23 minute read
Sport pages
from Palatinate 841
by Palatinate
PALATINATE | Tuesday 28th September 2021
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Sport Football Supporters Society: the best way to experience the North East’s football scene
Tommy Isaksson
It’s a long-used cliché that the North East is a footballing hotbed. The thing with clichés is that they always have an element of truth.
The Durham University Football Supporters Society will be taking students across the region to see that for themselves, from the Premier League to the National League North.
Media presentation of Newcastle, as with Sunderland and Middlesbrough in the past, is carefully selected.
Larger-than-life blokes with their tops off in a packed-out away end? Fantastic support, say the media. Boycotts and protests with Brighton, Burnley and Brentford before Christmas. Sunderland, County Durham’s traditional club, is also best seen live.
Experience a world where centre-halves are enormous, the referees somewhat laissez-faire and a game that just looks really, really hard work.
Local lads Dan Neil and Elliot Embleton making the brutal helter-skelter of the centre of League One pitches their personal playground, young players on loan from City and Bayern and an Aiden McGeady who hasn’t even got going yet have Sunderland flying high early on.
The biggest crowds in England
over how the club is managed? Oh, there they go again, those daft Northern clubs with their outlandish expectations. Fanbases lauded for their loyalty, dismissed when they expect that loyalty to be repaid.
Whatever your preconceptions of Newcastle’s team, often given that conceited tag of ‘functional’, they have players with hundreds of top-flight appearances.
Such seasoned operators can only be appreciated live. Alternatively, just watch Allan Saint-Maximin. All the tricks, flicks, nutmegs and ultimately, often none of the points, yours for dirt cheap, as the Society take Durham students to meetings outside the Premier League mean it’s the place to be: and far superior than some TV documentary.
For standard of football and ease of access, a trip to Maiden Castle to see Durham Women Fooball Club on a Sunday is unbeatable.
After finishing second last season, the Wildcats will be aiming for another shot at promotion into the Women’s Super League.
Since promotion to the sixth tier of English football, Spennymoor Town has been consistently in and around the play-off places, attempting once again this term to make it to within touching distance of the fabled lands of The Football League.
Regularly attracting gates of over 1,000 to their Brewery Field home, Town are a club at the heart of County Durham competing in a league rich with big names from the world below the EFL.
Hereford and York City have already met the Moors, with Kidderminster Harriers, Bradford Park Avenue and Chorley, of more recent FA Cup fame, all also in residence in the division.
No matter what your football fix is at University, the Football Supporters Society will have you covered with a complete sweep of what the great hotbed of the North East has to offer.
Anssi Koskinen
Local pride Spennymoor Town play at the Brewery Ground where they face Southport FC on Saturday (Middlesbrough FC) Men’s football must set example against sexual assault
George Simms
Sport Editor
On September 9th, a Munich court found former Manchester City and Bayern Munich centreback Jerome Boateng guilty of assaulting his ex-girlfriend.
His brother says he distanced himself from Jerome: “I don’t identify with the actions of my brother ... I have nothing to do with him anymore.”
But the footballing world hasn’t been quite so damning in their condemnation of the former World Cup winner. Boateng had signed for French side Lyon eight days before the ruling, and has appeared in all games they’ve played since. Even when his own brother has drawn the moral line, his club don’t appear to care.
Boateng’s is one in a string of recent cases involving sexual abuse or violence against women by footballers. Manchester United have signed Ronaldo and hosted Ryan Giggs in their Directors’ Box within the last month. The pair are accused of rape and numerous counts of domestic violence respectively.
In 2018, Ronaldo admitted that Kathryn Mayorga, his accuser, “said no and stop several times” during sex. The criminal case has been dropped but a civil case continues. Giggs, a man whose own father refuses to say his name, has pleaded not guilty to charges of actual bodily harm and common assault by two women.
Man City defender Benjamin Mendy awaits trial accused of four counts of rape and one of sexual assault. Meanwhile, the entire board of the Icelandic FA, the KSI, resigned over sexual assault accusations against several players.
Schalke FC tried to sign striker Sergi Enrich: he holds a twoyear suspended prison sentence for filming a sex act without the woman’s consent and posting it online.
But Schalke terminated their interest in Enrich only after public outcry. The Icelandic board had seen accusations in 2017 and allegedly chose to ignore them. Mendy played for a year after accusations were first made.
An ‘I’m sorry I was caught’ culture is very clear across the footballing world, and the seemingly wilful ignorance of accusations against players is indicative of a total lack of respect and support for victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence in men’s football.
This must change. Given their incredibly significant social and emotional impact on society, men’s football clubs have a moral responsibility to lead by example in how they handle sexual abuse and domestic violence cases.
Football clubs can afford to suspend players at the first sign of accusations: it would send a clear signal that they stand with victims and genuinely care, rather than only care because the accusations have gone public.
It would suggest that moral issues take precedence over Premier League points. A hardline stance on the perpetrators of sexual abuse and violence against women could have a massive impact on male views of it.
When there are accusations against footballers that we still see on our pitches every weekend, there should be weekly public outcry. But there isn’t.
We must believe Kathryn Mayorga and force football to lead by example in how it handles violence against women.
SportSport Mixed start for Durham Women ahead of momentous Manchester United cup clash
Jonny Tiplady
Sport Editor
Durham Women FC have been one of the local community’s brightest sparks of the past few years. Finishing as runners-up in their league last year, and nearly winning promotion several times, it seems a rise to the Women’s Super League is inevitable.
Their start to the 2021/22 campaign has been mixed, but mostly positive so far. The Wildcats started the season at Maiden Castle with a 2-1 victory over newly-promoted Watford. They followed this up with an uncharacteristic 3-1 loss at Sheffield United, one of last year’s fellow high-fliers. Iris Achterhof, now no longer with the club, scored a consolation goal against the Blades.
But Lee Sanders’ side were back to their usual selves against Charlton Athletic. A clean sheet and a 2-0 home win followed, meaning they sit fourth in the league, just a point behind the pacesetters, Sunderland. Defender Kathryn Hill scored the pick of the goals with a stunning strike, the ball sitting up nicely on the edge of the box. Beth Hepple wrapped up another three points from the spot after a handball in the Charlton box.
Goals so far have not been an issue, but a relatively leaky defence (five scored and four conceded in their first three). Hepple, all-time leading scorer ever present as the side’s lethal offensive apex, is currently joint top-scorer with two goals.
Aside from the usual league drama, Durham Women have the exciting prospect of hosting Manchester United at Maiden Castle on October 14. Completing the FA Cup group are fellow WSL sides Leicester City and Everton, as well as Manchester City after their Champions League shortcomings. With all sides competing in the league above Durham, it promises to be a very tough, but captivating group.
Manchester United, led by new head coach Marc Skinner, have enjoyed a perfect start to their WSL campaign. After narrowly missing out on Champions League football last year, they come with a point to prove. But their two wins from two show that they mean business early in the season.
Regardless, captain Sarah Wilson still fancies the side’s chances. She said, “We have got a ridiculously tough group. But on our day, especially at home, I feel like we can play and compete with anyone.”
They have certainly proven that over the years; the last time Durham Women hosted Manchester United two seasons ago, they ran out 3-1 winners. “You just have to be confident and go for it”, she adds.
It is easy to get involved with the club, and they value having fans back after so long. With games taking place at Maiden Castle, your weekend’s activities could well be sorted. You could even choose to sponsor a player.
Fixture tickets can be bought at the turnstiles. With other big ties on the horizon, as well as a league campaign with much promise, games at Maiden Castle are certainly not to be missed this year.
Durham Women next face Lewed at Maiden Castle them face Lewes on Sunday. If you’re looking to watch some top quality football around Durham, then look no further than the Wildcats.
DWFC Schedule 2021/22
Durham 2-0 Watford Sheffield 3-1 Durham Durham 2-0 Charlton
29/08 05/09 12/09
Bristol City vs Durham Durham vs Lewes Sunderland vs Durham Durham vs Man Utd Durham vs London City Man City vs Durham Crystal Palace vs Durham
26/09 03/10 10/10 14/10 31/10 04/11 07/11
From Klute to Tokyo: Durham students and alumni shine in a full summer of sporting success
Abi Curran Sport Editor
Easter term may have ended in June for Durham University, alongside a whole host of BUCS seasons. But that did not stop Durham students and alumni alike achieving sporting success over the summer period.
Durham boasted its fair share of students of past and present at the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games with some going a step further and grabbing medal-winning headlines.
Perhaps the most notable success was Fiona Crackles’ bronze medal gain with Team GB Women’s Hockey. The Sports and Exercise student began the full-time training programme for GB Hockey mid-way through the academic year and becomes the only Durham student currently studying at the university to win an Olympic medal.
A record number of Durham stars headed to Tokyo
Following her Team GB debut in October, Crackles featured in every GB international match leading to a nomination for the FIH Hockey Stars Award.
Over in the men’s hockey, two Durham alumni represented Team GB in their Tokyo 2020 campaign. History graduate Jack Waller and Sports, Exercise and Physical Activity graduate, Ollie Payne both wore the lion crest. Although their runin to an Olympic
Olympic men’s quadruple sculls, coming second to a world recordsetting Netherlands side. The former Team Durham Sportsman of the Year came fifth in the same event in Rio 2016 and went from strength Benjamin to strength to medal in medal was cut short by played a 24-run Tokyo. Despite much a 3-1 loss in the quarter match-winning success there was also finals against India, innings in The disappointment. Matt Rossiter, in the men’s coxless four, alongside Sholto Carnegie, Oliver Cook and Rory Gibbs, could only manage fourth in a race their Games proved to be an encouraging indicator for the future with some solid group stage victories. Hundred
Waller and Crackles both where Team GB have bagged gold come from Great Britain’s Elite in every Olympics since Athens Development Programme that 2004. targets youth talent in a bid to Competing at the highest level help develop international stars proved tough for the four whose of the future. boat appeared to veer sharply off
In the Paralympics, Durham course coming into the last few alumna Gemma Collis-McCann hundred metres. Matt and Angus featured on the first and second were also joined by two other day of the Games in the individual Durham alumni, James Harris sabre and the épeé. and Dan Moore, who formed part
Although defeated on the of the Team GB rowing coaching opening day, Collis-McCann, team. who took up fencing during her There were a record number time at Durham, is now a three of Durham stars that headed to time Paralympian and is eagerly Tokyo in the summer, both as part preparing for Paris 2024. of Team GB and further afield,
Over in the men’s rowing, such as former MSc Management Angus Groom bagged silver in the student Eli Schenkel – he made his Olympic debut and represented Team Canada in the individual and team foil fencing event.
Summer also brought the new cricket tournament, The Hundred, with Durham students again taking the limelight. DUWCC’s success story Cordelia Griffith became a regular for Manchester Originals, while recent graduate, Chris Benjamin relished in his personal achievements with the Birmingham Pheonix. This was following his 60-run innings for the Birmingham Bears in the T20.
The former DU first XI captain scored an impressive 24 matchwinning runs against London Spirit and has since received praise from the greats of Moeen Ali, Kevin Pietersen and former Durham student and cricket legend, Nasser Hussain.
Benjamin described to Palatinate how his opportunity over the summer was a great chance “to entertain people”, a very fitting way to summarise the Durham stars’ success. Their achievements are a testament to their individual capabilities and Durham’s successful sporting programmes that attract the country’s best.
Sport “The pendulum has swung” for women in F1
Sport talks to Durham alumna and Formula 1 commentator and presenter Rosanna Tennant
Mary Atkinson
Deputy Sport Editor “I was in the Williamson building at St Mary’s. I remember looking out onto this little patch of grass outside my room and [BBC newsreader] Sophie Raworth rang me and was like ‘Oh, I’ll help you decide whether to go to City or Cardiff’ ... I always have a real memory of that little bit of Durham, in my room at Williamson talking to Sophie Raworth”, Rosanna Tennant reflects fondly on her time as a Durham undergrad. We discussed her journey from Durham to today in the run up to July’s Hungarian Grand Prix, albeit over Zoom in a typically Covid-19 era fashion.
Tennant studied French and Spanish at St Mary’s College from 2006-2010, before going on to study Broadcast Journalism at City University of London, which she described as “basically like pretending to be on TV and radio every week, we would do a radio show one week, a TV show one week”.
She now presents and commentates for Formula 1 and works at the annual Wimbledon championships. She’d always wanted to be a newsreader as a child and read the news for Purple Radio whilst at Durham, which gave her a first real taste of broadcast journalism.
She credits work experience with Sky for her current career path, saying “while I was on the sports desk, they said ‘oh, would you like to go with John Desborough (one of the presenters at the time) to do a little filming day, he’s going to be interviewing Jenson Button and Sir Stirling Moss at … the Hilton on Park Lane … so I went along, watched John during his interview and presenting and I was like ‘that looks like exactly what I’d like to do’”.
But her journey into presenting was not that straightforward. After graduating from City, she worked in sponsorship sales for nine months, before moving on to work for shoe shop Oliver Sweeney in PR, Marketing and Communications. Mercedes probably wasn’t going to be another option again, so I got in touch with F1 and in 2017 started working directly for F1 as well as still doing stuff with the agency and Mercedes and Rolex.”
Since her break into the motorsport world, Tennant has worked in the Formula 1 paddock. Jokingly comparing the relationships built in the “busy” environment to Durham she said, “what’s strange about it is we kind of call it the circus, because it’s all the same people just going around to all the different races, so you know everyone, which is kind of weird to have colleagues that aren’t colleagues but are kind of colleagues. Because you know I don’t work necessarily for Alpine or Ferrari, but yet you’re all in the same place the whole time … you can’t walk for like even a meter - it’s a bit like being in Durham - without seeing someone that you know”.
This wasn’t where she thought she was heading. “I remember when I took the job at the shoe shop back in 2012, I remember thinking ‘oh, this is taking me off my path of being a broadcast journalist, being a presenter.’
“But actually, it kind of sounds a bit arrogant now, but you know I kind of made it work. I was like wait; how can I make the best of the situation?”. Her solution was to create a series in which she interviewed friends of the brand and produced video content.
When asked how she would advise her younger self, she circled back on these experiences, with an almost philosophical yet relatable response: “everything’s gonna be okay. Don’t worry and even if you don’t get asked to do something, or accepted onto a course, or given a job that you wanted, don’t worry because, even if that doesn’t come off, more often than not it’s not the right thing … it sounds a bit cliched but something else will fill that gap … I think Steve Jobs always says, ‘the dots all join up looking backwards’”.
Everything came together for Tennant when she entered the motorsport world presenting for YouTube channel Pole Position, alongside sports agency work on the Rolex and Mercedes F1 team accounts. She created all the teams’ video content, which “slowly shifted to me actually presenting their content in 2015” and hosting their hospitality suites.
This eventually led to working for Formula 1 themselves. “At the end of 2016 I realised that doing the hospitality hosting with
In 2020, she also became a commentator for F1TV. “It was an opportunity that came up purely because my lovely friend Alex Jacques got an opportunity at Channel 4, which left a big gaping hole in our commentary set up at F1, on something we call the pit lane channel. F1 asked me if I would like to take on that role, and I said yes, because … why not try something new”.
Despite having worked previous events such as Henley Regatta, (where Tennant was able to draw upon her experience of
Rosanna Tennant interviewing Lewis Hamilton (Rosanna Tennant/Mario Renzi) rowing at Durham) she described commentating as a new challenge.
Her first race in the commentary box, the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, certainly wasn’t the easiest start. A race now infamous for one of the worst crashes in recent history, with Romain Grosjean’s car catching fire in an opening lap incident.
Later, Tennant led the first allfemale F1 commentary team and remains one of the few female voices currently present in F1 commentary. This is perhaps unsurprising given the sport’s male-dominated image.
However, Tennant and I both agreed that things are beginning to shift. Formula 1 is becoming more diverse – “I do feel like the pendulum has swung”. She noted the strong female presence in the paddock in 2021, “I lead the commentary for F1, we’ve got a female hosting paddock club stuff, we’ve got a female who’s hosting track TV” and spoke about her own experiences positively “I’ve never ever experienced anything … I’ve never ever felt intimidated or worried”.
We moved on with a hopeful outlook for the future, which can be backed up through initiatives such as W Series, The Hamilton Commission and the FIA’s and Motorsport UK’s Girls on Track initiative, which Tennant works with to coach young girls.
She said that coaching was one of the areas of her job most affected by Covid-19, alongside the bizarreness of working from home, which for Tennant included interviewing drivers such as seven-time world-champion Lewis Hamilton: “suddenly firing up a Zoom and it saying, ‘Lewis Hamilton joining Zoom’… it was quite weird because he would see where I was”. As we talked about her now decade-long career journey, a deep appreciation for those who had helped her was evident, alongside a visible love for her job. Reflecting on some of her favourite moments to date, she mentioned “I was really lucky to host the 2022 Formula 1 car launch, which was mega” and “one year, I had a lap of Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia with Lewis Hamilton. He drove me around the circuit, and it was my job to interview him, while we’re going around… I’ve been really spoiled over the years”. Tennant displayed an admirable attitude throughout the interview, which made it clear how she got to where she is today. “It’s been hard graft, but I still feel like I’m hard grafting to still keep going. It’s not like oh brilliant, I work for them I’m sort of done…. And I’d imagine that that goes on forever for everyone, you’re never at the top of the ladder”.
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Sport
Mary Atkinson speaks to F1 commentator Rosanna Tennant
Jonny Tiplady previews the tough fixture list of Durham Women FC
Your guide to Durham sport
From college socials to national battles, Sport shows how to get involved in Durham’s sporting scene What the BUCS?
Harvey Stevens
Deputy Sport Editor Team Durham compete in the British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) league, with over 50 different sports on offer. ‘BUCS Points’ are totalled up from all sports competing and compiled into a league. The 2020-21 season was scrapped due to Covid-19 and the 2019-20 season was suspended in March with the points table voided. Before the suspension of play, Durham had come second in the overall BUCS rankings in seven of the previous eight seasons.
Durham prides itself on being the number one team sports university. One team to look out for this season is the men’s rugby team, who will be looking to retain the title of BUCS champions. With the return of spectators post-lockdown, watching the rugby team is always a thrilling occasion. Whether they are playing at Maiden Castle or at Durham City Rugby Club near the Racecourse, be sure to head down to watch the club in action. The wealth of sporting options that Team Durham offers means that competing against other universities is easier than ever to get involved with. The majority of clubs accept new members of all abilities and experience, so throw yourself into something new: you will find at today’s freshers’ fair in Maiden Castle.
Durham’s Sunday League
George Simms
Sport Editor Whilst BUCS is Durham’s Premier League, college sport is a lot more like Sunday League. There are few feats more impressive than watching someone who’s gone to bed at 5am on eight pints and half a bottle of tequila whip a free kick into the top corner at 8am the next morning, but that’s the real heart of college sport. Often as much about the social side as the sports themselves, college sport is a great way to get exercise, meet new people and just have fun.
All colleges have teams in pretty much all mainstream sports. Some smaller colleges, like St. Chad’s and St. John’s for example, set up joint teams to make sure they’ve got the numbers to compete with bigger colleges like Collingwood and Van Mildert. Training tends to be one night a week, with either weekly or biweekly socials for most clubs too. You get as much out of college sport as you choose to put in. If you want to play your sports to a high level, but don’t have the time, or inclination, to play at BUCS level, then the standard of Ateam college sport is usually still very high, with a lot of teams still training multiple times a week. However, if all you’re looking for is a game at the weekend, or even just a chance to meet some new people, then college sport is brilliant at catering for a variety of abilities and levels of caring. Collingwood famously put out football teams from A-M and a lot of colleges have five or more darts teams. If you join one of the more niche sports, like Fives or Quidditch, you can boast about making a University team with minimal effort. It’s never too late to get involved in your college sports teams and you’ll never lose anything but just turning up to training to see what it’s like.
All college sports teams are entered into leagues, where they play teams of a similar level from other colleges. The pinnacle of college sport is the Floodlit Cup, played throughout first and second term. The semis and final normally become a big event for the colleges involved, with hundreds of students heading down to Maiden Castle (or MC) for a night under the hallowed lights.
Varsity Blues
Abi Curran
Sport Editor The term ‘varsity’ may be familiar to many in the field of early 2000s chick flick films or even the trendy jacket. But at Durham, varsity is the sporting pride and joy of the University and its colleges. Each sports club within Durham enters teams to play head to heads in their respective sports. The teams compete against rival university clubs in a league to determine the winner. Over the years, Durham has played host to Northern rivals York and also the sporting titans of the university sphere, Loughborough. The phrase ‘got to beat Loughborough’ is well worn in Durham, and it is this competitive edge that carries into
(Rosie Bromiley)
college varsity. College varsity boasts sporting excellence, pride and, let’s say, an unpredictable range of results. From badminton to hockey, rugby to ultimate frisbee, varsity is definitely something to get involved with. Not to mention intercollegiate rivalry, where each college is paired off with their own varsity rival. One of these rivalries is the historic Castle-Hatfield sporting feud, and other more recent battles on the hill have their own competitive flare, just like that between Josephine Butler and Stephenson. Above all, college varsity brings about a real sense of community within each college.
What you really need to know
George Simms
Sport Editor
Wednesday night is the sports clubs’ traditional night out. You’ll see hordes of students in fancy dress, often chanting the name of an obscure club to try and put any potential authorities off the scent. To the 35 blokes dressed as nu ns rolling down the Bailey, we know you’re not ‘Chad’s Ping Pong’. Despite the University’s efforts, initiations, or ‘welcome drinks’, are still very much a part of sporting life in Durham. Whilst they can be a lot of fun if done right, don’t do anything you’re not comfortable with. Know your boundaries and limits and make sure other people respect them. Your favourite sport hasn’t made it to Durham yet? You can apply to Team Durham, or your college, to get a team set up in whichever sport you love. Just last year, Durham University Floorball Society was founded, and an eSports team has recently become part of Team Durham. University is a great place to try pick up a new sport or hobby: it can massively enrich your university experience and is one of the best ways to make friends. From Ultimate Frisbee to Polo, Durham has something for everyone. If in doubt, try everything and see what sticks!
