Newcastle United fans must wish they could play matches on Halloween every year.

A year ago they thrashed neighbours Sunderland 5-1 at home not long after returning to the Premier League. They achieved arguably a more impressive feat last night by winning 3-1 at Stoke City.

The cliche surrounding trips to the Britannia Stadium is getting a bit tiresome - perhaps the local council could plant new signs on the roads into town declaring 'Welcome to Stoke: A tough place to come' - but a point earned from a trip to Staffordshire is not to be sniffed at for any side.  

So for the Magpies to leave

The occasion may have been completely devoid of any tension or drama,
but the confirmation on Tuesday night that Republic of Ireland will be attending Euro 2012
still got Early Doors rather excited. Giovanni Trapattoni's side do not
travel to Polkraine just to make up the numbers - they do so as
valuable additions to the tournament.

ED should underline it
does not say this in a patronising sense, that the plucky Irish fans,
'up for the craic' according to stereotype, will add a bit of colour and
entertainment to proceedings, though no doubt there will be legions of
TV producers following

Dear Sepp,

Hope this finds you well at FIFA HQ. Early Doors' last letter, sent to you regarding corruption, was dealt with by a delightful man named Placido Domingo. Oh how we laughed when we realised he had the same name as that singer. Clearly it wasn't though, it must have been one of your crack agents removing endemic corruption from the game. Anyway, on to the matter at hand...

Sepp, it has come to ED's attention that yesterday you made some rather contentious comments regarding racism in football. Quelle surprise you might say - and many have. After all, this isn't the first time you

It is overwhelmingly tempting to paint David Beckham's starry career in cinematic terms, especially when he has just helped bring an MLS title to Hollywood. The question now left hanging in the air is whether this was the final act in the career of the ultimate film star footballer, or a whether he can squeeze in another star turn before the credits roll, probably in a Parisian drama.  

Beckham has always had an acute understanding of drama and his place within it, a remarkable capacity to take the stage, ever since he stroked the ball over Neil Sullivan's head from behind the halfway line on

When Chelsea eventually redevelop Stamford Bridge or move to
a new ground, Early Doors expects it to be pretty plush.

After all, yesterday £85m had been spent just to decorate
the benches.

In the build-up to Liverpool's trip to London, the talk was
of how far Fernando Torres and Andy Carroll had fallen since that extraordinary
day at the end of January when both completed record transfer switches.

Torres, at £50m the most expensive player to be transferred
between two English clubs, has scored three league goals for Chelsea. Carroll,
the costliest British player in history at £35m, has done

Sunday marks a quite remarkable day in the passage of English football. On that day, it will be 25 years, a full quarter of a century, since Sir Alex Ferguson uprooted from Aberdeen and took on the challenge of managing Manchester United. Read that again: 25 years.

Early Doors is no lover of arbitrary anniversaries - 100 days since our last accident, 500 Days of Summer, that kind of thing - but this is a milestone that engenders nothing but awe for a man who ED feels it is now time to recognise as the greatest exponent of his trade in the history of British football.

You can forget your Matt

Is it just Early Doors, or has football become pretty depressing of late?

Where usually we would be discussing "wantaway" "stars" "refusing to rule out" a move to somewhere or other, instead due to a combination of factors it currently seems the subject of racism is as closely associated with our national game as half-time pies.

This is a situation that will not change any time soon. Not with the Daily Mirror reporting on Friday morning that the police want to charge the England captain with racially abusing Anton Ferdinand.

If true, it is will be one of the most severe accusations levelled

If there was ever a time for England to end their awful World Cup record against Germany, it was in their last 16 clash in Bloemfontein. Instead, they were embarrassed and humbled by a 4-1 defeat. 

There was a moment when it became clear that the match, such as it was, was over as a contest. However, it was not Thomas Mueller's second goal, Germany's fourth, which sealed England's worst ever defeat at a major tournament.

It was the moments after the Bayern Munich striker's first goal, and his side's third, just three minutes earlier.

Right after Mueller was congratulated by his team-mates for