Peter Blake

I was having conversations with journalists just a few months ago about whether democracy was doomed. Look at this year: Orban defeated. Vukic defeated. Bolsonaro Jr defeated. Trump heading to likely defeat in midterms. That’s the beauty of democracy. Voters can respond. Don’t count it out yet.

My Northampton @ntfc.bsky.social games of 2026: 0-0 Stockport 0-2 Burton 0-0 Coventry 0-0 Swindon 0-1 Rotherham 0-1 Tranmere Today, finally, goals and a win. Lovely stuff. #ShoeArmy

I have argued for some years that one of the key problems with having football clubs owned by foreign rulers isn't just their limitless wealth, it's the special legal status it confers on them. www.ft.com/content/1256...

I know everyone will have an opinion and be outraged that [TV programme] is omitted... but bloody hell I can't believe Mr Robot isn't in here, it's a top 5 for me

I don't think we disdain the center-right enough. First, they rode nativist populist tigers to power to get their tax cuts and deregulation; Then, they lost control of their own parties to those tigers; Now, they sit in lucrative jobs as columnists writing about how it's all the left's fault.

Easy to follow guide from the British press

So, if I understand Nigel Farage's argument correctly it is: "Everyone I trusted and elevated into a position of responsibility is constantly doing crimes that benefit me but of which I somehow have no knowledge. I am a man with the character, judgement, and intelligence to run the country." Ok.

Krankenhaus Festival 2026 : Live Review of Sea Power's eclectic and perfectly curated festival of cutting-edge and brilliant acts, with added owls and birds of prey! louderthanwar.com/krankenhaus-...

@krankenhausfest.bsky.social, love what you've done with the place... Fourth time here and it never lets you down. Wouldn't rather be anywhere else

Lovely to be back @ntfc.bsky.social #ntfc

This is an outrageous failure from Andy Burnham and this Labour Government. He says they "don't know the remedy." It's obvious to almost anyone. Nationalise water companies. Tax fossil fuel companies. Invest in renewables. Labour selling us down the river to please their donors as country burns.

🌓🌎🌞 <-- lunar eclipse 
🌎🌓🌞 <-- solar eclipse 
🌎🌞🌗 <-- apocalypse

I pledge my support and (literally zero) influence

Hard to take stock when new twists are flying in every hour but football could well be witnessing the real-time defenestration of a FIFA president who less than a fortnight ago thought himself invincible and the mastermind behind "the best show in the world". Delicious hubris

👏👏👏

Brilliant. About time someone showed some backbone

Gotta admit, I never thought UEFA had the bollocks.

No one owns football. It is the common property of humanity. FIFA plans to sell off its tournaments to private equity. It is not FIFA's to sell. Our statement: rebootfifa.com/news/reboot-...

It's a point I've been trying to make for a long time: there is no good way to meet even 10% of current demand for animal products. They trash the living world, whichever way you do it. If you want to reduce your impact, switch to a plant-based diet. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

I contributed to the crowdfunder for this record and got early access. Shearwater is one of my "die on the hill" bands, an all-time favourite and I don't say that lightly. I strongly encourage anyone to spend time with their back catalogue and the new record, it's wonderful.

Fingers crossed they have the will power... FIFA can't be allowed to continue in it's current guise, that's been apparent for years

Does anyone know why WAFCON fixtures are absent on the LiveScore app?

A genuine "shut up and take my money" moment

A half-time show is an anti-football abomination. Players have gone through their career used to normal break. That rhythm disrupted, in the biggest game of their careers. It's of a piece with absurdly high ticket prices and Balogun controversy - Fifa ushering this through.

I honestly don't think I could handle being trapped in the stadium while FIFA staged the World Cup final. I don't think the reward of the game would be worth it. #WorldCup

If England win tomorrow... 2023 (women's WC): England v Spain final 2024 (men's Euros): England v Spain final 2025 (women's Euros): England v Spain final 2026 (men's WC): England v Spain final You can thank me later for jinxing it. #WorldCup

We at @josimarfootball.bsky.social are delighted to welcome @davidgoldblatt.bsky.social as a new contributor, with this exceptional essay about the 2026 World Cup, "the moment when the process of reclaiming and reforming the governance of football begins". Must-read.

That's 128 games you f'king psychopath. I'm a Northampton fan. If I want to watch us play 128 games it would take me 2.75 league seasons, home and away. It's too much football for a month.

As a science person following football from the side-lines, the overall impression I'm getting is that #VAR is ultimately a confounding variable. Meaning, it affects all aspects of, and directly impacts the outcome of, the game, in unpredictable ways, that cast doubt on the eventual results.

100% this. Every single time.

The song that always, always, always lifts my spirits youtu.be/KjF320jy7Zs?...

Football unites the world.

There have been 96 World Cup games since 11th June... That's more than a quarter of a whole 9 month Premier League season. Is it anyone wonder we're all knackered?

"This is another stunt from Nigel Farage. He knew the grift was going to catch up with him eventually, so he's pulled the trigger instead." Green Party leader Zack Polanski on Farage's resignation and forced by-election.

This was always how the creeping sterilisation of football was going to evolve. The spirit of the game has been replaced with an uncompromising need for perfection. VAR, turning a match into a "event", high prices... It's elite football as Entertainment, not Sport, and "the customer is always right"

If the US team beat Belgium with Balogun in their team, there will be an invisible asterisk against their name for the rest of this tournament, and all the fancy legalese in the world ain't going to change that. The laws of the game have always been about balancing the...

There's so much to dislike about this world cup's corporate entertainment culture, but the one that I can't stand is the spectators who turn their back on the game in order to celebrate into the camera. Makes my skin crawl

This afternoon on UD, on the Balogun scandal and why Gianni Infantino may have opened a can of worms that he'll find difficult to push back closed. unexpecteddelirium.substack.com/p/the-dirty-...

FIFA broke its rules to favour the US team. The @nytimes.com reports this happened after Trump called Infantino and pressed him on the issue. We will be submitting an updated complaint to FIFA's ethics committee on this matter. You can add your name to that complaint here 👇 rebootfifa.com/sign/

For three days in a row the heat record for June has been broken in the UK. The same story right across Europe. Any attempts at this key moment to slow climate action is utterly indefensible. We need day one action to accelerate our climate ambition from Andy Burnham.

Christ that sun's hot

This is a great thread

A masterpiece, truly.

First game of football I ever watched

Very proud to be on the advisory board for this campaign. If of interest, please sign and share. ——— Infantino isn’t fit to lead FIFA. 
And FIFA isn’t fit to govern football. Agree? Add your name to this mass complaint: rebootfifa.com/sign?utm_sou...

"Terrorism" on the left. "Protest" on the right.

regular reminder: keir starmer quite literally told the left, and progressive voters, to leave. he told us he did not want our votes.