It has to be done, a quick article with tortuous parallels between university performance and Wigan’s defeat of Manchester City in the FA Cup Final this weekend.

Like most English people, I’ll support the underdog, and especially when that underdog is a team up against a collection of expensive thoroughbreds.

As Prof Patrick McGhee (former VC of UEL and former head of million+) said on Twitter, “Annoying when large parts of Wembley are empty due to millionaires not turning up. But that’s the Man City midfield for you”

This was obviously a fairytale football match, with the expected winners struggling to play and with the winning goal in added time for Wigan, but it shows a few of things which translate nicely to universities:

• you can still be a great success, despite what the league table says
• having a chairman who believes in you is important
• having the whole community believing in you is powerful
• great managers get results

As Roberto Martinez would write – “Sin Miedo”.

(and yes, I do know what team my VC supports….)