On a sadder note, did anyone read about John Hartson? Guy's in a very bad way with metastatic testicular cancer (this is not a joke BTW). He was completely barking mad when he played for us Gooners as a young man, but I was there when he scored the equaliser for us in the Cup Winner's Cup final in Paris (unfortunately the night Nayim did his party piece from the half-way line). It was a bit of a blur and Wrighty was celebrating so much, we at first thought he had scored it (rather than got the assist). A real character as a player, a rarity. Thoughts go out to him and his family.

Quote: Tim Walker @ July 17 2009, 12:48 AM BST

On a sadder note, did anyone read about John Hartson? Guy's in a very bad way with metastatic testicular cancer (this is not a joke BTW). He was completely barking mad when he played for us Gooners as a young man, but I was there when he scored the equaliser for us in the Cup Winner's Cup final in Paris (unfortunately the night Nayim did his party piece from the half-way line). It was a bit of a blur and Wrighty was celebrating so much, we at first thought he had scored it (rather than got the assist). A real character as a player, a rarity. Thoughts go out to him and his family.

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Yeah. He goes to the doctor with a bad headache and then all this stuff is discovered.

I remember him as an 18 year-old at Luton when they got to the FA Cup semi-final in 1994 - how times change. Get well soon John!

I read it was brain cancer. Sad news indeed.

Newcastle United supporter, for better or worse...

Quote: Nil Putters @ July 17 2009, 6:21 AM BST

I read it was brain cancer. Sad news indeed.

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Awful news about Hartson, seems a thoroughly dead on bloke. Looks very bad indeed for the lad, but sincerely hope he's able to pull through. Really puts things into perspective, though he's in his mid-30's which is still very young.

Quote: Tim Walker @ July 17 2009, 12:48 AM BST

On a sadder note, did anyone read about John Hartson? Guy's in a very bad way with metastatic testicular cancer (this is not a joke BTW). He was completely barking mad when he played for us Gooners as a young man, but I was there when he scored the equaliser for us in the Cup Winner's Cup final in Paris (unfortunately the night Nayim did his party piece from the half-way line). It was a bit of a blur and Wrighty was celebrating so much, we at first thought he had scored it (rather than got the assist). A real character as a player, a rarity. Thoughts go out to him and his family.

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Aye, terrible. The poor chap seems to be riddled with it. Not great.

I support Fulham, but have - to varying degrees and reasons - a soft spot for Celtic, Everton, Liverpool, AFC Wimbledon and Sutton United.

Other (foreign) clubs whose results I look out for:

Napoli
Feyenoord
Deportivo La Coruna

Obviously I'd like to see those teams faring well in their leagues, but it's never going to matter to me anywhere near as much as my own football club. Come matchdays only Newcastle United matters.

Aye, I'm similar to that. I look for the other teams results, but only Fulham losing ruins my weekend and means I don't watch MOTD or read the Sunday newspaper.

I'm a very mature person.

I support Bradford City.

Eight years ago we beat Chelsea 2-0 in the Premier League. This week, we're trialling a hairdresser. Trufax.

Dan

Quote: Chappers @ July 17 2009, 12:40 AM BST

Why have FC United replaced Hyde United in your affections?

My team is Sutton United. Recently got my season ticket and I'm a Vice President this season too for the sum of £190.

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My Dad only watched them because he knew the manager. When I was a lad, I went home and away with them for a good four seasons, but when the manager left, my Dad didn't want to watch them anymore and I was too young at the time to go to the matches on my own, but with the 2005 set up of FC United of Manchester, being a fan of Man United and non-league football, it was a perfect oppotunity for me to go to some matches and since have become quite a supporter.

And yes, terrible news about John Hartson. Just shows how important it is to check them testicles every once in a while.

Quote: Tim Walker @ July 17 2009, 12:48 AM BST

On a sadder note, did anyone read about John Hartson? Guy's in a very bad way with metastatic testicular cancer (this is not a joke BTW). He was completely barking mad when he played for us Gooners as a young man, but I was there when he scored the equaliser for us in the Cup Winner's Cup final in Paris (unfortunately the night Nayim did his party piece from the half-way line). It was a bit of a blur and Wrighty was celebrating so much, we at first thought he had scored it (rather than got the assist). A real character as a player, a rarity. Thoughts go out to him and his family.

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That is terrible news. We loved Hartson in our household as he was a big ginger nutter who played his heart out in every game.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/footballnation/football-news/2009/07/17/sister-s-emotional-appeal-on-site-supporting-john-hartson-91466-24173982/

Quote: Renegade Carpark @ July 17 2009, 12:21 PM BST

That is terrible news. We loved Hartson in our household as he was a big ginger nutter who played his heart out in every game.

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We all remember his infamous incident with Eyal Berkovic.

It does seem like a very difficult cancer for John to survive, but the Tour De France cyclist Lance Armstrong survived the same thing about fifteen years ago i.e. cancer in the brain, lung and testicle.

JH - One of wales' ray of hopes (along with Bellamy and Davies) during the period we were beginning to compete with Italy and Germany (however brief that flirtation was with almost qualifying for Euro 2004).

Hope he gets well.

I support: Man Utd, sorry.

Teams I have soft spots for: Man City (my brothers' team); Derby; Forest (for the Clough era); Wales and the other UK international teams; Tottenham (my childhood team simply because I liked a tiny leather-bound souvenier book of piccies for a keyring. I bought it despite having no keys.)

Teams I hate (with an irrationality): Liverpool (Keegan's hair and my sisters' loved the team); Leeds; all German, French, Italian, and Spanish teams (national and international, my irrationality makes no distinction).

I quite like Arsenal but it's below my soft spot selection.

How about this for an FA Cup Last 16? I did this as a random draw - who would get through to the next round? If we get a consenus I'll do a quarter-finals and so on.

Derby County (1975) v Nottingham Forest (1979)
Manchester City (1976) v Liverpool (1988)
Arsenal (2004) v Leicester City (2000)
Ipswich Town (1981) v Aston Villa (1981)
Manchester United (2009) v Everton (1985)
Leeds United (1974) v West Ham (1980)
Tottenham Hotspur (1982) v Chelsea (2005)
Newcastle United (1996) v Blackburn Rovers (1995)

All the teams I remember seeing play on TV or live and with the exception of Newcastle, all have won a trophy. They were too good back then to leave out and I don't remember them from 1969 when they won the old Fairs Cup.

There were some other teams I'd liked to have put in such as Southampton and Watford from the early 80s and Norwich and Sheffield Wednesday from about 1993 but I wanted to have them with silverware. Newcastle were the best of the ones that didn't make it - I'm sure others will shout me down.