Celebrity Fans: What's The Point?

[PeterWithesShin]

Not a celebrity fan but I was at an in-convo event with Kevin Rowland last night in London. During the interval, I started chatting to the bloke on my right. Turns out he was a former assistant referee. I asked him at what level, expecting to be impressed by him saying something like the Beezer Homes league. Turned-out he ran the line at the 2002 World Cup final! He was very modest and I only discovered this by asking him who was the most famous ref he'd worked with, and I suggested Pierluigi Collina. I checked afterwards and sure enough, he was the ref that day.

Told him I was Villa and asked did he have any Villa/Villa Park memories. He said he was the lino for a game in 2008 against Portsmouth when a coin was thrown at him and he narrowly avoided serious injury. It rang a distant bell with me, just looked it up now. Sounds like he underplayed it. The moron who threw the 50p was dealt with, fortunately.

If this is the same incident as I'm thinking of, I think the coin was meant for Redknapp.
At least, that's who I was aiming for from my seat behind the dugouts

Busted!!

[Crown Hill]

Not especially interesting, but was listening to Daniel Finkelstein (Tory Lord and Chelsea director) talking about what various Prime Ministers' relationship with football were and obviously one that he knew most about was David Cameron.

He reckons Cameron was actually far more into football than he'd let on but he thought for some reason that it wouldn't play well so kept it quiet. And that they'd regularly text each other while (in different places) watching Villa / Chelsea games.

And that the West Ham thing was because he'd spent that day with Karen Brady, so he probably had West Ham on his mind.

I have no strong opinion on whether any of this is true or not, but it feels like a odd story to invent if none of it is.

All sounds right. I used to work with him in a past life and I think revealed on here at the time he was a Villa supporter when he wasn’t well known. We always used to discuss Villa results and performances the previous weekend. I think he deliberately underplayed the Villa link because of the ridicule of Blair after he got several Newcastle facts wrong. I also remember him struggling to name all of the Villa team in a Sky interview. When the West Ham thing happened I assumed it was a badly informed speechwriter and he just read it off the autocue but I guess that sounds stupid on his part too! I think I was just about the only person who publicly defended him as a Villa supporter at the time. Around that time he gave me a massive signed pic of Denis Mortimer with the European Cup. I guess Villa had sent this to him and he didn’t want it. That’s still hung up in my house!

[eamonn]

Blimey... its a fine time to be admitting to all of this!

[eamonn]

...Wished him well and asked him was he on social media. With consummate old-school professionalism, he handed me a business card. But it's for his interest in music artwork. Still, if you need a FIFA-approved match official, I might be able to assist.

Phil Sharp?

Spoiler for Hiden:

Course it felt sharp - it was a fackin' 50 pence piece!

Very good! And yes, you're correct.

I think Redknapp gave a typical quip after the game - which finished 0-0, saying something like "If 'e was aiming for me, his finishing was as poor as any of the strikers on the pitch today!"

[Brazilian Villain]

Blimey... its a fine time to be admitting to all of this!

I, for one, welcome Nick Clegg posting on H&V.

[eamonn]

I was wondering if there was some by-election guilt in the air but I guess the Tories are a non-runner these days.

[Skipper_The_Eyechild]

Not especially interesting, but was listening to Daniel Finkelstein (Tory Lord and Chelsea director) talking about what various Prime Ministers' relationship with football were and obviously one that he knew most about was David Cameron.

He reckons Cameron was actually far more into football than he'd let on but he thought for some reason that it wouldn't play well so kept it quiet. And that they'd regularly text each other while (in different places) watching Villa / Chelsea games.

And that the West Ham thing was because he'd spent that day with Karen Brady, so he probably had West Ham on his mind.

I have no strong opinion on whether any of this is true or not, but it feels like a odd story to invent if none of it is.

I think he deliberately underplayed the Villa link because of the ridicule of Blair after he got several Newcastle facts wrong.

This is quite funny considering what happened.

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

...Wished him well and asked him was he on social media. With consummate old-school professionalism, he handed me a business card. But it's for his interest in music artwork. Still, if you need a FIFA-approved match official, I might be able to assist.

Phil Sharp?

Spoiler for Hiden:

Course it felt sharp - it was a fackin' 50 pence piece!

Very good! And yes, you're correct.

I think Redknapp gave a typical quip after the game - which finished 0-0, saying something like "If 'e was aiming for me, his finishing was as poor as any of the strikers on the pitch today!"

It wasn't my joke - it's a Mat Kendrick story, where he apparently asked Redknapp if it was Phil Sharp, and Redknapp may have misheard him or extremely wittily responded with something to that effect.