Coutinho’ s Barca fee almost as biga shock as SWMBO creeping up behind me

I WAS typing away when a voice from behind took me by surprise.

“Comparing yourself to Philippe Coutinho? I think he gets paid a bit more than you did, does he not!”

I did not think She Who Must Be Obeyed (SWMBO) could creep up behind me as quietly as that but when I got over the shock I thought she might have a point.

After all the most eye-catching fact about his move to Barcelona was that a fee of some £145million might be involved. That sort of money was obviously not around in the 1960s.

The maximum wage of £20 per week during the season and £17 per week during the summer had been abolished in 1961.

That meant Fulham were able to offer Johnny Haynes a contract worth £100 per week to prevent him moving to the continent – a journey other stars had already taken.

It took a bit longer for Scotland to come to terms