membership of Sussex County Cricket Club, a thoughtful gift which was much appreciated and fully utilised. Only Stoke City’s poor form has been a source of perpetual disappointment.

The contrast between my former life and these last 365 days could not have been greater. I loved almost every day of my 37 years working for BHT Sussex. I was younger, worked at pace, and adrenaline saw me through periods of extreme exhaustion. I was fortunate to have worked with many inspiring, principled colleagues, both on the staff and on the BHT Board. Most of all, the work that we did, changing lives for the better, was so rewarding. This work included supporting people to get into recovery from addiction and those with mental health problems to gain greater control over their own lives. Each year we prevented hundreds of households from becoming homeless and helped rough sleepers into accommodation.

While I loved my time at BHT Sussex, I am no longer a ‘fighter pilot’. I gave it my all and am proud of the contribution I made. Others are continuing the great work of that organisation. I have kept my distance, not wanting to cast a shadow over the work of my successor, David Chaffey.

For me the Third Age is full of promise and excitement, with so many things to do and so much to explore.  

Filled with all the optimism that characterise your average Stoke City supporter, I predict a 2-0 win for Brighton in tomorrow’s FA Cup tie

This Saturday, Brighton and Hove Albion visit Stoke City in the Third Round of the FA Cup. This will be the third time that the clubs have met in the FA Cup: in February 2011 when Stoke City won 3-0 in the 4th Round and last year in the 5th Round when Brighton won 1-0.

The clubs have played each other 42 times in all competitions since their first meeting in 1958 (a 3-0 win for Stoke). Stoke City have won 16 times and the Albion have emerged victorious in just ten games. The remaining 16 ties ended in draws. Before last year’s meeting in the FA Cup, Brighton had had gone winless in the previous 10 games, not having won against the Potters since September 2001.  Since then, Stoke have won eight times and two games, in the 2017/18 Premier League season, ended in draws with an aggregate score of 23 goals for Stoke and seven to the Albion.

A lifelong Stoke City supporter with friends Mark and Neil, Cape Town c1974

So why, you might ask, am I such an anorak regarding this particular rivalry? I have been a lifelong supporter of the once Mighty Potters. When growing up in South Africa, when all my friends began supporting Manchester United, Chelsea or Liverpool, the only two places in England I had heard of were London and Stoke-on-Trent (where my dad was born). Since there was no London United or London City, I opted for Stoke City who were, at the time, flying high near the top of the table.

Loyalty to a football club runs deep. Yet there is so much I dislike about Stoke City – the use of the song ‘Delilah’ as one of the club anthems, its ownership by a betting company, and the misery its results have caused me for these past 50 years or more (with fixtures against Brighton being the exception).

So, how will it go tomorrow? Filled with all the optimism that characterises your average Stoke City supporter, I predict a 2-0 win for Brighton. I just hope that the result won’t be worse than that. In a perfect world, the game will end in a draw and Stoke will win the replay at the Amex with me cheering on the Mighty Potters.

A defeat for Stoke is an unhappily familiar experience, but I won’t be too disappointed given that it means Brighton progressing and I do have a soft spot for the Albion. I enjoy my occasional visits to the Amex with my friends Kim or Robert. I watch the Albion whenever they are on television, and I am loving their style of football and the spirit within the team.

But tomorrow there will be just one team for me. Come on you Potters.

(This item is an amended and updated extract from an original column I had published in the Brighton Argus).

Can Brighton and Hove Albion do it on a cold rainy Tuesday night in Stoke?

(This item was first published in the Brighton Argus on 22nd February 2023)

Next Tuesday evening Brighton and Hove Albion will hope to make it through to the quarterfinals of the FA Cup when they take on Stoke City in the Potteries.  The Albion should win. After all, they are the form team hoping to secure a place in Europe next season. Meanwhile, Stoke City are in a relegation battle near the foot of the Championship.

A cold rainy night in Stoke

But can the Albion “do it on a cold rainy Tuesday night in Stoke?” This question was originally asked of Lionel Messi amid speculation as to whether he could shine in English conditions. 

For a Premier League club, this is the worst of all draws, away to a lower league team. And over the years the Potters have been a bit of a bogey team for the Seagulls.

The clubs have played each other 41 times since their first meeting in 1958 (a 3-0 win for Stoke). Stoke City have won 16 times and the Albion have emerged victorious in just nine games. The remaining 16 ties ended in draws. The last time Brighton won was 11 games ago, in September 2001. 

Since then, Stoke have won eight times and two games, in the 2017/18 Premier League season, ended in draws with an aggregate score of 23 goals for Stoke and six to the Albion.  The clubs have met just once before in the FA Cup, in February 2011, when Stoke City won 3-0 in the 4th Round.

So, you might ask, why am I such an anorak regarding this particular rivalry? I have been a lifelong supporter of the once Mighty Potters. When growing up in South Africa, when all my friends began supporting Manchester United, Chelsea or Liverpool, the only two places in England I had heard of were London and Stoke-on-Trent (where my dad was born). Since there was no London United or London City, I opted for Stoke City who were, at the time, flying high near the top of the table.

Loyalty to a football club runs deep. Yet there is so much I dislike about Stoke City – the use of the song ‘Delilah’ as one of the club anthems, its ownership by a betting company, and the misery its results have caused me for these past 50 years or more (with fixtures against Brighton being the exception).

So, how will it go next Tuesday evening? Filled with all the optimism that characterises your average Stoke City supporter, I predict a 2-0 win for Brighton. I just hope that the result won’t be worse than that.

A defeat for Stoke is an unhappily familiar experience, but I won’t be too disappointed given that it means Brighton progressing as I have a soft spot for the Albion. I enjoy my occasional visits to the Amex with my friends Kim or Robert. I watch the Albion whenever they are on television, and I am loving their style of football and the spirit within the team.

This coming Sunday, I will be at a different FA Cup 5th Round clash, between Lewes Women and Cardiff City Ladies at The Dripping Pan in Lewes. The Rooks have never made it this far in the competition and, unlike Stoke City, should progress to the quarterfinals where we would hope the draw will see one of the Women Super League teams, perhaps Manchester United or Manchester City, coming to the Pan, their equivalent of ‘a cold rainy Tuesday night in Stoke’.

If you have never watched a game at The Dripping Pan, there are two games this weekend.  Come along. On Saturday Lewes Men take on Billericay Town (kickoff 3.00pm) and on Sunday it is the Lewes Women’s FA Cup game (kickoff at 2.00pm).

Lewes FC has been in the forefront of a campaign to get equal recognition, and prize money, for the men and women’s FA Cup. In the next week, the winner of the Brighton v Stoke game will receive £225,000, while the winner of the Lewes v Cardiff City Ladies game, or the Cup games between Chelsea and Arsenal, Manchester United and Durham, or the Albion Women against Coventry United Ladies, will receive just £20,000.

The overall winners of the men’s FA Cup will receive £2 million, while the women’s FA Cup winners will receive just £100,000. 

And before anyone begins to talk about entertainment and value, anyone who attended the Women’s Euro games at the Amex last year, or who watches the imperious England Lionesses as they extend their unbeaten run, will know all about quality entertainment and value. Women’s football is far superior to the moaning, overpaid rich boys who make up many Premier League clubs.

You won’t find me at Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford, or the Emirates. Give me the Dripping Pan or a cold rainy Tuesday night in Stoke any day.

(Update 27/02/23: Lewes Women beat Cardiff City Ladies 6-1)

(Update 28/02/23: Brighton beat Stoke City 1-0)

 

Football is gambling with lives and it must stop

(This item first appeared in my ‘Brighton and Beyond’ column in the Brighton Argus on 8th June 2022)

When I was about eleven or twelve, while travelling home from school one Friday evening, I came across the ‘shell game’ for the first time. The shell game is an old conjuring trick where a pea is hidden under one of three identical shells, and they are then shuffled by the operator in plain view of the audience who have to guess which shell the pea is under. It can also be played with balls and cups.

On that Friday evening in central Cape Town, rather than shells, it was bottle tops. And it was not a magician entertaining.  It was a gang of conmen. The ringleader ‘allowed’ his accomplices to win a few rounds more than they lost, ‘winning’ for themselves a reasonable return.

What followed has haunted me for over 50 years. A labourer from the nearby docks, having just received his weekly wage, was on his way back to his hostel. He would have been a migrant worker, forced by the apartheid regime to leave his family hundreds of miles away, to work for 50 weeks at a time, often on the gold mines of the Transvaal or, in this instance, the docks in Cape Town.

Within five minutes he had been cleaned out by the gang. He didn’t stand a chance as he was conned out of his meagre wages. Once his last Rand was gone, he pleaded, in tears, with the ringleader to return some of the money as he had nothing to send home to his family. The conman just laughed in his face and disappeared into the curious crowd that had gathered, leaving the victim, a grown man in his thirties, sobbing on the pavement, totally humiliated, broken and broke.

Since that day the idea of losing one’s money through gambling has made me feel sick in the pit of my stomach. I suppose I react like that because I am attracted by, and could have been susceptible to, the false seduction of a quick win. I do buy a lottery ticket most weeks and, like many others, I fantasised about what I would have done had I won the recent £186 million on the EuroMillions.

Gambling is a major cancer in our society, destroying lives, breaking families and impoverishing communities. 

A recent YouGov survey said that 1.4 million people in Britain are being harmed by gambling with a further 1.5 million at risk. Gambling advertising is in your face just about everywhere, not least in sport.

Half of all Premier League football teams have gambling companies advertised on their shirts. Meanwhile, the English Football League, the Championship and Divisions 1 and 2, are sponsored by Sky Bet, benefiting the clubs by £40m a year. Just about all sport on television is accompanied by saturation advertisements for gambling companies.

With my brother, Simon, his son-in-law, Nellis Myburgh, and grandson, Daniel Myburgh, at Newlands Cricket Ground, wearing our Stoke City shirts with their gambling adverts

The two football teams I support have contrasting relationships with the gambling industry. Stoke City, who I have supported all my life and who currently play in the Championship, is not only sponsored by a gambling company, but the company owns a majority stake in the club. The Chairman of Stoke City is a director of that company while his daughter is its founder, majority shareholder and joint chief executive. In October 2019, Forbes magazine estimated her net worth at $12.2 billion.  In 2020, she received a salary of £422 million with dividends of a further £48 million.

There certainly are a few winners from gambling.

Lewes Football Club, on the other hand, has led calls to “kick gambling advertising out of football.”  It points out that 450,000 11 to 16-year-olds gamble and that at least 55,000 are already addicted. It has refused gambling sponsorship money and, in 2019, was the first football club to sign up to ‘Gambling with Lives’, a pioneering gambling education programme. ‘Gambling with Lives’ was set up by families bereaved by gambling-related suicide and points out that “every day someone takes their life in the UK because of gambling.”

The Lewes FC men’s shirt with its ‘Gambling with Lives’ logo

The club put the ‘Gambling with Lives’ logo on the front of their men’s first team shirt as a statement against the saturation of gambling sponsorship in the game.

As part of the programme, the men’s first-team goalkeeper, Lewis Carey, shared his own experience of gambling harm. He became addicted to gambling as an 18-year-old shortly after signing his first professional contract.  He said that it took a severe toll on his mental, physical and financial wellbeing for several years.

The government is reviewing the Gambling Act 2005 to ensure gambling regulation is fit for the digital age. Banning advertising on football shirts is one measure it is considering.  My message to government is: “Just do it”.

For more information about ‘Gambling with Lives’ see their website http://www.gamblingwithlives.org

When it comes to charity work, Chelsea FC are the Champions

As a twelve year old I already had a lifelong affliction of supporting Stoke City

I don’t like Chelsea FC.  I don’t like it that they have bought their success. In fact I don’t like any team that buys success.  It might be something to do with my team, Stoke City, who couldn’t buy success even if it had the resources to do so!

However, I have to take my hat off to Chelsea.  Figures published by Third Sector magazine have identifies Chelsea as far and away the most generous of the current Premier League football clubs in terms of spending through their charitable foundations.  (The figures relate to the 2017/18 season even though some of the teams in this table were subsequently promoted from the Championship).

Brighton and Hove Albion finished 8^th in this particular league, one place above Manchester City (shame on you, City), and well above arch-rivals Crystal Palace.  Arsenal are below Palace, and Everton are above their city rivals, Liverpool.

Team	Charitable Foundation	Income	Expenditure
Chelsea	Chelsea FC  Foundation	7,944,647	7,558,005
Manchester United	Manchester United Foundation	4,911,682	4,309,963
Norwich City	Norwich City Community Sports Foundation	4,269,210	4,255,162
Everton	Everton in the Community	4,215,613	3,538,936
Newcastle United	Newcastle United Foundation	3,640,682	3,474,544
Tottenham Hotspur	Tottenham Hotspur Foundation	4,675,033	3,446,250
West Ham United	West Ham United Foundation	3,437,767	3,212,279
Brighton and Hove Albion	Albion in the Community	3,251,587	3,069,831
Manchester City	Manchester City FC City in the Community  Foundation	3,017,853	2,963,371
Watford	Watford FC’s Community Sports &  Education Trust	2,685,264	2,689,232
Southampton	Saints Foundation	2,750,797	2,562,686
Liverpool	Liverpool FC Foundation	3,187,461	2,548,790
Burnley	Clarets in the Community	2,522,846	2,234,339
Crystal Palace	Palace for Life Foundation	2,115,940	1,932,483
Arsenal	The Arsenal Foundation	899,392	1,207,238
Sheffield United	Sheffield United Community Foundation	1,054,101	986,319
Wolverhampton Wanderers	Wolverhampton Wanderers Foundation	892,452	916,900
Bournemouth	AFC Bournemouth Community Sports Trust	1,017,230	750,520
Aston Villa	Aston Villa Foundation	913,054	673,857
Leicester City	The Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha Foundation	1,233,562	193,217

 

The Best and the Worst Films About Sport

Some films should just not be made. And films on sport tend to be high amongst those that should never have seen the light of day. Sport is about drama, it’s about passion, it’s about winning against the odds. It is so difficult to recreate that sense of expectation, drama, exhilaration and (in the case of many teams I support) despondency.

‘Escape to Victory’ must be high amongst the worst sports films ever made. ‘The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh’ is so bad it has attracted a cult following. Some compound the offence by making sequels (‘Rocky 2’, ‘Rocky 3’, ‘Rocky 4’ …. you get the idea).

And some films are just plain silly – ‘Matilda the Boxing Kangaroo’.

There are exceptions, very, very few exceptions. ‘Invictus’ is one, but I am struggling to think of another. It is a shame that nobody ever made a film of the 1972 League Cup Final when 97,852 saw Stoke City beat Chelsea 2-1.

But will film makers ever learn not to attempt to recreate sporting events? I am shocked, I tell you, shocked and distressed, that there are plans to make a film about an inconsequential rugby game in the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Why would there be any interest in this particular game? Yes, that game might have been played in Brighton. I was there and I have to tell you that I, for one, will not watch the film. Japan might have beaten South Africa 34-32. So what? I don’t need a film to remind me. I still wake up in a cold sweat reliving those last five minutes ….

(My recollections of the match written at the time)

Added 06/01/2019 – three absolutely fantastic films about sport that I had omitted: Looking for Eric, Bend it Like Beckham, and Marvellous.

60 seconds with …. Andy Winter

The Brighton Argus asked me to answer some questions about myself.  It was incredibly hard to do.  Ask me to write 400 words and I will knock them out in 30 minutes.  But this?  I found it so difficult.  Anyway, this is what I said (published in the Argus on 29th August 2016):

60 Seconds with Andy Winter

Andy Winter has worked for the housing and homelessness charity Brighton Housing Trust since 1985 and has been its chief executive since 2003.

What is your favourite place in Sussex?

At the County Ground in 2003 on the day Sussex CCC won the County Championship for the first time

The County Ground on a warm early evening in late June, watching Sussex CCC. It would be even better if they were to win more than occasionally.

What do you love most about living in Sussex?

The variety – the people, the sea, the countryside, the City of Brighton and Hove. Have I mentioned Sussex CCC?

What advice do you have for your 12-year-old self?

The twelve year old – already a lifelong affliction to Stoke City

Decide what you believe in, and change your mind when the facts tell you to. Also, don’t support Stoke City FC – it will lead to lifelong misery.

What is your most valued possession?

My family would say my iPad. It is true, I am lost without it. But it is also provides access to things I do value: my photos, my writing, and my family history archives.

What is your biggest regret?

Mary Berry – no soggy bottoms here, thank you

Being lazy, and not achieving everything I should have, not least in athletics. Today I regret not reading enough, not exercising enough, and not becoming the new Mary Berry (I can’t bake!).

What is your biggest fear?

Something terrible happening to my daughter, Clare, or others who are close to my heart.

What is your proudest achievement?

I have two. The first is an achievement shared with my wife – seeing Clare grow up into an impressive and lovely young woman.  The second is having played a part with many brilliant colleagues in making Brighton Housing Trust what it is, and thereby helping to improve the lives of several thousand people each year.

Which five people (living or dead) would you invite to your fantasy dinner party?

Archbishop Desmond Tutu

My family including my much missed mum, but if I was forced to socialise more widely, I would choose the following: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a man of great courage and faith who I once met, to say Grace and to make me laugh; Emily Wilding Davison, a militant suffragette and martyr, who was about as popular beyond her cause as Jeremy Corbyn is today beyond his; Tony Benn, a most charming man who was a walking encyclopaedia of twentieth century politics; Mary Berry, but only if she brings some diabetic Lemon Drizzle Cake and makes references to soggy bottoms; and Adele to provide the after dinner entertainment.

Each Brightonian has an average of 388 what?

Each morning our friends at Juice 107.2 (a radio station in Brighton) pose an annoying trivia question. It is really sad if you know the answer. Today (21st July 2016) the question was “Each Brightonian has an average of 388 WHAT?”

Shame on you if you knew the answer to be Facebook friends.

It brought home to me how inadequate I am on Facebook! I have about 20 friends. Most are family members spread across the globe and it allows me to keep up with them.

I get requests from people to become friends, often thinking I will post about BHT, politics in Brighton, or other such matters. No doubt they will be very disappointed when they discover I use Facebook for anything but work, frequently posting about important things like The Mighty Potters (Stoke City Football Club), the Stormers (the Super Rugby franchise based in Cape Town), Springbok rugby, and South African cricket.

I tend to use Twitter for the work. I also, of course, write this blog (even though I occasionally touch on sport such as the heartbreak I suffered at the Amex during the Rugby World Cup 2015).

It is said that you cannot effectively follow more than 150 people on Twitter. I’m sure that the same applies to Facebook. I struggle to keep up with the sad motely bunch of individuals who are my Facebook friends.

What is important about followers on Twitter, and who you yourself follow, isn’t the number. It depends who they are. I value being followed by work colleagues, clients, those who support and who are interested in our work, and those in positions of influence who can make a difference. If you are posting about a niche issue (that could be said about my blog: housing and homelessness issues in Brighton and Sussex), it is important that those in positions of influence, including journalists, follow you and you follow them.

Don’t get fooled by numbers. On social media it is quality as much as quantity that counts.

Tom Jones is a national legend but it is time he ditched Delilah

(This is the text of my Opinion column first published in the Brighton Argus on 26th February 2016)

Sir Tom Jones is set to perform at the County Ground in Hove in July.

No doubt there will be a sell-out crowd. Sir Tom is one of the most popular performers in the country and his enduring popularity for over 50 years is proof of that. It is unlikely that any of the so-called musicians of today will be remembered in 10 years, let alone in 50 years time.

But one thing has to go. The song Delilah is out of keeping by today’s standards. While it has such a memorable tune, it does present domestic homicide as something that a man is led to commit because of the taunting of his female partner.

Its lyrics include: “She was my woman, As she deceived me I watched and went out of my mind” and “She stood there laughing, I felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more”.

There are three domestic killings each week in the United Kingdom and a song that blames the female victim is not acceptable. I cannot imagine that a catchy tune excusing the lynching of black people would be regarded as acceptable today.

I write this as a lifelong Stoke City supporter where there is a campaign to ban Delilah, an unofficial club song, from the terraces.

I hope that it disappears at the Britannia Stadium and makes no appearance at the County Ground in July. It’s time to ditch Delilah.