PERHAPS it is the vivid memory of tartan-clad fans tearing down the goalposts at Wembley or feeling hopelessly outnumbered at Trafalgar Square during the 1970s but I get a wee bit apprehensive when I see a Scot posing on what for me will always be Wembley Way.

PERHAPS it is the vivid memory of tartan-clad fans tearing down the goalposts at Wembley or feeling hopelessly outnumbered at Trafalgar Square during the 1970s but I get a wee bit apprehensive when I see a Scot posing on what for me will always be Wembley Way.

Happily this time it was only Gordon Brown and he was the bearer of good news in confirming the Government is backing the FA's bid to bring the World Cup to England in 2018.

It has to be a good sign that even the Germans are supporting the bid, publicly this time and not just in some behind-closed-doors deal.

With the Olympics coming six years earlier then it promises to be a fantastic decade of sport for this nation to enjoy on its doorstep.

All we can hope for now is that by 2018 we will have a team that is genuinely capable of winning it.

GEORGE O'Callaghan is always one to land on his feet and came up trumps when he swapped the music-loving Alan Lee as a house-mate and moved in with Shane Supple.

The young Irish keeper is teaching himself to be a gourmet chef and spends all his time watching cookery programmes on satellite televison, much to the delight of his new flat-mate who has never eaten so well since leaving home in Cork.

George used to stay with Alan when he came to Ipswich for training but now he has a full-time contract he is sharing with the Dubliner who is proving to be a dab hand in the kitchen.

SOUTHEND may be bottom of the local league involving Colchester, Ipswich, Norwich and Luton, but they know how to big themselves up.

In a vote on the Colchester United website there is a vote for who fans think will top that East Anglian mini-league and with a whopping 75% of the vote the Shrimpers come top.

Bemused media staff at Layer Road have left a polite note on the voting page thanking supporters from other clubs who have joined in, and boosted their web traffic no doubt.

One rule for one, another rule for the richer.

While AFC Wimbledon are fighting their 18-point deduction for mistakenly playing Jermaine Darlington without getting international clearance after he joined from Cardiff City, Premier League clubs have been offered an amnesty for breaching rules in signing foreign players, leaving some clubs breathing a big sigh of relief.

NEVER have Ipswich Town needed your support more, so get along to Portman Road and support them against Wolves on Tuesday night.

We are offering a pair of tickets to help swell the crowd in our easy-to-enter competition.

Answer the following question: What was the score when Town played at Molineux earlier this season?

Send you entries either by e-mail to derek.davis@eadt.co.uk or post to Championship Chatter, EADT Sports Desk, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich. IP4 1AN.

Competition closes noon, Monday, February 19.