Queen Elizabeth II

[Paul Habershon]

George VI died on Wednesday 6 February 1952. Here's the Sunday Mirror's football results from the games played on Saturday 9th February 1952.

People were more grown up then.


Sunday Mirror _ Sunday 10 February 1952.png

The 1952 Div 1 football table reminds me that ties were split by goal average not goal difference. Although Burnley and Spurs have the same goal difference of 7, Spurs would nowadays be above them by virtue of having scored more goals. However, goal difference - dividing goals for by goals against - gives Burnley 1.17 and Spurs 1.15. The change was to encourage attacking play, because goal average improves enormously if you have a small 'against' figure. In conducting my own league with dice in the 1950s I learned long division at the age of six.

My son has kind of followed in my footsteps as his working life so far has been with Sports Interactive, makers of the PC and online game Football Manager.

There does seem to be quite a backlash today against the decision of football authorities to postpone matches, in contrast with most other sports.

[JustinHorton]

Couple of famous names there - Len Shackleton, George Robledo

[John Townsend]

The St. Leger would have been run today, but racing at Doncaster has been abandoned. My happiest memory of the Queen will be the sight of her and her racing manager beaming like lottery winners as her Estimate romped up the straight at Royal Ascot to win the 2013 Gold Cup.

Her Majesty won most of the English Classics: the 2,000 Guineas with Pall Mall in 1958; the 1,000 Guineas with Highclere in 1974; while in 1977, her Silver Jubilee year, her filly Dunfermline lifted both the Oaks and the St. Leger. But the Derby eluded her. In her Coronation year, 1953, Aureole finished second for her. What a popular victory that might have been, which would have raised the Epsom rafters.

Will the King race some horses? I hope so. There is something magical about a royal winner, arousing powerful emotions which can unite us.

[John Upham]

Do we have CHESS for 1956?

Do we know which page or issue from 1956 as I do not have an index for that year?

[JustinHorton]

There is something magical about a royal winner, arousing powerful emotions which can unite us.

How does it do that? Why do monarchists assume that what they like, unites people who are not of their opinion?

[NickFaulks]

How does it do that? Why do monarchists assume that what they like, unites people who are not of their opinion?

Within the racing community, I am pretty sure that is precisely what happens. You probably think they are not a very important subset of the general population.

[Paul Cooksey]

YouGov Popularity Polling:
The Queen
The Monarchy

[JustinHorton]

Within the racing community, I am pretty sure that is precisely what happens. You probably think they are not a very important subset of the general population.

Maybe not, but I know enough punters to think that there's more dissenters and sceptics among that community to think it's not in fact all that precisely. Just because people like the nags and a bet doesn't mean they buy into everything else. (It might make for an interesting study: the social attitudes of British racegoers. Perhaps such a thing has already been done.)

[David Williams]

George VI died on Wednesday 6 February 1952. Here's the Sunday Mirror's football results from the games played on Saturday 9th February 1952.
People were more grown up then.

It's actually a bit more nuanced than that. I can't find it now, but I was just reading that rugby union matches were postponed in 1952, and the FA were attacked for not doing the same. Their justification was that, unlike rugby players, football players were professionals, and to be deprived of their livelihood would cause financial hardship. Quite a lot has changed since then.

The FA also pointed out that playing matches gave supporters the opportunity to show their respects and sing the king's favourite hymn(?). Rather depressingly, I suspect that one unstated reason for the suspension of football this time is a lack of confidence in the scrupulous observance of these things this time round.

[JustinHorton]

Maybe that would be better stated than unstated, if in fact it's the reason, and maybe people who worry about that sort of thing ought to ask themselves whether they ought to be able to cope with it.

[JustinHorton]

Chess History compilation. A few items on Elizabeth II but not, as it goes, anything from CHESS in 1956.

[Gerard Killoran]

George VI died on Wednesday 6 February 1952. Here's the Sunday Mirror's football results from the games played on Saturday 9th February 1952.
People were more grown up then.

It's actually a bit more nuanced than that. I can't find it now, but I was just reading that rugby union matches were postponed in 1952, and the FA were attacked for not doing the same. Their justification was that, unlike rugby players, football players were professionals, and to be deprived of their livelihood would cause financial hardship. Quite a lot has changed since then.

The FA also pointed out that playing matches gave supporters the opportunity to show their respects and sing the king's favourite hymn(?). Rather depressingly, I suspect that one unstated reason for the suspension of football this time is a lack of confidence in the scrupulous observance of these things this time round.

Rugby Union was cancelled, Hockey was cancelled, Horse Racing was cancelled, Hunting was cancelled. Football, Rugby League, Angling and Greyhound Racing all went ahead. Can you see a pattern here? Not very nuanced as far as I can see.

[David Williams]

If you mean that the toffs cancelled and the hoi polloi didn't, I'm not sure I see that as being evidence that people were more grown up then. And if you're drawing parallels between then and now, I'm not seeing them.

[Gerard Killoran]

From https://thecritic.co.uk/class-matters-w ... ighthoods/

However, all of this does not excuse the fact that in the game’s 125-year history, not a single player, coach or administrator has been knighted for their services to Britain or the communities they represent. One might conclude that “humble” rugby league players from working-class towns are not worthy of such titles.

[Richard James]

Do we have CHESS for 1956?

Do we know which page or issue from 1956 as I do not have an index for that year?

It's on page 242 Nos 267-268 May 26th 1956. I posted the relevant paragraph earlier in the thread.