SirBalon

I've been there mate and I felt exactly the same as when I went to a Safari years ago in Africa. Instead of birch tree branches, it was guns I saw there. The littlens had a tough time lifting them up.

I didn't know they had bars you could go to at orphanages so as to dabble in a bit of birch tree branch whipping.

Trust me (aside from the multitude of football tourists and corporate attendees) a lot of our fans are plastic. The club may not be because luckily the club means a lot more than what it is today and its heritage and history is long and detailed. But our fans are a lot like the clubs this thread is about... But there is a part of me that feels sorry for those fans I'm talking about because they're only a product of what football's become and they don't know anything else (I won't apologise for being condescending to those fans in this case). I pay for that season ticket because before I left to live in Spain for 10 years I tried to pass my North Bank ticket onto someone else but after one season he didn't want to keep it going so I let it go. I let in go on the proviso that the club would give me a seat whenever I wanted one if I ever returned so as to be able to go consistently. They promised me this and my option on the North Bank was only the Platinum Club Level season ticket. You get a lot of perks (I don't need them) but apart from three constant fans I see different people every time we play at home around me. A lot of Oriental Asians with... You guessed it! iPads or just simply their smartphones recording the whole thing and supporting both sides whenever there's an attack. I kid you not that a good number of our modern fanbase do actually think that Arsene Wenger put Arsenal on the map. Many of them were probably infants, just born or didn't actually exist when we last won the league under him so I totally understand that they can't know any better and reading too much into the history of something can sometimes be a bore.

Nice pic mate... You both look very happy indeed! Actually not like I imagined you... You look a lot more laid back than the persona you have here at least. But obviously this is just a photograph!

Back in the other forum I posted pictures of when Arsenal sent me this season's receipt to pay. I'm sure next season will surpass the £3,000 so as to pay for Wenger's new contract extension.

I know... I deserve a baseball bat to my head for paying that money to be fair.

My season ticket costs me £4 short of three grand.

That is funny to be honest. But Leyton Orient haven't got the same resources and the comparison is bordering on the psychotic. But it is well done and the irony is hilarious.

This is the Rollins from my era.

I was about to say that you look a lot like him but then again I'd never seen that picture of Rollins with a skinhead

Is that you?

To be honest you remind me of him on the forum at least.

@Anton

hahaha... Yes! That just has to be our Cannabis.

@Cannabis @Spike @Aaroncpfc @Smiley Culture @Toony

When you play a game such as that on the web then it's down to each individual conscience to determine whether or not honesty counts. If you get multiple errors, it doesn't mean you aren't knowledgeable on the subject... (this I'm saying to make myself feel better because I messed up the first one for sure ) It kind of takes the fun away from the game if you "cheat" to be honest. No point in playing... But again, that's upto each individual.

Didn't he used to do these things back at TFF? Has the gotten into an argument with someone here I don't know of (because I've been busy over the past few days)?

Future of Gibraltar at stake in Brexit negotiations The EU has put the future of Gibraltar at stake in the coming Brexit negotiations, in effect backing Spain in its centuries-old dispute with the UK over the British overseas territory. After lobbying from Spanish diplomats, the EU’s opening negotiating position for the Brexit talks presents the British government with the choice of reaching agreement with the Spaniards about Gibraltar’s future, or exposing its citizens to economic peril by pushing “the rock” outside any EU-UK trade deal. “The union will stick up for its members, and that means Spain now,” a senior EU official said. Residents of Gibraltar, which Spain has sought to reclaim almost since it was ceded to Britain in 1713, voted 96% to remain in the EU. The announcement came towards the end of a nine-page draft document sent by the European council president, Donald Tusk, to member states on Friday outlining negotiating guidelines for the upcoming Brexit talks. The guidelines, which will be refined at a summit of EU27 leaders at the end of April, ruled out talks on Britain’s future relations with the EU until “sufficient progress” had been made on agreeing the UK’s exit bill, securing citizens’ rights and dealing with Ireland’s border. The draft document also said no future trade pact could be concluded before Britain had left the bloc, insisted existing EU regulations – including the jurisdiction of the European court of justice – must apply during any transition deal, and rejected sector-by-sector deals, saying they undermined the integrity of the single market. The surprise clause gives Spain the ability to exclude Gibraltar from any UK-EU transitional single market access arrangement or future trade deal if it is not satisfied with the status of the territory. It says that once the UK leaves the bloc “no agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom may apply to the territory of Gibraltar without the agreement between the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom”. This suggests that unless Britain is willing to let its citizens on “the rock” be subject to an inferior economic future than those in the UK, the EU has in effect handed the Spanish government a veto on Britain’s entire future relationship with the bloc. A senior UK source with knowledge of EU negotiations said the clause was extraordinary because it effectively signalled a lack of total British sovereignty over Gibraltar. It gives Spain a greater say over the future of Gibraltar than the British government is likely to be willing to accept, the source said. Another senior UK source with knowledge of both the EU and Whitehall said the government was not surprised to see the reference to Gibraltar in the document because it would have been a key demand from Spain, but suggested it was ominous regarding what was to come. The Gibraltar government said it had been “shamefully singled out” for unfavourable treatment by the European council at the behest of Spain. “This unnecessary, unjustified and unacceptable discriminatory proposed singling out of Gibraltar and its people was the predictable machination of Spain that the people of Gibraltar foresaw and one of the reasons why we voted so massively to remain in the EU,” the chief minister, Fabian Picardo, said. “This is a disgraceful attempt by Spain to manipulate the European council for its own, narrow political interests. Brexit is already complicated enough without Spain trying to complicate it further.” Gibraltar’s MEP, Clare Moody, claimed Theresa May’s failure to mention Gibraltar in her article 50 letter, notifying the EU of the UK’s intention to leave, had emboldened the Spanish and signalled that London was not affording the territory the same importance in Brexit talks as Scotland and Northern Ireland. Moody, who has represented Gibraltar in the European parliament since 2014, said: “It is appalling, and an example of the carelessness with which the government are handling these negotiations overall.” In London, the Conservative MP Bob Neill said: “Gibraltar’s friends in the UK will be watching this very carefully. There will be no sellout.” Andrew Rosindell, the vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary group for Gibraltar, said: “An agreement without including Gibraltar means there can be no agreement. British people must and will stand together, we cannot be bullied by Spain.” On the Spanish side, Esteban González Pons, the vice-chair of the European People’s party, told El País newspaper that May’s failure to mention Gibraltar in the letter on Wednesday was “very relevant”, adding that the omission was “because Gibraltar isn’t part of the United Kingdom; it’s a colony like the island of St Helena”. Sources in the his party close to the Spanish government also told the paper: “This absence is a good sign because it heralds good news – that Gibraltar is an issue to be negotiated bilaterally in the future, only between Spain and the UK.” British government sources pointed towards May’s comments in the House of Commons on Wednesday, when she said the UK was “absolutely steadfast in our support of Gibraltar, its people and its economy”. The prime minister said: “We have been firm in our commitment never to enter arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another state against their wishes, nor to enter into a process of sovereignty negotiations with which Gibraltar is not content.” The article 50 letter was “a notification in relation to our withdrawing from the European Union”, May said. “Gibraltar is not a separate member of the EU, nor is it a part of the UK for the purposes of EU law, but we are clear that it is covered by our exit negotiations.” While Spain has long sought sovereignty, or at least co-sovereignty over Gibraltar, its more realistic aims will be to rid the territory of an airport and to ensure it is unable to maintain its 10% corporate tax rate. Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat leader, claimed May had made a “major strategic error” by not mentioning Gibraltar in her article 50 letter. “Gibraltar should not be hung out to dry by this government for the sake of a hard Brexit.” A senior EU official said the remaining 27 member states expected the stipulation to remain in place when talks between the UK and the EU started at the end of May or early June. “The text means what it says,” the official said. “Any extension of the deal [after withdrawal] to Gibraltar, which is a disputed territory, will require the support of Spain. Spain must approve the applicability of a future agreement to territory of Gibraltar. It recognises that there are two parties to this dispute.” He added of the EU’s position on Gibraltar: “There is a difference. After Brexit is notified there is a union of 27 and only one side of that argument is represented.” The day after Britain’s Brexit vote, Spain’s then foreign minister, José Manuel García Margallo, said the outcome had hastened the day when the Spanish flag would fly over the territory. Although Margallo’s replacement, the Brussels veteran Alfonso Dastis, has softened Spain’s tone, the issue has remained firmly on the negotiating agenda. Spanish MEPs and diplomats are said to have been thrilled that May made no mention of Gibraltar in her article 50 letter. On Wednesday, Gibraltar’s chief minister had insisted the government would fiercely oppose any Spanish moves to use Brexit negotiations as a means to gain more control over the territory. “Our sovereignty is not in play,” he told Gibraltar’s parliament. “We will be no pawn in Brexit and no victim of Brexit.” Future of Gibraltar at stake in Brexit negotiations | World news | The ...

Sevilla FC make it official on their Twitter account that Monchi will be leaving at the end of the season. The most famous technical director in the world has rejected the advances from FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Juventus amongst other big clubs around Europe. He's apparently going to AS Roma (this part hasn't been made official yet). Will this mark the downturn in Sevilla's fortunes?

I forgot to mention Vauxhall in London which has been inhabited by a massive Portuguese population for decades going back to the late 50s or Notting Hill which like Shoreditch is central European culturally with a lot of West Indian influences cohabiting with a very well to do bunch of Londoners. As for the rural parts surrounding London, they're beautiful and with a general good standard of living. Obviously there's a bit of everything and as you get further out the beauty of the English countryside remains but a lack of employment and things to do for younger people has led to degradation and a massive drug and alcohol problem. I'm being very basic here obviously.

Obviously I don't know the England at WarTime or PostWar (Bluewolf who hasn't joined us yet and being Victorian could tell us ), but I do remember England in the late 70s and onwards. I know England outside London but because I haven't lived there then I can't comment. But I do know London like the back of my hand, all of its little corners that many Londoners haven't a clue on. London has changed MASSIVELY! It has changed on the whole for the better because it was a dirty horrible city to live in with practically nothing to do. Today London is a marvellous place that not only has it evolved by respecting its history and heritage, but has also had the more modern creations that melt into it's curious but beautiful unique architecture. There are "multicultural" areas like Shoreditch and Hoxton which are over 80% inhabited by Europeans (I'm talking central Europeans like Italians, Spaniards and some French on the main). They live and work there... Shoreditch was an absolute dump when I was a kid. The only thing that existed there was a pub that was a strip club which was disgusting. Apart from that it was all unused commercial space or warehouse dirt. Today it's booming and has one of the best nightlifes in Europe in my opinion. But there are the negative parts to the newer London and I've mentioned it before. There are parts that I call "no go areas" and even though they aren't that, I say it because you will feel uncomfortable, you will be the minority and you feel watched. If you go with a girlfriend (I'm talking unmarried because they look at your finger believe it or not), then you could get into trouble. You won't be defended by the authorities and you will be the one treated with disdain if there are any. London has negatives and positives in its new phase. I could go on a bit more but don't want to be accused of something I'm not.

What is the Great Repeal Bill? The only explanation you need to read What is the ‘Great Repeal Bill’ ? The Government has announced it will repeal the 1972 European Communities Act in a move that will end the legislation that gives European Union law supremacy in Britain. In its place, a new “Great Repeal Bill” will be introduced in Parliament as early as next year and put power for the nation’s laws back into the hands of MPs and peers. The Bill will be formally introduced in the next Queen's Speech, before it is voted through by MPs and Peers. The House of Commons library has warned it will be one of the largest legislative processes "ever undertaken". Theresa May, the Prime Minister, says the Bill means the UK "will be an independent sovereign nation". What is the 1972 European Communities Act? A year before joining what was then the European Economic Community in 1973, the Government paved the way with the 1972 Act. It is the crucial piece of legislation that makes European Union law automatically binding in the UK. If there is a clash with British law, EU law takes precedence. The Act allowed Britain to join what would become the EU the following year. Throughout the years, as controversial judgments from the European Court of Justice has often triggered anger among Tory MPs, the legislation became symbolic of Brussels’s influence over Britain. Vote Leave, the formal campaign to leave the EU, named repealing the European Communities Act as one of their six Brexit “road map” promises a week before the referendum vote. What is in the Bill? There are three principal elements that make up this Bill. The first is repealing the European Communities Act 1972, the historic law that took Britain into the EU. Second, the Bill will convert all EU law into United Kingdom law to prevent a black legal whole after Brexit. Thousands of European laws, dictats and directives will be turned into UK law before Brexit is completed in mid-2019. And thirdly, the Bill will create the necessary powers for MPs to change these laws once Britain has left the EU. However, there are concerns that under so-called Henry VIII clauses, the Government will have sweeping powers to repeal legislation without parliamentary approval. What are Henry VIII clauses? King Henry VIII published a 'Statute of Proclamations' in 1539, which gave him the power to legislate by proclamation. So-called “Henry VIII clauses” today give the Government powers to change old laws that have already been passed by Parliament. And they allow the Prime Minister to change existing laws without Parliament’s full approval. Ministers insist they need these powers to “correct” European laws that refer to EU bodies soon to be defunct after Brexit. But critics have accused the Government of avoiding scrutiny and - crucially - circumventing the Lords. David Davis, the Brexit Secretary has said any powers created in this way will be "time limited" and "Parliament will need to be satisfied that the procedures are appropriate". How many laws will be converted? The Government's white paper on the Repeal Bill has no precise figure for the number of EU rules which will be transferred into domestic law. However, it does note that there are currently more than 12,000 EU regulations in force. The paper adds that Parliament has passed 7,900 statutory instruments implementing EU legislation and 186 Acts which incorporate a degree of EU influence. Could the Bill be blocked? In January the Scottish Secretary hinted that the UK Government will seek the consent of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland over the Great Repeal Bill. David Mundell said he was working on the basis that they would vote in a legislative consent motion (LCM), as the Bill would have an impact on devolved responsibilities. He also warned that if consent was withheld it would have “very serious consequences”. There are concerns that the Scottish Parliament could seek to block the Bill's passage. Under the Sewel convention, the UK Parliament does not normally legislate on matters which the Scottish Parliament is responsible for without gaining their consent. However, Alex Salmond, the former first minister, claimed that if Westminster were to ignore a decision by Holyrood to withhold its consent it would precipitate a “constitutional crisis”. Asked what would happen if Holyrood withheld its consent, Mr Mundell warned that it could result in a "hole in our law" if the body of European law isn't adopted. What is the Great Repeal Bill? The only explanation you need to read The Great Repeal Bill: White Paper - GOV.UK

Brilliant down here today. Must be all the witches where you're from that causes that weather.

Some of it looks like when Highbury (the old Arsenal Stadium) was remodelled.