Collins in the lions’ den

DAMIAN COLLINS, Tory MP and chairman of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport select committee, was a surprise Football League guest in the VIP Wembley Suite for Sunday’s EFL Cup final, given there were several FA councillors in the room whom Collins would like to cull.

Collins heard FL chairman Ian Lenagan say in his pre-match speech that Government ‘should leave football alone’. However, Lenagan and FA independent director Roger Devlin were prepared to chat convivially with Collins.

Meanwhile, it will take more than Lenagan name- checking the ‘EFL’ more than 20 times during his speech for the Football League rebranding to catch on, just as it will always be the Premier League rather than the EPL.

The big- name Manchester United figure on crutches at Wembley was executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, who was suffering from arthritis, which he’s had to combat since he was 11.