Anyway, I have recently decided to reopen my blog as a way to use my time off effectively, having started in a new job where day's off come at random points in the week.
What better topic to reemerge with than the debacle currently faced by the English national football team and their quest to pay tribute to those who served us so bravely during The Great War. I could easily have taken the easy option and given my thoughts on yet another John Terry cock-up, but I couldn't care less about him and as a result, the poppy problem has irked me somewhat more.
Now in recent years it has been tradition for football teams to wear shirts embossed with the Armistace Day poppy and observe a minute's silence in the build up to November 11th. This was evident in the most recent round of Premier League fixtures, with all 20 teams sporting the limited edition jerseys.
All seems fine and dandy of course, but then comes a slight sticking point which has caused a lot of upset in England. FIFA has banned the national team from sporting poppies in their upcoming friendly match.
That's right, football's governing body continues to endear itself to the English by confirming that they would not allow the same tribute to occur during the friendly with Spain this coming Saturday which, incidentally, falls on the eve of Remembrance Sunday.
Allegedly, Fifa's reasoning is that they need to set a precedent just in case, in the future, England have to play Germany around this time of year. Apparently, if this were to happen, all hell would break loose and their would be widespread outrage across Germany.
Now of course, this information has come from our good friends at the Daily Mail and the statement comes from a "FIFA source" which may well be true, but may well not be. However, the mere fact that it is even an issue, highlights the ineptitude of FIFA and their apparent need to make ridiculous decisions just because they can.
If they are going to stop the players from sporting the poppy, does this mean Fabio and his staff will not be able to wear one on their lapels? I doubt it.
I only hope that over the next few days an agreement is made and on this occasion they allow the English players to wear the poppy with pride.
However, if FIFA stand firm, I think it would only be right for the FA to do EVERYTHING they can to rub Sepp Blatter's face in it.
I'm expecting a massive poppy hung from the Wembley arch and a huge projection of a poppy on the pitch for the entire build up to the game while Russell Watson belts out God Save Our Gracious Poppy. But why stop there? Let's print a large red poppy the match ball and make sure every player has one printed on their match boots.
Fingers crossed FIFA makes the right decision, but if I were you, I wouldn't hold my breath.
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