Z is for Zero-sum game

In a sense, football is the ultimate zero-sum game. One team wins and one team loses, or neither win and the points are shared. I’ve heard youth coaches argue that everything about the game has to be competitive – you have to earn your place in the team by being be...

It genuinely mystifies me why Christine Collister isn’t a household name. Even though she has operated outside of the more commercial genres throughout her career, she really should be more acclaimed. Maybe that’s unfair, as her peerless voice has always been recognised by critics and ot...

I’ve been to many great gigs, but the one that I still come back to as my favourite was the Richard Thompson Band at Hammersmith Palais in November 1986. One of the performers that night, Danny Thompson (no relation), died this week at the end of a long and fruitful music-filled life.

Thompson...

Y is for young people.

When I’m telling people about my books (which I do at every opportunity, obviously), I’m always careful to point out that Foul and Fair isn’t a children’s book. The setting – the world of Under 12s football – understandably leads some to ass...