England women's football teamReputation of new England women’s boss takes a hit after a career of monotonous success
In 2014, more than 440 viewers complained to the BBC that Phil Neville was too boring. His voice on commentary, they said, was turning them off the World Cup. Neville, controversially appointed as manager of the England women’s football team this week, must have wished a monotonous tone remained the severest criticism of him. Read More...
FootballObituaryStjepan Bobek obituaryStriker for Yugoslavia in two World CupsThe striker Stjepan Bobek, who has died aged 86, will always be linked with his fellow player Rajko Mitic in the coruscating Yugoslavia team of the late 1940s and 50s. They were the team's two creative inside-forwards: Mitic on the right, Bobek on the left. Yugoslavia during this period might well have been called the nearly team. They were runners-up in two Olympic tournaments, held in London in 1948 and Helsinki in 1952, beaten in the former by a glittering Swedish side and in the latter by what was to prove an all-conquering Hungarian team. Read More...
The BibleLettersThe King James Bible and eternal copyrightMichael Gove and the government are making a gift of the King James Bible to every school in the UK (Report, 25 November) but continue to restrict how we use it. The crown has a perpetual copyright on the King James Bible, through "letters patent" originally issued to stop unofficial editions and then to protect the country from ranters, shakers, Quakers, nonconformity and popery. Read More...