The Plashing Vole

As I gather my Vice-Chancellor is an avid reader of Plashing Vole, here some educational material for the benighted Black Cat:

Newcastle United has just announced that St. James' Park (which is next to a real park, with actual cows painted black and white to matc...

On Monday, the teaching period starts once more, as does the madness, the pressure and the excitement. No more quiet offices, no more slacki...

Appearances to the contrary, it's not all Maria Edgeworth and deconstruction here in Vole Towers: there's always room for the thrill...

As I mentioned, my beloved maternal grandmother passed away a couple of days ago (it's OK, I've got another one, and she's only ...

Here we go again. Disgracefully, the corporate seats which were denied to fans of the two teams are empty as their occupants hang around in ...

It's a weird situation - grandmother passed away 12 hours ago, the relatives contacted, and there's an odd lull in the proceedings -...

Most football journalists have spent the past few years mocking and sneering at Stoke City's 'anti-football' blah blah blah. I...

Well that was one of the most joyful 90 minutes of my life as a Stoke fan, of which there aren't many. We've just beaten Bolton , wh...

Another huge hit from the anonymous Poet of the Potteries, in honour of our FA Cup semi-final: I don't think Eminem has much to fear...

Yes, I'm waiting for the national media, my readers and my friends to apologise for the abuse heaped on my football team all season. T...

My good friend Gary has been clearing out his loft and sent me all the early 1970s football magazines with big features on mighty Stoke Cit...

My friends, I can't express how much fun it was to watch Stoke City play Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup yesterday. Emma and I wan...

As several of you have been requesting this post, I'll succumb. Yes, Stoke City played Manchester United yesterday. They also played a...

Time to tear myself away from the office, where I've been working, while keeping an eye on the Labour Party leadership hustings  and the...

The new season's fixtures are up for the Premiership football. My beloved Stoke has an easy start - away to so-called local 'rivals...

After Stoke City's rather one-sided encounter with Chelsea yesterday, I'm minded to paraphrase Emperor Hirohito's announcement ...

There's been a lot of talk recently about Lionel Messi recently. Is he the greatest footballer on earth? Despite being called Lionel? ...

Barney Ronay's Guardian column includes this nugget about Rory Delap, Stoke's Irish hero who is determined to remove the 'foot...

I return from my union meeting with another job - co-signatory on the funds. Not, unfortunately, a great opportunity for embezzlement: last ...