The return leg of the Worthington Cup semi-final would appear the easiest fixture but Palace who have already won at Leicester and drawn at

The return leg of the Worthington Cup semi-final would appear the easiest fixture but Palace, who have already won at Leicester and drawn at Sunderland, cannot be under-estimated.The League Cup used be a trophy Liverpool collected as an after-thought. Now it represents both a gateway into Europe and a rare triumph – the 1995 competition is the only honour Liverpool have won in nine seasons. It may also buy Houllier the time he needs to finish integrating his collection of native talent and expensive imports.. Paul Scally, the Gillingham chairman, yesterday vowed to defend his club against any allegations of financial irregularities. A private investigator has compiled a number of files allegedly relating to irregularities and illegal payments to players at the First Division club. The files were taken to public relations expert Max Clifford and have been passed on to a national newspaper. Paul Scally, the Gillingham chairman, yesterday vowed to defend his club against any allegations of financial irregularities.

A private investigator has compiled a number of files allegedly relating to irregularities and illegal payments to players at the First Division club. The files were taken to public relations expert Max Clifford and have been passed on to a national newspaper.
Scally issued a statement saying: “I am unaware as to the nature or substance of any allegations of financial irregularity. I strongly refute that any financial irregularities have occurred that I am aware of and will defend any allegations against the club in the High Court in the appropriate manner and at the relevant time.”The Football Association is aware of the issue but stressed it has yet to be officially informed of any allegations. Clifford said he had urged the investigator to go to the FA but that the man “has very little faith in the Football Association” to conduct an investigation.”The files have been passed on to a national newspaper because the private investigator wanted to be paid and felt a national newspaper would probably work a lot faster and possibly more thoroughly than the FA,” said Clifford.”Those were his views, not mine. From a conversation I had with him he told me, ‘You have exposed Jeffrey Archer, Jonathan Aitken and people like that – what about corruption in football?’ I said if there is corruption in football I’m more than happy to show it up.”If the allegations are proven to be correct they could threaten Gillingham’s position in the First Division gained through a play-off final win over Wigan at Wembley.In the most high-profile case of its type Swindon were demoted two divisions after gaining a place in the old First Division by beating Sunderland 1-0 in the play-off final in May 1990. The club admitted to 36 breaches of league regulations but after an appeal were allowed to remain in the old Second Division.Tony Pulis will have his appeal against his dismissal as the Portsmouth manager heard at the First Division club at the beginning of February. Pulis has been advised by the League Managers’ Association to appeal after his contract with Portsmouth was terminated by the chairman Milan Mandaric with two-and-a-half years still to go following a charge of gross misconduct.Pulis, who has denied the allegation of misconduct, could then seek recourse through an industrial tribunal or in the High Court if Portsmouth uphold their decision.

An LMA spokesman said: “Tony Pulis will place before the appeal convincing evidence to support that he is innocent. The LMA has advised him not to make any further statement until after the appeal.”Pulis was replaced by Steve Claridge in October and placed on four months suspended paid leave to allow him to concentrate on fighting a High Court case with former club Gillingham which is also due to be heard next month.. The prospect of a radically altered football transfer system being imposed by the European Commission seemed increasingly likely last night after it emerged that Fifa and Uefa, the game’s world and European governing bodies, are polarised on the issue. The prospect of a radically altered football transfer system being imposed by the European Commission seemed increasingly likely last night after it emerged that Fifa and Uefa, the game’s world and European governing bodies, are polarised on the issue.
An EC-imposed system could see players given greater powers to move between clubs whenever they like, even when under contract. Such a move, say critics, might lead to a destabilisation of the game and endanger the health of small clubs that rely on transfer income for survival.Fifa and Uefa have spent months in talks over how football can comply with EU regulations on free movement for players and were due to meet the EC today to discuss how a compromise can be reached.

On Tuesday evening, however, Fifa submitted a proposal document to the EC that was markedly different from the one agreed with Uefa. The Fifa proposals are understood to move much further towards free movement than previously discussed and Uefa therefore pulled out of today’s meeting.Uefa’s communications director, Mike Lee, insisted last night that more talks will be held between all parties before the meeting is reorganised. “Fifa has produced a new document which has been made available at short notice and we have to consider it and discuss it with the European leagues,” he said. Fifa expects the meeting with the EC to take place within the next fortnight.Fifa says that while it is not changing its proposals aimed at salvaging the transfer fee system – including a ban on transfers of players under 18 and compensation to clubs which have invested in training players aged between 18 and 24 when they move on – it has suggested a different strategy for implementing those plans.”We are confident that there will be no scrapping of the whole transfer system,” Sepp Blatter, Fifa’s president, said. “This will not be realistic and this would not be good for football and we could not accept that.”The two key issues revolve around the minimum periods of notice players would need to give before being allowed to escape from a contract, and whether a player can ever give unilateral notice of wanting to leave a club. Uefa wants long periods of notice for a player to leave a club he is under contract to, and for players only to be able to leave unilaterally in extreme circumstances, for example if a club has demonstrably reneged on a detail in a contract.Uefa’s hierarchy believes that Fifa has caved in to EC demands and players’ union interests and has moved to a position of little resistance.The EU culture commissioner, Viviane Reding, has described Uefa’s plans of lengthy notice periods as “crazy” and warned that such a system could leave the Commission open to challenges in the European Court of Justice.Uefa sources said last night that the European governing body is unhappy with Fifa and that Uefa will not let the issue drop without a fight.