Wednesday 1 Villa and Newcastle are both through to their respective “finals” in the Intertoto. John Gregory seems underwhelmed by his side’s away goals win over Rennes: “If we’ve got to play in the competition then qualifying for the UEFA Cup is what it’s all about.” Barry Town beat Porto 3-1 in the second leg of their Champions League tie. The Football League deny reports that Celtic and Rangers may be invited into this season’s Worthington Cup, although League chairman Keith Harris hopes to see them included next year: “They would help spice up the competition for our sponsors and improve its appeal to the television audience.” Celtic’s 4-3 win at Old Trafford in Ryan Giggs’s testimonial is enlivened by several near-fights, most featuring David Beckham. Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar is the subject of the first-ever transfer deal between Fulham and Juventus, moving for £7 million. Portsmouth sign 1998 World Cup star Robert Prosinecki from Dinamo Zagreb.
Search: 'Gus Poyet'
Stories
Saturday 2 Germany drop World Cup points in a 2-2 draw with Finland, who had been two up at half-time. Northern Ireland suffer a fifth successive defeat, 1-0 to Bulgaria (“It was Sunday park defending,” groans Sammy McIlroy) while Ryan Giggs misses an open goal in Wales’ 2-1 home defeat by Poland. The Rep of Ireland are held 1-1 at home by Portugal. The two sides’ pre-match sniping is rounded off by Portuguese coach Antonio Oliveira making a rude gesture at Mick McCarthy at the final whistle.
Wednesday 1 Holders Leicester crash out of the Worthington Cup, 3-0 at home to Crystal Palace. “Our players have found out that they are not invincible,” says crown prince Peter Taylor. Arsenal reserves lose 2-1 at home to Ipswich. Wednesday win the Sheffield derby in extra time. Robbie Fowler’s first goal since the Reformation beats Chelsea. Joe Kinnear is named director of football at Oxford, with David Kemp becoming team manager. Tony Cottee replaces John Still, booted upstairs at Barnet. Lou Macari and Joe Jordan are the new management team at First Division laggers Huddersfield.
Saturday 1 A ten-point lead for Man Utd who thrash West Ham 7-1 – “It was one of those days when everything went right,” says Sir Alex – while Big Dave’s babies lose for the third time in four games, 1-0 to Chelsea. Michael Owen’s tufty hair receives plenty of ruffling as he scores two in a 3-0 win at Coventry that takes Liverpool to within a point of Leeds. Southampton and Wimbledon both lose but Bradford fail to take advantage, beaten 2-0 at Newcastle. Watford still need eight points to avoid the worst ever Premiership total, their defensive frailties highlighted at Goodison Park, where even Mark Hughes manages to score in Everton’s 4-2 win. There’s violence in Birmingham, where home fans clash with Wolves supporters before their game at St Andrews, and in Bristol, with Stoke goalkeeper Kevin Ward attacked on the pitch by three Rovers fans at the end of the teams’ 3-3 draw. Trapdoor teasers Chester win again, 1-0 at Halifax, and draw level on points with fast sliding Shrewsbury. Hamilton’s match at Stenhousemuir in the Scottish Second Division is called off when the visiting team’s players go on strike over unpaid wages.
Friday 1 Dennis Wise, Frank Lampard, Steve Guppy and Trevor Sinclair are the new names in Little Kev's squad to play Belgium. Paul Ince is recalled in place of David Batty, making sure the squad contains no less than the mandatory three players who have been sent off for England in the past 18 months. Newcastle sign Kevin Gallacher from Blackburn for £700,000. A consortium of Icelandic businessmen has made a bid of £6 million to buy Stoke City, hoping to install the national team coach Gudjon Thordarsson as manager in place of the luckless Gary Megson.
Saturday 2 Strugglers' Saturday sees Steve Staunton scandalously sent off in Villa's dismal 0-0 with Liverpool, a game mystifyingly described as "just balloons on sticks" by John Gregory. Bottom club Sheff Wed go goal-crazy against Wimbledon, winning 5-1 in front of a suitably Wimbledon-sized crowd, 18,077. Sunderland are second after pasting Bradford 4-0 at Valley Parade. Everton are reportedly the target of a £50 million bid from Chris Evans and Terry Venables – possibly both in the top two on any fans' list of undesirable owners. India's Baichung Bhutia makes his debut as a sub for Bury, and gets booked after two minutes. "We will probably get more fans than if we'd signed Ronaldo," Bury manager Neil Warnock had predicted. They get 3,603.