The football was so bad ...this was the most excting thing I saw !

Saturday was my regular 250 mile round trip from Nottingham to the Reebok stadium to watch Bolton Wanderers play in the English Premier League.

The football was so bad, Bolton were clueless again. The weather in Lancashire was awful...it rained hard most of the match ...it was windy, cold and miserable. Bolton had a player sent off after 20 minutes (quite rightly too ..an two footed tackle). and we were easily beaten 2-0 by Everton. Oh and on the way home the M62 was shut which meant the 2 hour home trip became 3 hours.

So this was the most exciting thing I saw ...a rainbow over the M1 northbound as we headed to Bolton. It followed us from Sheffield for about 10 miles !

Shot from the passenger seat of Bills car at approx 70 mph !!

On a sad note, a very sad note.... today (Sunday) football fans across the UK were shocked to learn that ex footballer Gary Speed died today aged 42.

Gary was a model pro....never argued with the ref, played fair, gave 100% . He was a model professional. He was popular at every club he played for. He played for Bolton Wanderers from 2004 to 2008 in what was our most successful period of recent history. Gary took his own life this morning. RIP Gary Speed..

[peter/zipp]

ha, i know how you feel.. went to leeds match, the crisp packets blowing around the pitch were a cut above our lot.
r.i.p gary speed, a gent.

[Mags]

Rainbows are always exciting! Good job, Phil!

[Jennifer C]

sorry that your team are not going well! Love the light in this image

[Ems]

Did you go to get the pot of gold?

[Pat Knowles]

Yes a sad loss of a very decent man RIP . I was a bit worried when I saw this photo imagining you with camera in hand driving in the middle lane in all that wind , glad to hear you were a passenger !! Lovely view of the M1& that rainbow...pity about the match, what is it with our Northern teams, look at Blackburn & Preston !!!!

[Judith Greenwood]

Very sad news and so unexpected so I think lots of people who knew him are wondering how it came to that. Shame about the footy.

[Mike]

Great photo.. always love a rainbow. I have no idea what makes anyone take their own life and Gary was outwardly on the way up with Wales again. A true professional that others should really look up to. Just goes to show life is never what it seems...

[Kerri]

Beautiful!

[Juliette Packham]

great shot Phil -sorry to hear your team didn't do so well (again!!!) Seems strange GS took his life - makes you realise there's always things going on in people's lives and heads that the rest of us will never know. Thoughts to his kids and wife...

[andy c]

Yeah mate.. Sad news about Gary Speed..

[Sue Wilde]

So sad to hear about Gary Speed. This is a lovely shot

[Phil Howcroft]

@sleepdozer57 cheers Peter , great win for Leeds at Forest tonight :)

[Phil Howcroft]

@marlboromaam thanks marlboro , rainbows do indeed make cool shots

[Phil Howcroft]

@jenrobcarr thanks jennifer :)

[Phil Howcroft]

@emmaroobers no pot of gold i'm afraid emma......three points would have been nice

[Phil Howcroft]

@happypat cheers Pat, the footie was dreadful

[Phil Howcroft]

@judithg yes shame about the footie judith , but the footie seemed irrelevant once the news of Speedo broke on Sunday afternoon

[Phil Howcroft]

@caddick thanks Mike , we all like a raibow

[Phil Howcroft]

@kerristephens many thnx kerri :)

[Phil Howcroft]

@sparkle cheers Juliette, the footie was poor as for Speedo I agree with you thought to his family

[Phil Howcroft]

@andycoleborn cheers andy, i see Pompey are in the news again for financial probs :(

[Phil Howcroft]

@swilde thnx sue i always look forward to your comments :)

[andy c]

@phil_howcroft incredible eh..! You really couldn't make it up... First a gun running russian/israli with a french passport runs up £100m debts, then a fake arab, then a dodgy Hong Kong dude now a Latvian banker arrested for cooking the books..!!!!

[Phil Howcroft]

@andycoleborn andy it is incredible...i think football will get a reality check soon ...and about time....it's unsustainable...what happens when the owners of the 'massives' in Manc get bored and pull out ! Ah well I might see you in the championship next season !

[Sarah Horsfall]

So it turns out it's not a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it's a blue van!! LOL

[Phil Howcroft]

@sarahhorsfall ha ha sarah, excellent spot :)

[andy c]

@phil_howcroft but all passed the fit & proper person's test :-)...