Over the last thirty years I have been fortunate enough to play all the great golf links of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1998 our annual six day tour headed to Ulster finishing in Portrush and its famous Dunluce Links. Our tours seemed to take a macabre pleasure in saving the most difficult track until last and in this regard Royal Portrush fulfilled its role. The course itself was tough enough but in 1998, following a summer of heavy rain, the rough was incredibly thick. A wayward shot and your ball was all but lost. Undeterred we had our traditional Stableford and as I walked off the ninth green it was not difficult adding up my total of five points. Over the back nine Portrush quaked under my fightback a creditable 13 giving me 18 in total. The winner managed 24. It was a beautiful day with nary a zephyr yet we had all been cowed.

As Shane Lowry battled his way around those self...

England 1 v Holland 3

This time last year the nation was in thrall at the prospect of an England side reaching the final of a World Cup. Their manager Gareth Southgate had demonstrated intelligence, political nous and managerial ability in melding a side based on youth, into a functional unit that had rekindled hope amongst a fan base long familiar with disappointment. Even when that England side departed at the semi final stage, to a far superior Croatia, the plaudits for what had been achieved were glowing. It had been a roller coaster but for once England had exceeded expectations.

On their return to England Southgate rightly shunned the offer of an open top bus tour a decision which demonstrated an understanding that though his side had done well they had still returned empty handed. “Ball retention” became the mantra, Luca Modric the template for the type of player required to...

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 v Fulham FC 0

When last season Wolves gained promotion from the Championship the fans sensed that for the first time in years the side had the potential to survive in the rarefied atmosphere of the Premier League. Legion is the list of those who possess potential but fail to deliver. But as season 2018/19 draws to a close, with Wolves settled in an impressive seventh place in the Premier League it is probably true to say that they have exceeded by some margin their potential. Today’s opponents Fulham, also gained automatic promotion from the Championship. But unlike Wolves their potential, if it ever existed, failed to materialise and after a mere season in the top flight they find themselves boomeranging back to the Championship. Whether they deserved to lose this penultimate game of the season is perhaps debatable. They had three clear cut chances but failed...

Wolverhampton Wanderers 3 v Arsenal FC 1

The half time buzz reverberating around the Billy Quiet said it all. That and the sight of a half empty Arsenal section as their fans busied themselves booking an early train home. For Wolves, playing in front of the largest home attendance of the season, this was a repeat of their performances against Manchester United, denying the opposition an opening before hitting them on the break.

A portent of the evening ahead came in minute 25 when Joao Moutinho finished off a fine counter attack his curling shot from the edge of the box just going wide. Three minutes later another good break saw Castro Otto felled by a clumsy Nacho Monreal challenge. From the ensuing free kick Ruben Neves fired the ball home with the precision of an Exocet. Ten minutes later, following a short corner, Castro Otto’s in-swinging cross found Matt Doherty whose glancing...

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 v Brighton Hove Albion 0

It is just over five years since Chris Hughton’s tenure at Norwich City was brought to an end by Delia Smith, a club chairman more acquainted with the blade of a bread knife than a metaphorical severing of a livelihood. Though the inevitable payoff will have spared Hughton from having to move the weekly shop from Waitrose to ASDA, the severing will nonetheless have stung. Failure is rarely uplifting. But it didn’t take long for him to be reacquainted with the carousel of full time football management when Championship Club Brighton & Hove Albion offered him a perch on the Recaro seats of the dugout at the Falmer Stadium. In his first season he stabilised the club before, in his second, taking them to the playoffs where they narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier League. In his third they gained promotion automatically, since...

It was Jack Nicklaus who claimed, with some insight, that at Major Championships he only had half the field to beat his reasoning being that only half of those against whom he was competing believed they could win. Jack never locked horns with Tiger Woods but had he done so the man from Cypress California would have been in that small coterie of individuals who possessed the same sense of self belief as he.

As the season’s opening Major Championship the US Masters sets the template for drama. But as the threat of heavy storms forced an early start to the final day’s play, little did we know that Sunday April 14th 2019 would not only provide the usual high degree of drama but also a special place in golfing history.

For this was also the day that the eleven year major championship drought endured by one Eldrick Tont Woods finally came to an end. Injuries to knee and back, the...

Watford FC 3 v Wolverhampton Wanderers 2

It all started so well. I made good time to Ickenham Tube Station where there was plenty of parking in the adjoining NCP. Catching a Wembley train I entered a carriage full of folk draped in Old Gold. Hailing from Wollaston they were singing heartily their inhibitions nulled by the warm glow of alcohol. Next to me sat one of their crew who apologised for their boisterous behaviour. Only when I produced my scarf did he realise I was one of their tribe all of which prompted a discussion about the remarkable season thus far and how we would fair against Watford in a couple of hours time. The sentiment mirrors other similar discussions. Watford will be tough for having turned us over in October we know that they are dangerous. Furthermore they lie in that nether zone where Wolves are marginally favourites. Not something the Old Gold thrives on.

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Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 v Manchester United 1

When some three weeks ago Wolves entertained Manchester United in the FA Cup quarter final the visitors were thoroughly outplayed on what proved to be a memorable night at Molineux. Since when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been separated from the Interim tag, his full time appointment surprising few. The jury remains out on whether he proves to be the right man for the job or as I have surmised Roberto di Mateo Part II. But if tonight’s display offers any pointers it is that he has much to do. I accept that going down to ten men in the second half didn’t help, but with the sides level I felt his substitution of Fred, who had been dictating affairs, to be a grave error. Thereafter United looked disjointed and it was not long after his removal that Wolves went ahead, Leander Dendoncker finishing off a weak shot from Raul Jiminez.

Whilst the...

Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 v Manchester United 1

Nigh on a week ago Chelsea Manager Maurizio Sarri, a man with a predilection for opening his mouth before engaging his brain, was less than complimentary about his opponents that day, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Whilst he didn’t actually say the words out loud you could tell from his tetchy demeanour that he considered the manner of their performance – Wolves had spent much of the game with ten men behind the ball – to be below contempt. Back in the studio that well known BBC pundit, with a passing resemblance to Yul Brynner, begged to differ. He had only praise for the combination of hard work and organisation that Coach Nuno had instilled in his charges and for all the Sarri churlishness, had it not been for a piece of individual brilliance by Eden Hazard, Chelsea would have lost the game. There are, are there not, a myriad ways in...

Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 v Cardiff City 0

Those who follow Wolves will recall that Friday 30th November 2018 was an uncomfortable night. A decline in both form and confidence had seen the Old Gold slump to four defeats in a row. A trip to lowly Cardiff presented an opportunity to get back on track and steady nerves. But it didn’t happen as Wolves were out muscled by a side fashioned from essentially journeyman stock. There was further concern that the 3-4-3 formation so favoured by the manager had been rumbled, the midfield pairing of Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho outnumbered and the forward line too often exposed and incapable of retaining possession. Five days later Wolves defeated Chelsea at home, in possibly the defining game of the season. Since when, they have barely looked back.

I say barely because on Tuesday, for the second time this season, Wolves were defeated by bottom...