Chelsea FC

How often has a muddy bit of turf cost £3million a year? Avram Grant lost his well-paid job as Chelsea head coach on one such sod of a muddy May, Moscow night.

In a game of 'ifs' - had John Terry's standing foot not slipped on said turf as he took the shoot-out penalty in the Champions League final against Manchester United.

Had Nicolas Anelka been in this season's form, Grant would still be raking in the shekels, and the Blues would have the trophy owner Roman Abramovich covets most.

In truth, it was better to have a Gene Hackman lookalike in the swish Fulham Road, than Toad of Toad Hall (not my analogy by the way, Avram - but ex-QPR boss Ian Holloway's: phone number on request should you want retribution).

In fact, Luis Felipe Scolari Hackman's English isn't that less intelligible than Grant's.

'Big Phil' soon let it be known he didn't want to be called that. But he'll be called 'unemployed' if Chelsea fail to win a trophy for the second season running.

Fulham FC

All-Bran sales took a plummet in May around west London when Fulham fans on their way to Portsmouth had all the regularity they could handle.

The Whites needed to win on the south coast to save their Premiership skins, after being 'relegated' three games before at around 4.10pm on April 26.

As it turned out the players ignored the script at Manchester City that cast them as fall-guys, and sparked a revival an evangelical rally would have been proud of.

Not that it means manager Roy Hodgson has entirely jettisoned the worry beads as side yo-yo up and down the table.

Still, it's a mean defence down by the Thames these days.

The flow through to the Fulham goal has been stemmed by a UN back -five which includes a Ghanaian, an Irishman, an Australian, an Englishman and a Norwegian. Hands across the water indeed.

QPR

QPR got through more managers in 2008 than Woolworths.

In his quest for instant success, millionaire chairman Flavio Briatore decided to pick 'n'mix his head men with alarming regularity.

Although present incumbent Paulo Sousa should allow the bloke at the training ground to put down his brush before he needs to daub another new name on the plaque opposite the manager's parking space.

'Space' has been a touchy word at Loftus Road this season, with great lumps of newlypainted seats open to public - rather than having the required bums parked in them.

In fact, when Derby came visiting in September, it was only a rare outbreak of common sense at the last minute that saved fans from forking out £50 for a top seat in the 'Platinum' section to witness a 2-0 defeat.

Maybe Sousa, has the nous to make it worthwhile?

Olympics

London had its best medal haul of the modern era, although someone is bound to remind there were hundreds of gongs handed out at the White City Olympics of 1908.

Our home-grown brought back THREE golds and a bronze.

Bradley Wiggins showed why he's the fastest man on two human generated wheels over a kilometre of cycling, and James DeGale proved that he had the fastest fists in Beijing, even though he was a tasty 8-1 outsider before the start of the 75 kilo (middleweight) division.

Rower Steve Rowbotham from Shepherd's Bush won a bronze.

Bin there, done that

For A while back in January bin man Tony Taggart had people running after him in the street.

Not to tell the White City part-time footballer to pick up their rubbish, but to get a ticket for Anfield where Taggart played against Liverpool in the FA Cup for giantkillers Havant & Waterlooville.

Less popular was the sight of Charing Cross Hospital in Hammersmith after TWO park footballers ended up there one week after the other this month with a double broken leg and a broken neck respectively.

Heroes

Foer those not looking forward to 2009 - spare a thought for Stuart Mangan.

The Hammersmith & Fulham RFC rugby player broke his neck in April, and faces the rest of his young life being cared for 24/7 in his wheelchair.

Other heroes who shouldn't be forgotten are Shepherd's Bush Cricket Club who won the Middlesex League, Division Two Championship, and table-tennis prodigy Tin Tin Ho from Bayswater, who won everything a 10-year-old can win in the sport.