Archive for August, 2020
BBC plays “Rule, Britannia“ without words
The Proms are only an online festival this year and therefore also the famous “Last Night of the Proms“ will not be staged with an audience to sing along in the Royal Albert Hall. But singing will be avoided completely when it comes to “Rule, Britannia“ and “Land of Hope and Glory“ this year.
In a much discussed decision the BBC has defied the Government by announcing that Rule, Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory would not be sung at this year’s Last Night of the Proms.
Rule Britannia, sung by Jonas Kaufmann (2015)
Video recorded in Hyde Park – Proms in the Park
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden had warned the Corporation not to “erase history” by dropping the songs amid a row over colonialism. But the BBC instead effectively censored them by choosing to play orchestral versions, with no soloist singing the lyrics. With no audience because of coronavirus restrictions, there will be no one to sing along either.
One government source described the decision as “incredible” and Tory MPs accused the broadcaster of failing to understand the context of the songs. Charles Moore argues that Rule Britannia is about freedom, not slavery. And Chief Classical Music Critic Ivan Hewett reveals the surprising stories behind the Last Night bombast.
Well, I’m lost for words…
PSG v FCB 0:1
Champions League geht an FC Bayern, Rapid-Bierliefervertrag an Gösser!
Mein erster – und auch überhaupt der erste! – Fußballabend in der Kirche! (I.FC statt ICF 😉) Bayern München gewann ein hochklassiges Finale gegen Paris Saint-Germain, in dem beide Teams offensiv eingestellt waren und sich einen packenden Schlagabtausch lieferten, mit 1:0 (0:0).
Der FCB hat damit seine außergewöhnliche Saison mit einem Triple vollendet. Die von Hansi Flick, der erst im Herbst Niko Kovac ersetzt hatte, trainierten Bayern gewannen das Champions-League-Finale am Ende des Corona-bedingten Finalturniers im Estadio da Luz von Lissabon. Sie sicherten sich damit zum sechsten Mal die Krone im europäischen Clubfußball.
Das Goldtor, das gleichzeitig der 500. Bayern-Treffer in der Königsklasse war, erzielte Ex-PSG-Spieler Kingsley Coman (59.) per Kopf nach einer Maßflanke von Kimmich.
Kingsley Coman hat seine Karriere bei Paris Saint-Germain begonnen. Für die französischen Emporkömmlinge war sein Siegestor die ultimative Ironie. Sie haben 700 Millionen Pfund für die Zusammenstellung einer Truppe aus Superstars ausgegeben, um den Traum von der Eroberung des europäischen Kontinents zu verwirklichen. Am Ende aber wurde dieser Traum von einem Spieler zerstört, der als Achtjähriger in der Akademie von PSG begonnen hatte. Die Startelf der Bayern besteht auch nicht unbedingt nur aus Eigenbauspielern, aber sie kostete nur 99 Millionen Pfund – weniger als ein halber Neymar!
Das Spiel auf Großleinwand in der neuen ICF-Location in Wien, Lerchenfelderstraße, war echt ein Erlebnis, auch wenn ich von Haus aus kein FC Bayern-Fan bin:
Und außerdem: ich konnte gleich damit beginnen, mich beim Bier umzugewöhnen, denn beim SK Rapid wird statt dem Wiener “Ottakringer” künftig das steirische Gösser-Bier ausgeschenkt werden! (GÖSSER statt Ottakringer… siehe Foto oben!)
Report: Champions League final: Bayern Munich make it six as Kingsley Coman haunts the club who made him (The Times)
What A Shirt!
In der aktuellen Ausgabe des österreichischen Fußballmagazins Ballesterer geht es um Geschichte, Sinn und Unsinn der Fußballtrikots. Leiberl, Hose und Stutzen dienen nicht nur der Unterscheidung der Teams am Platz, sie haben noch viele andere Zwecke: Sie sollen Identität stiften, den Vorschriften genügen, sich als Hightechprodukte und Streetwear gut verkaufen lassen und Werbebotschaften ausreichend Platz bieten.
Dass die englischen Klubs jede Saison ein neues Heim- und Auswärtsdress und sogar einen alle Jahre wieder geänderten “third kit” kreieren, steigert die Merchandising-Umsätze, ist aber schon beinahe ein Ärgernis. Beim SK Rapid etwa wechselt die „Uniform“ erfreulicherweise nicht jedes Jahr, das Rapid-Trikot ist mit EUR 89,95 dafür erheblich teurer als jenes der Hammers mit £ 55,00 (EUR 61,00). An diesem Wochenende gibt es sogar ein Sonderangebot: am “Claret Weekend” wurde das WHU Replica Shirt auf £ 44.00 verbilligt.
Im Englischen wird das Shirt auch in einem gängigen kritischen Fußballspruch verwendet, wenn es heißt: “You’re not fit to wear the shirt”. Und die vom Trikot widergespiegelten Vereinsfarben dienen eindeutig der Proklamation des Zusammengehörigkeitsgefühls, wenn das Team auf dem Platz mit diesem Sprechchor angefeuert wird: “We’re West Ham’s Claret and Blue army!”
Das aktuelle Home Shirt von West Ham Utd. (unten) ist heuer endlich wieder im klassischen Claret and Blue mit hellblauen Armeln gehalten, erinnert aber nicht an die 2000er, sondern die 60er-Jahre. Anlässlich des 125-jährigen Klub-Jubiläums ließ man sich vom klassischen “Home Kit” der 60er-Jahre inspirieren, West Ham’s Goldener Ära mit FA Cup-Sieg, Europacup-Sieg und dem Weltmeistertitel 1966 für West Ham’s Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst und Martin Peters. An diesen einzigen englischen WM-Titel erinnert nicht nur die auf dem Kreisverkehr nahe West Ham’s ursprünglicher Heimstätte vor dem Boleyn Pub stehende WM-Skulptur, die Bobby Moore mit dem World Cup auf den Schultern von Hurst, Peters und Everton-Spieler Ray Wilson zeigt, sondern auch der immer noch gerne zitierte Spruch: “West Ham beat West Germany”.
Austria removed from UK “travel corridor list”
Reiserückkehrer aus Österreich und Kroatien müssen ab Samstag, 22. August, 4 Uhr Früh, wegen steigender Coronavirus-Zahlen in diesen Ländern nach der Einreise in Großbritannien für zwei Wochen in Quarantäne gehen. Die beiden Länder werden von der britischen “travel corridor list” gestrichen. Hingegen wird bei einer Einreise aus Portugal ab 22. August keine Verpflichtung mehr bestehen, eine “self–isolation” vorzunehmen.
Ebenfalls von der “grünen Liste“ der Quarantäne-freien Länder gestrichen werde auch der Karibik-Staat Trinidad und Tobago; das teilte der britische Verkehrsminister Grant Shapps am Donnerstag mit.
Er berief sich auf jüngste Daten aus diesen Ländern und begründete die Österreich betreffende Entscheidung damit, dass die wöchentliche Inzidenz (Fälle) pro 100.000 Einwohner von 10,5 am 13. August auf 20,3 am 20. August gestiegen sei, was einen Anstieg um 93% bedeute. Die für die britische Regierung maßgebliche Benchmark liegt bei 20 (20 Fälle / 100.000 Einwohner). Der Anstieg in Kroatien innerhalb einer Woche (vom 12. bis 19. August) betrug sogar 164 % (Anstieg von 10,4 Fällen per 100,000 Einwohner auf 27,4).
„Falls Sie nach 4.00 Uhr am Samstag von im Vereinigten Königreich ankommen, müssen Sie sich für 14 Tage isolieren,“ informierte Shapps.
Gleichzeitig hat das Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) seine Reisehinweise aktualisiert, und rät von allen nicht unbedingt notwendige Reisen nach Kroatien, Trinidad und Tobago sowie nach Österreich ab.
Der Grund für den Anstieg von Fällen in Österreich hängt mit der wesentlich stärkeren Zunahme in Kroatien zusammen. Das Virus wird von Kroatien-Urlaubern nach Österreich importiert, weswegen Österreich am 17. August eine Reisewarnung für Kroatien ausgesprochen hat und Einreisende aus diesem Land sich in Quarantäne begeben müssen, wenn sie nicht einen negativen Corona-Test vorweisen können.
Ab kommendem Montag gilt in Österreich auch für Mallorca und Ibiza eine Reisewarnung. Nach Großbritannien kann man aus ganz Spanien nicht ohne Quarantäne einreisen. Hingegen wird aus Portugal wieder die quarantänefreie Einreise nach Großbritannien möglich sein und das Land, in dem am Sonntag das Champions League Finale stattfindet, wurde von der Empfehlung der FCO, nicht wesentliche Reisen dorthin zu unterlassen, ausgenommen.
Auch aus Italien bleibt die Einreise nach Großbritannien ohne Quarantäne möglich, während für Spanien-Reisende eben schon vor Ende Juli wieder die Quarantänepflicht eingeführt wurde.
Premier League fixtures out
Hammers kick-off against Newcastle at home on September 12th. The 2020/21 fixtures have been released on Thursday.
West Ham’s first away game is against Arsenal a week later. The 2020/21 season concludes where it started, at London Stadium, with a home match against Southampton on Sunday 23 May.
Other notable dates in the calendar include a home Boxing Day clash with Brighton & Hove Albion (the first Boxing Day game at London Stadium), while the festive season continues with trips to the south coast to take on Southampton on Monday 28 December and Merseyside to face Everton on Saturday 2 January. The derby matches against Tottenham Hotspur will be played away on Saturday 17 October and at home on Saturday 20 February.
It’s FCB vs PSG
Bayern was too strong for Olympique Lyon, as was Paris Saint-Germain for RB Leipzig.
With the favourites having won their respective semi-finals 3-0, now triple chasing Bayern meet PSG’s “nouveau riche” in a mouth watering German-French Champions League final in Lisbon on Sunday.
The Europa League final is played two days earlier when Sevilla and Internazionale Milan meet on Friday evening. Inter’s star man is former “West Ham nightmare” Romelu Lukaku who scored in virtually every match against the Hammers when he played for Everton and Manchester Utd.
The Belgian, in particular, has been prolific in the Europa League, as he has extended his record by scoring in his 10th consecutive game in the competition, stretching all the way back to November 2014 with Everton.
He previously broke the record against Bayer Leverkusen, when his goal saw him seal sole possession of a record that he previously shared with Newcastle’s Alan Shearer, who fired in eight-straight games back in 2005.
Lukaku has been involved in 18 total goals during that 10-game stretch, scoring 14 while assisting on a further four.
A Dream Come True?
Only 11 years after having started in the fifth tier of German football, RasenBall Leipzig has reached the semifinals of the Champions League. And it’s only 15 years since Red Bull first engaged in football, when Dietrich Mateschitz’s energy drink company took over Austrian Bundesliga Club Austria Salzburg. Tonight the dream of reaching a European final could come true. But many still say that RB can’t be called a football club, but is a pure marketing project, created “solely to strengthen the Red Bull brand,” as German football magazine 11 Freunde says: “RB Leipzig is not a football club, RB Leipzig is an imitation.”
However, reaching a Champions League final would be a dream for every club. Also their opponents from Paris, the Qatar-owned PSG, want to finally end their long wait for reaping benefits of their substantial investments they’ve made since 2012. Paris Saint-Germain have already won one European Cup trophy, but that was long before the Qataris started to invest into the Paris based club. In 1996 PSG beat SK Rapid Vienna 1-0 in Bruxelles to win the European Cup Winners Cup.
But tonight, France’s top club could finally reach their first Champions League Final when they and RB Leipzig will determine the first finalist in Lisbon. It is not only the duel between oil and energy drink, but also a match between two German coaches: Julian Nagelsmann (Leipzig) and Thomas Tuchel (PSG). And some Austrian players are going to be involved too, playing for Leipzig.
Although some pundits like German football magazine 11 Freunde refuse to report on RB Leipzig, I am interested in this game and will watch it tonight. And for once I will cheer on a Red Bull team.
“This is a unique experience for us. We’re up for it,” said Leipzig’s midfield-motor Marcel Sabitzer, who also played for SK Rapid prior to joining Red Bull. Like his Austrian team-mate Konrad Laimer, Sabitzer as well as Hungarian keeper Peter Gulacsi, moved from Austria’s series champion Red Bull Salzburg to Leipzig. Most likely all three of them should be in the starting line-up of RB Leipzig tonight.
The Parisians are “one of the best teams in Europe with the ball. We have to be very careful,” warned the 30-year-old Hungarian goalkeeper before the game. His manager Julian Nagelsmann expects top-class speed football from PSG: “It will be very exciting to see how we can get away with this speed and work our opponents in such a way that we can create goals ourselves,” the young German coach (33) says. And the Leipzig coach once again highlighted the opponent’s “incredible individual quality”. “We can hurt Paris more if we have the ball a lot ourselves and create opportunities. They don’t like to defend as much as they like to attack.”
“Above all, the circles of France’s world champion Kylian Mbappe should be limited. Mbappe’s pace is simply unstoppable,” said Nagelsmann.
England’s participants have already been eliminated from the Champions League this year, Manchester City being the last of them. Their shock defeat to French club Lyon, that will entertain Bayern Munich in the second semifinal tomorrow, means that in both semifinals a German and a French outfit are meeting. Therefore we could see an all German as well as an all French Final on Sunday in Lisbon.
After an all-England final last year with Liverpool and Tottenham in Madrid, Lisbon could see an all-German or all-French final on Sunday, 9 p.m. (MEST). Well, I’m keeping fingers crossed for Leipzig tonight – and maybe also in the final on Sunday, though football purists still consider Leipzig not to be a football club, but an imitation! But PSG isn’t a popular club with me either.
The End of the Replays
The Football Association has scrapped the FA Cup’s 149 year old tradition of replays to ease scheduling pressure because of the delayed start to the new season.
FA Cup fixtures resulting in a draw (after normal time) traditionally have gone to a replay, played at the venue of the away team, at a later date; if that replay is still tied, the winner is settled by a period of extra time, and if still necessary, a penalty shootout. The first FA Cup Final to go to a replay was the 1875 final, between the Royal Engineers and the Old Etonians.
But within the last decades, due to the inflation of football fixtures, especially because of implementing group stages in the European Cup competitions, the FA has step by step disposed of the replays and now has scrapped them entirely for the upcoming season.
Until 1990–91, further replays would be played until one team was victorious. Some ties took as many as six matches to settle; in their 1975 campaign, Fulham played 12 games over six rounds, which remains the most games played by a team to reach a final. Replays were traditionally played three or four days after the original game, but from 1991–92 they were staged at least 10 days later on police advice for the rounds proper. This led to penalty shoot-outs being introduced, the first of which came on 26 November 1991 when Rotherham United eliminated Scunthorpe United.
From 1980–81 to 1998–99, the semi-finals which are played at a neutral venue went to extra time on the day if the score after 90 minutes was a draw. If the score was still level after extra time, the match would go to a replay. Replays for the semi-finals were scrapped for 1999–2000, the last semi-final to go into a replay was in 1998–99 when Manchester United beat Arsenal 2–1 after extra time. The first game had ended in a 0–0 draw.
Since 2016–17, ties have been settled on the day from the quarter-finals onwards, using extra time and penalties. From 2018–19, Fifth Round (round of last 16) ties have also been settled by extra time and penalties.
In the Netflix Series “The English Game“ a replay is taking place between Darwen FC with the first professional players, Fergus “Fergie” Suter and James “Jimmy” Love from Scotland, and the Old Etonians with their captain Arthur Kinnaird (originally played in the 1878/79 FA Cup). While Old Etonians were an upper class football team (the cradle of modern football being private schools and universities), Darwen FC was a working class factory team, the Netflix series is showing how football developed to be the most popular sports with working class people: “Football nourishes their soul,“ someone says in one of the episodes. In the last episode of this mini series Suter wins the FA Cup with Blackburn.
The end of the FA Cup replays came step by step within the last decades, and now replays were scrapped entirely to ease pressure on available match dates due to the delayed start of the season because of Premier League’s coronavirus break from 10 March until 16 June 2020.
The last replayed final was the 1993 FA Cup Final, when Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday fought a 1–1 draw. The replay saw Arsenal win the FA Cup, 2–1 after extra time.
The last quarter-final to go to a replay was Manchester United vs West Ham United in the 2015–16 FA Cup with the Hammers being at the losing end: they achieved a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford (video) , but were eliminated due to a 1-2 defeat at Upton Park, this game being the last FA Cup tie played at the Boleyn Ground.
Prize money for the FA Cup winners will be cut by around half due to financial pressure on the governing body’s budget.
Preliminary qualifying begins on Sept 1, with the FA Cup final taking place on May 15, while the first four rounds of the Carabao Cup will take place in September.
League Cup scraps two leg semi-finals
The Carabao Cup will no longer stage semi-finals over two legs in the 2020/21 season.The FA is cutting 124 jobs in the biggest cost-saving drive in its history, following a projected £300 million loss because of Covid-19.
Match dates 2020/21
The Premier League, English Football League and FA all confirmed their match dates yesterday. England’s top tier kick off on Sept 12, with the last game of the season just 19 days before the rearranged European Championship begins in Rome on June 11 2021.
The Premier League needs 34 weekends and four midweek match days for its campaign, leaving the earliest end date as May 23. Its full fixture schedule for all 380 matches will be announced by Aug 21.
Hasenhüttl and Antonio win PL Awards
Austrian managers have been in the spotlight in England recently: Gerhard Struber sensationally safed Barnsley from Championship relegation with a last gasp win, and some days later Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhüttl made history for his country being the first Austrian to be awarded the Premier League Manager of the Month. And West Ham’s Michail Antonio won the July Player of the Month.
This Sunday is Hasenhüttl’s 53rd birthday and there could not have been a more beautiful present for the Austrian than being named Premier League Manager of the Month for July after an unbeaten run in the last month of the season, with Southampton taking points off Man City with a 1-0 win and Man Utd with a draw along the way.
This is a Happy End to a season which seemed almost over for the Austrian manager in October when Southampton lost 0-9 to Leicester at home. But Hasenhüttl, who had joined the Saints less than one year before in December 2018 after a very successful spell with RB Leipzig, refused to give up and the Board had faith in his ability to turn things round! The club was all but safe of any relegation threat before the lockdown struck, sitting already in 14th place, separated by a five points gap from 15th placed Brighton and seven points ahead of 16-18th placed West Ham, Watford and Bournemouth at that time.
Therefore Hasenhüttl’s Saints did not feature in my post on the relegation run-in, and rightly so! Southampton was one of the best teams post-corona, giving them an 11th-placed finish, their highest for three seasons. Hasenhüttl more than deserves being the first Austrian manager winning the award, seeing off challenges from fellow nominees Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, David Moyes and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Michail Antonio Player of the Month
Though fellow-nominee David Moyes has not been awarded the Manager of the Month, also West Ham can celebrate a Premier League award for its best player of the post-corona re-start: Michail Antonio was nominated PL Player of the Month for July!
The West Ham striker won the prize after scoring eight goals in July, with four of those coming in a single away match against Norwich. He won the prize for the first time after his phenomenal goalscoring in July helped keep West Ham United in the Premier League.
At the end of June, only goal difference was keeping the Hammers out of the bottom three. But Antonio scored eight times and provided an assist in the final seven matches, with David Moyes‘ side winning three and drawing three to finish five points above the relegation zone.
The striker also became the first West Ham player to score four goals in a single Premier League away match, achieving the feat in a 4-0 victory at Norwich City.
Antonio owes this success to a great part to his manager David Moyes who – similarly to what he had done two years before when he changed Marko Arnautovic’s position – moved him up front, after previously being a winger.
“I’d definitely say the switch inspired the form because as a striker you get more opportunities and people are creating the opportunities for you,” says Antonio.
“But I think playing up front is harder too, because you’re playing with your back to games.
“When you’re out wide you get the ball on the sides, you get opportunities to run at defenders so they’re on the back foot, instead of you having your back to play.”
Antonio achieved a Career Ambition with his four-goal haul against Norwich: “I’d never scored a hat-trick before,” he says. “There was one game when I was playing for Southampton [while on loan in 2009/10 League One] against Carlisle.
“I scored two goals in quick succession and Alan Pardew subbed me. He said, ‘I’m trying to sign you. I can’t afford for you to be getting hat-tricks!’ ”
Antonio topped a seven-man July shortlist also featuring Olivier Giroud, Harry Kane, Anthony Martial, Nick Pope, Christian Pulisic and Raheem Sterling.
West Ham won twice against Hasenhüttl’s Saints this season
The Hammers beat Southampton 1-0 away, still under the tenure of Pellegrini (goal: Haller, man of the match Michail Antonio), and won 3-1 in the last game in which a crowd was present at London Stadium with David Moyes at the helm. West Ham’s goals in this match came from Bowen, Haller and, of course, Antonio.
Summer Festivals – Online Only
I found an email from St Martin-in-the-Fields in my inbox today, reminding me again of the sad fact that it has been virtually impossible to travel to London for months now. The picture below was taken in May 2019 when we attended the “Leadership Conference” in London which was staged by Alpha and HTB in the Royal Albert Hall. This year’s conference was postponed to 2021 of course, falling victim to the Coronavirus – just like so many other events this year!
St Martin’s email informed me today that in August St Martin’s Summer Online Festival will be presented.
Their first concert series since March explores the musical heritage of St Martin’s and features a fresh look at St Martin’s most-beloved repertoire. Although audiences will need to watch from home for now, all the concerts are recorded in St Martin’s and introduced by much loved BBC Radio 4 presenter and author Zeb Soanes.
The performances will be broadcast on Thursday evenings at 7.30pm, and available to watch for 30 days afterwards. First concert of the series:
EXTRA TIME 
Recent Comments