Where does match fixing happen in football? Not in the highest profile leagues; there is too much media scrutiny and odd behaviour on the pitch is too likely to be spotted. If I were a crooked gambling syndic, I would target the more obscure matches. Academy games need strong protection, not just because there is less disinfectant by sunlight but also because earlier kick-offs suit the Asian market.

There is also a real risk with international youth tournaments, particularly because they are the championships for which more obscure nations, with smaller, poorer, often shambolic federations, participate. The 2009 Under-20 World Cup, for example, involved Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Tahiti; in 2007, Congo, Gambia, Zambia, Panama and Jordan.

This is not because the players from those countries – often in Africa – are genetically more likely to be dishonest but because they are often poor and, understandably, do not entirely trust their national federations to pay them on time. Unscrupulous gangsters prey on the fact that, perversely, some players will trust them more than their own officials.

The problem is unlikely to be solved as long as those tasked with policing sport’s integrity punish the corrupted and not the corruptors, an example of the tail wagging the dog. Would it really be morally defensible to ban a child – for that was what Amir looked when wandering into the middle yesterday morning – for bowling a few no balls to order when the viability of him saying ‘no’ is not established?

Richard Williams writes in today’s Guardian: “Such things are not always about money for the player, for those involved in the vast illegal gambling syndicates of the subcontinent and Far East are uncompromisingly evil. Who knows the threats for non-cooperation?”

The players are foot-soldiers in the great villainy that is defrauding book-makers. Amir’s collusion remains a yet-to-be-investigated allegation – though if everybody is innocent one of the greatest coincidences in sport took place in the fourth Test – but if proven, could fear, not greed, have been the prime motive?

Match fixing is involved in all sorts of other strands of organized crime and it is by combating that, not simply picking off the players operated by invisible puppet strings, that will eradicate corruption in sport.

In 1966, under coach Helenio Herrera, Internazionale contested a European Cup semi final with Real Madrid at the San Siro, having lost the away leg 1-0. Inter had bought the referees of their semi final home legs in the previous two seasons, against Borussia Dortmund in 1964 and Liverpool in 1965, before winning both Finals.

The referee for the Real Madrid second leg was the Hungarian György Vadász, a compatriot of Inter’s execrable fixer Dezsö Solti. Vadász was an uncorruptable man, despite laughably elaborate efforts involving enough money to buy twenty-five Mercedes and being presented with a gold watch during a lunch at the Inter president Angelo Moratti’s villa; the match ended 1-1 and Real Madrid went on to defeat Partizan of Yugoslavia in the Final.

In a subsequent conversation with journalist Peter Borenich, Vadász told how Solti telephoned his friend György Honti, secretary of the Hungarian football federation, and told him how Vadász had robbed Inter of victory. Honti, outraged, confronted Vadász back in Budapest and the referee’s career suffered from then on. When one’s allies and enemies are not clearly defined, it is hard to somebody in sport to do the right thing without compromising their livelihood. Most Pakistani cricketers are not rich men – their retainers from the Pakistani Cricket Board are pitiful – and can ill afford to harm their careers.

***

Transfer deadline day tomorrow. Have you booked your day’s holiday yet? No, I haven’t either. Now that Sky Sports News has gone subscription-only, most of us will simply let the occasion pass us by.

If I sound less than excited, it is through disillusionment with the way that European football, and the media, have become utterly besotted with transfers. Agents have become the new scouts; signing players the new coaching. If, as predicted, a lack of cash leads to a duller deadline day, it is to be coped that coaches will go back to doing what is supposed to be their jobs: taking the players they already have and improving them.

Roy Hodgson did it at Fulham, which is why Bobby Zamora now looks every inch an England striker, Dickson Etuhu looks like a box-to-box midfield warrior and David Stockdale, released by York City a few years ago, is now being linked with an international call-up after proving himself an able deputy to Mark Schwarzer.

***

Footballing World Non-League Diary

25 August 2010: Kirkbymoorside 2 Redcar Athletic 1

It doesn’t matter in which theatre the drama is played: some things are universal in football and goal-line controversies are one of them. It did not prevent the Moorsiders recording an impressive win against one of the Wearside League’s stronger sides but when Martin Cooper’s first half free-kick struck the bar and bounced, in the opinion of everybody save the officials, a foot behind the goal line, there was hell to pay.

It was left to central defender Paul Hodgson, sent forward for the set piece, to assume the Roger Hunt ‘miles over’ role at the back post, though both the referee and linesman were struck down by temporary blindness. The win kept Kirkbymoorside at the top of the table for three days, though an away defeat on Saturday did for that.

Ben Arfa is not alone: his former Lyons team-mate Karim Benzema might have earned a career-boosting move to Real Madrid but new trainer Jose Mourinho has been attempting to offload him throughout the entire summer, triggering a more general debate over the new generation of French talent. Samir Nasri was hailed as another of the gold generation, but has shone only infrequently for Arsenal.

But it is Ben Arfa who seems to be struggling the most. Having moved away from Lyons following regular and well-publicised arguments with players, coaches and even the president, he changed homes and found himself at the Velodrome, home of Marseille. The great deal of fanfare upon his arrival might have been merited but disciplinary problems once again blighted his two years in the south of France.

His dilemma is an ostensibly French one.

The regular disagreements with the coaches because they were not playing him regularly. Speaking against the ultimate man in command, the president, in an attempt to get his own way. Provoking regular disagreements, rows and even confrontations with fellow members of the playing staff.

It may all be a part of the French mentality – the national side’s disgraceful actions at the World Cup was the ultimate manifestation of this. No Frenchman wants to be subservient to another, the typical chain of command doesn’t exist. The notion of serving others is smothered: the key is to be self-serving before anything else.

Ben Arfa is a particularly compelling case. Both at Lyons and Marseille, he has left under a cloud of controversy and with the number of enemies outweighing friends.

Described as “one of the best-rated talents in France” but completely lacking in self-control or will to impress his employers. Able to dazzle with his dancing feet on the wing, while also able to fulfill a striking role, his versatility and talent ought to have propelled him into the upper echelons of the game.

But his career is now at an impasse.

Having severed ties at Marseille this summer stating, via the press, that he would not play for the club this season after president Jean-Claude Dassier originally refused to let him leave, Ben Arfa was not bombarded with offers from the likes of Inter Milan or Real Madrid. Instead, he was left with Werder Bremen or Newcastle, two unfashionable clubs and arguably neither better than Marseille.

And after Bremen pulled out of an €8 million transfer, a move to Newcastle was the last remaining offer on the table. With just days until the end of the window, and an impossible situation at Marseille, the winger had to accept.

Handed the number 37 shirt, Ben Arfa has an opportunity to boast his talents in the Premier League. He cannot lose from this loan deal, and in theory neither can Newcastle.

But their recent results, the thrashing of Aston Villa and reputable draw at Wolves, have been down to hard-graft and an excellent team-spirit, something that manager Chris Hughton has brought to the club over the last year or so.

Ben Arfa could easily destroy the positive atmosphere with one of his typical tantrums. His history suggests such an outburst is likely. The list of enemies is ever-growing: from Benzema, Sébastien Squillaci and Jean-Michel Aulas at Lyons (while also stating the club lacked class and prestige) and subsequently Djibril Cissé, Ronald Zubar and coaches Eric Gerets and Didier Deschamps at Marseille. Such a list puts the more renowned sulks like Nicolas Anelka and Patrice Evra firmly in the shadows.

Newcastle fans will offer him their typically warm welcome, making him feel at home. And, possibly, a change of scenery and the knowledge that there is a need to impress on a loan (rather than permanent) deal can help the player. Should he impress, while also managing to demonstrate a satisfactory level of maturity, those big name clubs may return.

Ben Afra’s career has been decidedly odd. His obtrusive personality continually prevents his progress and seemingly there is no one willing to help him. But, Hughton is not the father-style figure that perhaps Ben Arfa would benefit from. It could prove a problematic year, but it is up to the player to offer suitable evidence of change.

His attitude will dictate his level of success not just in the next year, but for the rest of his career too.

At 23 years of age, there are no more excuses.

Sky Sports 1, though, yesterday decided to go all retro, as they showed us a repeat of some match from the (first) Kevin Keegan era in which Newcastle Utd romped through a home fixture against Aston Villa in which eighteen Englishmen featured. Didn’t Scott Sellars and Peter Beardsley play well?

In 2010, of course, it would be just silly to expect Aston Villa, packed as they are with Young English Talent, to lie down and have their collective tummies tickled by a team just promoted from what TMM will persist in calling the Second Division.

In reality, however, Villa exploded like rat-bags at St James’ Park, beginning with a comedy penalty miss from John Carew. Perhaps James Milner really was worth £26m after all. Their team included some new players from the youth system: Marc Albrighton, a right winger, who looks very good; and Ciaran Clark, a central defender, who didn’t. Clark, 20, looked comfortable against West Ham’s limited attack on the opening day but Andy Carroll and Kevin Nolan, now a converted second striker, gave the Aston Villa defenders merry hell.

It appeared that the Young English Talent was playing in black and white: Mike Williamson, 26, looked assured in central defense; James Perch, 24, at right back; and most of all, Andy Carroll, 21, looking every inch – and, at 6 ft 3 in, he has more than most – a proper Newcastle number nine.

Carroll already looks like a future England striker: tall, powerful and, most importantly, absolutely ruthless in front of goal. More fine performances are needed to prove his consistency; it is much easier to score the third, fourth and sixth goals of a 6-0 home win than, say, the only goal in a 1-0 win away to Everton.

Also, what a load of nonsense regarding Joey Barton’s ‘Nazi’ celebration of his fine goal, which appeared nothing of the sort upon several inspections. Barton is no angel but here there is proof that some people see the Premier League more as a reality television programme than a football competition.

***

At last, the Premier League is set to fine Sir Alex Ferguson for his continued refusal to give post-match interviews to the BBC. Following Manchester Utd’s throwing away of two points at Fulham, terrestrial highlights viewers were once again fobbed off with Mike Phelan, pleasant chap though he may be, for the post-match talking heads.

The feud goes back all the way to 2004, when BBC Three – BBC Three! – programme aired a documentary, Father and Son, about Ferguson’s son Jason, then a football agent. Ferguson is still demanding an apology – for what, it is not entirely clear – and has accused the BBC of ‘breathtaking arrogance’, apparently with a straight face. After a game in which Manchester Utd drop points and defend poorly, the club’s own supporters are surely entitled to hear their manager’s explanation.

Ferguson has even said, “It’s not a grudge; it’s a stance.” If it were, he would have resigned as Manchester Utd coach in principle as, after the documentary was aired, the club ceased to use Ferguson Jnr in their transfer dealings.

***

There should be no ‘principled’ objection to the possibility of Mikel Arteta, and others, playing international football for England. Certainly not from Mark O’Lawrenson, the Match of the Day pundit from Preston, County Roscommon.

Arteta, 28, would surely bring something extra to the English side, not to mention consistently well-taken set pieces, and has been publicly encouraged by the England captain Steven Gerrard to become a naturalized Englishman.

The question of whether this should be allowed to happen boils down to one’s understanding of the concept of nationality. Is it something we are born with, part of our biological, genetic make-up? Or is it something moderately flexible, which can be earned?

Few objected when, during Euro 2008, Germany faced Poland in Klagenfurt with a strike partnership consisting of Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski, both born in Poland. They both moved to Germany with their families as children, just as many other international footballers moved either to or from the nation they represent at a young age.

Arteta first moved to Britain – for it is British, not English citizenship to which he is now entitled – when joining Rangers in 2002 at the age of 20. Is that too old? Is that the problem? How old does somebody have to be before they lose the right to adopt, through entirely legitimate means, a second nationality?

There is a scandal here, but it is merely that Arteta, now 28, has never been picked for Spain. So what if Andrés Iniesta, Cesc Fàbregas, Xabi Alonso and Xavi Hernández exist? He is surely a better player than Santi Cazorla, Pablo Hernández or Albert Riera, all of whom have played for Spain in an attacking midfield role in recent years. It is not as though there has never been room in the Spain squad for the Everton player.

It is more likely that he has simply been regarded as being out-of-sight, out-of-mind, just like Steve McManaman when he was at Real Madrid and left out of the 2002 England World Cup squad, despite Zinedine Zidane and Fernando Hierro pleading with Sven-Göran Eriksson to select him.

The problem is that too many people cannot get over one simple fact: Arteta is English. Newly English; naturalized English, yes. But English nevertheless. As English as Marcos Senna is Spanish, as Deco is Portuguese, as Eduardo is Croation. And as Owen Hargreaves is English.

***

Footballing World Non-League Diary

Kirkbymoorside 6 Ashbrooke Belford House 0

Right down in the bowels of ‘grass roots’ football on Wednesday evening, for a game delayed by half an hour and shortened to forty minutes each way because the opposition’s kit had not arrived on time and the Recreation Ground has no floodlights. There was still time, though, for the Moorsiders to produce this season’s vogue scoreline, a 6-0 win.

The Wearside Football League can be unwatchable at times but Kirkbymoorside produced some excellent football, admittedly against poor opponents. A new strike partnership of Rob McDermid and Luke Jenkinson combined twice in the first half, with Jenkinson giving the Moorsiders a 2-0 half-time advantage with two close-range tap-ins, the second poaching a goal from McDermid, whose initial header was on target

Straight after the break, more woeful defending saw a Johnny Brown free-kick heading straight for the far corner, only for a goal once again to be poached on the line, this time from Daman Cox, a winger filling in at left-back. Further goals from Daryl Rivis, McDermid and Ryan Rivis followed as the Moorsiders continued their strong start to the season.

But enough of the problems of Wigan Athletic; what of Blackpool? Bookies of Britain are not expected to cast aside the notion that they are relegation fodder but they made light work of Wigan on the opening day and it is not that hard to find three teams who could finish beneath Ian Holloway’s side come May.

Aside from Wigan, who give away goals like other sides concede throw-ins, West Bromwich Albion and West Ham Utd provided obligingly limp opposition to Chelsea and Aston Villa, both of whom are good enough not to require generosity. Scott Carson spilled a Didier Drogba free kick for Chelsea’s opener while West Ham provided no resistance at Villa Park, with their defence given the runaround by the inexperienced youngster Marc Albrighton.

West Brom play some neat and tidy football but once again find themselves in the top flight without a Premier League quality striker. In Graham Dorrans they have a good creative winger but with no quality in the box he is little more than a confection.

Will Newcastle Utd be dragged into a relegation scrap? Surely, it stretches the imagination to see them repeating their opening day draw at Old Trafford in the match about to start as I write and it looks like Mike Ashley is not prepared to finance a significant – or even a slight – strengthening of the squad.

***

Fabio Capello has put his foot in it again, though on this occasion he is entitled to some sympathy; all he did was give an honest, if stuttering, answer to a pointless and irrelevant question.

At no stage during ITV’s coverage of the England v Hungary match did I suddenly feel an urge to know whether the England coach regarded a 35-year-old with a dodgy Achilles in semi-retirement as an integral part of the Euro 2012 campaign.

It was asked, inevitably – the English media remain besotted with Beckham – though why it was felt necessary to bring the issue up when Beckham is patently unfit is a mystery. Another England scandal has been created unnecessarily. Capello is right, of course, in his notion that Beckham is no longer a serious international footballer but once again his man management and communication skills have been shown to be seriously flawed.

Capello is a manager well versed in creating problems where none need exist. By prevaricating on the selection of England’s World Cup goalkeeper he drew attention to a problem position which would not have been a problem had he given Joe Hart proper experience in the pre-tournament friendlies instead of persisting with Ben Foster, thereby undermining the confidence of the ill-suited incumbent Robert Green.

The drip-drip way in which the final World Cup squad was revealed played havoc with players’ confidence, while his constant delaying of the announcement of starting line-ups is inimical to productive tactical preparation. His communication skills are so poor – his English seems to be getting worse – that it is difficult to see an improvement in his relationship with the squad any time soon.

Capello, who is extraordinarily fortunate still to have the job at all, is increasingly unpopular among the players, some of whom believe he is simply going through the motions and waiting for a pay-off should England fail to beat Bulgaria or Switzerland next month. He is a manager who responds to tactical problems not by giving the players advice but by screaming at them.

***

Footballing World Non-League Diary

14th August 2010: Stokesley 1 Thackley 1
15th August 2010: Pickering Town 1 South Shields 4

Three matches into the season and I still haven’t seen Pickering win a match; they were outplayed by a very cohesive looking South Shields side from the Northern League Division One in the FA Cup extra preliminary round.

It is heart-warming to see that the confusion surrounding the offside law – confusion which should not exist if only people studied the rules properly – exists at all levels of the match. South Shields second goal came despite an off-side flag being raised as the offending player left the ball to captain Lee Scroggins, running from deep, to score the second goal of his hat-trick.

The problem lies in the willingness of spectators to berate linesmen for ‘late’ flagging, which resulted in this one putting his flag up far too early before it was clear who would receive the through ball. Happily for South Shield, the referee – Mr McGrath of East Yorkshire – was on the ball.

The previous day there was another Northern League v Northern Counties East League clash at Stokesley, just south of Middlesbrough, which is the sort of sports club where you do not want to park your car close to the football or cricket pitches. Thackley, from the suburbs of the Bradford area, looked poor in the first half, with Andrew O’Shea giving Stokesley a very early lead, but improved markedly after the break, forcing a replay on Tuesday through a 76th minute equalizer from Luke Richardson.

Leeon Poole, the Stokesley central defender, was the best player on the pitch, probably because he was so busy in the second half. The FA pay £750 prize money for winning in the extra preliminary round, which is money worth having for clubs who get barely three figures through the gate, so teams always pull their finger out. Oh, and they have vuvuzelas at Stokesley.

In only marginally more important news, Wes Brown and Paul Robinson are the latest players to convert to international refusenik status. Robinson cited not being Picked as a reason for his retirement, which he announced it the day after being Picked. Brown has cited injury worries as the reason he won’t play for England in the future, just as it was the reason he hasn’t been playing for England anyway.

Who will be next to throw in the towel? Most bar-room bores are hoping it is ‘Terry, Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney, or any of the other overpaid failures of the Golden Generation’, proving that: a) resentment of footballers’ wealth is still inimical to rational analysis; and b) most England fans are brilliant at missing the point.

It is a relief that England’s most important players have not retired and in truth were never expected to. Retirement from England duty has, in recent years, become a PR exercise by players wishing to avoid the ‘humiliation’ of not being able to get into future sides. Emile Heskey’s woeful form in front of goal at the World Cup – no matter how good his ‘link-up play’, whatever that actually means, is meant to be – meant that his status as an England striker was no longer tenable.

So expect the next international retirement to be announced by another squad player with a higher self-opinion than his talent merits and a belief in his divine right to be picked as first choice despite the existence of palpably better players in his position. England, alas, is full of average players who won’t get out of bed for anything less than the preposterous wages their clubs are daft enough to shovel at them. Travelling to Kazakhstan or Belarus to sit on the substitutes bench is too much for their idle bodies and inflated egos.

It should be argued that this is not a criticism which applies to proper England players such as Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Ashley Cole, Wayne Rooney, Joe Cole and Peter Crouch, who have all generally pulled their fingers out for England. Performance, not effort, was their failure in South Africa. Rio Ferdinand has been a good servant, though now he seems perpetually injured. Praise to must go to David Beckham, however much he may be past the point of being useful to his nation. He has flown thousands of miles to be a perpetual substitute in recent years and few better ambassadors for English football exist.

Robinson’s retirement smacks of sour grapes. Those who argued he didn’t deserve to be cast aside so unilaterally by Fabio Capello have a good argument but the coach deserved more than an opt-out timed to maximise the embarrassment to the Italian; the same with Brown. At least Heskey had the good grace to call time on his career in July.

***

Footballing World Non-League Diary

3rd August 2010: Pickering Town 1 Whitby Town 2

The final pre-season friendly saw Pickering pay tribute to their late chairman Tony Dunning, who died in 2009, by naming the main stand in his honour. The Pikes faced Whitby Town, a local side from two divisions higher, the Northern Premier League.

Known since Adam were nowt but a lad as the Unibond League, the NPL has been renamed in 2010 after acquiring a new sponsor: the Evo-Stik League. Yes, really. Whitby, who finished 14th in the NPL Premier Division last season, are a better side than Pickering, though the difference was marginal on the night.

Pickering are evidently a more advanced side than England, ditching the inflexible 4-4-2 formation of yesteryear and adopting a flashy 4-2-3-1 for the Whitby Town match, with coach Mark Wood seeking to utilise the pace out wide of Darren Clough and Joel Ramm, who played at right-back the previous week against a Middlesbrough XI.

David James – not that one – played in what we must now call the ‘Mesut Özil’ position with Liam Salt as the lone striker. Salt made up for missing an open goal against Boro with a well-taken chipped equalizer, scored with his back to goal.

The season proper started badly for Pickering at the weekend, losing 3-0 at Brighouse Town in West Yorkshire, a club who were promoted from the NCEL Division One in April. Pickering, though, have always been a decent side at home, helped in no small part by the fact that their side are used to playing on the Mill Lane pitch which is on a one-in-four slope.

Kirkbymoorside opened their Wearside League campaign with a good 3-1 win at Willington, while Stokesley’s first Northern League Division One match since last season’s promotion saw them beaten 3-2 at home by West Auckland Town. Next week the FA Cup gets underway: I’ll be at Mill Lane again for the South Shields match on Sunday after a trip to Stokesley v Thackley on Saturday.

28th July 2010: Pickering Town 1 Middlesbrough XI 2

Is there a more disconcerting sight on the pre-season fixture list than the letters ‘XI’? It’s never easy to know quite what to expect: an experimental side featuring that exciting new young signing from Crewe Alexandra? Or a team of children picked almost at random from the club’s academy and youth teams?

Your humble servant’s season 2010/11 began on Wednesday evening with a friendly between Pickering Town – of whom plenty more throughout the campaign – and ‘Middlesbrough XI’, which in reality meant the Middlesbrough academy boys.

In truth, this was no bad thing as there was not a great deal between the two teams in what proved an even and entertaining match: Middlesbrough winning 2-1 thanks to a lucky deflection and a well-taken late winner by Charlie Wyke. The best goal of the game, though, was a fine volley from the Pikes’ Chris Batchelor, uncannily similar to that of John Bostock for England U-19 in their European Championship semi final defeat to Spain the day before.

One of the hardest tasks for a sub-professional side is holding onto its players during the summer. Star winger Darren Clough had left the club in the summer to move to Hereford for work reasons but returned – happily for us – after that fell through. Batchelor has always been unavailable during the cricket season; striker Liam Salt once left to become a children’s entertainer but has since returned and in the eighties brothers Craig and Chris Short departed young with the lame excuse of being really rather good and having professional careers to get on with.

This season you can follow Pickering Town’s fortunes in our Non-League Diary, a regular feature of the Monday Miscellany, which will follow the fortunes of our local clubs in North Yorkshire. The area is a bit of a footballing backwater, particularly with York City still out of the Football League and Scarborough having gone out of business and re-formed in the Northern Counties East League as Scarborough Athletic, ground-sharing with Bridlington Town in the East Riding.

Middlesbrough has been considered to be in North Yorkshire since 1996 but culturally the club have always been considered a north-east side: their matches covered by BBC North East and Cumbria rather than BBC Yorkshire. This leaves us with York City, who lost the Conference play-off final to Oxford Utd last season, as the region’s biggest side. I’ll be going to York later this season, as well as Whitby Town in the Northern Premier League, Kirkbymoorside in the Wearside League and, if you’re very good, Stokesley or Northallerton Town in the Northern League.

***

When we’re not watching the fun and games of the Northern Counties East League Premier Division, there is of course Big Football to enjoy this season, starting on Saturday when the BBC show their curtain-raising live Npower Championship fixture between Leeds Utd and Derby County at Elland Road.

The clubs are not a million miles apart but their rivalry is down to history, not geography. Anybody who has seen The Damned United will know of the bitter relationship between Don Revie and Brian Clough. Clough saw Revie as aloof, ever since Revie blanked him at an FA Cup tie at Elland Road in 1968. (The film, in one of many inaccuracies, sets the tie at the Baseball Ground.)

The ‘Dirty Leeds’ tag of the early 1970s was simplistic but not unjustified. Clough had his faults but his teams were clean, fair and watchable. Leeds Utd had Johnny Giles, Billy Bremner and Norman Hunter. One of the worst things about football in the seventies and eighties was the admiration fans had for thugs. At least those three could play a bit: Ron ‘Chopper’ Harris couldn’t play at all, and I support his team.

It wasn’t just old big ‘ead who despised Revie. Bob Stokoe celebrated his Sunderland charges’ victory in the 1973 FA Cup Final against Leeds with the vigour of a man who had defeated his nemesis. Stokoe would even go on to accuse Revie of attempting to bribe him to ‘take it easy’ in a match when he was at Bury, with Revie already in situ at fellow relegation strugglers Leeds.

But it is the Leeds-Derby rivalry that rings on, still stirring the blood to this day. Who can forget the events at the Baseball Ground on 1 November 1975, when Francis Lee and Norman Hunter decided boxing was more fun than football? (It should be noted that Clough was long gone by then, with former Rams player Dave Mackay having returned to replace him in 1973.) Who, too, the butchery of Leeds in

More fun, though, was a Premier League match at Elland Road on 8 November 1997, when Derby led 3-0 after 33 minutes only for Leeds to come back, winning 4-3 with a last minute Lee Bowyer goal. The teams have opening day history too: Leeds’ first match in the Championship in 2004 was a 1-0 win at Elland Road – they had come into the division from the other end on that occasion – while the first Premier League game at the Baseball Ground was a fine 3-3 draw on 17 August 1996, with a fine chipped goal from Dean Sturridge and a comedy goalkeeping error from Nigel Martyn. Roll on Saturday.

Back in the real world, what sort of a message would it have sent out to the rest of the world had England triumphed three Sundays ago in Johannesburg?  Hey folks: create an overhyped league full of mercenaries; do everything in your power to obstruct the emergence of local young players; curate a mistrustful relationship between players and fans; coach your children on full-size pitches prioritizing pace, size and strength ahead of skill; spend a ridiculous amount of money on a national stadium with a potato field for a pitch and a further insulting sum on hiring a foreign manager.  Yes, you too can win the World Cup!

Perhaps we should thank the Germans and, to a certain extent, whatever-his-name-was from Uruguay who didn’t see Frank Lampard’s goal.  Besides, who could begrudge the Germans a victory?  They coach their young players properly, incorporate young men from all ethnic backgrounds, don’t price fans out of attending Bundesliga matches, have all Germany games on free-to-air television by law and don’t have a fundamental mistrust of players with flair and creativity.  Furthermore, if they do poorly at an international tournament, the coach usually has sufficient grace to do the honourable thing.

Most of all, though, you get a sense that the German people actually quite like their national football team.  It is perhaps not a co-incidence that, of the major footballing teams in Europe, Germany and Holland probably have the best relationships between team and public and they both had good World Cups.  In France, Italy and England meanwhile, there is a lack of togetherness, with players dismissed as over-rated celebrities.  How did those three countries do again?

***

The French, of course, have been ridiculously over-rated for years and got their comeuppance in South Africa, going out of the tournament with one point and the laughter of the rest of the world, never mind just the Irish, ringing in their ears as they flew back to Europe.

If England were a collection of good players playing badly, what were France?  Aside from Florent Malouda, Franck Ribéry and possibly Patrice Evra, have they got any top quality players?  Yoann Gourcuff looked like he’d never been a footballer, Thierry Henry appeared just embarrassed to be there at all and William Gallas, once a fine defender, is now a shadow of his former self.

Like England, France have a squad that the man in the street find it hard to like.  Indeed, learning of the histrionics of Anelka – who, oddly, seems to behave himself at Chelsea – Evra and Gallas, it was tempting, for several seconds, to feel a modicum of sympathy for their ridiculous coach Raymond Domenech.  Until, that is, he childishly refused to shake the hand of Carlos Alberto Parreira after South Africa had quite deservedly beaten les Bleus 2-1 in Bloemfontein.

Domenech is a dingbat and the players are a disgrace to themselves and the nation.  Oh, for the worries of the English.  But it should be remembered: Domenech was not the France coach in 2002, when they were equally dismal in South Korea.

Laurent Blanc, quite justifiably, has suspended the entire 23-man World Cup squad from France’s next match, a friendly in Norway on 11 August.  Had you or I been manager, we would probably and quite justifiably have dropped most of them anyway.  Only Malouda, Ribéry and the goalkeeper Hugo Lloris emerged from the World Cup having played remotely well; and Ribéry has troubles of his own off the pitch as we speak.

It is tempting to predict, only semi-mischievously,  that this will increase France’s chances of winning in Oslo, though it is likely that many of the usual suspects will return for their first two Euro 2012 qualifiers against Belarus and Bosnia-Herzegovina.  The latter are, in all probability, the best team in Group D, and France should thank their lucky stars that Romania are in the doldrums.

But where Jimmy Bullard is concerned, the reality is rather less delightful than the myth.

Bullard was certainly impressive for Wigan, and a key man in their successful inaugural top flight season in 2005/06. But was it not crass and distasteful to announce his departure to Fulham before that historic season had even ended? Could he not have waited until it had finished? And why, having so impressed, did he join Fulham – a club Wigan had finished above?

Still, those cynical about the motivation for his move could not fail to be impressed by Bullard’s start in a Fulham shirt. Vivacious and tenacious, Bullard had the x-factor to lift a competent but uninspiring side, as an early brilliant free-kick showed. How unfortunate it was that he dislocated his kneecap just three weeks after his debut! But 16 long months later, he was back. And how he helped lifted a club doomed for the second tier to safety. In doing so, Bullard showed just how much he could improve a mediocre side.

And how he earned his England callup! Hard-working yet creative Jimmy Bullard had the qualities England’s overpaid and underworked bunch of brats lacked. With him in the setup, the non-qualifying Euro 2008 fiasco would have been avoided. When he was called up in 2008, he livened up the squad with his humorous antics. And it is a damning indictment of Fabio Capello that he didn’t appreciate either his on or off-field qualities.

Despite his continued good form, nasty Fulham didn’t offer him a contract extension, preferring to delay negotiations until his contract had a season to go. How inconsiderate of them! As he left for Hull City in January 2009, poor Jimmy lamented that “I’m only human, I just wanted to play for a team who really wanted me.” Poor Jimmy was underappreciated by Roy Hodgson – that fool of a man and manager. The rumours, and Hodgson’s words, that he had wanted not only a longer contract but a big increase in wages, must have been rubbish. Little Jimmy was just a hard-working player looking out for himself. The fans could see how good he was; what fools Fulham were! Surely, again, it was just coincidence Bullard was leaving for a club lower in the table.

Bullard was immensely unfortunate that, again, he suffered a long-term injury almost as soon as he moved clubs. But what an impact he made when he was fit! Super super Jimmy! What folly to take Bullard off at half-time in a game Hull needed to win to remain in the Premier League! And Bullard’s row with Nick Barmby after a defeat was surely nothing more than evidence of his competitive nature and will to win.

Evidence of Bulllard’s brilliance was provided by the keen attempts of Celtic to bring him to Scotland, giving him the chance to showcase his talents in European competition. But – hold on. Why did Bullard’s move not go through? Did he demand additional wages in addition to the £45,000 he was on at Hull? Did super Jimmy make, in Hull’s words, “absolutely ridiculous financial demands”? Has his behaviour crippled Hull and left the relegated club in a dire financial situation? Super Jimmy has three more years left on his £45,000 a year contract. Put simply, an already overstretched Championship club simply cannot afford for him not to leave.

Bullard has received what can only be termed very favourable coverage in the press since making such an impact for Wigan five years ago. Perhaps now the reality – that he has consistently put cash above everything else and treated clubs that paid his wages through a total of several years of not being able to play with disdain – will replace the myth.

The world of youth football tournaments is grand – from the enormous USA Cup in Minnesota to the Norway and Dana Cups of Northern Europe. Around 1000 teams participate in each of these tournaments and they offer a stunning spectacle.

Meanwhile, between July 12-17, a smaller but nonetheless important tournament was taking place in Linz, Austria: the ALLtogether European Youth Festival. The beginning of a series of tournaments that will see the same teams and same youngsters returning every two years to participate against the same opponents, until they reach maturity at U19 level. While the likelihood of everyone returning biennially is low, the dream exists and lives – and following a player’s progress across the six year tournament time span is something to saviour.

How did they change as a footballer and as a person? Was life good for so many years at the same club? Do they still have friends from the first tournament, either in their own team or from an opposition outfit?

Clearly these questions need some years to answer, but the project is applaudable. And it all got underway in Linz with the U13 teams.

Organisers KOMM MIT invited teams from each of the 53 UEFA nations – with participants provided with accommodation and board – and while some nations such as San Marino and Andorra were always off the radar, only 32 nations eventually managed the journey. The general economic climate prevented some of the nations providing a team, while other factors included the timing and location – along with a fair amount of apathy from various national associations in helping to find a representative.

However, the tournament was still hugely diverse – teams from as far as Israel and Kazakhstan were in attendence, along with famous names like Turkish champions Busaspor.

Aided by the youth of the players and an expectant atmosphere alongside the beating sun, the tournament will be remembered for its cultural vivacity and Fair Play.

While from the ages of 15 upwards there can be a degree of cynicism in tactics and bad temper from the players, these 13-year-olds were allowed to express themselves and were more than happy to integrate with the other nations. Despite the obviosu language barriers, Spanish were soon becoming friends with the Kazakhstanis, the English girls’ warmth wore off on everyone, the French were enjoying the tournament much more than their international colleagues and the Maltese were there not just to play, but also to party!

At such an age, there are no politics or closed mindsets in these players’ minds. Their desire to meet the other participants was natural. The coaches and parents took a back seat and marvelled at this unique opportunity. Many exclaimed to me that this ‘is a tournament that we will never be able to forget’ and an event that had opened up their eyes to the bigger globe of football. The routine of playing against local teams in the local leagues had been put aside for five days – suddenly it was Turkey versus Northern Ireland and England versus Israel.

While the aforementioned tournaments with 1000+ teams are the market leaders, there is not such a variation or intimacy present as there was in Upper Austria. All the teams got to know each other – thanks also to various evening events including the Europe Event, where each participant brought various items from its home country and displayed them in a big hall (the Malta stand was particularly popular with its various food offerings!). At the tournament’s closing ceremony, as Norway lifted the girl’s trophy and Turkey the boy’s, with the English girls picking up the prestigious Fair Play trophy, there were handshakes, hugs and even some tears as the teams saluted each other one last time.

But, all being well, they will meet each other once again in two summers. In 2012 the tournament will be hosted in Italy – and hopefully the spirit of Fair Play and togetherness will still be shining bright, even if the players are heading ever closer towards maturity and adulthood.

Sol Campbell’s life has changed a lot in twelve months. This time last year, he was the flagship signing for the great Notts County project. Now he’s in the position of choosing his club, with Arsenal and Celtic the most appealing options.

When he left Arsenal in 2006 Campbell spoke of his interest in “playing abroad”. Of course he didn’t do that, choosing to go to Portsmouth instead. With that in mind, Celtic appears the perfect option for him, especially considering his age (35). The weaker Scottish league would disguise Campbell’s decline whilst offering him a strong likelihood of adding to his trophy tally. He would also be able to play in Europe – something he relished doing last season. And given Neil Lennon’s apparent desire to build a side around Campbell, Celtic must be an attractive prospect indeed.

So what explains his failure to sign on? Campbell seems to want to remain at Arsenal. His unlikely return last January revived his career. Instantly he seemed reinvigorated by the prospect of playing football to a high standard again. Though not the formidable centre-back he once was, Campbell did not look out of his depth playing for Arsenal; indeed, his impressive showings highlighted that another centre-back, Mikael Silvestre, was out of his depth. Campbell and Arsene Wenger share tremendous mutual respect. The manager values the player for his experience and mastery of his craft. Campbell would have to stomach not being first choice, but over a 60-game season he wouldn’t be overly short of appearances if he continued to perform well. He would doubtless love a two-year contract, as Celtic have offered him, but he would earn another year if his performances merited it.

He has options elsewhere, including in the north-east with Newcastle and Middlesbrough. However, Campbell surely wants to win trophies, something Arsenal and Celtic offer the possibility of. In many ways Celtic would be the safer option, for the simply fact that his ageing legs are less likely to be exposed there. But winning Arsenal’s first trophy since 2005 would be a crowning achievement for Campbell. The memory of old glories and the promise of new ones look like keeping him at Arsenal.