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Sunday, July 1, 2012

PAT'S FOOTBALL BLOG: VOTING AND VIEWING, THANKS AND PRAISE

June was not a noteworthy month for the Ireland team which took part in Euro 2012, but it seems that the Irish support gained the UEFA award for the best supporters, which was rather nice! Well done to the team (and staff) for their endeavours, and also to the supporters who made it out there and who raised merry hell! Both sets of people were a credit, as always.

Meanwhile, speaking of June, back at the Pat's Football Blog ranch, due to a mixture of Euro 2012 viewing and some rather bizarre work shifts, things have been rather inactive lately. The mainstream European football season has now ended (apart from in Ireland, parts of Eastern Europe and the Nordic countries), so there will be some items appearing which should have been covered from April onwards, even though the bizarre work shifts will be a part of personal life for a while to come.

Many apologies, therefore, to anyone wishing to read about news, and your correspondent's views, on Icelandic football and the credit-crunch, Ireland's Euro 2012 adventure, the outcome of the OFC Nations Cup, Fortuna Düsseldorf (and Pat's Football Blog's Away-Day), the VIVA World Cup, and Newry City's season, version 2011-12. All that, and more, will be forthcoming in due course - but be patient!

Pat's Football Blog pitched in for a place on the Best Male shortlist for the 2012 Football Blogging Awards, but did not garner enough votes, alas. Many congratulations to those blogs and websites which have been shortlisted in the various categories up for grabs, and the winners will be announced at a ceremony in Manchester on 14/7/11. Good luck to them all; there are some seriously good blogs out there, and, should you wish to peruse them, kindly go to the Categories page on the Football Blogging Awards website:

www.footballbloggingawards.co.uk

Many thanks to the two dozen or so people who voted for Pat's Football Blog (to the rest of you - where were you??); your support was much appreciated, and I hope it will continue into the future. I bow to you all. Thank you. Kindly spread the word to your nearest and dearest, and should anyone have ideas for any new articles, please do get in touch. I would be glad to hear from you, not to say delighted to have a crack at writing on a subject on your behalf.

Or, should you wish to contribute an article, that would also be warmly welcomed. In that case, please leave a message on the Pat's Football Blog page on Facebook, or via @PatsFballBlog on Twitter. Don't leave your light under a bushel! Thanks, too, to those of you who viewed the blog in June; personal bests were shattered for the most views received in a day, and those received in a month - over 2000!

Some good news with which to end this rather abrupt missive; the Help Billy Walk Appeal reached its original target of 50000 pounds recently. For those of you who know nothing about the appeal, which concerns itself with attempting to raise enough money to enable young Billy Douglas, who suffers from spastic diaplegia, to undergo a potentially life-changing operation, it was covered in an article a couple of months ago:

http://patmcguinness.blogspot.nl/2012/04/theres-appeal-in-box-help-billy-walk.html

The good news is that Billy will now be able to undergo the operation in Bristol, and not in the American city of St. Louis as was originally envisaged, at the end of July. The bad news is that several thousand pounds will still need to be raised to help financially assist Billy's family with post-operative care, and that means paying for physiotherapy, amongst other things. If you, dear reader, own a business or are working for one, and would like to help in some way, or at least find out more about what the appeal entails, kindly make contact with the Help Billy Walk Appeal on Facebook, or go to the appeal's website:

www.helpbillywalkappeal.co.uk

Speaking of which, many thanks to the following blogs/websites/Facebook pages which did their best, in their own sweet way, to try and help publicise the Help Billy Walk Appeal:

Friends of Liverpool FC
Footysphere
In Bed With Maradona
Football Supporters' Federation
Newry City FC

As said, the appeal is still ongoing, so any help (especially financial) would be ecstatically received. Well done to those who have contributed to the Help Billy Walk Appeal in one way or another. Thanks to those of you, too, who have contributed to this excuse of a blog during the season. And so one season ends, just as another has more or less started. Pat's Football Blog will continue to do it's best to follow the good, the bad and the plain obscure. Let's get Euro 2012 over and done with first, though, heh??






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