World Cup Boycott 2026 version

“If you don't stick to your values when they're being tested, they're not values: they're hobbies.”
― Jon Stewart

It’s World Cup time again. It’s been on for about a week. I am looking forward to the 2030 World Cup which will be hosted in an array of countries; at this stage none of them are actively evil. And I hope against hope that FIFA is broken up and rebuilt from the rubble, between now and then.

I boycotted the 2022 World Cup, which was really hard. I struggled with it. The hardest part is friends and family that want to talk about it. I do not want to say “oh, I am better than you; I am boycotting it”. I cobble together some lame explanation but I don’t like having to do it. I caved in and watched just Australia’s games with Marcus last time.

This time there is FIFA – which gets worse by the day under Gianni Infantino; and there is Donald Trump’s USA which is a perfomatively evil place. Canada and Mexico are also hosting and I apologise to those nations for boycotting their big moment. But come on; this is the 3rd time Mexico has had it. 

The US immigration regime has relished the opportunity to abuse and discriminate against brown people, on a larger than usual scale. They turned away a FIFA-appointed Somali referee on the eve of the tournament. They knew he was Somali. They could have made their bigoted objections earlier and he could have officiated in Mexico and Canada. They wanted a highly-visible controversy, it’s how they like to operate.

Again I am permitting myself to watch Australia's games only.

But I bloody hate my boycott. I loathe myself. Why can’t I just enjoy it? Why can’t I be normal? It’s just soccer, it’s fun, it’s exciting, it’s a wonderful treat just once every four years. 

This time it is 50% bigger, so there is a ton of group games and they are being played in daylight work hours in Australian Eastern Standard Time. My team has recently been moved into the big room at work; so I am surrounded by people. And we have a TV set up with the sound up broadcasting every game. People are chatting about it, it's part of the social currency of the office.

Why can’t I just enjoy it? Why can’t I be normal? Why do I have noise cancelling headphones on most of the day? 

The reason why comes down to the Jon Stewart quote at the top. Not cheating is important to me. Not being racist is important to me. And in 2022 and 2026 I have had big opportunities to prove it to myself.

Final thoughts on the World Cup Final

I haven't watched it and maybe never will. I did watch highlights of the Argentina v Netherlands quarter final. It was a pulsating game full of incident and spite, but one thing will rankle with me forever (over and above my general Qatar ranklement). 

The world’s greatest player, Leo Messi, handballed deliberately in clear sight of the referee and did not get a yellow card.

He later did get a yellow, which if it had been his 2nd would have seen him sent off and miss next game. Argentina went on to win the game, putting them into a semi against Croatia which they won, thanks enormously to the not-suspended Messi.

On the other side of the draw, the heir to Messi's crown, Kylian Mbappe of France, helped his side beat Morocco in the other semi to set up a dream final, Argentina v France.

The evidence of my eyes, and the deeply contrived nature of this whole World Cup convinces me that referees were instructed to miss anything that might bring about suspensions to the superstars. I believe that the Qatar WC committee did what they needed to do to engineer the ideal final.

And – the final which played out has been described as the greatest final ever, maybe the greatest match ever. I have read a match report, it was certainly a ding dong battle. Played in a stadium that owes its existence to cheating and human rights abuses. 

This is probably the biggest win ever for sportswashing and a huge incentive to others with the cash to do the same. For me it's a dark day and another nail in the coffin of my love for international football and sport generally.

World Cup Boycott Exemption

I decided a few years ago I would have to boycott the 2022 football World Cup in Qatar. For all the reasons that are quite well-known. My main reason is that it was awarded fraudulently to a nation completely unsuited to hosting the event that was put out to tender. And all the other scandals, injuries and deaths that followed flow from that. 

Once awarded the summer World Cup, Qatar said "oh it will be too hot so we'll do it in winter" and FIFA said oh sure, we'll just get every league in the world to have a massive mid season break. So Qatar imported thousands of guest workers to build eight stadiums in their small country.

My boycott has been pretty hard, especially missing Australia's games - they have won two out of three (I expected one draw at best). I'm avoiding the football podcasts I would usually listen to, not reading about it; just denying FIFA my eyes and ears as much as I can.

Does this do anyone any good? It's just a line in the sand for myself really. The absence of this massive quadrennial event in my personal memory will be a reminder of what is important to me. Football has been very important since I started playing as a kid but integrity and human rights have to come before football. That's my personal standard and I do not mean to impose it on anyone else.

But – I have been imposing it on my family. Marcus is going away in March, and chances to do things together are precious. He has been watching Australia's games on his own; and now we have our biggest match since 2006 he wants to watch it with me. He went off and did some research on who is doing good work on human rights in the Middle East, and he suggested we both donate to Amnesty International, then watch the game.

So that's it, for as long as Australia continue in the World Cup I will be treating it as pay-per-view. We play Argentina on Sunday morning our time – go Socceroos!

ODFA Grand Final, Bothwell 13.11.89 d Campbell Town 7.9.51

Nick and I went up to Oatlands for the day to see unbeaten Bothwell Rabbits play Campbell Town Robins in the 2022 Oatlands District Football Association grand final. I have paid a lot of attention to the ODFA this year because after a few years on the wane it grew from five to seven teams in 2022. Oatlands itself was back, and my faves Woodsdale also came out recess.

It's true Oatlands did not win a game all year, and Woodsdale only beat Oatlands. But you have to start somewhere, and both clubs seem really well set up for future success. In a five-team league last year Campbell Town also went winless, and yet here they are in a grand final 12 months later. That's country footy.

We had to queue to get into the ground because the process of paying for admission, a Footy Record and some lucky tickets was so inefficient. Possibly the first queue that's been seen in Oatlands for a while. It was a warmish late winter day so everyone was in good spirits.

I had guessed that as hosts of the grand final (every year since 1979), Oatlands would have a state of the art electronic scoreboard by now. But, we were delighted to see the old faithful is still there!

Woodsdale FC had responsibility for running the canteen and the scoreboard on the day, and I chatted to the scorer who I think was John Treasure. In 2007 Roar Film made a 4-part TV series about country football called Alive and Kicking which featured John and his club’s run to the grand final.

Before play we settled behind the northern goals, peppered with local lads kicking miracle goals from the boundary line. A little toddler was nearly smacked in the head by a ball descending from a great height; her mum or auntie who'd been crouching by her turned and yelled at the boys "you nearly hit me on the arse!!"

Bothwell started better and kicked straight. We expected to see Tyler 'Snork' Ford run riot at some stage – he kicked 24 in one game earlier this year. An extraordinary looking young man; about 6 foot but skinny as a rake. He kicked two but never got off the chain. 

Late in the first quarter Campbell Town bottled the ball up in attack but didn’t kick straight. And that was it for the day really; the Rabbits looked sharper, had more bodies at the fall of the ball, took their chances and just edged away each quarter. We watched from various points.

At half time we joined a big queue and got pies and coffee. More than any other ground I’ve been to, this was a drink-and-smoke-anywhere venue. I’d guess the crowd at 1200. With both sides in red and black it was hard to tell who was supporting who but there was enough club merch to tell that Campbell Town had brought a fair contingent down the road for the day.

Grim attitudes in the Robins three quarter time huddle

The 2nd half played out like the first and the Robins never seriously threatened, and Bothwell's 7th ODFA flag was richly deserved. 

Swansea were a late withdrawal for this season, but hopefully the Bulldog Swans will take the field and bring it up to an 8-team comp in 2023.

The final score

Book cover designer

 I have always wanted to design book covers. I did one for Patsy Crawford years ago that I was really happy with; but more did not follow. 

Marlion Pickett's spin – a work in progress

This little animation is meant to be the first of a series of memorable Grand Final moments.

Marlion Pickett is a 27 year-old Western Australian who was picked up by Richmond in the mid-season draft. He starred in the VFL grand final a week before the AFL grand final (the VFL is virtually the AFL reserves now). He was named for his first AFL game in the grand final, something that hadn't happened for 60 years.

This is a moment in the 2nd quarter. Richmond are in front of Greater Western Sydney, but the game is still in the balance. Young giant Ivan Soldo hands the ball to Pickett and he gracefully steps onto the wrong foot and executes a perfect blind turn, completely destroying Lachie Whitfield who grasps at thin air.

Watching it live I was struck by how un-flashy it was. Not a last-quarter party piece, not a young star revelling in his stardom – it was just the right move for that situation which opened up the space. Pickett did it slowly and almost apologetically. Sorry Lachie, this is not designed to make you look silly, I just need to make some space so I can deliver the ball accurately to my forwards.

And he did. A pinpoint pass off the outside of his right boot to a lead from Georgie Castagna who marked and goaled, putting Richmond out to a 28-9 lead. The Tigers went on to crush GWS by 89 points. Pickett was outstanding and was voted 3rd best afield, in a grand final, in his first game. I hope to be there at the MCG for his second, on 19th March.



Still to add: Georgie's mark and the soundtrack

Woodsdale footy ground

I took Michael up to Buckland, about an hour north, to go horse-riding. he went off on a trail ride so I went looking for the fabled Woodsdale football ground nearby. It was well worth it. Now grazed by sheep, the club is in recess but has not folded. Hopefully the sheep will be shooed away soon and the lines marked for a return to competition.

The view from Woodsdale Rd

The long steep driveway down. Its behind an unlocked gate.

Sheep graze around the 40 metres out from goal.
They have no chance of sinking one from there – they're sheep.

The clubroom, scoreboard and mini-playground.

Practice cricket pitch - they would erect nets around it in season I guess.

The view from the scoreboard. My real reason for coming was to
file a report for Scroreboard Pressure, the blog of record for Australian scoreboard lovers.

I am not a selfie-taker but this is a a special for Chonk in Winterthur. Thanks for the beanie and scarf!

This is the final score from Woodsdales last grand final win, over Mount Pleasant in 2012.

I call the typographic style untutored but confident.

Pilgrimage to the big smoke part 3: Tigerland

I wrote about my footy-centric trip to Melbourne in September.

Part 3 is here at TTBB - Tigerland.

Pilgrimage to the big smoke part 2: Glenferrie Oval

I wrote about my footy-centric trip to Melbourne in September.

Part 2 is here at TTBB - Glenferrie Oval.

Pilgrimage to the big smoke part 1: VFL grounds

I wrote about my footy-centric trip to Melbourne in September.

Part 1 is here at TTBB - Fitzroy and Footscray.

Footy art

I have some work in an exhibition in Mildura coming up. I need to write a little spiel about why I "as an artist, love football and football art work". So I am going to write it here.

When I grew up on Tasmania's northwest coast, football was a big part of life. Around 1975 I started swapping football cards at primary school and the world of black and white footy replays was suddenly in colour. I think I gravitated to Richmond because they had the same colours as my hometown Burnie Tigers.
I started doing these design inspired by footy cards in 2012, for t-shirts. Footy is an emotional game and the feelings stirred by seeing your team's guernsey (and others) are strong and complex. I love being able to celebrate an overlooked or under-appreciated player.  Footy art makes public the sporting passion of the artist. It could be a key moment from a big game under a turquoise sky, or a couple of your favourite players in full playing gear dropping in for tea and cake. By its nature footy art appeals to a wide audience - so it brings people together. 

These 5 pieces are all recycled designs. Four are t-shirt designs while Dustin Martin was an illustration for a book project that has been canned.

The illustrations are all done digitally, with some scanned textures overlaid. I haven't used watercolour texture before the book project; I was delighted with how it came up so I have brought some into the backgrounds of Sonny, Maurice and Mitch for these prints. I had them printed on high-quality paper then worked into them with coloured pencil for some extra texture and to lend uniqueness to each print. There is a limited edition of 10 of each; three of each have gone to Mildura.

If anyone is interested in one drop me a line – each print is $65 + postage unframed.

Some other footy artists

Two images above by Kate Birrell

Noel Young

Susan Sutton

Nick Howson