Harty on... The Albion and a tour of Lord’s

There were numerous and almost always controversial appearances on my old phone-in programme, written spats via his programme notes and, most recently, a difference of opinion over his autobiography.

But, for all the peaks and troughs along the way, I will never, ever underestimate his contribution to the Albion, when he and others ultimately saved the club in the late 1990s.

Therefore, I am somewhat disappointed to see the outcome of his plan to sell some of his shares in the club to supporters threatened by apparent red tape.

The rights and wrongs of the whole affair will no doubt be debated by a number of Albion fans in 
the coming months, but 
my own personal view is 
as follows.

The unnamed shareholder who values Knight’s shares at 1p rather than a pound is entitled to do this under UK company law, and sadly, however unjust it at appears, on the face of it there’s nothing that can 
be done.

However, I sincerely do hope that with the Albion now having spent nearly £130million pounds on a new stadium and training ground complex, that Dick Knight has had some of his considerable Albion-related financial outlay returned to him regardless of the share dealing issue.

n Courtesy of Harty Junior, for my Father’s Day present, I had a very enjoyable tour of Lord’s cricket ground 
last Sunday.

Having visited the iconic cricket ground to watch England, Sussex and, of course, Findon, over the years, it was fascinating to go behind the scenes at St John’s Wood, London.

It was great walking through the Long Room, and visiting both dressing rooms, as well as the committee room where many an England captain has been sacked over the years, with the highlight of the tour actually seeing, albeit through a secure glass case, the Ashes – that little urn I saw England tamely surrender in Australia last winter.

Hopefully, when our antipodean cousins return here next summer, our test team will put up more of a fight trying to win them back.

I would imagine that the tours are seasonal due to both ground maintenance and the good old British weather, but I would strongly recommended cricket fans both young and old giving it a go.

Unfortunately, there won’t be an extended FA Youth Cup run at Worthing this year, as the Rebels youth team lost 2-0 on Monday to a very strong Whyteleafe side.

In a very entertaining game, Worthing dominated for long periods but couldn’t convert the pressure and, ultimately, two errors resulted in the visitors scoring in each half.

On a positive note, as a management team, we probably learned more about the side in defeat and will certainly take a lot from the game and move forward to the next fixture.

The match is again at home, on Monday, September 29, against Whitehawk in the Ryman League Cup, 7.45pm kick off.