Gary Panton reports on  two St Johnstone players alleged to have taken  cocaine as they and the club head to court over unpaid wages

It’s fair to say neither George O’Boyle nor Kevin Thomas can claim to fit into the “model sportsmen” bracket. The two ex-St Johnstone strikers, sacked by the Perth club at the turn of the year after being caught with a line of white powder in the toilet cubicle of a trendy local bar, recently attempted to swing public sympathy in their favour by telling a Sunday tabloid that the whole sorry incident had been a result of “drunken curiosity”.

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Brentford have been having difficulties finding a location for their proposed new stadium, with the club at loggerheads with the local council. Chris Clapham looks at the poosible solutions

Griffin Park has been Brentford’s home since 1904, but with gates falling and the local council refusing to allow redevelopment, most supporters had long accepted that the club needed a new purpose-built stadium How­ever, the recently agreed deal that would take Brentford to groundshare at Woking’s King­field Stadium from the start of the 2002-03 season has caused uproar among Bees fans.

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Mark Perryman discusses the need for England fans to set a good example for future generations

At the end of June, some 30,000 England supporters belonging to the England Members Club received a brightly coloured envelope through their letter boxes. It was a package that most had been expecting, the news that the EMC was being replaced with a new organisation.

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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.

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How football has evolved in the modern era

Some would say that the football watching has become a soulless experience, with passive spectators in expensive seats cowed by deafening tannoys. Yet the football fan of the 21st century gets any number of opportunities to recreate the stadium atmosphere of old, standing in a huddle cheering on their team. “Pubs have been dubbed football’s new terraces,” said the Sunday Telegraph, reporting ITV Digital’s plans for next season. These include trying to undercut Sky’s existing deals with the 40,000 pubs which pay an average of £500 per year for the right to show satellite transmissions.

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