Richard Walker

Brilliant news!!

Setting off down to Hillsborough this lunch for the Walk4Archie. Setting off from the south stand bridge at 2pm and walking to Bramall Lane. If you want to join Archie and the gang, please come down. A hardcore group walked 40 miles yesterday, pictures below, from Doncaster to Rotherham to Barnsley to Hillsborough. The journey will be complete today. If you have any capacity to donate , please consider it via the link below gofund.me/826e064f1

@TWFootball1867 The FAQ on the club statement says the money does not need to be paid back, so hopefully that means we're OK in this respect.

The big question is, does Bord now become a football creditor for his fortnightly payments. If so, and I think he does, that means the minimum level required to settle football debts has increased. The club is now worth less having sold assets. The EFL need to decide if they are willing to compromise on the rules that means -15 Vs non payment of Chansiri. As I highly doubt that anyone is going to pay 20m for us with -15, which essentially means a L2 risk.

@JChimirie66677 @grok is this correct

The scrapping of an Eton-backed free sixth form in Middlesbrough tells us more about Labour than any manifesto ever could. A project designed to educate the brightest children from one of the poorest parts of the country was not stopped because it failed, cost too much, or lacked need. It was stopped because it threatened to succeed. And success, when it cannot be controlled, is intolerable to this government. This was not a fee-paying outpost or a vanity scheme. It was a free school, approved under the last government, partnered with a proven academy trust, aimed squarely at deprived pupils with high academic ability. The offer was simple: take children who show promise and give them an education equal to the best in the country. That should have been uncontroversial. Instead it triggered hostility, suspicion, and finally cancellation. Not because of what it would have done, but because of what it symbolised. The real offence was a four-letter word: Eton College. That name short-circuited reason. Local Labour figures spoke of "elitism" while opposing a free school for poor children. Ministers talked about surplus places and SEND funding while quietly abandoning a project already designed to address a regional attainment gap that everyone admits exists. None of it holds up. The explanations came after the decision, not before it. Look at the facts Labour prefers not to dwell on. The North East lags badly behind London on A-level results and university entry. That gap has widened, not narrowed. This school was explicitly designed to deal with the A-level drop-off that has trapped bright pupils in the region for years. Its location was central, its funding secure, its academic model tested. Scrapping it did nothing to help SEND pupils and nothing to raise standards elsewhere. It simply removed an option that would have worked. What happened in Middlesbrough fits a pattern we have already seen. When schools succeed by insisting on discipline, knowledge, and high expectations, the response from Labour is not curiosity but suspicion. Not imitation but obstruction. Katharine Birbalsingh and Michaela showed what happens when deprived children are taken seriously. Instead of being celebrated, that success is treated as a problem to be managed. The lesson is the same here: excellence outside the approved model must be neutralised. The Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, claims the money could be better spent elsewhere. That argument collapses on contact with reality. Identical Eton-Star colleges have been approved in other Labour-run areas. The money exists. The model is acceptable. What differed in Middlesbrough was not need, but politics. Local ideological resistance was indulged, and bright children paid the price. This is the quiet cruelty of modern Labour education policy. It speaks endlessly about disadvantage while dismantling the very ladders that allow people to climb out of it. It treats aspiration as a threat and excellence as exclusion. It would rather keep everyone inside a failing system than allow some to rise beyond it, because rising exposes the lie that background is destiny. We are told this is about fairness. It is not. Fairness would mean expanding opportunity wherever it appears. What Labour practices instead is levelling by denial. If not everyone can have something, no one should. If a school might allow working-class children to outperform expectations, it must be stopped in case it embarrasses the system. Middlesbrough did not lose a school. It lost permission to excel. A message was sent to its brightest children: know your place. That is not compassion. It is control. And until Labour grasps the difference, it will keep dressing envy up as justice and calling restraint care. Ministers will feel nothing. Children will pay the price. "Bridget Phillipson, claims the money could be better spent elsewhere. That argument collapses on contact with reality."

I've been laughed at, called the Lorax and the Grinch .... but all in good spirits, and it's opened up conversations and awareness of mens health, which was the purpose. We've raised £897 so far, and would love to break the £1,000 barrier. #Movember

So a month ago I shared that me and my work colleagues were taking part in Movember. We're now at the end of the month, and here's my mogress! I've attended two board meetings, two senior partnership events, undertaken several interviews and stakeholder meetings. #Movember

Thanks to the generosity of everyone who sponsored us so far. If anyone ride would like to donate to this great cause, no matter how much or how little, it'd be appreciated 🥸 #movember movember.com/t/pickering-an…

Our game sponsor of tomorrow nights game against Golcar United will be in memory of Owen Jenkinson. This has been paid for by the First Team Players at the club. As a club we will donate the sponsorship money raised to PACT. #ForzaFrickley

I dread this time of year. The stress of tracking down parcels was huge last year. I agree, royal mail are by far the best and always my go to if offered choice. Evri were awful last year, and impossible to speak to when there's a problem. In my experience, Yodel are OK.

@AlexJPMiller Proper leader, whilst it's been a tough challenge and learning curve, it's all useful experience for his future.

Barry Bannan has carried the weight of a football club on his shoulders in recent months - with several awkward responsibilities having fallen on him. Long chat on the lifting of that load, pride in SWFC and whether he’d answer a call from DC👇 thestar.co.uk/sport/football… #SWFC🦉

Here goes! #DrivingLessonsWithDad

G1, V1 & C1 for @PFH_Hull, all the 1s! Really proud of the team and everyone involved in this. Truly well deserved.

Katy had a lovely time @PFH_Hull People's Favourite Heroes Awards ceremony today, recognising the residents who are making a difference in their communities 👏 It was an honour to present the prize to the winner of ‘Digital Star Award’🏆 Thank you @RWalker1867 #SocialHousing

Hmm, can't wait to hear Chris Wilder's post match interview... wonder how many times he'll reference us?! 🤔 🤣 #swfc

Simply the best night of football atmosphere I've ever experienced, and probably ever will. Goosebumps just thinking about it!

We were on holiday in a tent trailer at Skipsea, remember watching it on a small portable TV with my mum until past midnight - happy memories 😊

@WTIDPOD *play

@WTIDPOD .. and still to pay most of them....🤞

🙃 The gap to top six is now just FIVE points.