A year ago we saw football

A year ago was my last live football match, watching West Ham lose, very unluckily, 1-0 at Arsenal. Jeremy Ngakia was at right back, Sebastien Haller was up front and Antonio missed three golden chances — he was clearly never going to make it as a striker. Arsenal's winner was disallowed but then allowed by VAR. It looked likely that West Ham would go down back then. We drank in a pre-match pub with impunity and Nigel and his mate came over afterwards for a cup of tea afterwards. Strange times. A year on there might be no fans but at least order as been restored and we're above the north London Librarians, while Liverpool have just lost six home games in a row. Great progress has been made by Moyes and his men and we might even get to see the Irons in the flesh by next season.

The programme's progress

National crisis averted. My West Ham versus Arsenal programme has arrived, promptly dispatched by Programme Master. The sellers at the London Stadium seem to be selling out by 2.45pm (has no-one told the printers we now get 60,000?) and this left me in danger of crashing out of the stadium with no programme. Ordering it online cost me £1.95 in postage, but it was worth it as getting a programme is one of this May's red lines. Without a programme the game wouldn't have counted and West Ham would still be on 28 points…

Wilshere's tale of woe

Quite an insightful piece by James Olley on Jack Wilshere in the Evening Standard this week. His ankle problems seemed to start with a hairline fracture of his ankle when he was 16. He was told to cure it through rest over that summer, but later discovered it hadn't healed properly. He then got a kick on the same ankle which required surgery at the end of the 2010-11 season. The piece also points to the fact that he played 54 games in 2010-11 when he was just 19. Since then he's been on and off the treatment table and often rushed back too soon. 

He's looked like a poor West Ham signing with that injury record, but you've got to feel sorry for Wilshere too. For a professional athlete it's never easy when your body won't function properly, as Andy Murray has just found out. Let's hope his last chance at recovery finally succeeds.