I went here for one of Intelligence Squared's brilliant debate series. This one, about whether football really is a beautiful game, looked at a whole host of issues and arguments, including corruption in the leagues, badly behaved players, racism and homophobia in football, and funding for smaller teams.
Knowing nothing whatsoever about football except that it involves balls and shorts (and that Torres is a golden boy god who can do no wrong), and having gone along only to keep my beloved company, I was expecting to feel at best a bit befuddled, and at worst bored, confused and cross.
But no, the debates were all accessible to even a nitwit like me, but yet relevant and informative for football buffs too. The panel were a mixed bag when it came to their positions on the various issues, and also on the quality on their argument style, but this just meant more interaction between them, surely no bad thing when it comes to keeping your audience's attention.
The hall itself was grand and imposing indeed, with a perfect set-up for lectures and debates, with good acoustics, microphones and screens so that even the late arrivals stuck standing up at the back could see and hear just as well as the eager beavers on the front row. I'll be back. read more