Persistence pays off for my Blaydon Races sis

BREAKING the hour mark became something of an obsession for my fitness-mad sister this year as she took part in her third Blaydon Race on a glorious "Ninth of Joon".

Last year, the Race was run in a terrible monsoon on the 150th anniversary of Geordie Ridley's tune - and it would prove even more agonising for my sister as she was officially clocked at 61 minutes.

But, another 12 months on, she was determined not to run it so close again. An increased gym regime on the treadmill began, and it has ultimately delivered a superb result with her unofficial time coming in at 55 minutes.

The official time for my sister will follow soon - though, for the first time, the 4000 competitors had an immediate opportunity to find out the fruits of their efforts, thanks to the long-desired introduction of chip timing.

Entirely understandably, my sister was rather more concerned with getting home, showered and changed before heading back to town for a few drinks. For, undoubtedly, the most wonderful thing about the Blaydon Race is the sheer sociability of the event.

This is no more exemplified than by the goody bag at the finish line, which includes a t-shirt that changes year-on-year and, perhaps, the most welcome of prizes - a bottle of ale from the Wylam brewery.

Certainly, the beer was well-deserved for this year's athletes after a run in which the sun shone high and the temperatures soared during the hottest part of the day.

But, while the weather was the complete opposite to the downpour in 2012, the course remained faithfully based on Geordie Ridley's song.

Beginning at Balmbras at the bottom of the Bigg Market with a hearty version of the Geordie anthem, the run twisted its way through Newcastle city centre, heading alang Collingwood Street, up the Westgate Road and past the Metro Radio Arena.

That put the competitors onto the famous Scotswood Road and they then all crossed over the Scotswood Bridge before looping around the Derwenthaugh Marina near the MetroCentre.

In the final part of the race, the runners headed onto Chainbridge to take them "reet into Blaydon toon" before they finished on the football fields near to Shibdon Pond.

There, I witnessed the efforts of a man dressed as the angel Gabriel - unnervingly with horn and golden hotpants, another man carrying a fridge on his back, a Wonderwoman and a Batman.

Most of all, though, I looked out for my sister, and then watched proudly as she crossed the line just after 4pm.

Note: the official race charity of the 2013 Blaydon Race was Heel and Toe Children's Charity, a local charity which offers free conductive education therapy to children with cerebral palsy, dyspraxia and other motor disorders.


THE BLAYDON RACES (1862)
by Geordie Ridley

(1) Aw went to Blaydon Races, 'twas on the ninth of Joon,
Eiteen hundred an' sixty-two, on a summer's efternoon;
Aw tyuk the 'bus frae Balmbra's, an' she wis heavy laden,
Away we went alang Collingwood Street, that's on the road to Blaydon.

(chorus)
Ah me lads, ye shuda seen us gannin',
Passin' the foaks upon the road just as they wor stannin';
Thor wes lots o' lads an' lasses there, all wi' smiling faces,  
Gannin' alang the Scotswood Road, t'see the Blaydon Races.

(2) We flew past Airmstrang's factory, and up to the "Robin Adair",
Just gannin' doon te the railway bridge, the 'bus wheel flew off there.
The lasses lost their crinolines, an' the veils that hide their faces,
Aw got two black eyes an' a broken nose in gan te Blaydon Races.

(3) When we gat the wheel put on away we went agyen,
But them that had their noses broke they cam back ower hyem;
Sum went to the Dispensary an' some to Doctor Gibbs's,
An' sum to the Infirmary to mend their broken ribs.

(4) Noo when we gat to Paradise thor wes bonny gam begun;
Thor was fower-an-twenty on the 'bus, man, hoo they danced an' sung;
They called on me to sing a sang, aw sung them "Paddy Fagan",
Aw danced a jig an' swung my twig that day aw went to Blaydon.

(5) We flew across the Chain Bridge reet into Blaydon toon,
The bellman he was callin' there, they call him Jackie Broon;
Aw saw him talkin' to sum cheps, an' them he was pursuadin'
To gan an' see Geordy Ridley's show in the Mechanics' Hall at Blaydon

(6) The rain it poor'd aw the day an' myed the groons quite muddy,
Coffy Johnny had a white hat on - they yelled, "Whe stole the cuddy."
There wes spice stalls an' munkey shows an' aud wives selling ciders,
An' a chep wiv a hapenny roond aboot, shootin' "Noo, me lads, for riders."

The Season 2012/13: Fergie signs off in style

Sir Alex Ferguson celebrates his 13th (and final) Premier League title with Manchester United

1 MANCHESTER UNITED (P38 W28 D5 L5 F86 A43 Pts 89)
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FA Cup: lost 0-1 v Chelsea (A) in QF replay, after 2-2
League Cup: lost 4-5 aet v Chelsea (A) in fourth round
Europe: lost 2-3 on agg v Real Madrid in second round (1-1a, 1-2h)
Top scorer: Robin van Persie (30)
Title number 20 was Sir Alex Ferguson's parting gift to the club which he has led since 1986, the last of an extraordinary 38 trophies which he had brought to Old Trafford in his 27 years. This was sweet revenge for Ferguson whose side overcame three defeats in their opening 12 league games to stretch their lead over defending champions, their noisy neighbours Manchester City, throughout the winter. Robin van Persie, appropriately wearing shirt number 20, scored 26 times in the league as his £24m signing paid immediate dividends, though the campaign ended with the bombshell that Wayne Rooney had submitted another transfer request. Can his former manager at Everton, David Moyes - the new man at Old Trafford - persuade him to stay?

2 MANCHESTER CITY (P38 W23 D9 L6 F66 A34 Pts 78)
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FA Cup: lost 0-1 v Wigan Athletic in Final at Wembley
League Cup: lost 2-4 aet v Aston Villa (H) in third round
Europe: Finished bottom of Champions League group D [W0 D3 L3 F7 A11]
Top scorers: Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez (17)
A miserable season for defending champions Manchester City was completed by a miserable day out at Wembley where Wigan upset the odds to walk away with the FA Cup. City were actually the last unbeaten side in the Premier League this season, and briefly led the table in November. But a spate of early draws belied their vulnerability and they were generally short on goals despite being able to call upon the likes of Aguero, Tevez, Edin Dzeko and David Silva. An exit from Europe before Christmas left the FA Cup as City's only hope of a trophy - and when Ben Watson rose at the near post in the last minute to condemn Roberto Mancini's men to defeat, it was clear the Italian's reign at the Etihad was coming to an end. Former Malaga boss Manuel Pellegrini is widely expected to be the new man in charge.

3 CHELSEA (P38 W22 D9 L7 F75 A39 Pts 75)
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FA Cup: lost 1-2 v Manchester City in SF at Wembley
League Cup: lost 0-2 on agg v Swansea City in SF (0-2h, 0-0a)
Europe: won 2-1 v Benfica in Europa League Final in Amsterdam. Finished third in Champions League group E [W3 D1 L2 F16 A10].
Top scorer: Fernando Torres (23)
A trophy and a place in the Champions League was the end result of Rafa Benitez's short period in charge at Stamford Bridge after the Blues became the first Premier League club to sack their manager this season. Roberto di Matteo's failure against Juventus in the Champions League resulted in Chelsea dropping into the Europa League which, ultimately, they won against Benfica, thanks to Branislav Ivanovic's stoppage-time winner. Despite this, Benitez never did win over the fans following comments he had made about the Blues as Liverpool boss. Presumably the next boss - the likely return of Jose Mourinho - will be greeted with much more positivity, particularly if the Portuguese can convince owner Roman Abramovich that all-time club top scorer Frank Lampard is worth another contract.

4 ARSENAL (P38 W21 D10 L7 F72 A37 Pts 73)
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FA Cup: lost 0-1 v Blackburn Rovers (H) in fifth round
League Cup: lost 2-3 on penalties (after 1-1) v Bradford City (A) in QF
Europe: lost v Bayern Munich on away goals in second round (1-3h, 2-0a)
Top scorer: Theo Walcott (21)
Arsenal repeated their late season surge from last year to steal the last Champions League spot from under the noses of their great north London rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, again. Defeat to Spurs at White Hart Lane on 3 March left the Gunners with little room for error, and they duly dropped only four more points in the remaining 10 games. Arsene Wenger thus kept up his 100% record of qualifying for the Champions League in full seasons at the club - but, after bad defeats to lower league opposition in both domestic cup competitions this season, what the fans really want is an end to the eight-year trophy drought.

5 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (P38 W21 D9 L8 F66 A46 Pts 72)
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FA Cup: lost 1-2 v Leeds United (A) in fourth round
League Cup: lost 1-2 v Norwich City (A) in fourth round
Europe: lost 1-4 on penalties (after 4-4 on agg) v Basle in QF (2-2h, 2-2a)
Top scorer: Gareth Bale (26)
Incredibly, it happened again. Tottenham have been pipped at the post for a Champions League place despite holding an seven-point lead over Arsenal after beating them 2-1 at White Hart Lane on 3 March. Indeed, all looked good for Andre Villas-Boas' men after they overcame an autumn wobble but an over-reliance on one man, Gareth Bale, to produce the goods in the run-in left Spurs just too vulnerable. Nevertheless, 72 points remains Tottenham's best haul in a season since 1985 and Villas-Boas deserves another shot next season.

6 EVERTON (P38 W16 D15 L7 F55 A40 Pts 63)
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FA Cup: lost 0-3 v Wigan Athletic (H) in QF
League Cup: lost 1-2 v Leeds United (A) in third round
Top scorer: Marouane Fellaini (12)
David Moyes may have been defeated in his last game as Everton boss at Chelsea but the Scot still went out on a high note, finishing above Liverpool for a second successive season and achieving a top-six placing for the fifth time. Expected new manager Roberto Martinez has a tough act to follow, especially if the Merseysiders' better players follow Moyes out the door, but the Spaniard will no doubt stick to his short passing principles regardless.

7 LIVERPOOL (P38 W16 D13 L9 F71 A43 Pts 61)
LDLDLWDWDDDWDLWWLWLWWLWDDLWWWLWDDDWDWW
FA Cup: lost 2-3 v Oldham Athletic (A) in fourth round
League Cup: lost 1-3 v Swansea City (H) in fourth round
Europe: lost v Zenit St Petersburg on away goals in second round (0-2a, 3-1h)
Top scorer: Luis Suarez (30)
A slow start to Brendan Rodgers' reign resulted in another disappointing league finish for the Anfield club. Since finishing runners-up in 2008-09, Liverpool have now completed four seasons under four different managers in 7th, 6th, 8th and now 7th again. Nevertheless, there is hope going forward. Luis Suarez, when he is not biting defenders' arms, has added more goals to his game - and, indeed, the Reds were the Premier League's top scorers after the turn of the year. 

8 WEST BROMWICH ALBION (P38 W14 D7 L17 F53 A57 Pts 49)
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FA Cup: lost 0-1 v Queens Park Rangers (H) in third round replay, after 1-1 (A)
League Cup: lost 1-2 v Liverpool (H) in third round
Top scorer: Romelu Lukaku (17)
Four successive wins in November gave rise to high hopes at the Hawthorns as the Baggies made an unexpected autumn challenged for a top-four place. However, the second half of the season - devoid of a cup run - became somewhat of a grind to the finish line, though there was a rare victory at Anfield to celebrate and, ultimately, a best finish in the top flight since 1981. The loss of Lukaku back to his parent club Chelsea will cause boss Steve Clarke most concern over the summer.

9 SWANSEA CITY (P38 W11 D13 L14 F47 A51 Pts 46)
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FA Cup: lost 0-1 v Arsenal (A) in third round replay, after 2-2 (H)
League Cup: won 5-0 v Bradford City in Final at Wembley
Top scorer: Miguel 'Michu' Perez Cuesta (22)
Swansea eschewed any thoughts of second season syndrome under their new manager Michael Laudrup with not only a first top-half finish in the top flight since 1982 but also their first major trophy in English football. A 5-0 thumping of Bradford City at Wembley came after having beaten Liverpool at Anfield and Chelsea at Stamford Bridge so the League Cup was well-merited. Top scorer Michu was brilliant to watch throughout the campaign.

10 WEST HAM UNITED (P38 W12 D10 L16 F45 A53 Pts 46)
WLWDDWLWLDWDLLWLDLLWLDLLWLLWLWDDDWLDLW
FA Cup: lost 0-1 v Manchester United (A) in third round replay, after 2-2 (H)
League Cup: lost 1-4 v Wigan Athletic (H) in third round
Top scorer: Kevin Nolan (10)
West Ham's return to the top flight after a one-year absence was a success, ending with a top half finish thanks to a strong home record which included draws against the two Manchester clubs and a delightful 3-1 win over Chelsea. Following the Hammers away was less fun, though, with Sam Allardyce's men managing only 11 goals on the road all season, the lowest in the league.

11 NORWICH CITY (P38 W10 D14 L14 F41 A58 Pts 44)
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FA Cup: lost 0-1 v Luton Town (H) in fourth round
League Cup: QF v Aston Villa (H) on 11 December
Top scorer: Grant Holt (8)
Norwich City took half of their 44 points in a 10-match unbeaten streak in the run-up to Christmas, a sequence which included impressive 1-0 home wins against Arsenal and Manchester United. In the rest of the season, though, the Canaries struggled - particularly in front of goal - until a well-timed flurry of seven brought two wins in their last two games against West Brom (4-0) and Manchester City away (3-2). Chris Hughton will hope that the new signing of Dutch striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel from Sporting Libson will permanently resolve the issue.

12 FULHAM (P38 W11 D10 L17 F50 A60 Pts 43)
WLLWWLDWDDDLLDLWLLDLWDLWLDWDWWLDLLLLLW
FA Cup: lost 1-4 v Manchester United (A) in fourth round
League Cup: lost 0-1 v Sheffield Wednesday (A) in second round
Top scorer: Dimitar Berbatov (15)
Fulham did enough to stay out of relegation trouble throughout as Martin Jol completed his second campaign at Craven Cottage. The Londoners, like their languid top scorer Dimitar Berbatov, seemed to play in fits and starts, beginning the season well before a mid-term blip, then improving again to ensure their late-season bid for oblivion was ultimately insignificant.

13 STOKE CITY (P38 W9 D15 L14 F34 A45 Pts 42)
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FA Cup: lost 0-1 v Manchester City (H) in fourth round
League Cup: lost 3-4 aet v Swindon Town (H) in second round
Top scorer: Jonathan Walters (11)
Time is up for Tony Pulis at the Britannia Stadium after a bit of a season of what-might-have-been for the Potters. Sitting pretty in eighth at the turn of the year, Stoke - who were unbeaten at home - had their eyes on a top half finish in the top flight for the first time since 1981. But just three league wins in 2013 meant instead they had to settle for a fifth successive finish between 11th and 14th, and only Queens Park Rangers scored fewer than their pitiful 34 Premier League goals. That said, new man Mark Hughes had endured a frosty reception so far.

14 SOUTHAMPTON (P38 W9 D14 L15 F49 A60 Pts 41)
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FA Cup: lost 1-5 v Chelsea (H) in third round
League Cup: lost 0-3 v Leeds United (A) in fourth round
Top scorer: Rickie Lambert (15)
Southampton recovered from a very slow start to life back in the top flight and seemed to be moving away from trouble when Nigel Adkins was surprisingly given the chop in January. Nevertheless, Argentine successor Mauricio Pochettino impressed the St Mary's faithful with a trio of home wins against Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea, as Saints secured their Premier League place with an entertaining style.

15 ASTON VILLA (P38 W10 D11 L17 F47 A69 Pts 41)
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FA Cup: lost 1-2 v Millwall (A) in fourth round
League Cup: lost 3-4 on agg v Bradford City in SF (1-3a, 2-1h)
Top scorer: Christian Benteke (23)
Paul Lambert's young side suffered several embarrassments this season - most notably, the 8-0 loss to Chelsea and a two-legged defeat against League Two Bradford City in the League Cup semi finals. But, thanks to Christian Benteke's goals, the Villa lads were able to tough it out and they finished the season strongly, recording a thrashing of their own - 6-1 against Sunderland - in their penultimate home game.

16 NEWCASTLE UNITED (P38 W11 D8 L19 F45 A68 Pts 41)
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FA Cup: lost 0-2 v Brighton & Hove Albion (A) in third round
League Cup: lost 1-2 v Manchester United (A) in third round
Europe: lost 2-4 on agg v Benfica in QF (1-3a, 1-1h)
Top scorer: Demba Ba, Papiss Cisse (13)
From fifth place last year, Newcastle United endured a prolonged relegation battle in this campaign with the squad at St James Park stretched to its limit by injuries and extra games. Even accounting for those circumstances, though, the long-ball tactics and on-field performances were simply not up to scratch. The Magpies lost exactly half of their league games - including painful defeats at home to Sunderland and Liverpool - and only investment in another batch of French players in January saved the club from a second relegation in four years.

17 SUNDERLAND (P38 W9 D12 L17 F41 A54 Pts 39) 
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FA Cup: lost 0-2 v Bolton Wanderers (A) in fourth round replay, after 2-2 (H)
League Cup: lost 0-1 v Middlesbrough (H) in fourth round
Top scorer: Steven Fletcher (11)
So, in the end, Sunderland finished just above the relegation line, a reasonable reflection given that their ship was sinking fast under Martin O'Neill. In came 'charismatic' fascist Paulo di Canio to immediate effect with an unforgettable 3-0 win at Newcastle, followed up by a first home win in three months against Everton. Those six points effectively secured safety but form tailed off again at the end of the campaign and the Black Cats failed to make it to 40 points.

18 WIGAN ATHLETIC (P38 W9 D9 L20 F47 A73 Pts 36)
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FA Cup: won 1-0 v Manchester City in Final at Wembley
League Cup: lost 2-4 on penalties (after 0-0 draw) v Bradford City (H) in fourth round
Top scorer: Arouna Kone (13)
Wigan Athletic became the first team to win the FA Cup and get relegated in a typically topsy-turvy season at the DW Stadium. Victory at Wembley against Man City thanks to Ben Watson's stoppage-time goal brought the Latics their first ever major trophy but, in the Premier League, Wigan had played with fire once too often, especially as the habitual late-season surge spluttered against Swansea and Arsenal this time.

19 READING (P38 W6 D10 L22 F43 A73 Pts 28)
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FA Cup: lost 1-2 v Manchester United (A) in fifth round
League Cup: lost 5-7 aet v Arsenal (H) in fourth round
Top scorer: Adam Le Fondre (14)
Reading were perhaps the weakest team in the top flight last season and so did well to avoid finishing rock bottom. It looked for a short while, with a run of just one defeat in seven after Christmas, that the Royals might even escape. But seven successive defeats in the spring swiftly ended those hopes and the run also called time on Brian McDermott's stay at the Madejski.

20 QUEENS PARK RANGERS (P38 W4 D13 L21 F30 A60 Pts 25)
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FA Cup: lost 2-4 v Milton Keynes Dons (H) in fourth round
League Cup: lost 2-3 v Reading (H) in third round
Top scorer: Loic Remy (6)
Harry Redknapp was unable to live up to his Houdini nickname and added a second relegation to his own CV following his demotion with Southampton eight years ago. Now, Redknapp - touted as the next England boss only 12 months ago - has said he will stay with Queens Park Rangers in the Championship after a dreadful campaign from the west Londoners from start to finish.

Bayern Munich won the European Cup in an all-German Final at Wembley

THE SEASON 2012/13: FOR THE RECORD
ENGLAND
Premier League
Champions Manchester United
Runners-up Manchester City
Champions League Chelsea, Arsenal
Europa League Tottenham Hotspur, Wigan Athletic, Swansea City
Relegation Wigan Athletic, Reading, Queens Park Rangers

Championship
Champions Cardiff City
Runners-up Hull City
Playoff winners Crystal Palace (beat Watford 1-0 aet in the Final)
Relegation Peterborough United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Bristol City

League One
Champions Doncaster Rovers
Runners-up Bournemouth
Playoff winners Yeovil Town (beat Brentford 2-1 in the Final)
Relegation Scunthorpe United, Bury, Hartlepool United, Portsmouth

League Two
Champions Gillingham
Runners-up Rotherham
Also promoted Port Vale
Playoff winners Bradford City (beat Northampton Town 3-0 in the Final)
Relegation Barnet, Aldershot Town

Conference Premier
Champions Mansfield Town
Playoff winners Newport County (beat Wrexham 2-0 in the Final)
Relegation Stockport County, Barrow, Ebbsfleet United, AFC Telford United

Conference North
Champions Chester
Playoff winners FC Halifax Town (beat Brackley Town 1-0 in the Final)
Relegation Corby Town, Droylsden, Hinckley United

Conference South
Champions Welling United
Playoff winners Salisbury City (beat Dover Athletic 3-2 aet in the Final)
Relegation AFC Hornchurch, Billericay Town, Truro City

Domestic Cup Finals
All matches played at Wembley
FA Cup Final Wigan Athletic 1-0 Manchester City
League Cup Final Swansea City 5-0 Bradford City
FA Community Shield Manchester City 3-2 Chelsea
Johnstone's Paint Trophy Crewe Alexandra 2-0 Southend United
FA Trophy Wrexham 1-1 Grimsby Town (after extra time). Wrexham won 4-1 on pens.
FA Vase Spennymoor Town 2-1 Tunbridge Wells

SCOTLAND
Premier League
Champions Celtic
Runners-up Motherwell
Europa League Motherwell, St Johnstone, Hibernian (Cup runners-up)
Relegation Dundee

Division One
Champions Partick Thistle
Runners-up (not promoted) Greenock Morton
Relegation Dunfermline Athletic, Airdrie United

Division Two
Champions Queen of the South
Runners-up (promoted) Alloa Athletic (beat Dunfermline Athletic 3-1 on agg)
Relegation Albion Rovers

Division Three
Champions Rangers
Runners-up (not promoted) Peterhead (lost 0-1 on agg v East Fife)

Domestic Cup Finals
FA Cup Final Celtic 3-0 Hibernian
League Cup Final St Mirren 3-2 Hearts
Challenge Cup Final Queen of the South 1-1 Partick Thistle (after extra time). Queen of the South won 6-5 on pens.

WALES/NORTHERN IRELAND
Welsh Premier League
Champions The New Saints
Europa League Airbus UK Broughton (runners-up), Prestatyn Town (Cup winners), Bala Town (playoff winners)
Relegation Llanelli

IFA Premiership
Champions Cliftonville
Europa League Crusaders (runners-up), Linfield (third place), Glentoran Town (Cup winners)
Relegation Donegal Celtic, Lisburn Distillery

Domestic Cup Finals
Welsh FA Cup Final Prestatyn Town 3-1 Bangor City (after extra time)
Welsh League Cup Final Carmarthen Town 3-3 The New Saints (after extra time). Carmarthen Town won 3-1 on pens.
IFA Cup Final Glentoran 3-1 Cliftonville (after extra time)
IFA League Cup Final Cliftonville 4-0 Crusaders

EUROPE
UEFA Finals
Champions League Bayern Munich (Ger) 2-1 Borussia Dortmund (Ger)
Europa League Chelsea (Eng) 2-1 Benfica (Por)
Super Cup Atletico Madrid (Spa) 4-1 Chelsea (Eng)

Major European League champions
Spain Barcelona
Italy Juventus
Germany Bayern Munich
France Paris Saint-Germain
Portugal FC Porto
Netherlands Ajax Amsterdam
Belgium Anderlecht
Greece Olympiacos
Turkey Galatasaray

Defamation 101: Sally Bercow's Twitter folly

JUST seven words and a bit of punctuation was all it took to land Sally Bercow in a lot of trouble on Twitter.

Mrs Bercow, wife of the House of Commons Speaker John, made her post on 4 November last year, querying "Why is Lord McAlpine trending? *innocent face*".

Lord McAlpine, though he was not named in a Newsnight report two nights earlier, had subsequently been identified on the internet as the Conservative politician from the Margaret Thatcher era, accused of child abuse.

Except that he had never done such a thing and had instead been a victim of mistaken identity - as his accuser admitted after seeing a different photograph.

The failure to check these facts cost BBC Newsnight - and ITV who repeated the allegations - dearly, with Lord McAlpine being easily able to prove in court that the story referred to him.

But the modern world of social media, such as Twitter, added an extra element to the mess.

Indeed, Lord McAlpine was able to identify thousands of Tweets which he considered defamatory, though he later dropped claims against Twitter users with fewer than 500 followers in return for a charitable donation to the BBC's Children in Need.

With 56,000 followers at the time, Mrs Bercow did not qualify for the exception - and instead she decided to fight her corner, claiming there was nothing defamatory in what she had written.

Unfortunately for her, the judge Mr Justice Tugendhat decided she was wrong.

Now, to bring about a suit of defamation - that is, slander or, more commonly, libel if the relevant material is published on a permanent record such as newspapers or indeed Twitter - the claimant must show three things:

• that the statement referred to him or herself - in the case against Mrs Bercow, he had no problem on this point given that he was named;
• that the statement was published to a third party- again, this was easy to prove given that Mrs Bercow was not denying she had made the Tweet;
• and that the statement was actually defamatory - this is the trickier one in the case of Mrs Bercow's Tweet but, again, defamation law is quite clear on what might be considered defamatory. 

Something is defamatory if it tends to:

1. Expose him/her to hatred, ridicule or contempt;
2. Cause him/her to be shunned or avoided;
3. Lower him/her in the estimation of right-thinking members of society, generally;
4. or Disparage him/her in their business, trade, office or profession

• Notice, the words 'if it tends to' - this means that the person suing does not actually have to prove that the words actually caused any of the four above things to happen. It is enough that they might have happened as a result of the offending statement.

Mrs Bercow's defence in court was none of the traditional defences against defamation - i.e. justification, fair comment or privilege - but simply that her Tweet was not defamatory.

Of course, in the purest sense, the Speaker's wife is correct that her query - "Why is Lord McAlpine trending?" - is not defamatory, but merely inquisitive.

However, the law of defamation is more complicated than that, and it is her addition of "*innocent face" which has really landed her in trouble.

In ruling on the case, Mr Justice Tugendhat, said that her tweet meant “in its natural and ordinary defamatory meaning that the claimant was a paedophile who was guilty of sexually abusing boys living in care.

He added: "If I were wrong about that, I would find that the tweet bore an innuendo meaning to the same effect.”

Innuendo is best eschewed if a hefty legal bill is to be avoided.

For, if the followers of Mrs Bercow's can read between the lines in her appendage "*innocent face*", then so can libel judges, as the Daily Star found out in the 1980s.

The newspaper, under the headline 'A lordly price to pay, wrote: "There's been much excited chatter as to why dashing poetry-scribbling Minister Lord Gowrie left the Cabinet so suddenly.

"What expensive habits can he not support on an income of £33,000? I'm sure Gowrie himself would snort at suggestions that he was born with a silver spoon round his neck."

Lord Gowrie's lawyers said: "The reference to [his] expensive habits, the suggestion that he was unable to support those habits on his ministerial salary, the use of the word 'snort' and the reference to a 'silver spoon around his neck' all bore the plain implication, to all familiar with the relevant terminology, that [he] was in the habit of taking illegal drugs, in particular cocaine."

Now, for future journalism students, the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) can update its course textbook McNae's Essential Law for Journalists with the Bercow case.

Meanwhile, those of us, like me, who are just joining Twitter would do well to learn from Mrs Bercow's expensive folly.

You can follow my worldly observations on my new account, @gallowgate_pete.