A Sticker's Worth 500 Words

Emlyn Shepherdson-Jones takes on a request post for Mark Smith about a man who impressed on and off the pitch on the South Coast. Today’s subject has been on the blog’s longlist for a while but it’s fitting he gets his moment in the sun in light of his club’s struggles last season. That and Mark deserves a request following his sublime physical comedy exploits on Cardiff’s Queen Street during Emlyn’s stag last year. Over to Emlyn. Prior to an evening game of cricket at the Oval a few weeks ago, I was sat at a pub table catching up with my good friend Mark. Mark is a massive Southampton fan, so definitely deserves some sympathy for the season just gone by. My team, Reading , have shared a number of players with the Saints over the years, but haven't played each other often of late, so we've been unable to enjoy a matchup between the two sides. Sadly I was yet to meet Mark in 2012, and so Reading's late surge to usurp the Saints from the top of the Championship table was a m...

Everton Football Club’s men’s team bade farewell to Goodison Park at the end of last season after 133 years with a 2-0 victory over Southampton . The Grand Old Lady has hosted more top flight games than any other English ground, owing to Everton spending all but four seasons up there since their move across Stanley Park in 1892, as well as an FA Cup final and five games during the 1966 World Cup. Somewhat fittingly it also hosted the infamous Dick Kerr’s Ladies team in 1920 in front of 53,000 spectators in a match that was seen as part of the reason for the FA’s ban on women’s football. While the men’s team move to the imaginatively named Everton Stadium for 2025/26 the women’s team will inherit Goodison for their Women’s Super League campaign. During their time at Goodison the club won eight league titles, five FA Cups and the European Cup Winners’ Cup and enjoyed the brilliance of Dixie Dean, Graeme Sharp and Neville Southall . Since the advent of the Premier League, however, such ...