Victor’s still a big draw

FORMER rugby union crowd favourite Victor Ubogu, who has his VU Clubhouse next door to Twickenham custom-built for corporate hospitality, has had to change his business model as a result of a court order forbidding him from handling tickets for England’s home matches.

However, 24-cap prop Ubogu, who feels he has been made a scapegoat for the RFU’s crackdown on unofficial hospitality, still managed to attract over 70 customers to his hospitality-only function at which another big England character, James Haskell, was one of the celebrity guests.

THE most unlikely of all the accolades paid to BBC radio rugby union commentator Ian Robertson, who is retiring at the end of the year, is that former England head coach Sir Clive Woodward had his career-defining description of Jonny Wilkinson’s World Cup-winning drop goal attached to his 2003 Christmas cards. Look out for them on eBay now Robbo is retiring.

MANCHESTER UNITED’S director of communications Phil Townsend is understood to be the clear front-runner to succeed Pedro Pinto in the same role at UEFA. Townsend spent 14 years in the cauldron at Old Trafford calmly dealing with so many big names in football. And certainly influential UEFA executive committee member David Gill, who worked closely with Townsend at United, will be supporting his candidature that would bolster the English presence in Nyon.