You'll Never Walk Alone

When you walk through a stormHold your chin up highAnd don't be afraid of the dark.

At the end of a stormIs a golden skyAnd the sweet, silver song of a lark.

Walk on, through the wind,Walk on, through the rain,Though your dreams be tossed and blown.

Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart,And you'll never walk alone,You'll never walk alone.

"You'll Never Walk Alone" is a song written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II for their 1945 musical, Carousel. It was sung in the original show by Christine Johnson and later Jan Clayton with chorus. It is sung in the movie by Claramae Turner (although the weeping Shirley Jones first tries to sing it, but cannot), and later reprised by Ms. Jones and a chorus.
In the musical, the song is sung after the death of the lead, Billy Bigelow, to give courage to Julie Jordan, pregnant with child at the time, and is reprised in the final scene to encourage a graduation class of which Louise (their daughter) is a member. As a result, it has become a standard, sung by graduation classes in the United States.
The song's popularity arose during the original Broadway production because of World War II, where many members of the audience had husbands, brothers, boyfriends or fiancés at war overseas, which led to solace in the song's message.
The song was recorded by many artists, first charting in 1945 in a version by Frank Sinatra (#9 on the Billboard charts). The great tenor Mario Lanza conducted by Constantine Callinicos sang it in 1950. Patti LaBelle and the BlueBelles had a #34 charting version in 1964. Elvis Presley's version got to #90 in 1968.

Liverpool in the final of the Champions League

Liverpool beat Chelsea 1-0 by forcing the penalty kicks and then won the shootout 4-1 on Tuesday night assuring a spot for the final on the European Champions League that is going to be held on May the 23rd in Athens, Greece.

Daniel Aggert scored at the 23rd minute for the Liverpool, and nothing else happened in the regulation time neither in the 30 minutes of overtime, forcing that to go to the penalty shootouts which the Liverpool won 4-1 with goals of Boudewijn Zenden, Xabi Alonso, Steven Gerrard and Dirk Kuyt. The goalkeeper for the Liverpool Jose Reina saved 3 kicks giving the victory to the Liverpool. Chelsea was eliminated in the semifinals by AS Monaco in 2004 and by Liverpool in 2005. "Everybody has to try to be strong, I think they have a lot of reasons to be proud of themselves," Mourinho said of his players. "They were the best team today ... In extra time we were the only team who tried to win, but football is like that and the penalty shootout is part of the game." Liverpool has won the European title five times, including a penalty-kicks victory over AC Milan two years ago after rallying from a three-goal deficit. Manchester United won in 1999 and 1968, while AC Milan has won the championship six times, the last in 2003. Liverpool is playing the final against either AC Milan or Manchester United. Manchester won the first leg last week.

The English Premier League Season 2006/7

The 2006/2007 season finished with Manchester United gaining the title honors. Chelsea, perhaps surprisingly given the amount of money they have spent on players finished second, the other Champions League spots were taken by Liverpool and Arsenal. The UEFA cup positions were taken By Tottenham Hotspur, Everton and Bolton Wanderers. The Carling Cup and FA Cup were both won by Chelsea.

At the bottom of the table Sheffield United went down together with Watford and Charlton. Everyone had expected the Premiership would prove to hard for Watford however the demise of Charlton Athletic was a shock to many in the football world but the real talking point was the controversial relegation of Sheffield United with a considerable number of football fans from every English League Club believing that it should have been West Ham United who lost their Premier League status.

West Ham United received a record fine for irregularities with regard to the signing of the 2 Argentinian players Tevez and Mascherano. The English Premier League decided that fining the club was a suitable punishment however various newspaper reports implied that the decision was made due to West Hams precarious league position and that had they been safely mid table a points deduction penalty would have been made. The general consensus of opinion is that had it been any of the other sides at the foot of the table a point deduction would have been made regardless. This not surprisingly angered fans in particular those who supported other relegation threatened sides. As things turned out the English Premier Leagues decision allowed West Ham United to escape relegation and bearing in mind that the money a club receives just by being in the English Premier League pays the fine 10 fold it seemed unfair and the matter has now been placed with solicitors and is being investigated by FIFA. Maybe this move will change things and Sheffield United will retain their Premier League Status, we will have to wait and see.

As usual there were several managerial changes throughout the season starting with Ian Dowie sacked by Charlton Athletic for poor results Charlton then went on to appoint their assistant manager Les Reid, Like Dowie before him his reign was short lived and he was sacked in December and replaced with Alan Pardew who had been sacked by West Ham a few weeks earlier. Alan Curbishley was installed at West Ham and despite his critics managed to win enough games to avoid the drop unless of course the Premier League decide to alter the clubs fine to a points deduction. With only a few games left to be played Fulham also parted company with their manager Chris Coleman A long winless spell leaving the club flirting with relegation spelled the end for Coleman. Northern Ireland manager Lawrie Sanchez was brought in to save the club, their English Premier League status was confirmed with victory over a weakened Liverpool side.

The biggest shock in managerial changes was Sam Alladyce leaving Bolton Wanderers with only two games left to play and in a European qualification spot. He was quickly replaced with his assistant manager Sammy Lee and The Wanderers went on to qualify for the UEFA cup even though they lost and drew the last 2 games. Alladyce was supposed to be taking a break however this break lasted less than 3 weeks as at the seasons end Newcastle United sacked their manager Glen Roeder and Alladyce took over in the Newcastle hot seat. Manchester City boss Stuart Pearce also paid for poor results with the loss of his job. Two managers also quit at the season end, Neil Warnock from Sheffield United and Paul Jewel from Wigan Athletic. Maybe the epic battle to stay in the Premier League in the last game of the season between these clubs and which saw Wigan avoid relegation by the skin of their teeth was the deciding factor.
Football fans will now have to wait until August for the new English Premier League season to begin but I doubt It will be as eventful as this season but who knows as football is " a funny old game"