Showing 1 - 3 of 3
The umpire who became a legend
Sports, Nobby Piles, Published on 27/09/2025
» The widespread tributes to cricket umpire Harold 'Dickie' Bird who passed away this week at the age of 92 show how much he was admired in the cricketing world. It is extremely rare for an official in any sport to be acknowledged in such a manner, but Bird was someone special. He was an eccentric character and the subject of many anecdotes.
Perils of playing out from the back
Sports, Nobby Piles, Published on 05/10/2019
» In recent years the sight of Premier League teams "playing from the back" has become increasingly prevalent. It looks very nice when it works, but as everyone has witnessed, it can so easily end in tears with farcical goals.
Remembering that dark February day
Sports, Nobby Piles, Published on 03/02/2018
» It was 60 years ago this Tuesday, but I can still remember Feb 6, 1958 quite vividly. I was 11 years old and returning home from school, sitting upstairs in a double-deck bus. It was about 5pm and we had just negotiated the roundabout outside Reading railway station. As the bus pulled away from the stop I glanced at a placard resting against a wall next to a newspaper vendor.