Three and in – not just another football blog

Football, as we all know, is a game played by over-paid reprobates, run by crooks and sold by the evil that is Rupert Murdoch. The game of the people has lost touch with the common man.

So it’s nice to read something positive about the game and the work of Morris Samuels is just that.

No one was doing anything to tackle gang crime. Youth clubs and table tennis don’t work with guns and knives. And the police just didn’t get it. So I came up with a simple plan: to form a football team from members of all three rival gangs.

I reckoned if I could get them playing football together there was a chance they would start talking to one another. And once they were talking to each other, anything was possible.

Read more at The Guardian about what really is a fantastic idea. When you think what a difference one day’s wages from a Premier League player might make to Unity …

Paul Gascoigne, after a 39-day spell at Kettering that ended with acrimony and accusations of drinking on the job, is to make his return to football management.  His employers, Garforth Town, insist the appointment is not a publicity stunt.

Their claims would have more credence if the owner, Simon Clifford, wasn’t the same man who, back in 2004, signed two middle-aged Brazilians: chain-smoking playmaker-cum-philosopher Socrates, 50 at the time, and 44-year old former Napoli winger Careca.

The aptly-named Clifford argues:

“This is not a publicity stunt. When we signed Socrates and Careca, that was. Everyone says they love Paul but nobody does anything about it.”

What he fails to acknowledge is that anyone who does “love” Paul Gascoigne would never give him a job as a football manager.  The mental strain is, quite frankly, the last thing he needs.

Clifford’s denials are further undermined by Gazza’s own word.  The former England international and friend to rogue gunmen says:

“I will get the same publicity at Garforth as if I was at a Premier League club and I don’t want the players to get carried away with it.”

The players should be fine.  It’s the chairman I’d be most worried about.

Great idea this, with even the biggest clubs feeling the pinch, your local team could do with the support.

With England playing the night before and the Premier League and Championship taking a week off, I urge all fans of the big clubs to get out and watch their local non-league team instead on SATURDAY 4 SEPTEMBER.

Given the current financial climate, clubs outside the Football League need all the support they can get so your presence at a game will be genuinely appreciated.

There are more details on this Facebook event page. Spread the word.