Last Friday I drove up to San Llorenç, the village most affected by the awful storms last week. Along with Ian from Bosuns Locker who donated and delivered 400 litres of Biodegradable liquid soap we took donations from Kurt Kircher & SY Vava, Helen Richards & Delicioso, Ady Dutton & Angie Wallace. We couldn’t get into the village but there were hundreds of cars parked of helpers who even on a fiesta day had parked and walked into the village to help with the clean up. We were redirected back to Manacor to the Crist Reí Church in Calle del Angel to deliver our donations. I know from the messages I received that lots of people were very kindly donating to the disaster fund page set up by the Ayuntamiento de San Llorenç. It was great to see the whole island get together as one and help in anyway they could. I said last week I do hope lessons are learned and that the same mistakes aren’t repeated. It has certainly been a wake up call and something we must all learn from.
A couple of months ago I noticed that England were due to play Spain in Seville in the brand new Nations Cup. Having done so well in the World Cup and being more or less on our doorstep how could we not go? It’s a City that i’ve never been to although I’d passed up many opportunities to go both from here and years ago when I worked in The Algarve we used to sell day trips there. I managed through my good friend Martin in Ibiza to get tickets for the game and with the new 75% resident discount we were booked. My two boys couldn’t contain their excitement, my Wife less so but the promise of good wine and tapas persuaded her and so we were counting down the days. Monday lunchtime we were off and after leaving Palma an hour and 20 minutes later we landed in Seville. Now I was expecting a huge airport but it’s surprisingly small so much so that you walk from your aircraft to the terminal. We got a taxi and immediately headed for the old town and a tapas bar we’d been recommended. You can’t help but be charmed by the narrow streets that lead to a huge, very striking and beautiful Cathedral. The tapas and wine were not only amazing but cheap too and we headed off to the hotel full but looking forward to the game. Now at the time the weather wasn’t playing ball and it had rained heavily all afternoon. However and somewhat luckily it cleared up as we were about to walk from the hotel to the stadium. Seville is home to two La Liga football teams one of which of course takes the name of the City and plays at the 42,714-seat Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium and who are currently top of the La Liga table. The other team in the city are Real Betis who play at the 60,720-seat Estadio Benito Villamarín, the fourth largest stadium in Spain and this was where we were heading a short 15 minute walk from the hotel.
We were sat fairly central and surrounded by Spanish fans but it wasn’t intimidating and we were very vocal throughout. Especially as me and the boys had been learning the National Anthem all week. Disappointing that it was greeted by a chorus of boos from the Spanish but we sang loud and proud all the same. Now I’d gone with the expectation that a draw would be a good result and as the bookies had England at 6/1 to win the game, what chance did we have? After all the last time England had beaten Spain away was 1987. Nothing could have prepared us for what transpired in the first half. England were quite simply magnificent and were winning 3-0 at halftime. It started with Eric Dier launching Sergio Ramos which in the 80’s he’d have got away with but these days he won’t but it definitely set the tone for the game. To be honest I thought the whole team were outstanding(even the other team from North London ones!) and i couldn’t pick out just one player as man of the match as they all did their jobs superbly. The Spanish couldn’t believe how good we were playing and neither could I! It was always going to be backs to the wall in the second half as you knew that the Spanish would come out fighting and sure enough they did. Helped by a very erratic second half performance in goal from Jordan Pickford who should have been sent off and conceded a penalty when his “Cruyff turn” went a bit array. But we held on superbly for a 3-2 victory.
The Spanish had been beaten at home for the first time in more than 15 years in a competitive fixture, a sequence stretching back 38 games, this was England’s youngest starting lineup since 1959 and probably one of there best away performances since they beat Germany 5-1. It was a great memory for me and the boys and even my Wife who isn’t mad on football was getting into it. The following day we took a sight seeing bus around the City and we saw as much as we could before we had to fly home. If you haven’t been I’d definitely recommend it and I’ve no doubt we will be going back.
Not such a good week for Real Mallorca who lost 1-0 away to second placed Granada. They weren’t expected to return with much but a point wasn’t far away from their grasp. This Sunday they’re at home to 17th placed Extremadura and hopefully three points will be the order of the day. Mixed fortunes for my two boys last weekend as my youngest Jude won 4-2 and my eldest Jake lost 2-0. This weekend they’ve both got big games coming up, Jude will be up against Atlético Baleares and Jake plays the against the other team from his club San Francisco who are in the same league. It’s an inter club derby of sorts and hopefully both boys will get 3 points.
The Beatles‘ ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ has been named Britain’s favourite ever studio album, in a special countdown to mark National Album Day last weekend.
The Fab Four’s eighth studio album was the only release from the 1960s to make the list, which was compiled by the Official Charts Company.
The albums were ranked using a combination of physical sales, downloads and streams in order to determine the British public’s definitive ‘favourite’.
‘Sgt. Peppers’ topped the chart with 5.34 million combined sales, edging out Adele‘s ’21’ which came second with 5.11 million, and Oasis‘ ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?’ with 4.94 million.
Britain’s Favourite Studio Albums Top 10
1. Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – THE BEATLES
2. 21 – ADELE
3. (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? – OASIS
4. The Dark Side Of The Moon – PINK FLOYD
5. Thriller – MICHAEL JACKSON
6. Brothers In Arms – DIRE STRAITS
7. Bad – MICHAEL JACKSON
8. Rumours – FLEETWOOD MAC
9. Back To Black – AMY WINEHOUSE
10. 25 – ADELE
Enjoy Your Weekend!
Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone, Android, The Tunein Radio App and on the Spanish TDT TV service. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance!
Feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com
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