Paul 🏴🇬🇧
11.8K posts
In the UK this video of kids supporting England at the World Cup was taken down after the woke mob harassed the school with complaints
They said it was 'far right' and 'promoted hooliganism'
I didn't realise a school full of white children was that terrifying to them
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@percyblakeny @richardajkeys Which similarlly no one will watch.🙃
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@richardajkeys Alex Scott has to be the most overrated and overpaid of the BBC's sports presenters - she is awful and she alone has caused Football Focus to lose its' focus and viewers. The head of sport at BBC tells us that he plans a new venture for her
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It’s not Alex Scott’s fault Football Focus has folded - it’s a sign of the times. MOTD will be next. Viewing habits have changed. That’s why Grandstand & World of Sport ended. And Sportsnight. Pre-show & post-show wrapped around live games will go soon as well.
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@jonnygould Infected by wokery. Inevitable demise. The Beeb could easily bring it back much stronger and authentic by ripping out all the wokery. But they won't, they won't allow themselves to do so.
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I loved Football Focus in its heyday - and its heyday lasted four long decades. It was simply appointment-to-view TV. Tucked into the first hour of Grandstand, it then became a standalone show after that was canned too.
Football Focus gave us iconic moments: Motty in a raging horizontal snowstorm in his sheepskin coat; Jonathan Pearce’s high-octane previews, packed with “I live this” energy and knowledge; any contribution from Barry Davies, “ohwaddagoal!” - and the reassuring presence of Arsenal’s double-winner Bob Wilson, who made the transition from goalkeeping to journalism seem effortless. I loved the way he’d reel off the fixtures each week: “And Everton make the trip to League Champions, Aston Villa.” Then, the following season: “European Champions, Aston Villa.”
But to say the show simply ran its course, swallowed up by the welter of social media we now consume, is to miss a key reason its audience crashed. It was hollowed out by items we didn’t want to see. It became boring, irrelevant, stopped serving its audience. As much as ever, we still want intelligent interviews and insight: a counterweight to the screaming, shouting, fake arguments and laddish banter elsewhere.
Dan Walker had the knack of making the programme feel like a celebration of young men in their flourish: elite and successful in their prime. You’d look on at these familiar star faces and think how wonderful it must be in your late thirties, to look back at your medals and still remain relevant as a voice in the game; perhaps a national team manager, with clubs no doubt watching your progress for your next job.
I’m of course talking about Gary Speed and his last day on earth, which was on Football Focus. They sat him with his title-winning Leeds midfield partner, Gary McAllister. They showed wonderful goals, mapped his extraordinary consistency as a player with Everton and Newcastle, and celebrated his recent big win as Wales manager over Norway. Then we woke up the next morning to the terrible, frankly unbelievable news about him. “But, but we saw him relaxed and happy with Gary Mac on Football Focus the afternoon before.”
Of course the show had life in it. They just forgot its mission. It became another victim of the BBC swallowed whole by their institutional urges to foist values and agendas on us which few believe in. The mass switch-off proves that.
No amount of competing attention is really to blame for its demise. It just needed a reset.
RIP Gary Speed.
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🎙️ Sara Cox will present the Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2, with her first show launching this summer
Learn more ➡️ bit.ly/3OX4Yjy
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@BBCBreakfast Cowardice or ignorance from Steve?
It was wokery, plain and simple. Say it.
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'Saturday lunchtime was no longer the right place for Football Focus'
Former BBC Sport presenter Steve Rider spoke to #BBCBreakfast about the decision to axe Football Focus at the end of the season, after 52 years on air
bbc.co.uk/sport/football…
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@henrywinter Nope, it was wokery that ended it. Totally avoidable but the Beeb are gonna Beeb.
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End of Football Focus. End of an era. No great surprise. Clashed with games, fixtures all over the place and people consume football content differently in a digital era. The Hand of Pod everywhere. Worth remembering that FF showcased plenty of great interviews, insight & talent over past 52 years 📺🙌
Match of the Day@BBCMOTD
An incredible 52-year journey comes to an end. Following extensive consideration, BBC Sport has made the difficult decision to say goodbye to Football Focus at the end of this season. First broadcast in 1974, Football Focus is a testament to the brilliant team who have worked on it over the years and, of course, the audience. The programme has been a staple of the BBC’s football coverage for decades, providing fans with interviews, analysis and stories from across the game ahead of the weekend’s fixtures. But changing audience behaviours mean fans are now increasingly consuming football content in different ways and we need to respond appropriately as we face difficult decisions around how the licence fee is spent. Fans are accessing discussion, highlights, analysis and news through digital platforms and on-demand viewing and as viewing habits continue to evolve, it is right that BBC Sport adapts how it brings football coverage to the widest audiences across television, radio, online and to its extensive social platforms. BBC Sport boasts a strong football rights portfolio and is set to significantly expand its digital output this year growing content across BBC platforms, as well as a bold new slate of exclusive shows on YouTube. Featuring fresh formats, big personalities and more frequent, always-on content tailored for digital audiences, the expansion will bring fans closer to the game than ever before delivering more high-quality, accessible and engaging football coverage at scale. We will release further details on these plans in the coming months.
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@BasilTheGreat Insane. Genuinely looks like a villain from a horror film or something. Deport it.🗑️
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I do not say this lightly
Seriously... deport his f**king ashes.
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@mrdanwalker It was fantastic telly back when the world was normal and sane. Then wokery came along and ruined it. Ultimately destroying it. That's what wokery does.
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Really sad to hear about the end of Football Focus.
I loved that show growing up. I used to watch it every week with my dad and I remember how proud he was when I got the job. It was such a privilege to sit in the chair for 12 years, work with an amazing team on and off air and form so many lasting friendships.
Saturdays were always special.
The football landscape is constantly changing and it’s disappointing that there isn’t space for a show that has meant so much to so many people for so many years.
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