Tuesday 2 Sir John Hall resigns from the board of Newcastle Utd and its parent company. Two directors of the plc stepped down last week, apparently in protest at the impending return to the club board of Freddie Shepherd and Douglas Hall. Stan Ternent leaves Bury to become manager of Burnley. Romario is out of Brazil's World Cup squad having not recovered from injury. "We had a similar situation with Gary McAllister so things have evened out," says Craig Brown.
Wednesday 3 Terry Venables criticizes Glenn Hoddle's decision to drop Paul Gascoigne: "I think I would have been a little more patient."
Saturday 6 Hoddle summons Teddy Sheringham for a chat after the tabloids find him drinking in a nightclub in Portugal. "If people read that I was out until 6am I admit that it sounds disgraceful," says Teddy. Slough Town are thrown out of the Conference for failing to upgrade their ground. Telford, who finished in the third relegation spot, are reinstated.
Monday 8 Sepp Blatter is the new president of FIFA. His opponent Lennart Johansson concedes defeat after the first-round ballot left Blatter in the lead, but without the two-thirds support needed. Johansson says: "It is difficult for me to understand why the FA of England were behind me a fortnight ago and now they are not." The FA believe Blatter will favour their bid for the 2006 World Cup. Chelsea sign defender Albert Ferrer from Barcelona for £2 million.
Tuesday 9 Chelsea drop into a World Cup camp again to sign AC Milan's French defender Marcel Desailly for £4.5 million. Terry Venables is appointed manager of Crystal Palace after Mark Goldberg completes his takeover of the club. Former Palace chairman Ron Noades becomes the new owner of Brentford. Stan Collymore makes front page headlines after beating up his girlfriend Ulrika Jonsson at a pre-World Cup party in Paris.
Wednesday 10 South Africa coach Philippe Troussier says he has been approached by Sheffield Wednesday, who are also tracking France's technical director Gerard Houllier. Fabrizio Ravanelli is forced to drop out of the Italian World Cup squad due to injury.
Saturday 13 Geoff Hurst is knighted in the Queen's birthday honours list. Jimmy Greaves will be pleased for him. Bruce Rioch succeeds Mike Walker as manager of Norwich.
Sunday 14 England fans riot in Marseille, fighting with police and Tunisian supporters. There are over 50 arrests. "A bunch of drunken, brain dead idiots seem determined to disgrace our country," says Sports Minister Tony Banks. "We've given the French every support they need in cracking down on the English hooligans," says Home Secretary Jack Straw.
Monday 15 More trouble involving England fans on a beach, where the match with Tunisia is being shown on a giant screen, and in the centre of Marseille. The French interior minister threatens mass expulsions if the violence is repeated. Three England supporters are given jail sentences by Marseille courts for incitement to riot.
Tuesday 16 The government urges companies to consider sacking any employees convicted of hooliganism in France. "Employers will want to consider the impact of the behaviour of these people on their businesses," says Jack Straw. Tino Asprilla walks out on the Colombian team after a row with the coach over his substitution during the game with Romania. FIFA president Sepp Blatter clatters into World Cup referees for not following the new directives on tackles from behind: "It is not up to them to decide how fouls should be interpreted," he says. After weeks of deliberation Martin O'Neill decides to stay with Leicester City, who threaten to report Everton for making an illegal approach. Bury appoint Neil Warnock as their new manager. Former England full-back Keith Newton dies of cancer aged 57.
Wednesday 17 David Beckham's people work overtime to keep their boy in the news with several papers reporting the player's "heartbreak" at being dropped for England's first match. "Even days after it happened, I still can't believe it. I still have the sick feeling in my stomach," he says, adding, "I could have sulked but I haven't." Well, no. West Ham are reported to have agreed a fee of £1.2 million for Chile's Javier Margas. Mo Mowlam wants Wimbledon to move to Belfast, to boost the peace process presumably.
Friday 19 Newcastle complete the signing of Stephane Guivarc'h from Auxerre for £3.5 million. Arsenal have bought French youth international David Grodin and set up a partnership with his club St Etienne that will involve loan exchanges of players aged 18 and under. FIFA bigwigs are split over the red card carnage that disfigured Denmark v South Africa and France v Saudi Arabia. "One minute they don't hand out enough cards, the next it's too many," says Michel Platini, while Sepp Blatter praises the officials: "Certain players had gone too far in earlier matches. I think they have got the message now." While everyone's distracted, Plymouth sack their manager Mick Jones.
Sunday 21 Carlos Alberto Parreira is dismissed by Saudi Arabia. German hooligans riot before and after the match with Yugoslavia in Lens. Eighty-six are arrested and a policeman is in a coma after being beaten with an iron bar. The French authorities are to bring in emergency powers to permit deportation of hooligans with previous convictions for violence, before they have committed any offence. "This will send out a clear message that the thugs are not welcome," says Jack Straw.
Monday 22 Germany offer to withdraw from the World Cup. DFB president Egidius Braun says: "This is no longer hooliganism, this is terrorism." South Korea dismiss their coach Cha Bum-Kun. Two South African players, Brendan Augustine and, um, Naughty Mokoena, are sent home after staying out all night.
Tuesday 23 Glenn Hoddle defends David Beckham's omission from England's starting line-up, and has a swipe at Man Utd: "David has not been focused for this tournament. Half the problem is what he has to cope with. Maybe his club need to look at that further." Alex Ferguson responds by saying, "David's relationship with his fiancee is very public. He does not get a lot of peace." An England fan stabbed in Toulouse remains seriously ill. Two German fans are charged with the assault in Lens that left a policeman with brain damage. Henryk Kasperczak, due to step down as Tunisia coach at the end of the World Cup, gets his marching orders a week early.
Wednesday 24 Howard Kendall leaves Everton "by mutual consent". The job will be advertized, a move criticized by the chairman of the Everton Shareholders Association who says: "Who wants to join a lunatic asylum apart from a lunatic?" Brian Kidd, Everton's top target, has been offered a pay rise to stay at Man Utd. Brentford dismiss Micky Adams and his staff.
Thursday 25 Fifty-seven England fans are arrested after trouble in Ostend, with a further 40 picked up in Lens and Lille. Hristo Bonev resigns as Bulgaria coach.
Friday 26 The chairman of the African Football Confederation, Issa Hayatou, is to complain to FIFA about the decisions that went against African teams, with particular reference to Brazil v Norway and Chile v Cameroon. He won't want to be reminded that Chile could have afforded to lose that match but for the daft penalty awarded against them in the Italy match by the referee from Niger.
Saturday 27 The FA criticizes FIFA for allocating just over 2,000 tickets to England fans for the second round match with Argentina. The Football Supporters Association, however, thinks the FA are making a fuss to cover up for their own inaction: "They're now saying they've got to do this and that for the fans but they did agree to this arrangement three years ago," °¿says an FSA spokesperson.
Sunday 28 Former England manager Sir Alf Ramsey is in hospital after a mild stroke. Kevin Hodges leaves Torquay to become the new boss of Plymouth. Norway's Egil Olsen and former Sweden coach Tommy Svensson both claim to have turned down job offers from Celtic.
Monday 29 Steve Sampson resigns as US coach, his team selections and tactics having been heavily criticised by several of his own players. Japan's Takeshi Okada also steps down, saying: "I couldn't get a result. The players wouldn't believe in me if I continued." Two defenders who didn't make their country's World Cup squads arrive in the Premiership, with Sebastien Perez joining Blackburn from Bastia for £3 million and Paolo Tramezzani leaving Vicenza for Spurs for £1.5 million.
Tuesday 30 According to a report in Business Age, David Beckham and Alan Shearer are among the top ten wage earners in world football. Beckham, ninth on the list, one place above Shearer, is expected to pick up just over £8 million in salaries, bonuses and endorsements over the next year. Ronaldo tops the chart with a pay packet of £20 million. At the other end of the football scale, Alan Cork becomes the eighth managerial casualty in two years at Swansea City.
From WSC 138 August 1998. What was happening this month