Wimbledon may be over, but it's not too late to get your hands on a copy of my latest book 'The Wimbledon Anthology: Tales, Trivia, Facts and Figures from the World's Oldest Tennis Tournament'. Available from all good bookshops (and Amazon) right now.

Always amuses & saddens me in equal measure how quickly tennis gets forgotten about in the UK once Wimbledon is over. Yesterday, mad for it. Today, tumbleweed. Never forget folks - tennis is for life, not just a fortnight.

What's your favourite all-time Wimbledon moment? I tried to cover as many as possible in my latest book 'The Wimbledon Anthology', but it's a tough call. I don't know about 'favourite' but John McEnroe's infamous 1981 outburst on Court 1 remains, for me, the most memorable.

True story. Wimbledon, 1982. John McEnroe is practising guitar in his hotel room, playing ‘Suffragette City’ & ‘Rebel Rebel’. There's a knock on the door - it's David Bowie. "Come up and have a drink," says Bowie to a stunned McEnroe. "Just don’t bring your guitar."

Imagine two Brits meeting across the net in a Wimbledon ladies' singles final. Incredibly, it actually happened in 1961 when Angela Mortimer from Devon took on (and beat) Essex girl Christine Truman, and I've told the whole story in this month's 'Best of British' magazine.

It's 149 years today since the first Wimbledon Championships got underway - not at its present location but across town at The All England Club's old home at Worple Road, with 22 men paying a guinea each to take part. Not until 1884 did the ladies get a competition of their own.

Good morning from Wimbledon. It's 30 years to the day since Cliff Richard took over the Royal Box at The All England Club. The surrealist Centre Court performance of all time, without a doubt.

"There's something about the tradition and history of Wimbledon that makes it so special. It's like playing in a cathedral of tennis." - Rafael Nadal, taken from my new book 'The Wimbledon Anthology', out now & published by Pitch Publishing

Despite being Patron of The All England Club, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II didn’t really ‘do’ Wimbledon. The third of her four trips to SW19 came on 1 July 1977 when she sat through Virginia Wade’s singles triumph over Betty Stove, presenting ‘Ginny’ with the trophy afterwards.

Good morning everyone from Wimbledon.

'It was a hot afternoon, the last day of June, and the sun was a demon' So go the opening words to 'Summer' (The First Time)' which Bobby Goldsboro, the man who wrote and sang the song, gave me permission to use in my 2018 book 'Bloody Southerners'. Thank you Bobby.

Wimbledon has the largest collection of tennis books & periodicals in the world courtesy of The Kenneth Ritchie Wimbledon Library, situated next to the museum at The All England Club. And here's the latest addition!

Wimbledon has arrived! And with it comes my latest book called 'The Wimbledon Anthology: Tales, Trivia, Facts and Figures from the World's Oldest Tennis Tournament'. Available now from all good bookshops (and Amazon).

Forty-three years I've been going to Wimbledon, 23 of them as a working journalist. .....and this is the result. 'The Wimbledon Anthology: Tales, Trivia, Facts and Figures from the World's Oldest Tennis Tournament' - out now, written by me, and published by Pitch Publishing.

Of the 279 players who competed at the FIFA 1950 World Cup in Brazil, only one played for a club based outside his own country. That man was George Robledo of Chile, and that club was Newcastle United. Even better, there's now a book out about him!

"Wimbledon is the only major that feels like it did 100 years ago." - Chris Evert, taken from my new book 'The Wimbledon Anthology', out now & published by Pitch.

The Damned United is on BBC1 tonight. I wasn't sold on the book but enjoyed the film, even if it played fast & loose with the real story of how Brian Clough & Peter Taylor came to be at Brighton & Hove Albion, something I sought to put right in my 2018 book 'Bloody Southerners'.

My piece in today's Daily Express about Ray Wilson, so often the forgotten member of England's World Cup winning side of 1966, who went on to become an undertaker in his home town of Huddersfield. High time this man's contribution to sport, and life, came in from the cold.

On this day in 1953 George Robledo, the first overseas star of English football, made his debut for Colo-Colo after returning to Chile from Newcastle United, scoring twice in a 4-0 win over Ferrobadminton at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago (pictured here, centre, prior to kick).

And so the curtain comes down on my twenty-second season as a feature writer for the Brighton & Hove Albion match day programme. It's a tangible memory of attending a football game, is a printed programme. Get them while you can, because one day they'll be consigned to history.

To quote John McEnroe, 'You cannot be serious!' Yes, yours truly has another book out. Welcome to the world 'The Wimbledon Anthology: Tales, Trivia, Facts and Figures from the World's Oldest Tennis Tournament', available from today & published by Pitch Publishing

She's been here four weeks partaking in The Football Association's commemorations/celebrations surrounding the centenary of her father George Robledo's birth. And today she leaves us. Thank you, Elizabeth Robledo, for yet another memorable visit to the UK. Vamos Jorge, always....

Great to read this in the Newcastle Utd v West Ham Utd match programme. My thanks to Paul Joannou, Newcastle's club historian, for the kind words and to Elizabeth Robledo, daughter of George Robledo, for gracing us with her presence over the past three weeks. It's been a blast!

Seventy-four years after her dad George Robledo scored the winning goal for Newcastle United in the FA Cup final, Elizabeth Robledo returns to Wembley Stadium from her home in Chile for this year's showdown between Manchester City and Chelsea.

"I never knew what it meant, but it always sounded terrific when sung by the supporters. You couldn't mistake it for anything else." - George Robledo, Newcastle United's Chilean international & scorer of the winning goal in the 1952 FA Cup final, recalls 'The Blaydon Races'

'The FA Cup final is like no other game in the world. I have been told of famous stars unable to lace their own boots because their hands were shaking so much.' - Ken Sheppard, sports writer on The Journal in the 1950s (taken from 'Postcards From Santiago', my biography of George Robledo)

On 14 May 1953 George Robledo, widely recognised as the first overseas star of English football, left London Airport to return to Chile having been signed by Colo-Colo from Newcastle United. A crowd of over 2,000 people were at Los Cerrillos Airport in Santiago to welcome him.

The story of the Chilean boy who became the first overseas star of English football, brought to you by a Welsh-based writer with a Norwegian surname. 'Postcards From Santiago - The George Robledo Story' by Spencer Vignes, out now from @bitebackpublishing.bsky.social

Elizabeth Robledo, daughter of George Robledo, the first overseas star of English football, returns to Oakwell where her father's career began in the 1940s prior to him signing for Newcastle United in 1949. Thanks to everyone at @barnsleyfc.bsky.social who made us feel so welcome yesterday.

In Newcastle today filming with both BBC & ITV regions on the centenary of the birth of George Robledo, the first overseas star of English football (not that I ever need an excuse to visit this wonderful part of the world). Both should be on the box this evening. Howay the lad!