United in grand World Cup snub
MANCHESTER have shown little or no regard for the Rugby World Cup by staging rugby league’s Grand Final at Old Trafford on the same day as England play Uruguay in their last group game at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium.
And this ridiculous clash of rugby codes in Manchester on October 10 — when police never allow United and City home games to clash — follows Old Trafford opting out of hosting three proposed Rugby World Cup games, having supported the bid.
England Rugby 2015 were partially rescued by City putting on one England game but lost out on the use of the stadium with the highest capacity in the Premier League for two fixtures.
United accommodating the Grand Final — with all the Super League ballyhoo that entails, including British indie band The Charlatans playing during the interval — will certainly succeed in drawing attention away from the England team.
Sir Alex Ferguson, former United manager, has to take a lot of responsibility for the United U-turn — not wanting a union game on his precious pitch, having witnessed how much it was cut up when England played Argentina there in 2009. Fergie was less concerned about damage done by rugby league because it is mainly played on top of the surface rather than through it. But United are making Fergie’s World Cup snub all the worse by shamelessly staging the rugby league showcase as a rival attraction.
A United spokesman said: ‘There’s no doubt rugby league is less harmful to our pitch but we didn’t set the date for the Grand Final.’
THERE seems to be one rule for Thierry Henry and another for other Sky football pundits — and not just over pay. Jamie Redknapp was blocked by Sky from taking up an unpaid, part-time coaching role with Chelsea’s reserve team as part of his coaching badge qualification. They said at the time they didn’t want one of their main football voices compromised by working with a club. Yet Henry (above), studying for his UEFA B licence, has been taking training sessions with Arsenal Under 19’s ahead of their UEFA Youth league campaign that started last night away at Dinamo Zagreb. Sky said there was no issue with £4million-a-year Henry’s moonlighting and that Redknapp’s issue occurred under different management. WITH government sports strategy determined to increase participation, it was interesting to watch the All Blacks play touch rugby — an ideal introduction to the game — as part of their training warm-up routine.
THE TUC Congress had FIFA reform on their agenda yesterday. It would have been far more relevant to have debated why one of their unions, the Professional Footballers Association, paid chief executive Gordon Taylor — the highest-paid union official in the world — a £2million bonus in 2014 for long service.