Thompson Brand Partners

Catalan vs Matalan

Now I can't take the credit for the rather magnificent headline above. It came via The Sport (where else) and it of course referred to the big European footie match this week. The result of course is old news and you'd have to live on the moon (or America) not to know the result.

But I was taken aback by a rather remarkable thing which I read in the Guardian. When they were doing their pre match team comparisons - how the full back match up etc- they compared shirt sponsorship deals.

Manchester United   Shirt sponsor: AIG Contract value: £56,000,000 (yes, million)

Barcelona       Shirt sponsor: Unicef Contract value: £0

Apparently Barcelona refuse to sell their shirt sponsorship and prefer instead to give something back and sponsor one of the world's most prominent charities. Amazing. Can you imagine this happening in the UK? Absolutely not. We're so far down the commercial road that it's simply unimaginable. Forward-thinking, responsible and altruistic...not in our back yard methinks.

Check out this other fact:

Manchester United   Owned by: Fat cat millionaires from the US

Barcelona       Owned by: Its members (ie the fans)

Not only did they outclass Manchester United on the field, they outclass them off the field too and to be quite honest embarrass our overall approach to football in the UK. 

This sporting life

Just finished watching Lindsay Anderson's landmark film This Sporting Life. Set amidst the coal pits and Rugby League communities of 1960s Yorkshire, it has not lost its power to deliver powerful social and emotional messages to our modern sensibilities.

Crazy modernist music, Brandoesque performances from Richard Harris (as Frank Machin) , stark cinematography, stunning support cast, the best ever filmed sport sequences, unanswered questions...it's all in there. It's a supremely working class film in every way.

I grew up on Rugby League and visited all these mystical grounds -- Wakefield, Swinton, Salford, Barrow, Hull -- I know it sounds crazy now when the world is so much smaller than then. This film captures the cultural significance of Rugby League on the communities that relied on it so heavily for their identity and their ambition. 

There's something too about the position Machin plays. In those days in League, the no. 13 (loose forward)  was THE pivotal player in the team so his position is all the more significant.

Big match

The Leeds Rhinos are playing in the World Club Challenge this weekend. 

They won it last year and if they win it this year, it'll be back to back wins which nobody's done before.

Good luck to the Rhinos - I reckon they'll do it. 

What's wrong with liking snooker?

What a lovely bank holiday weekend I had. Did the usual bank holiday things - wash the car, did the garden, met up with friends but also watched plenty of snooker. Yes, I like snooker - I didn't think there was much wrong with that until I was ridiculed at the pub on Sunday. I was supposed to be meeting them at The Oak in Headingley at 4pm but it was about 6pm I turned up after the first session of the grand final of the snooker world championship - Ronnie O'Sullivan v Ali Carter. I was supporting The Rocket, he was on good form but not as fine as his performance in the semi-final, but still great to watch. A few drinks down the pub where I told my friends I couldn't stay out as I was going back to watch the second session. And that's when the ridicule began. Well, for those who enjoy snooker you'll know the results and for those who don't you probably don't care the final score was 18 - 8 - to Ronnie of course.

STRIKE

Well, yesterday was Thompson's monthly social. This time we headed down to Hollywood Bowl in Kirkstall for some serious bowling action. Two teams - girls vs boys. Everyone had their own special technique - from Richie's cock leg to Deano's Fred Flintstone's twinkle toes. The girls beat the boys in the first match - Liz and Lynn were serving out some pretty decent bowls, with any strike resulting in ridding the bull (a long story). The boys were I suppose pretty good - Richie got the highest score of the evening with 133 points although he did suffer an injury later on to his little pinky, and lets just say The Lord is far too posh for bowling.

Comply or Die

Last weekend was Grand National weekend - one of the great sporting events of the year. Like most businesses around the country we took part in the mandatory 'office sweepstake" - the safer way to bet. Being only a small (but perfectly formed) team there was only £18 in the pot - but still a nice little earner. Comply or Die, one of the favourites, was the winning horse and Liz was the lucky one who had pulled him out the crown of plenty! Well done Liz. And very generously Liz bought us all some M&S cookies with the winnings. Thanks Liz.