Deathrace

Did anyone see the tribute to Sir Bobby Charlton on the Old Trafford pitch ahead of the Manchester derby today? The players who played with and against Charlton were in the photo from left to right Alex Stepney, Tony Book, Mike Summerbee, Pat Crerand, John Aston and Brian Kidd. Book looked extremely frail and several of the others were also struggling to walk. Stepney (who looks very good for 81) comfortably looked the healthiest to me. It should also be noted that sadly there was no sign of Denis Law.

Farokh always goes to the English Tests at Lords and Old Trafford, usually with his old Lancashire colleague Clive Lloyd. Love the surnames of some of the old Indian cricketers like Engineer and Contractor. Did any others have professions as names?

Some suggestions in this article that Greg Chappell isn't in very good health and apparently not flushed with cash either https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/why-cricket-legend-greg-chappell-needed-a-retirement-benefit-at-75-20231026-p5efbm.html

Obviously she has fairly advanced dementia but physically she looks amazing for someone in their 90s (for example her neck is barely wrinkled in that latest photo) and could easily pass for someone in their mid 70s.

Gordon Brown has confirmed he has died. RIP

Any idea who this relates to? https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/24514358/house-of-lords-peer-collapses/

Sutcliffe probably gives us a pretty good guide to the identity of Jack the Ripper who was probably someone equally outwardly insignificant. Most serial killers are.

In terms who will be the last player standing from the final XIs, unless there's something we don't know, you'd have to put Hurst roughly on a par with Overath and Weber (who are both younger than him). You'd probably say he's presently in better shape than Beckenbauer and Schnellinger and he has some years on Schultz who appears to have gone AWOL. Based on that recent photo of Held, I'd say Hurst currently has the edge on him too. It's still a big ask of Hurst given there's six of them.

Just a very sad day. Only Law left of the United champagne trio. RIP Sir Bobby.

Not many recent photos of Schulz (who looked very well in ones around 2018), Schnellinger (who is famously reclusive) or Beckenbauer who is thought to be very ill.

This was Wolfgang Weber a couple of years back

This is the most recent photo I could find of Sigfried Held. His legs don't look good

This is a photo of Wolfgang Overath from September 2023

The only one regularly mentioned as being in poor health is Beckenbauer but he's the highest profile.

So in terms of the final XIs, it's now Sir Geoff Hurst v six West Germans (Schulz, Weber, Schnellinger, Beckenbauer, Overath and Held). Good luck, Sir Geoff.

Tragically sad to see him like this

He was also Derek Trotter's lawyer in OFAH (avoiding the OFAH death curse) and Inspector Lestrade in the 1980s Sherlock Holmes adaptations. A very fine actor. Glad he's had a long life.

Has anyone watched the current ITV series, "The Long Shadow"? It's a very good dramatisation of such a tragic story which focuses on the victims, their families and the police rather than the murderer. It feels very bad taste to mention it but there's only a few of those represented prominently in the drama who I believe are still alive. They include Jim Hobson (one of the main police inspectors), Marcella Claxton (one of the surviving victims) and Doreen Hill (mother of the final victim). I hope the last two in particular have found some peace in their later years.

Abba?

Will it be all's well that ends well for Shakespeare?

As surprised as it's possible to be at a nonagenarian's death. Expected him to last a few more years. Sad news as he came across as a decent bloke but at least he had a long life. RIP. Is that everyone dead from The Great Escape now?

Norma looks better, physically at least, than expected here. Must be a chance of John Major outliving Brown or Blair. He's aged much better than either of them over the past 25 years.

Top UK National Hunt chaser Cyrname aged 11

Surprised this recent article didn't get mentioned https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-12497839/amp/We-exactly-conversation-day-week-never-tire-TIMOTHY-WEST-reveals-anguish-watching-wife-Prunella-Scales-gradually-succumbing-dementia-joy-lifes-simplest-pleasures.html Note that Timothy West mentions that Prunella is "very well physically". Also there's a similar article in yesterday's Times behind a paywall.

94?