With financial uncertainty and franchising in the air, Barney Ronay looks at Fulham's 'temporary' move

Fulham fans really are extremely stylish and well dressed individuals. Certainly, the group of people queuing to buy tickets on the morning of the Cottag­ers’ first Premiership fixture at Loftus Road look a sartorial cut above your average football supporter. Designer labels mingle with vintage denim. Beneath immaculately styled hair, Gucci sunglasses glint in the August haze. The Fulham look is retro, perfectly acces­sor­ised… and strangely Japanese.

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Tom Davies's update on clubs with pocket problems

Bournemouth fans have been trying to prevent the club embarking on a “sale and leaseback” of their ground, similar to that at Wat­ford (see page 19). The chairman Tony Swaisland, who dreamt up the plan, resigned at the end of July after vociferous protests, in­cluding a walk-out at one pre-season friendly. His replacement Peter Phillips is reluctant to go through with the deal, but has the backing of the AFCB Trust Fund (which controls a majority of shares in the club) to do so unless the club can raise £2 million by the end of September.

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Thursday 1 The Football League lose their court case against ITV Digital on the basis that the TV companies were not contractually bound to pay the full amount owed, £178.5 million of which is outstanding. The League may sue the legal advisers who drew up the contract with Carlton and Granada. Bradford City come out of administration after agreeing a repayment schedule with their creditors. Chairman Geoffrey Richmond is remorseful about the club’s over-spending: “I wish I had played it a different way. It looked right at the time though.” Dave Watson is sacked by Tranmere. Debt-ridden Fiorentina go bust, but may be allowed to restart in Italy’s fourth division.

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While fan violence may well be on the decrease, Mark Rowe says little can be read into the latest batch of arrest figures for the season just gone

In what is becoming a pre-season tradition, the government and police recently unveiled football arrest figures for 2001-02 and pro­claimed their policies are kicking hooligans out. Their headlines this time: arrests for foot­ball-related offences associated with Foot­ball League matches down by 30 per cent in the last ten years, despite bigger crowds; Premier League arrests also down; far fewer arrests at in­ternationals; the vast majority of matches troub­le-free.

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Football can bring out the best in people. Is this really the motive of Libya's notorious leader? Alan Duncan discusses a potentially unfounded change of tack

Seen from the outside, it’s an intrigue that could perhaps be adapted to an Austin Powers movie. After decades of championing international terrorism, Dr Evil and his cloned son finally decide to go down the straight and narrow. They shock the world through their new-found sense of tolerance and magnanimity of spirit rather than their erstwhile moral depravity. The reason for such a drastic transformation? The sudden realisation that football can provide them with the unlimited access to the fame and power they have long failed to achieve through criminal deeds.

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