Day 2, Saturday 10th June 2006

Less than 7 weeks to go until the first matches - go on, get betting!

Time	Match	Home	Draw	Away
14:00	ENGLAND vs Paraguay	4/7	9/4	9/2
17:00	Sweden vs Trinidad & Tobago	4/11	11/4	7/1
20:00	Argentina vs Ivory Coast	1/2	12/5	5/1

Branded - Tits Out For The Lads!

Another contender for the English World Cup 2006 song, definitely the boldest entry!

The song even has its own website.

"Branded is the name of the band cos we like brands and use lots of them in the songs.", according to JoBabe the lead singer "Our aim as a band is to keep it real, we write about real things that affect real peoples lives, which is why humour and fun are a real focal point of all our songs, cos lets face it you can't take life too serious all of the time!!!"

Day 1, Friday 9th June 2006

Only 8 weeks to go until the first matches - get your bets on!

Time	Match	Home	Draw	Away
17:00	Germany vs Costa Rica	1/4	7/2	9/1
20:00	Poland vs Ecuador	6/5	2/1	2/1

World Cup 2006 Betting - Current Odds

The overall odds for each team winning the World Cup 2006 tournament in Germany are as follows:

Brazil 11/4
England 6/1
Argentina 7/1
Germany 7/1
Italy 8/1
Holland 10/1
France 12/1
Spain 12/1
Portugal 20/1
Czech Republic 33/1
Sweden 33/1
Mexico 40/1
Croatia 50/1
Ukraine 50/1
Ivory Coast 66/1
Serbia and Montenegro 66/1
Paraguay 80/1
Poland 80/1
USA 80/1
Switzerland 100/1
Australia 125/1
Ecuador 125/1
Japan 150/1
Korea Republic 150/1
Tunisia 200/1
Ghana 250/1
Iran 250/1
Costa Rica 350/1
Togo 350/1
Angola 500/1
Saudi Arabia 500/1
Trinidad and Tobago 750/1

Young Stanley - 442

As a Scot born & bred, I hope England get beaten in every sport they play - it's got to do with 300 years of oppression...

Anyway, aside from that, they've definitely outshone us Scots when it comes to their footie songs - not that us Scots have had need one of late given our qualifying performances. Notable ditties include Baddiel & Skinner's 1996 Three Lions and World in Motion for Italia '90.

Young Stanley consists of five builders, Rod Aylen, Paul Aylen, Jay Cranston, Mark Duffin and Mark Snelgrove along with guitarist Noel O'Reilly, all living in Bromley. They took their name from the son of one of the lads, and has always been referred to as "Young Stanley".

When working together on a building site last summer, they got talking about football (as usual!), and they all agreed that whenever England do well in a major tournament they seem to have a good song to back them. Inspired by the conversation, Rod decided to write a song which would capture how they all felt. "Most of us were born in or around 1966 so we have only known 40 years of disappointment.", says Jay the brickie. "We all really believe that this year is our time to bring the trophy home, so come on lets get behind the boys and SING IT FOR ENGLAND!"

It's remarkable catchy, and I can see the fans singing it on the terraces this summer.