Football folly

SAM ALLARDYCE has manifestly failed to live up to the standards expected of an England manager. His willingness to engage in detailed conversations with people he believed represented wealthy foreign business interests about how to get around football’s rules show he is not the man to champion probity and honesty in the game. It is right that he has gone.

But Allardyce’s early departure from the job is not sufficient to address the deep problems in football.

Football’s cultural problem is about money. The sums that wash around the global game are almost unimaginable to the people who ultimately provide it – the fans in the stands and on the sofa at home.

Corruption in football is not a victimless crime. The cash comes from fans who pay because they want the best sporting entertainment, not to buy new sports cars and holiday homes for agents and managers.

If the big clubs are happy to turn a blind eye to the dark side of football’s recent enrichment, they are unwise in the extreme.

This affair is about much more than one manager’s career. Confidence in football as a whole hangs in the balance.

The river of money that flows from fans’ pockets into the professional game may not run for ever.

The FA and the clubs have much to lose if they fail to recognise what is at stake here.