Saturday 1 Man Utd go top again after beating Villa 2-1, while Chelsea win 3-1 against Everton, who still need a point to avoid the drop. Southampton move out of the bottom three for the first time this season by beating Leicester 2-1. "We've got our heads above water and now we have to stay there," says winning goal scorer James Beattie. Charlton and Blackburn share a goalless draw at The Valley though the latter are refused what appears to be a clear penalty for a foul on Ashley Ward, who has to be restrained from attacking referee Gary Willard at the final whistle. Rob Harris, in charge (after a fashion) of West Ham's game with Leeds, also comes close to being thumped after dimissing Ian Wright with just 15 minutes gone. West Ham have another two sent off in a 5-1 defeat. "We were tremendous while we still had ten men," says a seething Harry Redknapp. "I thought the referee had a good game," says David O'Leary. Bradford's promotion hopes are knocked back by a home draw with Oxford United, while Bristol City are down after losing at Sheffield United. Walsall are promoted from the Second Division. Brentford join Cambridge and Cardiff in going up from the Third, while Scarborough still have a chance of avoiding the drop after an away win at Halifax. Celtic confirm that Kenny Dalglish is to rejoin them as "technical director" in the summer.
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Stories
Doug Stenhouse reveals how Berwick Rangers midfielder Martin Neil's recent admission of drug binges has highlighted a worrying statistic in regard to the SFA's random drug testing policy
The headlines were all too sadly familiar. Once more a professional footballer had gone off the rails and was seeking help for his addiction. This time, the situation is different however, in that this is no superstar with plenty of money and free time. This is the story of Martin Neil, a part-time player in the Scottish Third Division who has admitted to taking a variety of illegal drugs for the past 12 years of his playing career.
Dario Gradi's desire to develop young talent at Crewe has been, and will continue to be, key to the clubs's surival in a time of ever-increasing transfer fees and wage demands. Paul Wilkinson explains
Imagine if you can a league table topped by Manchester United, Everton and Crewe Alexandra. This was Group A of the FA Premier Academy League (Under-19s) this season. Crewe struggled in their second season in the First Division, but their youth sides were beating the best that the Premiership clubs could offer.
The rise in players' wages continues to grow at an alarming rate, causing Deloitte and Touche to call for clubs to show a harder stance during negotiations
The strangest publication to arrive at WSC for a long time was a glossy brochure called, with no apparent sense of irony, UEFA Champions League: A solidarity system for European football. Published in February this year, it appears to form part of UEFA’s campaign to head off any attempt to challenge the central marketing of TV rights to the Champions League.
Saturday 3 Liverpool's first derby win in ten attempts, 3-2 at Anfield, is overshadowed by a row over Robbie Fowler's celebration when scoring the first of his two goals, when he mimics snorting cocaine from the white line, geddit, of the penalty area. Gerard Houllier, game for a laugh, claims Fowler was pretending to eat grass but the FA are expected to whip out another of their misconduct charges. Chelsea and Leeds make ground at the top after beating Charlton and Forest while Man Utd are held 1-1 by Wimbledon and Arsenal get a goalless draw at Southampton. In the First Division, Sunderland's 11th successive home win, 3-0 over West Brom, equals a club record. Ipswich stay second after thrashing Swindon 6-0 at the County Ground.