Clydebank are the latest Scottish club to encounter financial difficulties. Colin McPherson analyses what the future holds
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Small, modestly successful Scottish club, relatively new to the League, finds itself asset stripped, relegated and threatened with a move to another part of the footballing world, without a care for their loyal band of long-suffering supporters.
Former police commissioner Sir John Smith was asked by the FA to look into football's values after the colourful financial events of recent years. Martin Le Jeune, who assisted with the report, explains why we should take it seriously
Betting, bungs, bribes… there have been times in the past few months when football’s financial dealings might as well have come straight out of a business studies course taught by Del Boy Trotter and Arthur Daley.
Illegal payments are no laughing matter
"Bung" is a comedy word, close to bungling, an activity that generates derision, not to be taken too seriously. Bungs, as the Premier League inquiry established, are passed over in motorway service stations or transport cafes in plastic carrier bags or even, in one case, on an Icelandic trawler. It is a pity that ‘bung’ has become the standard shorthand phrase for corrupt transfer dealings in football because it trivialises an activity that can often involve huge sums of money changing hands.
Tuesday 2 West Brom drop down to fourth in Division One after losing 1-0 at home to (gasp) Man City while Sheffield Utd move above them following a 3-2 over Stoke. In Division Three a League record is equalled at Wigan where Bristol Rovers have four players sent off, together with one from the home side. Three go after a mass brawl triggered by the first dismissal, of Rovers defender David Pritchard. "It was atrocious, abysmal and an absolute disgrace," says Rovers manager Ian Holloway, talking of the refereeing rather than the fighting. Doncaster get their first win of the season, 2-1 v Chester, to take them to within six points of Brighton.
Wednesday 3 West Ham beat Crystal Palace 4-1 in a restaging of the match abandoned due to floodlight failure last month. The game is watched by officials from Juventus said to be considering investing in Palace for reasons that remain obscure, possibly some form of collective madness.
Thursday 4 So-so World Cup draw for England who'll be playing Tunisia, Romania and Colombia, harder for Scotland, up against Brazil in the opening match of the tournament (traditionally a low-scoring game, though) then Norway and Morocco. Ray Harford resigns as manager of West Brom as a prelude to taking up the QPR job, saying "At times there were problems with the travelling. A chance came that was going to be better geographically." Did he fly home from Blackburn every day then?.
Scarborough have had numerous set-backs in their history, and Mark Staniforth thinks he knows why
Far too many clubs’ greatest achievements have disappeared in the mists of time. But few clubs can claim that their most memorable moments have disappeared into the smoke from No 55 Edgehill Road.