Category Archives: Southampton

Football 2022/23: Final Whistle

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There is only 1 unresolved outcome and I’m not talking about the FC Cup Final between Man U and City. Metz FC is waiting to learn whether or not they will be promoted to Ligue 1 after a match between Bordeaux and Rodez was suspended after an altercation between a fan/supporter and player (in this case a goal scorer). Bordeaux was trailing 1-0 in the first half and a loss would have confirmed promotion for Metz. The French Football Commission will meet on Monday to determine the fate of Bordeaux.

The Saints were relegated from the Premiere League weeks before the season ended after an uninspired and punchless loss to Fulham. My club is Southampton, so this entire campaign was like one long gut punch. The new owners, Sport Republic, were clueless, hapless, and flamboyantly reactionary in a campaign that saw three managerial changes. They started the campaign without a world-class forward / striker and an inexperienced keeper. They also jettisoned veteran talent on a club desperate for stability and made a heap of poor and panic signings. Also, like rats jumping from the deck of the Titanic, there were also executive departures throughout the season.

I saw them a couple of times at St. Mary’s this season, and they struggled mightily against Cambridge United who barely survived relegation from League One. The Saints will now join Norwich (Canaries), Sunderland, and Stoke City in the Championship League. Schedules will be published on June 22.

Other Highlights
The mighty shrimps of Morecambe FC were relegated from League One
Plymouth was promoted from League One to the Championship and are now in the same league as Southampton
Norwich finished mid-table in the Championship League
Cambridge and Oxford just missed relegation in League One
Exter finished mid-table in League One

Related
2022/2023 Football Campaign (Abridged)
Russell Martin: Swansea City head coach’s move to Southampton held up over compensation (BBC)
Every word Southampton owners said on relegation, club plans and more (Daily Echo)

Southampton Saints FC Relegation Day

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My BEST #SaintsFC tweet of 2023. Complete 2023 football campaign washup as soon as the season is done and dusted.

Update: The Saints were relegated after a 2-0 loss to Fulham.

Easter Weekend 2023

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“The place of God’s power is an empty space, and in his story of absence and longing, we learn that most of life is lived on this threshold between emptiness and meeting, between fear and hope, between darkness and noon, between Golgotha and Galilee. We learn that it is not knowledge that counts, but faith.” †

(1) The Brilliant Darkness of a Friday Afternoon (Imaginative Conservative)

(1a) Blessed Easter! (Sisters of Carmel)

“We pray it may soothe the sorrows that burden your lives and rekindle in your hearts the hope of His glorious victory, a defeat only in appearance. Suffering and death belong to this transitory world. On this day, Our Lord transformed them into the gateway to life everlasting.”

(2) Jane Austen and the Tudor Terror (Imaginative Conservative)

(2a) Where is Mary Queen of Scots buried? (History Scotland)

(2b) Jane Austen in Southampton (Jane Austen’s World)

2022: Year-in-review

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A couple of paragraphs to close out 2022. This is the year I said goodbye to London and put an exclamation point on Kingdom Hearts. I spent a night in Gettysburg and a couple more in Paris. I crossed the English Channel via the Eurostar. I read the Brothers York and Faith of Our Fathers. I saw the Wilton Diptych at the British Museum and watched the Southampton Saints WIN under the lights against the Norwich Canaries. I tracked down stained-glass in Hereford from a Christmas card given to my mom and dad by our parish priest. I hiked to Towton, outside York, to visit a battlefield that was pivotal in the War of the Roses. I toured all of the northern cathedrals- York, Durham, and Lincoln. I also travelled to the very edge of Empire for a weekend in Penzance and Lands End. There were a couple of more Saints matches, including a memorable one in Cambridge for the Carabao Cup. There were three Championship League matches in Stoke, Norwich, and Sunderland. I hosted my brother in the spring and we went to Southampton, London, and Ramsgate. I also caught Football: Designing the Beautiful Game at the Design Museum before it closed.

My last couple of weekend trips in England were to Coventry, Exeter, and Bath. One of the highlights of the year was mass at the Cathedral Church St John the Baptist in Norwich.

My BIG birthday was at PNC Arena to see my beloved NY Islanders put a hurt on the Hartford Whalers Carolina Hurricanes and I was at the Bridgeport Islanders home opener. I also went to a Bridgeport Islanders game to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the NY Islanders.

Thames River Ride (1986) by Harper Goff. Scan is from The Art of Walt Disney World Resort

Old Southampton

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“In God is my hope. RB. 1605”

Quotes from A Walk Within the Walls (The Story of Old Southampton) by Elsie M. Sandell:

“Through the Bargate archway, too, went most of our monarchs on their visits to our town. Henry II passed through it on foot in 1174 when starting out for his walk of penance to Canterbury, to the tomb of Thomas Becket.”

“His son, Henry VI, was also frequently at Southampton Castle, and there he met his bride, Margaret of Anjou, for the first time, on April 14th, 1445, she being then only fifteen years old.”

Bargate

Hotels in England

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A quick list of my top five. Here’s a link to a previous post with the different cities visited during my two-years in the UK.

(1) The Midland in Morecambe – Art deco hotel with a link to the railway (and the golden age of rail). The restaurant is top notch. It makes me pine for a revitalization of domestic travel.

Limestone Archives: Midland Hotel Flickr Album

(2) The Telegraph Hotel in Coventry – Themed hotel in a space once occupied by the local rag. In terms of theming, it’s only rival is the TWA Hotel. They have done a brilliant job preserving the interior features as well and objects that once served the newspaper are marked with QR codes (clever).

Limestone Archives: Telegraph Hotel Flickr Album

(3) Moxy Southampton – The place to either celebrate or commiserate a Saints win/loss. Southampton is my second home (and maybe where I’ll retire).

(4) Cambridge Central Station – Incredible views of the station, platforms, and railyards. The lobby displays all the rail departures / arrivals so there’s always the frenetic energy of travelers going to and from.

(5) Hilton Garden Inn Stoke on Trent – Modern and well-lit and close to the canals.

Other notable hotels include The Yarrow Hotel, Hampton by Hilton York, and the DoubleTree by Hilton Bath.

Related
British Rail Corporate Identity from 1965–1994

Weekend 545.0

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I was in Southampton this weekend for the Saints home opener. Mass was at St. Joseph’s. Used my train (and coffee) time to put a nice dent in Faith Of Our Fathers: A History of True England by Joseph Pearce.

(1) “True England” and the Faith of Our Fathers (The Imaginative Conservative)

(2) Atlantic op-ed claims Catholic rosary has become ‘an extremist symbol’ (Fox News)

(2a) The Rosary: Spiritual Sword of Our Lady | Fr. Don Calloway, MIC | Franciscan University (YouTube)

St. Joseph’s in Southampton

Weekend 544.0 (But if you’ll wait around awhile…)

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I was in Southampton for the last Saints FC preseason match. It was a bit of a lackluster affair against Villarreal. They lost 2-1 but the atmosphere was great and the sun was out. Mass was at St. Edmund’s and on Saturday I finally got to visit St. Michael’s Church. St. Michael’s is the oldest building in use in Southampton. It was closed because of the pandemic and most recently because of a lack of volunteers.

I had dinner at Maritimo Lounge which took me past the South Western House. The historic building has a purported link to Winston Churchill and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

(1) Nine things you may not know about South Western House… (Daily Echo)