My Olympics is over already....

While the whole World - or 4 billion of you - are gearing up to watch tonight's opening ceremony and the golden moments over the next fortnight, I'll be reflecting on my own brief Olympic experience.

When Saturday Comes commissioned me to cover the Men's football tournament matches at Old Trafford, featuring United Arab Emirates versus Uruguay and the controversial Great Britain team in action against our old friends from Senegal.

After the hype of the GB team in the run-up to the Games came the reality: a family-friendly atmosphere which never had the cutting edge of a 'real' international match. The home songs were muted and there was even applause for the opposition - something which was welcome but unexpected in the context of international football. No-one, other than manager Stuart Pearce, seemed bothered that Team GB had not won. Most people in the near-capacity crowd just seemed delighted to be at an Olympic event.

Probably because of the absence of players from Scotland and Northern Ireland, not to mention the location of the match, the crowd sported England and GB colours in equal measure. I saw only one saltire being waved - but don't worry lads, I know where the offender lives!

For colour and energy, it was the wig-wearing Uruguayans who stole the show.

So the bandwagon rolls on without me. I'm off on holiday. I'll be keeping an eye on Usain Bolt and the other great Olympians. As for the football, I just can't wait until the real season kicks-off at Dumbarton on 18th August.

To see a gallery of photos from Old Trafford, please visit http://colinmcpherson.photoshelter.com/

New museum gets a helping hand!

A quick trip over to Manchester this week to discover the delights of England's new National Football Museum, housed at the futuristic Urbis building in Manchester city centre.

Upon arriving I was informed by one of the excitable gaggle of PR people on duty that the star attraction was Maradona's 'Hand of God' shirt. Well, as any self-respecting Scot would do, I hot-footed it to the relevant display cabinet and paid homage to the shirt which is on loan from former England internationalist Steve Hodge who nabbed it from wee Diego after that famous 1986 World Cup match.

It set me thinking. Maybe the more appropriate location for this item would be at the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden? I can imagine it would become something of a shrine! Not that I endorse cheating or gamesmanship, you understand. It just somehow has more resonance in Scotland, for some reason.

Anyway, petty nationalistic gibes aside, the newly-opened NFM is excellent. Its director is Kevin Moore, a fellow Tranmere Rovers fan, so as you would expect it balances out history and modernity with a good mix of large and small clubs represented in each of the four packed floors of displays.

It also tackles serious issues related to English football's more troubled histories: fires, disasters, hooliganism. although the alleged theft of a bracelet in 1970 doesn't get a mention anywhere!

On the top floor is Stuart Roy Clarke's sublime 'Homes of Football' photographic exhibition (his entire collection is now housed at the NFM). It's a tour around football in the nations of the British Isles and further afield including new images taken in Africa. Superb. Indeed the whole place is.

For more information, read Ian Herbert's article in the Independent which was illustrated by my photographs: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/the-peoples-game-exhibits-its-heart-at-the-national-football-museum-7917892.html?origin=internalSearch

or view my set of images at: http://colinmcpherson.photoshelter.com/