The week in sport
The FA Cup, JPR Williams, Franz Beckenbauer and Brit's great skier
"Patience and motorsport don't go together."
- CHRISTIAN HORNER
No.74 - FRIDAY. 12/01/23
This Week in Sport, non-league side Maidstone United reach the FA Cup Fourth Round. We ask you to get in touch about sport's strangest superstitions and we say goodbye to two late greats of the round and oval-ball games. But first, to get the skis sliding, Dave Ryding is in conversation with Pitch ahead of his title defence at Kitzbühel.
SKIING / KITSBÜHEL
Rocket Fuel
This weekend sees the return of Slalom to the Gangslern in Kitzbühel, Austria. Dubbed the Mecca of sliding down a slope at speed (hopefully not backwards), if there were one race on the winter-sports calendar to watch, it would be this one.
Britain's 37-year-old Dave Ryding is looking to regain his crown, the Lancastrian finished second last year after securing his nation's first ever World Cup gold there in 2021.
Kieran Longworth ventures into the frozen north (west) to find out how the era-defining, espresso-loving Brit went from Pendle Ski Club to winning gold in Kitzbühel. And back again. As seen in Issue No.4.
FOOTBALL / FA CUP
National league side Maidstone United reached the Fourth round of the FA Cup after their 1-0 victory over league one Stevenage, and now find themselves as the lowest ranked team in the competition. Prize money accumulated from The Stones' cup run now reaches £231,375. Club changing money.
The only goal in the game came from midfielder Sam ‘Corney’ Corne slotting home from the spot and sending The Stones into the Fourth Round for the first time in their 32-year history. An away day against Ipswich Town awaits, a side currently second in the Championship.
FOOTBALL / BURNLEY
Writing's On The Wall
Grace Campbell, comedian and daughter of former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell, reports that when her Burnley-supporting Dad gets on the train at London Euston (destination Turf Moor via Preston), he removes the shoelaces from his shoes, replacing them as he arrives at Preston. Because, when he once did that in the ‘80s, Burnley won. Your weird sporting superstitions welcome...
RUGBY UNION / OBIT
The Doctor
When Welsh rugby legend JPR Williams passed away this week, we were reminded that It was on the lawns of Wimbledon rather than the muddy fields of Cardiff Arms Park or Bridgend that Williams first made his mark as a sportsman of renown. As a 17-year-old, he won the 1966 British junior tennis title at Wimbledon, beating David Lloyd in the final.
FOOTBALL / OBIT
Der Kaiser
How times change. In 1963, at the age of 18, it was revealed that Franz Beckenbauer's then girlfriend was pregnant and that he had no intention of marrying her; he was banned from the West Germany national youth team by the German FA and only readmitted after the intervention of the side's coach.
The BIG Quiz
David Warner retired from Test cricket this week. What did he lose in the process?
Answer in next year's newsletter.
Last week's Answer:
Luke 'The Nuke' Littler missed a double two for a 112 checkout in the seventh set to go 5-2 up against eventual PDC World Darts Champion Luke Humphries.