Raising a glass to 1966

A tasteful souvenir
of a sporting triumph

It seems to me that there is something desperate about being an England football fan. For half a century, 1966 has been held up as a great moment in England's sporting history, even though with the passage of time it increasingly serves to highlight how much the national team has declined since. I do recall the competition, but I didn't watch any of the matches. The shops were full of tacky memorabilia featuring World Cup Willie, the England mascot: you could even get World Cup Willie rolykins, which, as I recall, didn't roll as well as the Dalek ones that I owned.

A year or so ago in a discussion programme on TV, a Scot in the audience said that 1966 was 50 years ago, so get over it. Frank Skinner, who was on the panel, replied that Bannockburn was 700 years ago, so get over it. I agree with both statements: if your access to national pride is solely through history, it strongly suggests that as a nation you are living on past glories. A few days ago, both Radio 2 and Radio 5 Live devoted an afternoon to celebrating that far off sporting achievement. I fail to see why both stations had to be taken over by this because there was nothing to stop people changing the station if they wanted to hear the programme. I suppose it was a good excuse to save a few bob in production costs.

Greene King's tribute

Greene King, manufacturers of the the most boring IPA in the universe, have decided to mark the anniversary of the event by producing a beer called Bobby in tribute to the 1966 England captain, the late Bobby Moore. It will be a blonde beer brewed to a strength of 4.2% to represent the final 4-2 score. Apparently the design for the pump clips and beer mats was inspired by the logo of this year's film Bobby about the sporting legend. I have nothing against Bobby Moore, who seemed to be a genuinely popular public figure both during and after his football career. I just hope the beer isn't just a cheap cash-in and is instead a product worthy the high regard that many football fans still hold him in. The problem is that it's brewed by Greene King.

At least it's appropriate in one way - Bobby Moore was known to enjoy a drink.

Whoops!

Long to rain over us ...

Greene King has decided to take obsequiousness to new depths by producing a beer called Purple Reign to mark our head of state's 90th birthday. Regrettably, on the actual day it was released, the singer and musician Prince, who wrote and recorded the song Purple Rain in 1984, was found to have died.

I've seen this tweet addressed to Greene King by Hannah Davidson of the East London Brewing Company: "please don't name your next guest beer after Sir David Attenborough".

The beer is made using sweet pale malt from East Anglian barley and English Challenger, Pilgrim and First Gold hops which sounds quite interesting, but if it's anything like Greene King IPA, it will be utterly dreary and devoid of any interesting flavour whatsoever. I seriously doubt it will be a worthy tribute to a multi-talented and versatile singer, songwriter and musician.

¡No pasarán!

It is the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War this year, a war which saw half a million Spaniards perish, plus another 100,000 subsequently murdered by Franco. Ordinary men and women from all over the world joined the International Brigades to defend the democratically-elected Republican government against Franco's Fascists, who were supported by Hitler and Mussolini.

The bravery and self-sacrifice of ordinary folk who chose to resist Fascist dictatorship and defend democracy has created a heroic legend that is well justified, but at the time the civil war tore Spanish society apart at the roots: Michael Portillo's father, for example, fought for the Republic, but all his uncles fought for Franco - tragically, such family ruptures were not uncommon, often without any reconciliation afterwards.

A special beer called Brigadista will be brewed to commemorate the start of the war by Durham-based microbrewery Black Hill Brewery, which was set up by ex-miner Chris Graham. It will be dedicated to all the women and men who travelled to Spain to fight for the Republican side against Franco, and will carry the slogan of the Spanish Republicans: ¡No pasarán! (They shall not pass!). Made in conjunction with the International Brigade Memorial Trust and Hope Not Hate, the beer will be sold to raise money for the IBMT's campaigning, educational and commemorative work.

Mandela tribute in Woolworth's

Members of the Soweto Gospel Choir posed as customers and shop workers in the Woolworth's Parkview store in Pretoria to sing this tribute to Nelson Mandela. The song is Johnny Clegg's Asimbonanga, written during Mandela's inprisonment as a call for his freedom. Beautifully sung - definitely real music - and it's a pleasure to see the reactions of all the customers. I just can't see it happening over here in Tesco's though. There's a translation here.