77 years.

It happened! A British tennis player has won the Gentlemens singles title at Wimbledon, Andy Murray not only silenced his own ever dwindling critics but also an ever present nations. 

Each year when Wimbledon comes around, the hype of British success (and failure) is to be seen and heard everywhere- Murray has known all about since his first Wimbledon in 2005 where he produced fantastic tennis to reach the third round despite being ranked well outside the top 100 and not playing a five set match prior to the tournament.

This was the time of a new British hope emerging after the Henman/Rusedski era which, despite large amounts of critics from armchair fans, were very successful for the resources available and reached multiple grand slam semi finals and tournament wins, as well as Rusedski reaching a US Open final in 1997. The recent success of Murray may well overshadow both of these players records completely within the game, but it must not be forgotten when compared with players that have preceded them whose records were far less successful.

As Murray progressed through the early years of his career there were a number of roadblocks thrown in his way that stunted his progression not only as a player but the initial support received from the British public. The appointment of Brad Gilbert as his coach was seen more of a statement than progression by the LTA, as they believed he could not only repeat his past success with other players on Andy but also within British tennis. This benefited none of the parties involved despite Murray continuing to make a  natural progression up the rankings, it wasn't what he needed at that time of his career. This also led onto from the Scottish/British debate as to whether he actually enjoyed representing Great Britain in Davis Cup matches and saying he would be 'supporting any team playing England in the World Cup' which was blown up into a full hatred for Scotland's neighbours by the media. Murray's fitness was also scrutinised throughout the early stages of his career with constant niggles occurring during matches as well as ankle injuries which still lead to him wearing supports to this day. The pressure of growing up in an ever changing game of bigger and stronger tennis players probably put Murray back a year or so as he tried to catch up physically with the top players, where he has not only caught up but overtaken the majority of them.

As Murray matured he came to the realisation that he may not be able to fulfill his dream of grand slam success despite reaching finals in Australia and America in an era of three of the greatest players of all time. Then came the appointment of Ivan Lendl at the beginning of 2012, a player like Murray- not the most popular off the court and who also failed to win grand slam finals at the first attempts. Despite a Semi Final defeat in Australia and once again receiving criticism from arm chair fans, it felt to the hardcore British tennis fans that it was more luck than skill or mental attitude that was the missing piece needed to solve his grand slam puzzle. To return to the scene of his most heartbreaking defeat at Wimbledon a month later to win Olympic gold not only broke the tag of choking on the big occasion, but also defied the critics of not being loved by Britain as they roared him on to a gold medal against a devasted Roger Federer who missed out on the only big title to elude his illustrious career.

Then came New York a few months later and success once again and another monkey off his back, his first elusive grand slam victory at the US Open against Novak Djokovic in five sets, at a venue that was always seen as the most likely place he would become a grand slam winner having had success there in the juniors.

Fast forward to the 7th July 2013 after missing the French Open due to injury and fighting his way through the draw where others were falling like fly's to face Djokovic again and a nations 77 years of disappointment was over. But for tennis fans who follow the season for more than just the last week in June and first week of July, Murray has been making Britain proud ever since he came onto the professional tour with performances around the world and notably in 2010 in Australia where I saw him first hand reach the final in a tournament I thought had his name written all over it, where he came up against the legend of Federer. 

Competing against the big three of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic makes his recent achievements even greater and after Sunday's victory a repeat in the coming years is more likely than not.

End Of Season Brings An Intriguing Summer

The end of the Premier League season has come and it may not have lived up to the drama of previous seasons, as both relegation and title issues were wrapped up in the previous weeks leaving just the fight for Champions League places up for grabs on the final day- which you can only hype up for so long.

However the lack of drama on the pitch was well made up for off it, with Tony Pulis leaving Stoke today it means at least a quarter of next seasons Premier League clubs will have new managers come opening day- which will surely increase in the coming weeks as clubs look into appointing fellow managers from within the league. This also includes new managers for the top 3 finishers of Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs, the failure suffered from those within the top 7 who saw Manchester United run away with the league will inevitably lead to an influx of spending to try and close the gap. 

This is a much more realistic prospect for Arsenal fans who've craved a summer of spending since their move to the Emirates, as at last it seems Arsene Wenger agrees too. Over in West London, the worst kept secret of Jose Mourinho's return to Chelsea will surely bring funds to improve what is already a very talented squad. Edin Hazard and Oscar will also have adjusted further to the pace of English football and will inevitably show increased consistency with their performances that have on occasions blown away defences and gone hiding over the past season.

Whether Tottenham can keep hold of Gareth Bale will dictate what they do over the summer, selling him for an overinflated price and rebuild an entire team or add one or two players to a squad which missed out Europe's elite by the smallest of margins.

Liverpool have been well off the pace of what their fans demand, 12 points off the top 4 and 28 points behind Manchester United, however they did show glimpses of performances that shows they can still pull out very impressive performances in the demolition of Newcastle with new signing Phillippe Coutinho slotted into his role within the team effortlessly, along with Daniel Sturridge performing well after his January signing.

Outside the big 6 clubs comes the rest and the chances of predicting next seasons surprise packages (West Brom and Swansea this season) or flops (Newcastle) for next season is anyone's guess. Financial fair play rules also come into action next season and will restrict excessive buying from clubs outside of their means, meaning whoever can pick up bargains such as like Swansea did in purchasing Michu for 2 million pounds last summer will benefit greatly. 

So despite there being no major international championships this year it promises to be a fascinating summer with the promise of deals being made up until the end of August transfer deadline.

Pulis becomes the fifth manager to leave their post since the beginning of April

Three marathons: A week everyone won't forget

Yes its another blog post about marathons hopefully it won't be as generic as all the others you find online, however this week hasn't exactly been the most normal for the marathon community. Three marathons within seven days of each all with varying degrees of history, prestige and stories. I had a different viewing perspective on all three starting with running my 4th Brighton Marathon.
Despite once again lining up in Preston Park with very limited training miles in my legs, I set off looking for a finishing time around 4 and a half hours for the Brighton Marathon. Which was achieved with a finishing time of 4:35, but would have surely been slower of it wasn't for the fantastic support around the entire route! Every year the Brighton marathon strives to gets bigger and better, you would be hard pushed to argue that they don't succeed. With channel 4 showing highlights of this years race too, the whole nation was able to see what a spectacle the prequel to London is. I do believe that Brighton is only second to London in terms of the running cities in England now.
The day after unfortunately came, where lucky I was only hobbling round my house whilst completing my essay for university/trying to find a link online to watch the Boston marathon. Ultimately it proved unsuccessful and succumbed to highlights online later on that night, then it happened. Three lives lost, 100's more injured to the act of terrorism. From visiting Boston in 2010 I could tell how the city not only had a love of running, but a love of sport as well. For an act like this to be carried out on the running community was perhaps the strangest thing to comprehend. Boston will recover, as a city and a race but there will always be a touch of sadness each year it comes round remembering those who are not able to be there.
The following Sunday- the London Marathon, tighter security, 40% more police lining the route yet still the buzz of London 2012 in the air.
As me and my Dad headed to start line to help volunteer at the 'good for age' start, the positivity in the air was evident- London and its runners weren't afraid of terrorism and would not let it stop them competing or supporting one of the greatest sporting events in the British calendar. Trying to find a gap by the side of the route was near on impossible, thankfully next year it'll be me on the other side of the barrier not trying to look out for 1 person in 35,000 runners.
Hopefully next year with the task of potentially running a Brighton-London double within a week, I'll have the mileage within my legs to put down a respectable time.

It would be strange to miss 2014 out

Michael Owen: England legend

As Michael Owen today announces his retirement from football, a number of different descriptions are banded around when analysing Owen's career.
From the initial highs of bursting into the England team at France '98 to the lows of a stuttering injured plagued end to his playing career.
But with the amount of injuries suffered and therefore games missed, it surely further inpresses as to what a remarkable scoring record 'the boy wonder' actually had. 40 international goals and 4th on the all time England list, his status as an England great is assured. Add into the nature of some of those goals- the wonder goal v Argentina, the hat trick in the 5-1 v Germany and the two late goals in Geneva v Argentina again!
The class that has come with Michael's reputation and career is also a credit to the mans attitude that doesn't seem to occur nowadays within the England team- Rooney, Terry & Cole to name a few. Making sure he was only making headlines on the back page of the papers and not the front.
Despite ending his career at Stoke which is possibly the least glamorous club he's played for, it certainly hasn't been the trend throughout his career.
Starting at Liverpool where he not only scored countless goals- including a late double to single handedly win the 2001 FA Cup v Arsenal (as well as helpijg to win the league and UEFA Cup in the same season). A move to Real Madrid followed and despite it being a short career abroad his impact from the bench was noticeable and lured Newcastle into brining the England no10 back to these shores however his injuries were forever becoming an ever present feature in his game. This not only affected him at club level but meant going into the 2006 World Cup under prepared and under trained. This in all likelihood led to the knee ligament injury suffered in the group game v Sweden which would be his last England game at a major tournament. He did come back and continue his stop-start Newcastle career before an unlikely relegation paved the way for a move to Manchester United. A last minute winner in the derby v City endeared him to the Old Trafford fans but the lack of consistency with both performances and injury in a strong attacking squad meant limited playing opportunities.
To end a career like Owen has had at Stoke is somewhat an anti climax, in what many thought may be the rebirth of the striker career who's pace may have faded but clinical finishing never had.
Perhaps he may well have lasted a few more years at the lower levels of the game and perhaps bled a few pounds from clubs who wanted to make a marquee signing. But with other life challenges calling and no guaranteed contract elsewhere, going out in the Premier League is the least Owen deserves and must be respected for knowing when he can no longer live up to the highest level.
You can think what may have happened if he had been treated more carefully in his early career or if future medical advancements had been available during his initial injured seasons. International success could have followed, with that England's all time scoring record would have surely been broken. But to have stayed on the rails despite these setbacks, not only in his professional life but his personal life also, deserves recognition in itself.
So surely the only word to describe the career of one of England's finest strikers is 'Legend'.

Brighton v Crystal Palace

Brighton v Crystal Palace, a set on Flickr.

David Lopez

David Lopez, a photo by Paul Knott on Flickr.

Leo Ulloa

Leo Ulloa, a photo by Paul Knott on Flickr.