Yes, this month sees the return of the four-yearly nightmare for me which is the Fifa World Cup. I have had to live with the torture of watching England being knocked out of the tournament ever since I first started following it in 1986. That year saw the injustice of Maradona’s infamous ‘hand of God’ goal putting pain to England’s aspirations.
When I first arrived in Glasgow, Scotland in June 1998 to take up my ophthalmology SHO post, both England and Scotland were in the World Cup. I cheered on Scotland in their opening match against Brazil which they ultimately ended up losing 2–1. I soon realised though that support for England by Scotland fans was not reciprocated. It was a case of “anyone but England.” My support for Scotland subsequently waned. Until recently, that is, as my oldest son follows Scotland. I don’t want to see him upset if they lose so I root for them as well now.
“It’s coming home” is a lyric taken from Skinner and Baddiel’s optimistic Three Lions song from 1996, hopefully wishing for England’s football team to bring victory home. I’m sure I will be humming the tune to this song again for a couple of weeks during this World Cup before England get dumped out again. Another thing that is coming home this month is Eye News straight through your letter box, laptop and phone!
For Jun/Jul 2026, Gagana Mallawaarachchi describes the eye as a window to the brain through non-invasive neuromonitoring (with 1 CPD point available to readers) while George Liu covers empowering primary care patients registered blind or partially sighted with a supra-regional quality improvement project. In the Learning Curve, Gwyn Williams entertains us with ‘Down with the sickness’ and in Top Tips, Prashant Shah gives us a step-by-step guide on how to interpret a Pentacam report. Continuing with the coming home theme, Seth Dhillon has helpful tips and hacks for trainees in passing the FRCOphth Part 1 exam in ‘Crombie comes home’.
Elsewhere, in My Top Five, Diya Shah provides tips for preparing for the Duke Elder examination and in the AI & Oculomics section, George Zelhof, examines building data infrastructure for eye research in the NHS with real-world lessons from Liverpool. Adina Smith takes us on another journey through the eyes of artists in the Culture Section and there are also updates in the regular What’s Trending, Journal Reviews and Book Reviews.
I hope you enjoy Eye News Jun/Jul 2026 and find time to read it in between all the football matches. I also hope that you get the team that you wish for in the work sweepstake. And remember, if anyone criticises your preoccupation with the tournament, remind them of the famous quote by Bill Shankly, the legendary Liverpool FC manager: “Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I can assure them it’s much more serious than that.” – PC
