This weekend Manchester had what could be called a golden weekend. Both football clubs won prestigious tournaments. United the premiership and City the FA cup. On the same weekend the city hosted the great Manchester run and the Salford City swim. This was followed by the City games which involved some of the worlds greatest sprinters, sprinting down the main street of Manchester.
Manchester is a great example of the power of sport in urban regeneration. Manchester is a former great city of the British Empire. It was known as cottonopolis due to the power of the cotton trade which passed through its exchanges. Marx and Engels wrote the communist manifesto based on the wealth and poverty of the city. The inevitable industrial decline happened and Manchester fell into disrepair and decay. The bright shining lights throughout the gloom was the football clubs, both City and United played football and produced some of the games greats Best and Sumerbee to name two.
Some where amongst the City fathers of Manchester sport was realised as redemption for a broken down city. The commonwealth games was bid for and won. The city was reborn. This led to the BBC choosing Manchester as its Northern base. Manchester United has dominated football and Manchester City is on the way up. Would the investment have arrived without a city council built stadium? The fantastically successful GB cycling team is based in Manchester this brings further investment into the city as the world visits Manchester to chase gold. Contrast Manchester with its near neighbour Liverpool, without doubt a more architecturally stunning city it has been in the doldrums for years. Both football teams play in Victorian stadiums, investment is short as Liverpool has no proof of carrying out large events like the commonwealth games. The same can be said of Birmingham or Bristol. The conclusion to this blog is that any city that ignore sport is not going to get investment.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
The Punch and Rugby!
Chris Ashton was punched and the media goes into an apoplectic fit regarding the ferocity of it. Rugby is a game of physical confrontation played on the edge of reason. Occasionally the red mist descends and fists are thrown.
Rugby has a some deadly sins that should be dealt with by the full force of the law. Gouging being the one I find particularly distasteful. A punch is what happens on the field occasionally. Citing is a step to far.