In the Blue House

'Come on you blues!' the text from a former housemate and fellow Ipswich Town Football Club supporter said.

'Yes, indeed. Bring it.' I replied. Today was the day of our big match with Hull City FC - we needed to win to have a fighting chance of getting into the playoffs and so into the Premiership.

And then I remembered something. The ex-housemate was a bit of a Tory boy - indeed I think he now works in The City doing something. I don't know exactly what he does in The City, but I get the distinct impression it involves enriching himself massively at the expense of the proletariat in some way or another. I decided to send him another text.

'PS. I hope you were referring to itfc and not to david cameron's tories...'

'Ken had to go, brown is a disaster. Cameron is the only viable alternative and will be the next pm like it or not'.

I didn't bother replying. Ipswich did indeed manage to beat Hull, but failed to qualify for the playoffs, and so are destined to remain in the Championship for another season. Its probably for the best, but at the moment it just adds to what is turning out to be a pretty dismal weekend.

I have often noticed this - ones own personal and political hopes and dreams are often mirrored by the destiny of the football club one supports - when they seems to be winning, things seem to be going well and vice versa. I am sure if I spent time tracking this in terms of the recent history of the SWP and Ipswich Town FC for example I could find some sort of pattern. Noone can deny for example that thirty years ago in 1978, just after the original and awesome Rock Against Racism Carnival in London, which starred The Clash, Ipswich Town went on to win the FA Cup.

I know some would argue that surely things like this are matters of coincidence, and I am aware as a Marxist there can be no rational explanation, but the fact remains.

Before my more materialist readers desert this blog forever, however, I will just link to another interesting post over at Reading the Maps on EP Thompson and one aspect of 'the making of The Making of the English Working Class'. It doesn't make for that cheery reading either, but this probably isn't really the best place to come for that at the moment.