Thread 27 Starmer: He's a very clever cat

[DuncinToffee]

A nod to the Chief Mouser

Previous thread
www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5361166-thread-26-starmer-cats-rebels-and-orange-chaos?page=40&reply=145615445

The really awful thing was how progressive and successful women's football was in England and the FA in the 1920s and the FA banned them from FA affiliated grounds for 50 years. Shocking and disgraceful.

Runs off to plays the piano.

Can't have those Northern women trail blazing.

Clare Baldwin's documentary on it was very good.

We had football for girls in my primary school 1965 - 1973. It was very competitive. Also French skipping, skipping and wall ball games, the latter being brilliant for hand eye coordination.

Most of us also did Irish dancing classes and GAA sports such as hurling and camogie - latter being a more aggressive form of hockey ( not for the faint hearted).

Great day of sports.

I played football at school but there wasn't anything outside of school. I remember borrowing boots and shinpads from the boys.

DD played for a team for a few years but she isn't really into football. She did watch this final though

I would have loved to have been able to play football (and cricket and rugby) when I was young. I was always playing with the village boys.
Edited: Playing football and cricket with the village boys!

I think because the GAA was all Ireland it got funds from both countries. Any extra went to support the re introduction of Irish sports, culture and language. So dancing. However Church of Ireland Protestant communities were also keen to get involved and it was a good cross community project.

Also we had school lunches made in the premises plus milk and biccies for early break time. Nutrition and community cohesion working towards giving those who wanted it a chance to engage in sports.

I went to a London comprehensive in the 90s and we didn't play football. The boys played football, we played netball or hockey. My 18 year old son watched Bend it Like Beckham with me around Christmas time as it happened to be on, he firstly couldn't comprehend what was so ground breaking about a girl playing football in the early 00s but he was also genuinely shocked by the Kiera Knightly love story with the older Coach, the power dynamic being exploited, he actually laughed in shock that this was acceptable.

The GAA is as sexist and misogynistic as the FA. To make myself quite clear.

I played football, and even took part in the wfa Cup. I had to stop when pregnant though. I had another season when the dc were born but found it harder to commit. I don't think that I was missed though, my skills weren't that great.

I have a family member who has been involved in women's football for at least 40 years. They have more/ higher coaching qualifications than many men in the game and has an England players cap.

I'm Welsh though so the lioness win is bittersweet. They are clearly more successful than the men though at the moment.

Wow, that's impressive!

My brother played football so I would play with him and his friends if they needed to make up teams but that was as a young child. My brother was an avid London Team supporter and when my parents divorced, my Dad took us to the matches, I had to come along as it was the weekend divorce activity. That was a real eye opener, in terms of being pretty scared of some fans and London rivalries, I didn't enjoy it really and as soon as I was old enough started going to HMV with my friends on Saturdays instead as much more into music and skateboarding!

Starmer is meeting Trump today, Rayner is meeting the Lionesses

Rayner definitely gets the better deal today. Although I’d assume they might be quite tired from last night. 🎉

There are definitely disadvantages to being the boss sometimes

I was at secondary school in the early to mid 80s and we absolutely did play football. And PE was mixed all the way through as well.

I you need a laugh...

Definitely separate for us. The boys would be standing around "playing" cricket while we would be running round getting hot and sweaty and given laps to do if we so much as pulled a face.

I liked it when it was our turn to have the tennis courts, though. We would be mostly left to our own devices, then.

We had a mixed sex game of football in the summer of our final year at primary and I got a football smack in the face, accidentally by a fellow male player. That HURTS and he was mortified. Several sponges to the face later and then the match was abandoned.

Certainly same sex PE in Secondary school, even when it became mixed sex for the start of O Levels.

Don’t get me started on 70s PE lessons which we had to do in a tiny leotard and a very short wrap around skirt in a mixed sex comp. Netball or Hockey only for us. Mandatory shower afterwards. Tennis and athletics in the summer (I loved those so was happier then). Put most of my generation off sport for life I reckon.

I was very surprised when I started teaching how seriously English schools take rounders and netball. They were regarded as minor/piss about sports at my exceedingly sporty Glasgow school - it was hockey, cross country (aka Piggy 'sprains' her ankle and sadly withdraws just past the starting line) and athletics. Occasionally got forced into a swimming pool.

I actually liked final year PE where we did fun stuff with the boys - thus preventing them from spending PE lessons watching us and making fun of us. I would have hated football or rugby . My DSis was incredibly sporty and took up rugby at aged 18. I read somewhere recently that the growth in girls' football is massively threatening athletics participation at senior levels (Leah Williamson chose football over athletics).

I liked non stop cricket the best - best for my complete lack of ability in hitting anythign ball shaped.

What does she even MEAN (ever) ?????

Hated all sport at school, apart from rounders and badminton. Played netball as an adult for a few years and absolutely loved it. Swimming was horrible - I could swim across a lake no problem, rescue myself if I fell out of a boat etc (proper Swallows And Amazons holidays we had) but a sweaty, noisy swimming baths - ugh!

Echoing threads on here

https://bsky.app/profile/peterwalker99.bsky.social/post/3luzdtudq2k2j
Nigel Farage at his crime press conference in London is openly arguing that migration is causing an increase in the number of rapes, and talking about the need for the "right kind" of migrants. It feels like Reform's supposed firewall against far right rhetoric is disappearing at speed.

She’s copying what Trump said. Stop immigration and get rid of wind farms.

Truss is repeating Trump @Saucery He waffled about immigration and windmills .

There are lots of Dutch proverbs about windmills and idiots......

The threads on MN have gone wild. Anyone would think there was an election. This is going to be a tedious 4 year campaign trail.

Apparently, today, I am a leech off the state.

If anyone has The Times, or local interest, read the article about the Real Bedford guy. If he isn't somehow involved with Farage at some point I'll eat my hat...

Slightly wondering how something that seems so local press made it into The Times, otherwise.