Ten reasons why I love Half Man Half Biscuit

There are many more than ten reasons but in the spirit of blogs and lists....

1. Because the lead singer, Nigel Blackwell is called Nigel - and he supports Tranmere.
2. Because he used to play 5/6/7/11-a-side every Friday at Birkenhead Park with the likes of Kevin Sampson and other local luminaries. We tracked down Peter Hooton there to feature on the cover of the first issue of The Side.
3. Because the shiny bit near the label of their first LP, Back in the DHSS, has the words NIGEL'S DREAM: LIVERPOOL 0, TRANMERE 5 scratched into it. (Urban Myth Warning: This might not be true but it suits me that it could be).
4. Because my mum worked with Blackie's sister at Wirral Met and she got my copy of Liverpool, A Wondrous Place signed by the man himself. He signed it "From Your Showbiz Pal, Nigel". I was proper chuffed, although the the pic of Bobby and Sheila is equally amusing.
5. Because, according to @NeilTague's Brentford supporting mate Ben, he signs all his autographs "From Your Showbiz Pal, Nigel".
6. Because of the whole helicopter, The Tube, Friday Night is Tranmere Night episode. Everyone knows that one.
7. Because they used to have really funny lyrics set to dreadful music but after about ten years they discovered melody too. King of Hi Vis, Them's the Vagaries and Bad Loser on Yahoo Chess should be up there for a Novello.
8. Because they're on Probe Plus and I think in some kind of drunken stupor I hassled boss Geoff Davies into working with me on a book about him and Probe
9. Because they've been successfully "avoiding proper work since 1985".
10. Because I saw them play in Preston on Friday night and they were absolutely brilliant, again.

If, for some ridiculous reason, you don't know who I'm talking about, make it your business to find out more. Start with this live version of Vatican Broadside.