There is a good deal to be said for regarding sport as having nothing whatever to do with government. But that is not how the politicians see it.Jenny Shipley, the New Zealand Prime Minister, is gallantly meeting the national squad on their return to the islands, even though it is said that their relative lack of success may cost her party the forthcoming election.Then again, Mr Blair duly turned up at Cardiff for the final. Nevertheless, it must be said clearly that Tony Blair and the ministers responsible for sport have behaved in a disgraceful way over the Rugby World Cup. I am cheery of making the principal point, not because it has been made before – for it has not been emphasised nearly enough – but because I try to keep away from politics in this column This space is supposed to be about rugby.

What follows is a rehearsal of some critical points which I and several other colleagues in the commentating trade have been making in the last month or so. There will then, thankfully, be a rather longer break, until next January, than the official three day “off-season”.. WELL, THE best team in the competition won, and France gave me my money’s worth. Hopefully next year I’ll play the same type of golf and we’ll see about the number of victories, but see if I can continue to improve.”Woods’ next appearance is as the defending champion at this week’s Johnnie Walker Classic in Taiwan, the opening event on the 2000 European Order of Merit. There is also mourning for the death of the US Open champion, Payne Stewart, in a plane crash last month.As for Woods, when Olazabal said he is “playing like the angels,” he did not mean his compatriots, the Miguels Jimenez and Martin. Woods started last week by saying he still had plenty of improvements to make “in all areas of my game”.

At the end of it, he added: “It was a great way to end the year. It has been a phenomenal entrance on to the golfing scene and yesterday it was confirmed Garcia has won the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award.”This is great,” said Garcia, only the second Spaniard to win the award after Jose Maria Olazabal in 1986. “You can only be a rookie once and I feel fortunate to have achieved so much in my first season. When I was young I really looked up to Jose Maria and it is great to see his name on the list along with others like [Nick] Faldo, [Sandy] Lyle and Montgomerie.”With such young and charismatic stars as Woods and Garcia, the game is entering the new millennium in good shape. It does so on the back of highly dramatic moments, such as David Duval shooting a 59 to win a tournament, Olazabal’s emotional Masters victory, Jean Van de Velde’s collapse and Paul Lawrie’s surprise win in The Open. Still a teenager until January, El Nino only turned professional in April but finished third on the Order of Merit, won twice, was runner-up to Woods in the USPGA and became the youngest player to appear in the Ryder Cup.

Look at Tiger, he comes over for the Deutsche Bank and the AmEx and wins both.”Yet if anyone is to challenge Woods, Sergio Garcia must be the favourite. In contrast to his earlier assertions that American was not the place for him, Westwood is rethinking his schedule.”I’ll probably play less in Europe and a little bit more in America. I feel it is more important to be No 1 in the world rankings than No 1 in Europe Realistically, to achieve that, you have to play in America. “It was nice to have a chance going into the final round of the last tournament but next year will be different,” the 26-year-old said. “I have had to improve every year to keep winning and that’s what means most to me. I’ll be just as determined next year.”But Lee Westwood, who moved up from third in the last two years to second on the Order of Merit, will not be picking up the gauntlet. “Seve Ballesteros won six of these things and to surpass that is unbelievable,” the 36-year- old said.

Beck, late of the King’s Regiment and general manager of King George V’s Sandringham Estate, disappeared with his men in a wall of enemy fire in Gallipoli in August 1915.
The story of that vanished battalion, said Winston Churchill in 1919, was “the greatest unsolved mystery of this century”.
My Great Grandfather, Alexander Shapcott, died that very same month on that very same Turkish peninsula. And their service stirs up complex feelings in me.
I can recall the statue of a soldier boy that dominates this windswept North of England graveyard. And, as with many others, images of war haunted my imagination then – and they do still.
So many of my close relations have served in the armed forces this century. Anyone who has grown up in this war-torn century has been touched at some time by loss and sadness.

Whether it was Gallipoli in the First World War or the Battle of Britain in the Second, whether it was fighting wars or keeping peace, this country’s military campaigns have shaped our lives and scarred our collective consciousness.

Global conflict has traumatic local consequences. That idea of the bigger story, told by personal voices and individual histories, is at the root of a trilogy of programmes about to start on BBC 1.
The season, Century of Conflict, marks a career-long ambition for me. It is a personal reflection and a public tribute, and it recalls some key events in our century while they still resonate strongly.
I was brought up in a Lancashire mill town, hundreds of miles away from any front yet with a bleak cemetery that told its own nightmares. Anyone who has grown up in this war-torn century has been touched at some time by loss and sadness. Whether it was Gallipoli in the First World War or the Battle of Britain in the Second, whether it was fighting wars or keeping peace, this country’s military campaigns have shaped our lives and scarred our collective consciousness. The balancing act, as ever, will be staying true to the editorial philosophy while generating enough revenue to turn Quest into a viable long-term proposition.
“I’m sure some people will think I’m mad taking on the Goliaths in this way,” he admits.

“But there has to be a place for a magazine like this.” And if there isn’t? Well, he still has a few other ideas – including a new-look women’s magazine.. And he is confident that at the relatively low cover price of £2.25, sales will soon match the initial 50,000 print run.
Whether he can pull it off remains to be seen. There will be no fashion spreads, shopping columns or “girlie shots” in the title, which launches in February.
“There’s a moral issue here. Our focus will be on whether they are really engaged, stimulated, happy in their lives Men have had abattering on all fronts since the Sixties. This is about encouraging men to become more confident about being themselves,” Kennedy believes.
With Blue Sky run as a “virtual” company – half a dozen staff will be based in Tunbridge Wells, with sales executives in London and contributors anywhere – Kennedy says overheads can be kept low.
If the worst comes to the worst, he adds, available funds will stretch to three issues with no advertising income – an unlikely scenario, he claims. Many men drive themselves too hard because they assume it is expected.

So the editorial mix of the first issue includes an interview with George Graham, an article about a female bouncer, a motoring column examining the practical benefits of new carsand how to define “success”. Meanwhile, Esquire ’s monthly sales between January and June this year were 100,380 compared with 112,160 in 1998. Further proof came with the departure from GQ of Loaded ’s former editor James Brown. A subsequent shift away from Brownish laddism resulted in GQ monthly sales of 145,144 between January and June this year – up from 130,152.
Meanwhile, last spring, IPC brought out Later , a new title for post- Loaded lads. But Kennedy says he opened a bottle of champagne when he saw Later ’s first issue “It so wasn’t what I was trying to do,” he explains.

WHATEVER HAPPENED to Faustino Asprilla? That somersault has not been seen for some time.

The former Toon Army idol, whose second spell at Parma ended in July when he decamped to , was finally able to perform his trademark celebration when he scored his first goals for Palmeiras at the weekend.
The eccentric Colombian, who has spent most of his time keeping the bench warm since his arrival, scored twice in the first 11 minutes of the 6- 0 thumping of Botafogo. McManaman had been out for nearly six weeks with a thigh injury, but he returned for Madrid in the Spanish League on Saturday, playing 67 minutes before being substituted by John Toshack.Keegan had asked his old pal and former Liverpool strike partner Toshack to play McManaman at Highbury, and the 27-year-old appeared to suffer no reaction to his recent injury.The night, however, belonged to Dixon. Since being signed from Stoke for pounds 400,000 by George Graham in January 1988 he has made 527 appearances for Arsenal and scored 22 goals. Only four men – George Armstrong, David O’Leary, Tony Adams and Nigel Winterburn – have played more times for the club.Dixon, who has been capped 22 times by England, has won three Championships, two FA Cups, a European Cup-Winners’ Cup and three Charity Shields with Arsenal.. Anelka was reportedly missing through injury, but that did not spoil the occasion for Dixon, who can expect to earn pounds 300,000 from a match which Arsenal won comfortably thanks to goals from Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp and Stefan Malz.Another man who looks to have benefited from the night is the England coach, Kevin Keegan, as winger Steve McManaman played for 61 minutes in an effort to prove his fitness ahead of the Euro 2000 play-off with Scotland. And the 35-year-old full-back will not mind the fact that he did not actually receive the loudest cheer of the night. That went to the Gunners’ all-time record goalscorer Ian Wright, who made a guest appearance as a substitute after 70 minutes and received a hero’s welcome.
Real Madrid provided the opposition, but the Spanish giants were without the controversial striker who joined them from Arsenal this summer for pounds 23m.

He has just returned from a six-week lay-off with a thigh injury. “I’ve now played for an hour in two games in the last three days and I have felt no reaction to the injury,” he said.One player missing was Nicolas Anelka, who left Highbury for Madrid in a pounds 23.5m deal in the summer He was said to be injured.. NICOLAS ANELKA may have stayed away but 22,486 fans turned up at Highbury last night to pay tribute to Arsenal’s loyal defender Lee Dixon in his testimonial. Substitute Stefan Malz scored with a diving header after 72 minutes before Christian Karembeu pulled one back for the Spanish giants two minutes later.England winger Steve McManaman played for 61 minutes after coming off the Madrid bench in an effort to prove his fitness ahead of Saturday’s Euro 2000 play-off clash with Scotland at Hampden Park. He joked: “It was very nice for me to play in Ian Wright’s testimonial!”Patrick Vieira shot Arsenal in front after 12 minutes and Dennis Bergkamp added the second four minutes before the break.

It was party night for Arsenal full-back Dixon as more than 22,000 fans turned up to pay tribute to the loyal 35-year-old and see the Gunners overcome Real Madrid. But the star of the show was undoubtedly the former Highbury favourite Wright who delayed the start of the match by 20 minutes after he threw some of the players’ shirts out of the dressing room window. Wright, currently at Celtic, asked fans outside if they wanted a present. He then threw out the shirts of Marc Overmars and Davor Suker, much to the delight of the gathering hordes.
But it meant that kit man Vic Akers had to dash to the Arsenal club shop and get replacement shirts and then have them printed up with new names and numbers.Wright, the club’s all-time record goalscorer, earned the loudest cheer of the night when he came off the bench 20 minutes from time to replace Suker but Dixon, who will have earned around pounds 300,000 from the night, had no complaints. IAN WRIGHT almost ruined Lee Dixon’s big night out after his high jinks delayed the kick-off of the full-back’s testimonial at Highbury. He did the right thing.”Fourth day of five; Australia won tossPAKISTAN – First Innings 367 (Saeed 61, Inzamam 88, Yousuf 95, Moin 61).AUSTRALIA – First Innings(Overnight: 515 for 9)S K Warne c Mushtaq b Wasim 86S A Muller not out 6Extras (b3, lb12, nb26) 41Total (139.1 overs) 575Bowling: Wasim 31.1-6-87-2; Shoaib 32-2-153-4; Abdur 17-3-66-0; Azhar 19-2-52-1; Mushtaq 38-3-194-3; Ijaz 2-0-8-0.PAKISTAN – Second InningsSaeed Anwar not out 118Mohammad Wasim lbw b Fleming 0Ijaz Ahmed c Gilchrist b McGrath 5Inzamam-ul-Haq c Ponting b Fleming 12Yousuf Youhana c M Waugh b Muller 75Abdur Razzaq not out 2Extras (2b, 6lb, 3nb) 11Total (for 4, 53 overs) 223Fall: 1-3, 2-8, 3-37, 4-214To bat: Moin Khan, Azhar Mahmood, *Wasim Akram, Mushtaq Ahmed, Shoaib Akhtar.Bowling: McGrath 14-4-56-1; Fleming 11-2-47-2; Muller 10-1-55-1; Warne 14-4-45-0; Ponting 4-0-12-0.Umpires: D J Harper and E A Nicholls.. Warne had hit nine fours and four sixes.Pakistan’s second innings was bolstered by an unbeaten 118 from their opener, Saeed Anwar, who had kind words for Warne, the Australian having called for adjudication from the third umpire when many in the ground thought he had made a slip catch which would have dismissed Saeed while on 12.It transpired the ball had not carried, and Saeed said: “That was good from Shane Warne, and I think this is what sport needs I think it’s a really good gesture and I thank Shane for it.

I wasn’t quite sure what to do,” Warne said.In the end his mistimed the first ball of Wasim’s 32nd over, and Mushtaq, extracting some minor revenge, caught him. With two singles to keep the strike, he had taken 30 runs off two overs.Warne said his downfall came after he began to entertain thoughts of a century. “I got away with couple and once I got to 86, at the end of that over when Wasim [Akram] started, I thought should I just try and maybe knock them around here. On a tame pitch, Warne set about the pace attack of Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar and was particularly contemptuous of his fellow leg-spinner, Mushtaq Ahmed, belting three sixes off Mushtaq’s first over and then another six and a four off his next. When rain ended play early, Pakistan had reached 223 for 4 in their second innings, for an overall lead of 15.Warne and Scott Muller put on 86 for the last wicket, an Australian record against Pakistan, with Muller contributing just six to the stand.

He could well be the star of the forthcoming European Cup.8 TOUTAI KEFU (AUSTRALIA)Lawrence Dallaglio did it against the All Blacks, but Kefu did it against all-comers. South Africa’s next captain? Yes, if Nick Mallett has any sense.7 OLIVIER MAGNE (FRANCE)Having gone toe to toe with Josh Kronfeld and emerged a clear winner, the scrum-capped greyhound from Montferrand is now officially the finest open-side flanker in the world. When the best player in the world needs to get nasty, then nasty it is: Eales fought tooth and nail with the French in the final and duly out-pointed them.6 RASSIE ERASMUS (SOUTH AFRICA)Bobby Skinstad’s anonymity put the Springbok back row under serious strain, but Erasmus grew in stature through the tournament to provide a razor-sharp cutting edge in the loose. If he never plays for the Tricolores again, his performance in the first 20 minutes of the semi-final classic with New Zealand will keep his name in lights.5 JOHN EALES (AUSTRALIA)Too nice to be a captain, especially an Australian captain? Don’t you believe it. Worryingly gifted for a man constructed on such a vast scale, he remains the most potent symbol of Springbok rugby.2 MARIO LEDESMA (ARGENTINA)Called in to replace the best hooker in the world, Ledesma achieved a very passable impersonation of…well, the best hooker in the world. That the Pumas did not miss the injured Federico Mendez one little bit tells the whole story.3 FRANCK TOURNAIRE (FRANCE)A real handful, in more ways than you care to mention.

Tournaire is French rugby made flesh: passionate, massively accomplished, distinctly dodgy. As horrible to his opponents as he was tender to the daughter he insisted on carrying around the pitch.4 ABDEL BENAZZI (FRANCE)The great rugby warrior from the Moroccan town of Oujda was back on top of his game. Gregan did that and more in the Wallaby-Springbok semi-final, proving himself the most competitive individual in the tournament.1 OS DU RANDT (SOUTH AFRICA)One of the great loose-head props, the “Ox” delivered by the hundredweight when the chips were down against England. One of the greats.11 JONAH LOMU (NEW ZEALAND)Eight tries in six matches, all of them extraordinary and one of them from No 8 rather than left wing.

This Lomu was a more rounded, flexible performer than the one who dominated the 1995 tournament, but at bottom, he remains a monster.10 STEVE LARKHAM (AUSTRALIA)It was not a vintage World Cup at No 10: Mehrtens, Bachop, Lamaison flickered all too briefly. Larkham’s was hardly a classical performance, but his subtlety and raw physical courage took him to the top of the pile.9 GEORGE GREGAN (AUSTRALIA)Any scrum-half who can live with a Van der Westhuizen operating at the peak of his powers is worthy of acclaim. No wing on earth tackles like Lima; his display in adversity against Wales was deeply felt, even by his own standards.13 VILIAME SATALA (FIJI)The let’s-make-it-happen element in a Fijian back division that bordered on the mesmeric. At 27, he has finally been lured away from his Pacific island by the French club Mont-de-Marsan, who have negotiated themselves a real bargain.12 TIM HORAN (AUSTRALIA)In the midst of a shambolic and often sour professional era, Horan brought a purity of motive to the competition: he was more enthusiastic about his third World Cup than some were about their first He played a bit, too, bless him. A glorious and exhilarating free spirit.14 BRIAN LIMA (SAMOA)A third World Cup for the combustible force of nature from Apia, who was no less committed this time round than he had been in 1991.

I think he was trying to say that he is just an ordinary bloke.
“Anyway, they didn’t like me going public on our conversation, which was a bit rich, seeing as the whole point of the thing was for them to go public on their palliness with lots of celebrities.” Indeed And of course, Mandelson did resign. And then I saw Tony Blair, and I went over and said, ‘You should sack Mandy for the following reasons…’ which was when Ben Elton suddenly came between us, and I said to Lucy, ‘Why has Ben barged in?’ and she said, ‘You’re drunk.’
“Well, never tell a drunkard he’s drunk I said, ‘Lucy says I’m drunk. You’re credited with making Labour popular again, but you’re the least popular member of the Cabinet, so by your own logic you should fall on your sword.’ He just sort of grinned at me, so I got embarrassed, I thought he’d at least say something joshy. “So I consulted my legal people, in the person of Ian Hislop And Ian said, ‘no, you can’t. You’ll go down as well’.” He laughs uproariously.
Enfield is an old hand at political satire.

His big television break was Spitting Image , for which he provided the voices of David Steel, Douglas Hurd, Geoffrey Howe and Ken Livingstone. More recently, of course, he created the revolting Tory Boy , and was duly considered something of a soulmate by New Labour. That is, until he blotted his copybook by drunkenly abusing Peter Mandelson, then Trade Secretary, at a party at 10 Downing Street. The incident has been well-documented, but I am keen to hear it recalled by Enfield himself.
“I’d written something rude about Mandelson, and he came up to me and said, ‘What have you got against me in particular?’ So I said, ‘You should resign. But I have never slept much.” And that is that.
So let’s try politics.

Brands Hatch, which is taking over the contract to run the British Grand Prix at its Kent circuit, revealed last month that it had received a takeover approach but kept the bidder’s identity secret.
IPG’s formal share-for-share offer values each Brands Hatch share at around 546p – a premium of 36% above the average closing price of 402p during the 30 trading days before Brands Hatch said it had received an approach.
IPG said it hoped to make Brands Hatch part of its Octagon sports marketing and entertainment division.
IPG said Brands Hatch chief executive Nicola Foulston would join the management board of Octagon once the deal was complete.
Ms Foulston, 31, said her board had unanimously recommended shareholders accept the bid.
“Our vision has long been to be the leading international event promoter and venue manager in world motorsports,” she said.
“To achieve this we need to expand our operations from our UK base around the world.
“Interpublic and Octagon offer us a unique opportunity to achieve this goal through their international strength and network, the funding they can provide for us to acquire international business and the international motorsports rights they already control.”
Brands Hatch has been battling for planning permission to upgrade its track to Formula 1 standard.
Ms Foulston has also been trying to buy rival venue Silverstone but dropped her £43 million offer after opposition from the track’s owner, the British Racing Drivers’ Club.
Brands Hatch is taking over the Grand Prix contract from Silverstone in 2002, winning it back for the circuit for the first time since the mid-1980s.
The company will host Britain’s biggest one-off sporting event for six years as part of a deal with Formula One Administration.
Ms Foulston took over the struggling company when her father John was killed in a Silverstone racing accident in 1987.
Octagon is one of the top three sports marketing businesses in the world and represents athletes, manages sporting events and sells TV rights and merchandising.
IPG also owns leading advertising companies Lowe Group and McCann-Erickson.
As well as the Grand Prix race track of the same name, Brands Hatch Leisure owns motor racing circuits at Snetterton, Norfolk, and Oulton Park, Cheshire.. “There is no doubt the bank has to change, and change quickly,” he said.
Mr Wanless, while widely liked personally, is seen as having presided over too many banana skins and strategic U-turns over the past five years to be credibly part of a defence team that is seeking to prove it is better equipped to take the business forward than Peter Burt, the chief executive of BoS NatWest shares rose 2p to 1,442p on the news Bank of Scotland slipped 4.5p to 725p.. Sir David insisted that NatWest could do more with its existing businesses but was not bent on independence at all costs “We are not in the business of repelling boarders. If offers are made to us which offer real advantages we would accept them.”
Although Mr Sandler said he was reluctant to pre-empt the formal defence document, due in the next few weeks, he made it clear that refocusing on core businesses, and an accelerated programme to cut costs would have to feature prominently in any defence strategy. He has given a great deal to the bank and he has acted with good grace,” he said.
But he admitted that NatWest’s track record and the reputation of its management had been an issue in the failure of NatWest’s £10.5bn takeover bid for Legal & General, the life insurance group.
Sir David also admitted there were differences of opinion between himself and Mr Wanless, but insisted that these were in terms of speed of delivery rather than on the substance of the changes that both believed the bank had to make.

It follows Thursday’s announcement that BoS plans to take out £1.05bn of costs if its bid for NatWest succeeds.
Sir David Rowland, the chairman, will take Mr Wanless’s place as chief executive for the time being.
Ron Sandler, who with Sir David masterminded the rescue of Lloyds of London from its near-collapse in the early 1990s, joins the NatWest board as chief operating officer on a salary of £450,000 a year. Mr Wanless earned £832,000 last year and is entitled to at least a year’s money.
Mr Sandler’s first task will be to put together a credible goit-alone strategy for the group involving more radical cost-cutting, selective disposals of non-core businesses and a programme of returning capital to shareholders.
The decision by Mr Wanless to walk the plank will go some way towards propitiating those in the City who blame him for a catalogue of strategic failures and who have been baying for his blood for years.
There was surprise, however, that Sir David – who had first sounded out Mr Sandler about the job in September – was unable to persuade the NatWest board to endorse him immediately as group chief executive in Mr Wanless’s stead.
Bankers said that the fact that Mr Wanless has not been replaced was bound to be seen as leaving the door ajar for a friendly bid approach.
Commenting on yesterday’s developments, Sir David rejected suggestions that Mr Wanless had been made the fall guy for failures for which othersshould shoulder responsibility “Derek is a very honourable person. THE BATTLE for NatWest, the high street bank, claimed its first human casualty yesterday as Derek Wanless resigned as group chief executive with immediate effect. THE BATTLE for NatWest, the high street bank, claimed its first human casualty yesterday as Derek Wanless resigned as group chief executive with immediate effect.

Mr Wanless had been under considerable pressure from NatWest investors to step down, but there was surprise that he had been forced out so early in what many believe could well be a protracted battle for the bank.
His departure comes two weeks to the day after Bank of Scotland stunned the City by launching a £22bn hostile bid for NatWest. “The decision is no more core than having the UN in New York,” he added.
The Tories seized on LordLevene’s remarks.

Francis Maude, the Tory Treasury spokesman, said: “This knocks on the head, once and for all, the idea that the City of London would suffer if the UK didn’t join the single currency. Hundreds of workers at car giant Ford’s biggest UK plant have walked out on official strike over pay as national wage talks resumed between the company and unions.

Around 400 toolmakers at the huge Dagenham plant in Essex went on strike in a long-running dispute over bonus payments.
The Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union said its members had been balloted and voted to take action after complaining that toolmakers in other plants, including Halewood on Merseyside, receive more money.
“If our members are receiving less than their counterparts, the problem clearly has to be resolved,” said a union spokesman.
Meanwhile, union leaders were meeting company officials in central London at the start of three days of talks over a national pay and conditions claim.
Union officials rejected the company’s opening offer of a 2% rise and an increase in line with inflation in the following two years, and warned there was “real anger” among workers.
The unions are seeking a two-hour cut in the working week from 39 to 37, arguing that Ford employees work more hours than other car workers in Europe.
Ford is also being pressed to pay a “substantial” increase in basic wages as well as improving holidays and allowances.
The unions argue that productivity at Ford plants in the UK has increased in recent years, including an 18% improvement at Dagenham.Factories at Halewood and Southampton have also seen double-figure productivity increases, they say.
Tony Woodley, national officer of the Transport and General Workers Union, said: “We consider working hours to be crucial in enhancing the livelihoods of Ford workers and helping them achieve a balance between home and work.
“Ford has seen year-on-year productivity improvements and workers deserve a decent settlement this year.”
The talks cover 28,000 workers at 16 Ford plants.
Dagenham has been hit by several unofficial walkouts in recent months, mainly related to race issues.
The company’s president, Jac Nasser, flew to London last month for talks with national union leaders and an agreement was reached.
But the atmosphere in parts of the Dagenham complex is still believed to be tense.
An incident in the factory’s paintshop yesterday was understood to be race-related.
Thousands of workers staged a walkout from the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast yesterday in protest at the handling of a financial crisis that threatens to close theyard.. Hundreds of workers at car giant Ford’s biggest UK plant have walked out on official strike over pay as national wage talks resumed between the company and unions. It’s about time that Tony Blair admitted that Britain can prosper in Europe but keep the pound.”. Nor was he trying to influence the political decision about joining, he said.
But he insisted that the question of British entry appeared “less and less core” to the issue of the City’s ability to trade successfully as a financial centre.

The latest figures also show that trade in euro-zone stocks in London was 59 per cent greater in the first half of this year than in the first half of 1998.
Lord Levene stressed that his judgement was on the basis of only 10 or 11 months, and that a decision not to enter the euro could have a significantimpact on City trading. Quite the contrary – there are increasing investments in the City.”
The outgoing Lord Mayor, who stands down on Friday, saw no sign of that changing “unless and until there is an absolute decision that the UK is not going to join. It’s not going to happen until then.” He added: “At the moment, the potential downside of the UK not joining has not happened at all.”
Lord Levene said that the first 11 months of the euro showed that London trading in corporate bonds issued in the euro was now projected to be 25 per cent higher than trading last year in equivalent European currencies.
The business was projected to be worth $1,500bn compared with $1,200bn last year. Tony Blair’s hopes of winning public support for British membership of the single currency suffered a setback yesterday when the Lord Mayor of London said there was “no indication” that the City would be damaged by remaining outside it.

Lord Levene of Portsoken revised the views he expressed in Febuary when, after a tour of European capitals, he warned that there could be adverse consequences if Britain remained out of the euro for four or five years.
Yesterday he said: “You have to ask when that process will start After 10 or 11 months there is no sign of that. The three have been bailed to appear at Bow Street Magistrates Court on 21 January 2000.
No charges have been brought against Ronald Zimet, the former chairman of Freepages, now Scoot, who is believed to have been behind Trellis, and who is understood to have fully cooperated with the inquiry.. Tony Blair’s hopes of winning public support for British membership of the single currency suffered a setback yesterday when the Lord Mayor of London said there was “no indication” that the City would be damaged by remaining outside it. It is alleged that £2.4m of that was funnelled through Trellis, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands and administered in Switzerland.

Wigan’s rugby executive, Dean Bell, believes that Malam, the first signing made by their new coach, Frank Endacott, will prove to be a real asset. Malam is a more direct replacement for the Australian prop, Brett Goldspink, who has joined Halifax.

Both Strong Promise and Djeddah are possible non-runners, however, if forecast rain turns the ground soft.. Wigan have completed their overseas quota for next season by signing the prop forward, Brady Malam, from the Auckland Warriors. The 26-year-old, who has made 55 appearances for the Warriors, will arrive in January to take the place on the overseas roster vacated by Danny Moore’s transfer to the London Broncos this week. “I’m going to be speaking to the owners again and we won’t make a decision until near the time we have to declare tomorrow.

But I would have to say that my preference would be to race at Leopardstown anyway.”
If Dorans Pride is absent, a maximum of 11 runners would remain to face the starter. Downbeat she may be, but Williams’ large and devoted band of followers will still hold out every hope of the latter.
The field for the King George on Monday may be down to single figures by race day, following the news that Dorans Pride is more likely to stay in Ireland for the Ericsson Chase at Leopardstown the following day.
“The transport over to England is a big problem over the holiday period,” Michael Hourigan, his trainer, said yesterday. “With a rating of 133, there’s not really that many races I can run him in,” his trainer said. “I really wanted him to go in the first race on the card, which is sponsored in memory of his owner’s late husband, but that was a 0-130, so he just missed out.”
When a trainer sounds this pessimistic, there can be but two results: abject defeat, or a 30-length victory. He’s well in himself, but he’s been well in himself in the past, and pulled up, so there’s really no telling.”
Sparkling Cone does at least seem to go well fresh, although it is not necessarily part of a cunning master-plan that he will go to Chepstow without a run under his belt. To hear Williams’ downbeat assessment of his prospects, though, you would think he had no chance.
As the trainer points out, he won two of his five races last season, but in the other three, he ran so poorly that he was pulled up “I really wouldn’t get too excited,” Williams said. If it happens to be trained by Venetia Williams, though, most will make an exception, as bookmakers know all too well, which may explain why the gelding is at relatively short odds in the ante-post lists.
The form of his win on heavy ground at Chepstow last season, from just a 3lb lower mark than he races off next week, certainly gives him a live each-way chance.

“He’s pulled up more often than anything else, and this is far and away the most competitive race he’s ever run in. This is not a race in which many punters make a habit of backing a horse without a previous run. The leg injury which almost cost him his life, sustained in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March, continues to keep him off the track, and it is still far from certain that he will race again. “He’s just cantering very quietly at the moment, it’s very light exercise,” Williams said yesterday. “It was a wonderful race to win, but I don’t think we want to talk too much about the future with him.

Sadly for them, they were to miss an unlikely and unforgettable finish that was to eventually lead to promotion to the First Division.
Gillingham had scored their goals after 81 and 86 minutes and City were looking down the barrel of another season in the Second Division, but the game was transformed in the 89th minute – as good a time as any to score, as all United fans will agree – when Kevin Horlock drove in a low shot from 18 yards to make it 2-1. MANCHESTER CITY fans didn’t have a lot in common with George Best until this play-off final. Four days earlier the Manchester United legend had left the Nou Camp before the final whistle and so didn’t see his old teams late, late European Cup-winning goals against Bayern Munich. Courier had a break point in the eighth game, but netted a backhand return off a second serve. The match was decided by a Courier counter-punch, a service return to the body that gave Rusedski, at 0-40, no alternative but to play a cramped backhand volley, which landed in the net.Courier triumphed, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, 1-6, 8-6, after three hours and 47 minutes. “This is the kind of match that gets a lot of kids out wanting to play tennis,” the American said “This is as good as it gets.”JOHN ROBERTS.

Rusedski spent the rest of the evening trying to catch up, which was not easy given the inconsistency of his play: he hit 31 aces, but double-faulted 15 times and was foot- faulted 12 times.Rusedski continued to press in the final set, but was unable to create an opening. The only time Britain had ever won a tie from 0-2 down was against Germany in Berlin in 1930. Henman and Rusedski at least kept the tie alive by winning Saturday’s doubles, defeating Martin and Alex O’Brien in five sets.To the delight of Sunday’s enthusiastic crowd (another 10,000 capacity), and to the 7.8 million enthralled viewers watching BBC2, Henman levelled the match, 2-2, overcoming Todd Martin, who was nursing a strained stomach muscle, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6, after three hours and 17 minutes. Henman spent a total of 10 hours and 44 minutes on court over the three days.The outcome of the tie was in the hands of the No 2 players, Rusedski and Courier, in the fifth and final match And it was not decided until the fifth set. Courier won the opening set, breaking serve in the first game, in spite of Rusedski’s three aces. Grand though the occasion was, the two leading Americans, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, chose not to travel, which proved to be their loss, not their country’s.The Britons, Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski, realised that whoever played would be a huge challenge.

He said: “From Celtic’s perspective, we are delighted to be bringing a player of Rafael’s quality to Celtic and we are sure that he will not only enhance the Celtic squad but also Scottish football as a whole.”
An independent panel, which met in Glasgow yesterday, had been expected to finalise their verdict over the next 48 hours once it had been approved by Margaret Hodge, the junior Education minister. However, a positive verdict was delivered yesterday morning meaning Rafael will be able to be paraded as a Celtic player after the Scottish Premier League’s winter break, which the Glasgow club will spend in Portugal.
The case for a work permit was undermined by Rafael’s failure to have played in 75 per cent of his country’s internationals during the past two years. Dalglish, Celtic’s Director of Football Operations, was welcoming the Department for Education and Employment’s decision to grant the 23-year-old defender a three-year work permit. Dalglish, Celtic’s Director of Football Operations, was welcoming the Department for Education and Employment’s decision to grant the 23-year-old defender a three-year work permit.

That means Rafael can join the Parkhead club in the New Year having already agreed a four-and-a-half-year contract with Celtic, who will pay Gremio £4.8m for his services.
The news is a coup for Celtic, but Dalglish was keen to stress today that the Scottish Premier League’s status will be boosted by the signing. Kenny Dalglish predicted yesterday that the whole of Scottish football will benefit from Celtic’s signing of the Brazilian international Rafael Felipe Scheidt.

Substitutes not used: J Chambers, A Chambers, Morris (gk).
Referee: R Styles (Waterlooville). Kenny Dalglish predicted yesterday that the whole of Scottish football will benefit from Celtic’s signing of the Brazilian international Rafael Felipe Scheidt. True to what was going on around him, he swung his foot and missed the ball completely.
Blackburn Rovers (4-4-2): Kelly; Kenna, Taylor, Dailly, Davidson; McAteer (Johnson, 117), Frandsen, Carsley, Duff; Ward, Blake (Ostenstad, 117). Substitutes not used: Broomes, Harkness, Fettis (gk).
West Bromwich Albion (4-4-2): Miller; Gabbidon, Raven, Carbon, Van Blerk; De Freitas (McDermott, 90), Sneekes, Oliver, Angel; Evans (Richards, 117), Hughes. McAteer crossed from the right and Duff arrived at the far post to put the ball back to where the West Bromwich goalkeeper had come from. Somehow he changed direction and palmed the header away.
Callum Davidson reinforced the home attack three minutes later to crash a volley narrowly wide from Blake’s knock-down, while at the other end Adam Oliver was similarly close with a shot from the edge of the area that beat Kelly but also the post.
The ability to squander chances even spread to Albion’s normally reliable striker, Lee Hughes, who was presented with a ripe chance after a rebound. Matt Carbon, subscribing too deeply to the season of giving, made a hash of a header and Blake was in the clear.

The former Bolton Wanderers striker raced through but the opportunity fell to his weaker right foot and it was blocked by Alan Miller’s dive.
Half-time brought no change to the shape of the game, but it did herald an outstanding save from Miller after 49 minutes. Within four minutes Nathan Blake had looped a header just over and fired narrowly wide and he was just at the front of a line of one-way traffic that included shots from Per Frandsen, Ashley Ward and Damien Duff.
West Bromwich had barely crossed the halfway line before Fabian De Freitas interrupted the flow after 16 minutes with a shot that had Alan Kelly scampering across his line to save.
This was just a temporary blip in the general trend of Blackburn possession but it nevertheless had a sobering effect on the home side, who became less cavalier as a consequence and there was a noticeable improvement by the visitors.
Even so, Blackburn had a gilt-edged opportunity seconds before the interval. It looked like a patched-up set of Baggies who took the field and the opening minutes did little to dispel that impression. Liverpool at Anfield await in the fourth round.

Blackburn would be kicking themselves most for failing to kill off their opponents in normal time because they had a near monopoly of the chances but at least they had achieved their object of getting a crowd of five figures. In a week of disappointing Cup gates, 11,766 was highly satisfactory even if it was 7,000 below average.
Things have been bleak at Ewood Park in recent times but Blackburn appeared as a sea of tranquillity compared to their opponents who had lost their chairman, Tony Hale, and an influential player, Kevin Kilbane, in the previous week. Their manager, Brian Little, was hardly the personification of contentment either, his most pertinent comment being: “I just want someone to be honest with me after what has happened in the last few months”.
A look at the resources available to him was unlikely to soothe Little either as he had three players suspended and several others suffering from flu. Substitutes not used: Given (gk), Glass.
Tottenham Hotspur (3-5-2): Walker; Perry Vega, Campbell; Young (Fox, 22, Armstrong, 71), Sherwood, Nielsen, Clemence, Taricco; Ginola (Dominguez, 75), Iversen.

“English football is a great success story, but we do recognise concerns identified by the Task Force and supporters,” Lee said. Craig Brewin, an FSA officer who works in public finance, produced a paper on the powers of the Audit Commission, and how these might apply to football, arguing for independence, the right to mount inspections and define performance criteria, and to have effective sanctions. It was immediately leaked and was then publicly denounced by Mike Lee, the Premier League spokesman. The authorities took four months to produce their own joint counter proposals They were also published yesterday.

Much of their proposals were too vague to satisfy the rest of the Task Force, but it did contain the idea of an Independent Scrutiny, which, said the authorities, would be “not unlike that of the British Standards Institution or the Audit Commission”.
According to Task Force sources, at a subsequent meeting in October, under heavy questioning about the proposed terms for this body, Richard Scudamore, the Premier League’s chief executive, was forced to admit that he himself was unclear. Much of the debate has been bitter, with the football authorities often reluctant to engage with it at all.
Early on, the Premier League chief executive, Peter Leaver, sought to have Mellor removed. However, the Task Force soldiered on, producing three unanimous reports; on racism, disabled access, and investment in the community. Discussions on the fourth report, directly concerning money – in the issues of ticket prices, merchandising, plcs and supporter involvement – have taken nearly a year and been more fraught.
A report, apparently largely similar to the one produced by supporters yesterday, was presented to the authorities in May.