Some years ago I remember sitting in the south stand of Spurs’ White Hart Lane stadium asking, with thousands of others, for Harry to “give us a wave”, and I still can feel the joy and excitement when he complied. For all English football fans, Harry Redknapp was reminiscent of the old English gaffer, a no-nonsense bloke who inspired loyalty with a mix of ferocious discipline and unrivalled charisma. Yet when Harry walked into the Gladstone Room at the Oxford Union, there was no halo surrounding this bringer of glory to the game of football. He wouldn’t have looked out of place in the local Morrison’s near his home in Sandbanks.

It is his down to earth demeanour that first strikes me when we are introduced. We could have been two blokes introduced in the pub rather than in the grandiose surroundings of the historic Union. As we begin to chat, it becomes clear that Harry is going to be open, honest and frank about his experiences and his opinions but even so, like any good sportsman would, I decie to warm up first.

A series of quickfire questions brings some expected and unexpected results. Favourite player managed? “Gareth Bale – you never knew when he was going to do something special.” Central midfield partner for himself, Jamie (his son) or Frank Lampard (his nephew)? “Both were big talents in their day, and as much as I hate to do this, it’s got to be Frank – such a threat in front of goal”.

Turning towards his colourful career, I am hesitant to bring up his infamous BBC interview regarding his status as a ‘wheeler dealer’ for fear of being on the receiving end of a few choice expletive laden turns of phrase. Instead I decide to focus on some of his more unconventional career moves, including that infamous switch between south coast rivals Portsmouth and Southampton. Did he regret it? “No,” he replies firmly, before explaining that he doesn’t “mind the aggro”. This leads to one of the many unbelievable stories that come from having a career as long and as varied as his, where the animosity upon his return from Southampton to Portsmouth meant that he “had six SAS men on the coach!” in order to ensure security for him and his players. This story seems extraordinary for most but when put into context with some of his other tales, it’s clear that no part of Redknapp’s life is normal. He has spent a night with Eden Hazard in a Paris hotel room, and he has dashed to Heathrow to catch Amdy Faye and make him sign for Portsmouth by threatening him with a bite “where it hurts” from his beloved bulldogs. On the most difficult players to manage, he is hesitant about recounting a debate with Paulo Futre at West Ham over the number 10 shirt. Futre had worn the shirt at all his previous clubs, but was allocated number 16 at West Ham. The next day, the player arrived at training with a team of lawyers ready to negotiate a deal for the number change. Just another day at the office for Redknapp.

Moving on to his more recent experiences, I bring up the drama surrounding his exit from Tottenham and the furore over the possibility of him taking up the helm of the national team. On his exit from Tottenham, he claims that he “didn’t see it coming”. Neither, of course, did the Spurs fans who mourned the loss of one of their most successful managers. However, my fellow Spurs fans will be buoyed by the news that he believes they can go on to win the league this season. “It’s wide open,” he claims, before suggesting that any Premier League season where Leicester is sitting on top and have a “great chance” means we’re “short of a great team this year.”

On the subject of England, he says that it certainly “looked like I was going to get the England job” and even claims that if he was a betting man the odds would have been 1/10. In retrospect though, he has no regrets and isn’t even sure he was cut out for it because of the “load of old farts at the FA” and the fact that he enjoys the “day to day” aspects of managing a club. Despite all this, he holds no grudges and certainly believes England have a chance this summer with such a young and talented squad with the likes of Dele Alli, who “looks a great lad” as well as Stirling and Kane.

On wider footballing issues, Harry is optimistic when questioned about footballers coming out, saying that “things have changed for the better,” although he recognises the difficulties surrounding these issues. “It’s a difficult situation…you never know how supporters are going to react,” he muses. On money in the game, he is more damning, arguing adamantly that the funding in the UK is too top-heavy. “More needs to be put down to lower levels because facilities for kids are terrible,” he says.

Looking to the future, will English fans ever see the man they call ‘Arry back in a dugout? The man himself doubts it, saying, “I’ve had such a long spell…I started to get weary.” Opening up about his new-found relaxed life he tells me how he enjoys “doing bits with BT” and “watching Bournemouth with the grandkids.” Football is never far away, and he says that having “left school with no qualifications” he “would have been a docker,” but instead he lived for football.

He admits he still loves watching football; “It’s my life,” he says, and what a life in the beautiful game it’s been

When it comes to watching sports, nothing compares to being live at the action. Soaking in the match, one can partake in all manner of live experiences – like high-fiving the stranger next to you when things are going right, or shaking your heads in melancholic unison when the tide turns. Next would probably either be watching the game at home or at the local pub, ideally with your family and mates with a large bowl of whatever snack you can afford that weekend. And then, for most university students trapped in their rooms during term-time, you have the “I’m watching the game in my room by myself whilst crying over some microeconomics and force-feeding myself pesto pasta” scenarios – that’s honestly too painful to talk about. But what if I told you that, for a small bit of fortune, virtual reality can combine the excitement of watching the game live with the convenience of lazing in the comfort of your own house to produce the sport-watching experience of a lifetime?

As we enter 2016, sport is at the very forefront of a process that many hope will lead to the emergence of virtual reality as the premier channel for the distribution of visual content.

History was made before the beginning of the 2015-16 NBA season when the Golden State Warriors season opener against the New Orleans Pelicans became the first ever sporting event to be live streamed in virtual reality to ‘the public’, which in this case meant the few who owned a Samsung Gear VR headset. Although reports claim that the experience was actually woeful, citing blurriness and overheating of equipment as some of the main issues, it was nonetheless a significant milestone when you put it in perspective. Indeed, when the NBA announced that it was experimenting with virtual reality during the 2013-2014 season, many responded with scepticism, yet what was originally believed to be a pipe dream has actually become reality.

Concerns and criticisms of just how realistic virtual reality can really be are very much legitimate for now, but technology has a tendency to improve and there is every reason to believe that, as time goes on, we will be seeing a lot of progress with regards to quality – as NextVR co-founder D.J. Roller expressed after the Golden State match back in late October, “This is the worst VR experience you’ll ever have”. Faith in virtual reality is only boosted by the fact that VR systems from Facebook, Samsung, Sony and HTC are expected to hit the market over the next year, which at the very least is an indication that tech-specialists are expecting virtual reality to be something that people are going to enjoy over the course of the next decade or so. The situation with virtual reality is similar to that of live-streaming only a couple of years ago – I remember trying to watch a football game on my dad’s desktop all the way back in 2006 and having to put icepacks on my eyes afterwards due to the physical stress of having to focus on the Thierry Henry pixel for 90 minutes. Flash forward 10 years and live-streaming has become a common way worldwide of enjoying sports. If we were able to show the internet such patience, why can’t we do the same for virtual reality?

A much bigger objection could come from sports traditionalists, who cry that the spirit of sports is lost through technology and that a true sports fan would never be complacent enough to just watch sports from a headset. To these people, I say: boo-hoo. Firstly, no one is saying that virtual reality will replace actual reality – it’s simply providing another option for people who can’t make it to the game itself and allowing them to fully enjoy the match. Why can’t an Arsenal fan from Los Angeles or Shanghai fully submerge himself into the intensity of the game just because he or she realistically cannot make it to the Emirates? Secondly, virtual reality has the potential of not only making the match-watching experience more entertaining, but also providing a more holistic fan experience, from being at the post-match interviews or gaining an insight into the training regimen of their favourite athletes.

As Uninterrupted CEO Maverick Carter summarized, “What fans want more than anything is to be in the car with LeBron and his 13-year-old son as he gets prepared mentally for his thirteenth season.” Virtual reality can make this a legitimate possibility, and as technology continues to make the impossible look probable, sports and sports fans alike should embrace the changes that are sure to be coming

I have had two experiences of European football, touring Madrid and then Amsterdam. Given the questions regularly asked about the gulf between England and their continental neighbours, I was intrigued. Why does Spain have the finest passing side in world football whilst England struggles to shake its reputation for a direct and workmanlike style?

The theories are abundant, and the report produced by FA chairman Greg Dyke did little to trim the list. A popular hypothesis is the contrasting upbringing of our players and the world-beaters of traditional football power nations, like Brazil, Argentina and Spain. It is suggested that, where hardship forms an unshakeable will to improve and succeed, the same incentive is simply not present in the English game.

Whilst Luis Suárez was playing shoeless football on the streets Uruguay, England’s starlets were progressing in multi-million pound academies, chasing the promise of absurdly lucrative professional contracts. As Rio Ferdinand recently mused at the Oxford Union, how do we expect our young footballers to progress when they are given the world by 18? The days of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes or Gary Neville having to clean Eric Cantona’s boots to earn the respect of their club’s first team and continue their progression are an increasingly distant memory.

However, the time I have spent on tour has left me believing that there is another explanation, which is equally crucial. It is no coincidence that, when facing a strong Dutch side, we were forced to play for long periods without the ball. Many of the young footballers of Holland and Spain are brought up on pristine artificial surfaces. They are taught a mentality that leaves them wanting to pass the ball, to move and to preserve possession. What’s more, they are given the facilities and the opportunities to do it. The English youth system is a stark contrast; our youngest players are rushed on to 11-a-side pitches that are too big for them.

These are the same pitches that are often slanted, uneven and overgrown. As a result, we see a style of play that is physical and direct, more from necessity than choice.

Every young player wants to win and, for too many in England, the conditions they face make a technical approach virtually impossible. It is no surprise that, even at the highest level, our national teams often lack the skills to successfully compete on the biggest stage.

By providing our young players with 3G facilities, we will exponentially improve their chances of developing the technical skills the highest level requires.

Reducing the emphasis on results and the delaying the transition to eleven-a-side will only help. Until the English game commits to such fundamental changes, I cannot envisage an end to England’s dearth of international success

I consider myself a calm person in general, but if you want to make me see red then do one or both of the following two things:

1. Talk trash about the Miami Heat. I will come at you with the force of a thousand suns and unload upon you a list of reasons why the Heat is one of the best sports teams to have ever existed and why Dwyane Wade’s face should be carved on Mount Rushmore next to the four great American Presidents – preferably in that awkward gap between Lincoln and Roosevelt.

2. Ask me why I support the Heat even though I’ve never been to Miami. If you’re really of the mindset that proximity to a club is a good measure of how intense your loyalty is, then either you’re still stuck in the 1920s or you don’t understand sports at all.

I’ll concede that my obsession for the Miami Heat was very much accidental. Everyone at school was talking about LeBron versus Carmelo, and I just sat there and decided that I was going to be indie and pledge my allegiance to Dwyane Wade. This was right before Shaq made his way from LA to South Beach and became the Robin to Wade’s Batman. I watched my first Heat game in 2005 and it was as close to love at first sight as you can get. Wade quickly became my sporting hero and basketball became my passion. I tuned in to as many Miami games as I could manage, which, given the 12-hour time difference, was quite a feat. I single-handedly revived the vintage sportswear game by wearing a Wade jersey on every free-dress day from year seven to year nine. At one point I actually asked my parents if I could change my name to Dwyane, which, as many readers of the Asian persuasion out there will know, did not end in my favour. I may have never been to a game live or even the state of Florida, but I could name you all 15 players on the roster, what college they went to and what their favourite breakfast cereal is. It’s that real.

Which brings me back to what really grinds my gears: no one’s sport loyalty should be doubted. I get that sports teams can have great inspiring impacts on their local communities, something that you can only really experience as a member of these communities, but why should my or anybody’s love for a team be any less legitimate simply because we’re from a different place? All sports have international exposure now, to the extent that there may honestly be more Heat fans in Shanghai than there are in London. Our fandom may not have been passed on from the elder generations and we may not have cute heart-warming stories about watching the games live, but we’re still connected to our teams in ways that are just as meaningful as local pride.

Take me for example. I moved a lot as a kid – I spent my childhood in four cities, went to five different kindergartens, two high schools and had a lot of friendships that only lasted about a year or two. There weren’t many continuities in my life, except for my love for Miami Heat – no matter where I was, that never changed and it honestly became part of who I am.

I may not bleed Miami or London, but I do bleed Heat basketball

We are just a week away from the seminal sporting event of the term: Town versus Gown. On Wednesday of Third Week, the Oxford University Amateur Boxing Club (OUABC) takes on the best of Oxford town in the debating chamber of the Oxford Union.

For the OUABC boxers, the event is crucial, providing valuable insight into the shape of the squad as the run-up to the club’s encounter with Cambridge intensifies. So far, Matt McFahn (Captain,) Tom Eliasz, Tom Scott, Theo Cox, Daniel Kibbey and Noah Viner have all confirmed bouts for next week.
Once Town V Gown is out of the way, OUABC will turn its attention to greater challenges: BUCS and Varsity. The BUCS campaign begins on 6th February with the first of the club’s league bouts, which are an equally important opportunity for the University’s boxers.

Tim Notke, an American high school basketball coach, once said that “hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” Luckily for OUABC, with external competition round the corner, it seems talent and hard work is present in equal measure. With four gym sessions and four morning workouts a week, the Oxford boxers are arguably one of the University’s most dedicated outfits. The gruelling January training camp in Tenerife is testament to that. Such is the confidence in the OUABC ranks that men’s captain Matt McFahn has set out the aim to “not only win Varsity, but do so clearly”.

Preparations for this term’s season-defining bouts stretched back well before Christmas. Whilst BUCS and Varsity are undoubtedly the highlights of Hilary term for the club, Michaelmas was not without competitive action. In October, the OUABC President Claudia Havranek and women’s captain Mariya Lazarova attended the England Novice Boxing Championships, with both women performing well before suffering closely-fought quarter-final defeats to seasoned Army opposition. Even more impressively, McFahn reaped the rewards of his early season fitness work, coming out on top in the Home Counties Under 20 category and securing himself a national bronze, just falling short against the competition’s eventual champion.

2015 was a year in which enormous strides were made in women’s boxing at Oxford. The current OUABC women’s squad is the largest ever and there will be high hopes for accolades on both sides of the club this year. Hitting punch bags with Herculean might while being as light as a butterfly on one’s toes is not just the prerogative of OUABC’s muscly male stars. The women of Iffley’s boxing gym are equally as adept at fighting in the quadrilateral ring. In fact OUABC has a team of six highly trained female boxers who take to the ring in dark blue in many competitions including, in 2015, being the sole female-only team in BUCS.

Of course, despite a packed early-term schedule, it is Varsity that looms large on the Hilary fixture list. The club secretary, James Kerr, summed up the emotions of the whole squad when he set out his desperation to “retake the Truelove Bowl from Cambridge in front of a home crowd”.
With a strong number of spectators set to descend upon the Town Hall, the event is sure to be as fiercely supported as it is contested. If OUABC can cap off an already promising season with BUCS, Town V Gown and Varsity success, it will be an achievement that is both impressive and wholly deserved

There is a certain kind of fearlessness and madness required to play ice hockey, judging by most people’s reaction to telling them your sport of preference. Most people wouldn’t spend their Saturday afternoons beating other people up while traveling back and forth at high speeds over a slippery surface at temperatures well below freezing. But the sport has nevertheless gained a cult following within Oxford, and it’s important to consider why.

The most obvious answer is, of course, success, which both the men’s and women’s hockey teams have enjoyed plenty of throughout the course of the season. Since the start of the season in October 2015, the men’s blues have enjoyed a nearly impeccable record of 3-1, recovering from their early-season loss to dominate on the ice. Their most recent match was an impressive victory of 12-3 against the University of London Dragons. With two rematches against Cambridge coming up in February and March, one the annual Varsity showdown, the ice hockey team looks strong. The women’s team has broken even with a score of 2-2, showing incredible improvements in their attacking drives in both of their most recent victories. At the end of November, the women’s blues played back to back matches against Imperial and Cardiff and won both, one by a particularly impressive margin of 12 points.

It’s clear that competing at such a high level and on such a frequent basis (although seasons average about 10 matches at the top competitive ranks, scheduling ice time within the limited number of available rinks means teams can play games on both the Saturday and Sunday of any given week) takes enormous amounts of training. But success in hockey demands a wide range of skills; players are not only expected to keep up with general fitness during the off season, but also to refine ice-specific techniques that are not imitated in any other sport. Skating requires incredible balance and speed, and hour-long games with frequent line changes mean players must have incredible endurance in order to maintain peak performance. Players also make incredible sacrifices to be able to compete for their team on a regular basis; training times are often irregular, with both men and women’s teams practicing at midnight and 11pm respectively on a weekly basis.

Given the dedication, time, and skills required, why do so many players choose ice hockey? Although Oxford is fortunate to enjoy such impressive records in the present day, the teams at the University date back, albeit non-continuously, to 1885, and officially since 1921. Today there are three main ice hockey teams at the University: the Men’s Blues; the Women’s Blues, and a second Men’s team, the Vikings. The Men’s Blues, compete at a higher level within the league than the Vikings and are comprised of 18 players, divided by position. The women’s team is of a similar size, hosting 19 players on the roster. The women’s team have been lucky enough to find two players skilled at the goalie position, which remains both difficult and somewhat unpopular as it involves having 55 mph slapshots fly at your face. The Vikings roster has 17 active players, although numbers can fluctuate between years depending on how many first time hockey players decide to join the team.

It’s a fast-paced, often violent, always-competitive sport creating an atmosphere that fosters popularity with its players and its fans. Although skaters are assigned positions on the ice, the current trend for two-way hockey (a style of play created by the Boston Bruins’ Bobby Orr in the 1970s) means that both defencemen and forwards contribute to the offensive side of play, which not only builds a strong dynamic within the team, but also allows more players to score, bringing more energy to their technique.
Some players choose ice hockey for the opportunities that it provides them. OUIHC opens its doors to all students, regardless of previous experience. Others are experienced players, with several hailing from outside the UK, and choose it because it is culturally familiar. Some Blues even turned their experience with the team into a lifelong passion for the sport; former NHL President Clarence Campbell played for the club during his time at Oxford.
Ultimately, it provides students not only with a venue and ice time, but with a team, an alumni network, and dedicated fans who share their passion for the sport. A passion rooted in the strength of the game.

It may be the historical or cultural significance, or it may be the optimal schedule for the nocturnals among us, or it may be because someone took a few too many leaflets at the Freshers’ Fair and ultimately realized that they had to pick something; but the essence of ice hockey’s popularity will always be the excitement that it gives to both players and fans, and it is that more than anything else that is responsible for its success