Dario Gradi's desire to develop young talent at Crewe has been, and will continue to be, key to the clubs's surival in a time of ever-increasing transfer fees and wage demands. Paul Wilkinson explains

Imagine if you can a league table topped by Manchester United, Everton and Crewe Alex­andra. This was Group A of the FA Premier Academy League (Under-19s) this season. Crewe struggled in their second season in the First Division, but their youth sides were beating the best that the Premiership clubs could offer.

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The latest political attempts to counter hooliganism are a step too far, argues Stan Pearce

As the political landscape of the country has changed – so runs the conventional wis­dom – so has the attitude of Westminster to football. However, anyone who believed that Trade Secretary Stephen Byers’s decision to prevent the takeover of Manchester United by Rupert Murdoch signalled another stage in the evolution of politicians’ thinking towards the game should have witnessed a low-key debate in the House of Commons in the week of the Byers decision.

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The rise in players' wages continues to grow at an alarming rate, causing Deloitte and Touche to call for clubs to show a harder stance during negotiations

The strangest publication to arrive at WSC for a long time was a glossy bro­chure called, with no apparent sense of irony, UEFA Champions League: A solidarity system for European football. Published in February this year, it appears to form part of UEFA’s campaign to head off any attempt to challenge the central marketing of TV rights to the Champions League.

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Saturday 3 Liverpool's first derby win in ten attempts, 3-2 at Anfield, is overshadowed by a row over Robbie Fowler's celebration when scoring the first of his two goals, when he mimics snorting cocaine from the white line, geddit, of the penalty area. Gerard Houllier, game for a laugh, claims Fowler was pretending to eat grass but the FA are expected to whip out another of their misconduct charges. Chelsea and Leeds make ground at the top after beating Charlton and Forest while Man Utd are held 1-1 by Wimbledon and Arsenal get a goalless draw at Southampton. In the First Division, Sunderland's 11th successive home win, 3-0 over West Brom, equals a club record. Ipswich stay second after thrashing Swindon 6-0 at the County Ground.

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Wednesday 31 In Euro 2000 qualifiers, Scotland lose 2-1 to the Czech Republic, their first home defeat in a competitive match since 1987. "If we win in Prague we'll be back in contention," says the perennially chipper Craig Brown. Sweden's 1-0 win in Poland means England are unlikely to do better than second place in their group. There are disappointing results too for Wales, beaten 2-0 in Switzerland, and Northern Ireland, held to a goalless draw in Moldova. To howls of protest from the clubs battling to finish fifth, Newcastle are guaranteed a European place after it is announced that one of England's three UEFA Cup places must go to one of the last four teams left in the FA Cup. "I wonder if UEFA's attitude would have been the same if Barnsley were one of the semi-finalists," mutters John Gregory. Crystal Palace appoint a new administrator and obtain a High Court order allowing them to remain in business. South≠ampton receive planning permission to build a 32,000 seater stadium on the site of an old gasworks. Alan Little is the new manager of Southend.

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