Whitney Houston Dies Aged 48

The sad news has been announced that US singer and actress Whitney Houston has died at the grossly premature age of 48.

Daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, cousin of Dionne Warwick and the god-daughter of Aretha Franklin, she emanated from a rich vein of soul/gospel music. With such unforgettable hits as "I Will Always Love You" and "Saving All My Love For You", she was one of the most celebrated female vocalists of all time.

I Wanna Dance With Somebody Video

She still holds the record for the most consecutive No.1 singles in the US with 7 chart toppers between 1985 and 1988. 

Her final movie entitled "Sparkle", loosely based on the story of the Supremes, will be released in August, it has been confirmed by Sony Pictures. Being her return to the silver screen after an absence of 15 years, the final recordings from the film will be released as a movie soundtrack sometime over the summer.

Whitney in NYC's Central Park - September 2009

With her later career tainted by substance and alcohol abuse, along with her tempestuous marriage to Bobby Brown, she leaves one daughter Bobbi Kristina.

She was found at the Beverly Hilton Hotel where she was staying as a guest in readiness for this weeks Grammy Awards. It is being reported that she was found by a member of her entourage, slumped and face down in the bath. A post-mortem will be performed in the next day or so to determine cause of death.

The Grammy awards ceremony will still go ahead it has been announced, with a substantial Whitney tribute being headed by Jennifer Hudson.


I cannot personally admit to being her greatest fan, but it cannot be denied what a powerful, soulful voice she possessed. She was also a stunningly attractive woman.

Whitney from 1991

My heartfelt condolences go out to her family, friends and the millions of fans she leaves throughout this planet.

Rest in peace Whitney.

Click here to be taken to the official Whitney Houston website

Your shout:

Do you have a favourite Whitney Houston song or movie?

Please feel free to leave a comment.....

And Next for the England Hotseat......

So now its official – Fabio Carp- pillow, aka the Italian Galleon, has thrown his toys out of the pram and is supposedly heading off back in his Gucci shoes to the land of copious bowls of pasta and gallon upon gallon of Asti Spumante. Arrivederci Fab!

!

Capello at the British F1 Grand Prix

No great loss in my opinion. I, like pretty well every other red blooded Englishman, have never really understood why we go down the road of foreign soccer coaches for our national side. It’s OK for a club to take on a top foreign coach as they need success for financial gain, but international football is different. It’s a matter of national pride and however much anyone tries to convince me otherwise, no foreign coach will ever have the required passion – it’s just a job to them.

The outcry is now for the immediate appointment of Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp to the “poisoned chalice” of the England job. But even though he has intimated, over the years, that he would be amenable to such a suggestion, would he really want to leave White Hart Lane at a time when they are flying high in the Premier League? He has admitted this morning as to have not even given thought about the England job so far – believe that if you will.

Is Harry the man?

Another mooted suggestion is WBA’s Roy Hodgson whose contract is up at the Hawthorns come the end of the season. Even though he has international management experience, this appointment would probably not go down so well with the rank and file England fan as he has never really succeeded when managing in this country.

Meanwhile the FA is going to take it’s time in appointing a successor to Mr Capello. Under-21 chief Stuart Pearce has been give the reigns for the upcoming match against the Netherlands – after that, it’s anyone’s guess what will happen. Indeed, the FA are not even ruling out the appointment of another foreign coach.

In Temporary Charge - Stuart Pearce

All that is certain is that there will be no shortage of column inches on the subject in both the press and online (and more than likely in this blog) over the coming weeks.

Andy Carroll to Lead the Line for England at Euro 2012?

You may think I have lost the plot or am waiting the impending arrival of those charming men in white coats, but really - I am serious in this suggestion.

Andy Carroll signed for Liverpool from Newcastle, on the last day of the transfer window (January 2011) for a ridiculous fee of £35m. In a move, probably designed to pacify the Reds fans who were upset with the sale of Fernando Torres to Chelsea for (an even more ridiculous) £50m, the striker immediately became Liverpool's most expensive ever signing.

Liverpool's record signing - Andy Carroll

He was injured at the time and did not make his debut for his new club until March 2011, scoring his first 2 goals a month later against Manchester City.

So why am I suggesting that Carroll could lead the line at Euro 2012? I am of the opinion that England are always a better side when then have a big strapping centre-forward, prepared to run through a brick wall if necessary to go towards goal. Someone who is not frightened to get stuck in and give good old Johnny Foreigner the fright of his life. I am convinced that Carroll is the man to do this. 

Carroll in his Newcastle days

 The only problem is that current England coach, Fabio Carp-pillow would most likely not want to go down this route, but with his getting involved in criticising the axing of John Terry as England captain, maybe sense will prevail and England will sack the Italian and then appoint an Englishman who will play the English way (I can dream can't I?).

I watched Carroll play for Liverpool against Tottenham last night and was suitably impressed with his movement both on and off the ball and with his aerial ability.

Carroll has been compared to both legendary Tyneside striker Alan Shearer and Chelsea's Didier Drogba and has been lauded as one of the top 3 headers of a ball Kevin Keegan has ever seen in football. High praise indeed, but who in their right mind would argue with Super Kev?.

Kevin Keegan

Keep an eye on Andy Carroll - mark my words, his time is a-coming.

One more suggestion, if Capello gets the bullet (please FA please!), how about begging K.K. as a short term appointment, to return as England Manager and lead us into to the Euro's in Poland and the Ukraine? 

There certainly would be no shortage of passion (as there is with the Italian Galleon).

A New Era Dawns for Salford City Reds

This weekend saw the opening of another Superleague season - this time sponsored by haulage giants Stobart.

One of the opening fixtures was an encounter between Salford City Reds and Castleford Tigers. Nothing there to get particularly excited about you may think, but it marked the end of a 14 year wait for the Reds to move away from their old home at the Willows. Sadly after 110 years the old stadium had become tired and somewhat weathered and it was obvious that the club was badly in need of a move away to pastures new.

The Willows

After a tumultuous season with 4 different coaches in charge at varying times, the Reds have moved to their new stadium overlooking Barton Bridge with high hopes that this will spark an upturn in their fortunes. 

At a cost of £26m, the hugely impressive City of Salford Stadium holds a capacity of 12,000 and will be run jointly by Salford City Council and Peel Holdings. The stadium boasts top class facilities which are also available for use by the public, including a full size floodlit artificial pitch with three 7–a-side pitches, a recreational grass pitch and community changing rooms

The Salford City Stadium

Meanwhile the Reds will commence their season with Phil Veivers taking over the mantle of coach from Matt Parish who left for personal reasons. Ably assisted by former Great Britain international Sean Long, who has implemented a new playing style, hopes are high that this is the start of an era of success for Salford.

Salford City Stadium Main Concourse (Artists impression)

However the Rugby League Gods were not particularly kind to the "Reds" on the evening of their opening Superleague fixture for 2012, as atrocious snowy conditions and the visiting Castleford Tigers spoiled the gala opening night winning by 24-10.

Click here for a full report on the match (courtesy of the Yorkshire Evening Post).

One last thought, Salford's next Superleague match will take place this Friday evening, away at St Helen's. This will be "Saints" first league fixture at their  new Langtree Park Stadium. 

When last (if ever) did a club play their opening two season league fixtures in brand new built stadia?

Artists impression of St Helens' Langtree Park

Go Racing at Wolverhampton Racecourse

Wolverhampton racecourse, situated on the outskirts of the city at Dunstall Park, is an ideal venue for an afternoon or evening's all-weather horse racing.

Wolverhampton's Dunstall Park

Situated in the heart of England, Wolverhampton is now the busiest racecourse in the UK, currently staging approximately 90 race meetings every year. 

Bounded on one side by the Stafford and Worcester canal and on another by the main line railway from Shrewsbury, along with the Birmingham Canal, it may seem that Dunstall Park has little to recommend it, but nothing could be further from the truth.

The area boasts excellent transport links, being quite close to the M6 and M54 motorways. Located north of the city centre, the course is to be found just off the A449 dual carriageway, where there are numerous brown road signs giving final directions to the track.

As well as a racing venue, the site also houses a conference & exhibition centre, a panoramic restaurant and a hotel.

Racecourse History

There is a history of horse racing taking place at locations in Wolverhampton, going back as far as 1887. Dunstall Park racecourse was traditionally a mixed racing venue, providing both flat and National Hunt cards on turf, but this all changed in 1993 when the course underwent a complete redevelopment and was transformed into the first all-weather, floodlit track in Great Britain. The turf course remained in place however, but was only used sparingly with just a few jumping meetings each year.

Initially, a Fibresand track similar to that at Southwell racecourse was installed, but in 2004, this was replaced by a Polytrack surface, along with refurbishments to some of the other facilities. Since that time, the course has only staged all-weather, flat racing.

Racing Information

The course is left handed (anti-clockwise), oval shaped, approximately one mile in overall length with chutes for 6 and 7 furlong starts. It is the most similar in proportion of any of the British courses to tracks found in the United States. Nimble, handy types of horse seem to go well here and it is generally considered that there is no draw bias at Dunstall Park.

Leading UK trainers such as Sir Mark Prescott, Mark Johnston and Barry Hills often have runners here and are worth following. Top jockeys on the course are all-weather specialist Neil Callan and Jamie Spencer. It is also worth keeping an eye on Frankie Dettori whenever he visits the course as he has an impressive winner-to-runner strike ratio.

Wolverhampton Racecourse Trivia

Not only does it hold the distinction of being the first floodlit racecourse (now joined by Kempton Park), but Wolverhampton was also the first course in England to stage a Saturday evening meeting, back in 1962.

Sir Gordon Richards, often thought of as the world greatest jockey, originated from the local region and in his heyday, rarely used to miss a meeting at the track. In the period from the end of end of World War II, until his retirement in 1954, he was the leading rider at the course.

In reality, Wolverhampton Racecourse will never provide top quality, pattern racing, but if you are looking for an excellent afternoon or evenings sport, in comfortable surroundings with superb facilities, then Dunstall Park is very hard to beat.

Course Contact Details

Wolverhampton Racecourse, Dunstall Park, Wolverhampton WV6 0PE

Telephone 01902-421421

Website: www.wolverhampton-racecourse.co.uk/

Return of the Football Ground Histories

You may remember, about a year or so ago, I wrote a series of articles outlining the history of many of our English football clubs ground histories. These not only concentrated on where the clubs contest their matches today, but also the previous grounds where they played and interesting stories attached to these venues.

Aston Villa's "Villa Park" from 1907

I have recently started researching a new series of articles, covering clubs that were not featured in the previous set. Hopefully these will be published soon and please watch this space for details.

The "Nest" of Norwich City's (a predecessor to Carrow Road)

In the meantime, should you have missed them last time around, please click here for a link to the previous works (along with one or two other football related articles).

Sunderland's "Roker Park" from 1976

Should you have a suggestion for a club’s grounds history you would like to see, please feel free to drop me an email at uncletatty@yahoo.co.uk

A First Horse Racing Experience

My friend Chris wanted to go racing. He had never been before and had been asking me if he could come along for a while, so we set off bright and early one morning, en route to Lingfield Park.

Lovely, Leafy, Lingfield Park

Upon arrival I made my way to the nearest Tote window and set about filling out my Placepot bet. Chris wondered what I was doing, so I spent the next few minutes explaining to him how the bet worked and how to fill the slip out. He then started choosing a list of horses with names he liked and entered the numbers onto a ticket of his own.

The afternoon passed by and at the end of the last race, I saw him checking his ticket. “I think I’ve won!” he said, with a hopeful look on his face.

“Let me check!” I replied, taking his ticket and going through his selections one by one. He was right. The dividend was declared and Chris made his way to the Tote booth to collect his £210. I stood on the spot in a state of shock, not believing what I had just witnessed and bemoaning what I considered to be a grand slice of beginners luck.

A week later, the phone rang, it was Chris wanting to come racing again. We again decided to go to Lingfield and unbelievably the same thing happened. It was only £80 this time, but he had decided that this was his way to wealth and fortune. I tried to bring him back down to earth by explaining how lucky he had been, but he was utterly convinced of it and wouldn’t take any notice of me.

Our next trip was to Plumpton and this time I watched over his shoulder as he made his selections, copying them onto my slip. I had decided that if he was going to win then so was I. The first race came and our horse got in the frame, and the 2^nd, then the 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th. It was beyond belief, he was doing it again!

Jumping a fence at Plumpton

Both of us were on the favourite in the last race and after jumping the penultimate fence, he was cruising about 5 lengths ahead of the field. Up to the last and by this time I was starting to dream of £ signs and planning how to spend my winnings. He took off and in what seemed liked slow-motion, promptly ploughed straight through the middle of the fence, depositing his jockey on the turf. The dream crashed to earth just as quickly as the horse had done.

Chris was crestfallen, as was I. 

He never asked to come racing again!

 Mike Godfrey - Article originally published on Triond.com (February 2010).