Gareth Bale is home. In England. Even though he’s Welsh and lives in Spain. But ‘home’ is where the heart is. Not necessarily his heart, that’s probably in Cardiff or Swansea or Anglesey. But my heart. And those of all other Spurs fans. So much so that he chose that very symbol as his personal goal celebration. Ok, he used it in Madrid too, not as often, but he didn’t really mean it over there. You could tell. I could tell. But in anticipation of his possibly playing tomorrow, I thought I’d better decide if he’s any good. Or rather, how good he was, back in the day. The Spurs day. And YouTube found me his 10 best goals. And so, for all Spurs fans (even those who purportedly support other teams but deep down wish they could outwardly support Spurs, like most Arsenal fans, half the Man United fans, that’s the ones who live in north London, hopefully no Chelsea fans, otherwise we’re very welcoming) I can tell you that Bale was every bit as wonderful as we remember. Better even.

The 25 yard, 30 yard wonderstrikes I’m sure his left foot can still achieve. And there were many. But a lot of his goals were about the speed, the power, the sheer Bale-ness of not just driving at the opposition but totally steamrollering past them (to mix my metaphors) like a Ferrari. And I can’t help but wonder if he can still do that. Because he’s 7 years older. And footballing years, due to injuries and the strains, are like dog years. They’re worth 7 of ours. So although he’s only 31, in footballing years he’s 73.

The number one of his top 10 goals, according to YouTube, was scored against West Ham. Coincidentally the team we play tomorrow. Gareth hit the winner in the 90th minute. That was 8 years ago and West Ham still haven’t got over it.

And even though the ground will be virtually empty, there will be a united cry heard from all over London (and beyond) of ‘Bay-all, Bay-all, Bay-all…’ for the entirety of the match. As soon as he comes on. If he comes on. Or even if he doesn’t. We chant it every night in our house just because.

Liverpool play Everton today in the ‘Covid Bowl’ to decide who can infect more people in a 90-minute spell. Up there in Tier 3.

Down here in Tier 2, I can still play tennis but only on my own. Spurs Paul came on and played for an hour after I’d left the court. By himself. In accordance with the new regulations from midnight. Having cleaned the court with a wet wipe first.

Happy Saturday

A xxxx