(Click and double click on the photos below to enlarge them) Getting to Wembley on final day Roy Hay Final day in the football promised sunny and hot in Essex and delivered as I left Leigh-on-Sea for Wembley via train and underground. The privatised rail services in...
Football 2012
Selective gloating from London
The Independent looks at Australia at the Olympics (for full page see illustration at end of article. Click and double click to enlarge.) Selective gloating in London Roy Hay Trying to find information about Australia and Australian performances at the Olympic Games...
Wembley at last
Wembley Way in 2012 Wembley at last Roy Hay The journey which began at Hampden Park in Glasgow now reaches its end at the new Wembley stadium in London. Multiplex may have had a tough time building the thing, financially and otherwise, but the result is impressive. No...
The people you meet at Olympic Games
The people you meet: Melissa Barbieri, Matildas' keeper Roy Hay Today’s match is at Old Trafford, home of the mighty Manchester United, which necessitated a trip across the Pennines from Newcastle. My wife and I set out early by tram from the centre of town so that we...
Olympic football tournament begins to take shape
St James's Park, Newcastle is a magnificent venue to watch football. Photo: Roy Hay. Olympic football tournament taking shape Roy Hay After two rounds of group matches in both the men’s and women’s tournament, the form of the teams is becoming evident and the likely...
USA and France cruise to victory at Olympic football
The story of the game, Orianica Velasquez surrounded by US players. Photo: Roy Hay USA 3 Colombia 0 Roy Hay The defending Olympic champion made sure of its place in the quarter finals of the women’s tournament with a comfortable three-nil win over Colombia at Hampden...
Japan upset Spain in biggest upset at the Olympics
Spain 0 Japan 1 Roy Hay The 30th Olympiad football tournament had its first major upset when one of the tournament favourites, Spain, was thoroughly upstaged by Japan. The Asian Football Confederation champions thoroughly deserved their one-nil victory, Indeed had...
Big guns fire in women’s football at Olympic Games
Hampden Park in the sun as the teams line up for the opening game between the United States of America and France. United States 4 France 2 Roy Hay The women’s football tournament at the 30th Olympiad began today in Glasgow when the defending champion, the United...
Women lead the big kick-off and a bit of history
Women lead the big kick-off and a bit of history Roy Hay The games of the 30th Olympiad begin tomorrow when Team GB women’s team kicks off against New Zealand at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff at 4 pm British Summer Time. The UK squad will be hot favourites to win...
Olympics only just surfacing in a wave of sport
Wembley Stadium where the Olympic Games men's final will be played. Olympics only just surfacing in a wave of sport Roy Hay It is only two days until the football tournament kicks off the summer games of the 30th Olympiad, even before the opening ceremony takes place,...
Wake up call for TeamGB
Marcelo takes on the TeamGB defence. Team GB 0 Brazil 2 Roy Hay The British Olympic football team, the so-called Team GB, got a wake-up call from a very talented Brazil team at the Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough tonight when the Selecao won by two goals to nil. It...
Ayr United 4 Motherwell 0
Ayr United 4 Motherwell 0 Roy Hay Last season Motherwell finished third in the Scottish Premier League behind Celtic and Rangers and with Rangers banned from European competition the Steelmen will play in the qualifying rounds of the European Champions League later...
A bad week for football might do some good?
Rangers fans in Sydney in July 2010. Photo: Roy Hay. A bad week for football might do some good? Roy Hay The game of football has taken a battering this week though it is possible that the crises which have occurred will result in improvement in future. Racial...
Opening of the National Football Museum in England
One of the many display cases at the NFM. Grand (re)opening of the National Football Museum in England Roy Hay The National Football Museum, formerly located at Deepdale, the home ground of Preston North End, has been relaunched in a new venue in the City of...
The future of the Old Firm
Jack Reilly tries but fails to prevent Colin Stein (right) from scoring for Rangers against Victoria at Olympic Park in 1975. Source: Laurie Schwab collection, Deakin University Library. The future of the Old Firm and Scottish football Roy Hay Glasgow Rangers is an...
Are Spain the greatest ever?
Another champion team from Spain. Real Madrid in 1960 and Ferenc Puskas celebrates a goal. Are Spain the greatest ever? Roy Hay It is inevitable that Spain’s scintillating demolition of Italy in the final of Euro 2012, coupled with its victories in Euro 2008 and the...
Culture shock and football’s woes
Happier days for Rangers in Sydney in 2010. Photo: Roy Hay. Culture shock and football’s woes Roy Hay It is a severe culture shock to go from a country where the back fourteen pages of the newspaper are filled with Australian Football League material to one where the...
Minister kicks goal for football
The Victorian Minister for Sport, Hugh Delahunty (right) practices his heading skills and Terry Mulder, the Minister for Transport (left) his goalkeeping following the announcement of a State Government grant of $100,000 towards a new football (soccer) facility for...