Learn English through sports.

The 2019-2020 Premier League season kicks-off this Saturday and my beloved West Ham United start their campaign against Newcastle United at the London Stadium. It's no secret that West Ham has a very loyal fan base and that they are extremely vocal on match day supporting the team.  However as we approach the seasons start, no further additions to the playing squad have been made.  Considering we finished a disappointing 16th place just five points off the relegation zone, it is clear the squad needs to bring in some better players to avoid relegation fears creeping in again this year.   Fans of the club on social media are quite frankly "at war" with the current owners of the club, David Sullivan and David Gold for not investing any money into the squad to get some signings over the line .  Just last week they sold one of our most promising youngsters Grady Diangana who has been at the club since he was 10 to a relegation rival in West Bromwich A...

On the 16th of August my two sons Jacob and Jack and I  attended a home game between Gyeongnam FC and Chungnam Asan in the Korean Professional football league.  The number of COVID 19 cases was in double digits so the league was allowing 30 percent of the stadiums'  capacity to be allocated by supporters. Firstly, you couldn't buy tickets on the day, you had to purchase the tickets online through a specific website.  Once you had bought the tickets, the website will send you a link to be scanned by Gyeongnam ticket officers on the day of the game.  The tickets we selected had to be spread out evenly, with each person sitting three seats apart from one another, due to social distancing measures.  My sons and I decided on sitting in a triangle shape.  To the day itself of the game.  There were strict measures of just getting to the stadium in passing certain government protocols .  First of all, there was a temperature check (yo...

The Premier League in England returned to action following a 100-day absence due to COVID-19.  The first fixture to be played was Aston Villa against Sheffield United at 6pm UK time.  All the games globally are still playing behind closed doors .  The game ended 0-0 but it was filled with controversy .  In the 42nd minute, the visitors should have been ahead going into half-time as Oliver Norwood's deep free-kick was fumbled over the line by Villa goalkeeper Orjan Nyland.  In this modern era  referees have a watch that vibrates on their wrists to indicate that the ball had fully gone over the line.  On this occasion the referee  Michael Oliver's watch did not vibrate.  Goal-line technology had failed.  Photo credit:  Skysports.com In the later game that evening at 8:15pm UK time, current champions Manchester City were playing Arsenal.  It was a routine victory for the home side 3-0.   However th...

For me to support West Ham United was a strange decision considering my Dad was a huge Chelsea fan and my grandfather was a Charlton Athletic supporter.  My first ever game was going to the Valley (home of Charlton) to watch them play.  I can't remember the opposition .    From my vague memory, the main reason I started liking the Hammers was due to the colours of their kit .  Growing up I loved the colours blue and maroon.  I was visiting my family friends house when West Ham was live on the television.   They won that day and that's where my love for the Irons came from. West Ham United is situated in East London and they currently play in the Premier League.  They were founded in 1895 and were originally called "Thames Ironworks", but five years later they changed to West Ham United.  They played at Upton Park since 1904 but more recently in 2016 moved to play at the Olympic Stadium in nearby Stratford.  The move has caused cri...

After months of uncertainty, football all over the world is slowly returning to some sense of normality.   The K League in South Korea was one of the first major leagues to start on May 8th.  Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Suwon Samsung Bluewings kicked things off and the game was screened all over the world in over twenty countries worldwide.  It was the first time in the league's history a professional game was shown on the British Broadcasting Co-operation (BBC) with English commentary.  It was viewed by over 3.5 million people on a live twitter feed.  With millions more watching through other media outlets .  The game itself didn't live up to the hype with the home side Jeonbuk winning 1-0 with 41-year-old Lee Dong-gook with the only goal with just five minutes remaining.   The measures took by the K League to make sure the game was safely carried out were very strict .  No spectators were allowed in the stadium with every member of p...