number37

I really want to echo what others have said here about the composition of the squad, not just from a footballing perspective but from a personal point of view because they are a squad to be proud of in terms of the men they are. They all appear to be so approachable, grounded and likeable guys and that's right through the entire setup all the way to Gareth Southgate and his team. It couldn't be further away from the days when the squad was full of the likes of Rio Ferdinand, John Terry and Ashley Cole. Just remember that Sam Allardyce was England manager and who knows where we'd be if he didn't like brown envelopes so much. Regardless of whether England win this tournament or not, we've got a side to get behind and be thankful for.

Liquid football.

My name's Ryan Taylor. People call me Ryan Taylor.

That's definitely a good and encouraging read but it does highlight the state the club is in when we're excited about getting a club shop. Perhaps even an additional one.

I suppose, technically, you shouldn't expect anyone to survive the group of death.

Two goals, the shackles are well and truly off now, just you see, there'll only be one goalkeeper on the bench for the next game.

It's like a dull version of rope a dope but I like it. (That lesser known Rolling Stones song.)

Premier League VAR gives that offside.

Kane!

Bad layoff from Sterling

Probably told the Germans "You lot should be good at this".

Czechmate

Round of 16 | Wales 0-1 Denmark Round of 16 : Wales 0-1 Denmark This is what we're really interested in.

Pipe or colon should do the trick.

Hmm, you've got a point there. That sounds like what happens behind the scenes at a Conservative party conference.

UEFA said as long as it's not political, so should be be alright if there just happened to be a Pride event or something of that nature.

I think this is the first match I've seen where I nearly fully approve of the kit selection of both teams. Obviously France should be wearing blue but I can't complain too much about the white-blue-white combination because it at least involves a different colour for the shorts rather than all one colour. Hungary is traditionally perfect and I officially endorse their red-white-green. It may be something I've just made up but I'm sure there are more people outside of Hungary who have a greater understanding of Magyar than what Jermaine Jenas has about being a football commentator.

Harrogate is quite affluent, isn't it? So I reckon they'd be a higher calibre, more expensive sandwich, followed closely by York. Rotherham would be fairly cheap based on having never been there or knowing anything about the place other than the Chuckle Brothers. Burton would be helped/hindered by the constant brewery smell so the cost could go either way.

I don't think they'll be repeating this too often over the next 25 years.

They are but that's due to historical/amnesty reasons. I forget the exact year but in the early 1990s, UEFA told the UK teams playing in leagues not their own (like Berwick, Cardiff, Wrexham, etc) to either move or stay in the system they're in forever. Berwick, Cardiff, Swansea, Newport (a couple of others) stayed in the Scots/English set up, respectively, but there were a handful of Welsh teams that moved back. At the time, Wales didn't have a national league (which is why they played here), this annoyed UEFA and also the Welsh clubs in England were taking the piss a bit by entering and winning the Welsh Cup and entering UEFA competitions, this also annoyed UEFA. I don't think a club has moved since. Maybe Gretna from the Northern League in England to the Scottish system but I don't think that counts because the Northern League isn't a national one.

That's so good! They've been there five minutes and already Wrexham have a better pre-season than we do. Probably using proper football facilities too rather than a school's.

As far as I am aware, from a logical perspective, PIF can buy the club this very second but that's purely from a business side only. So Newcastle United Ltd (or whatever) as a company can be bought/sold to anyone (including PIF) at any time. The slight downside is league registration, which the Premier League can give or revoke to/from members. PIF aren't buying a club that has no league to play in though. Theoretically they could withdraw the club from the Premier League and apply to join the SPFL, for example, clubs do resign from leagues (Bury, for example, but under different circumstances). I reckon UEFA would have something to say about that though, but moving NUFC's registered office to Edinburgh and/or a brown envelope could work wonders. Office in one country and stadium in another is what Chester do, although that's a bit different.

He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy for going to Everton.

Mkay, the strip situation is annoying me now. Switzerland need to be in red.

That's a really good find, especially nice to see recognition of where the regional capital is, as if we didn't already know. I think we (Northumberland) should be due some compensation though for losing an airport and yet more land to our southern neighbours. I'd accept Gosforth or wouldn't mind our former exclave where the old county court/HQ is next to Bridge Hotel. Although Northumberland Airport sounds canny.