Bent 'Arry

THERE is a charity called Leukaemia Busters which I try to help raise money for.

A golf day this week raised a few more quid.

Yet this is a drop in the ocean to what they need. They really are desperate for money and are grateful for every last penny.

In contrast, it’s making my stomach turn at the amount of money swilling around in football at the moment. It’s obscene.

While I benefit from a good wage, I’m embarrassed about it, to be honest. A lot of people in football are embarrassed.

I never thought it would get this out of hand. The sums we are now talking to get good players are really, really crazy.

To hear that Chelsea and Real Madrid are prepared to pay £50million, £60m or even £70m for Kaka is just mental.

Kaka is a fantastic player and I would obviously love him in my team at White Hart Lane.

The fact a pro footballer could be earning £200,000 a week is plain ridiculous.

Real are now saying they want Ronaldo — and the sums there will need to be massive if they are to persuade Manchester United to sell.

This week, I tried to sign Gareth Barry. I felt he would be a good addition for Spurs and I knew we had to make a decent offer for a top England player.

Liverpool were also prepared to make a big offer.

But we have both been blown out of the water by Manchester City.

They offered a far bigger transfer fee and are giving the lad much bigger wages. We could not get near.

It’s certainly not Gareth’s fault that he is being given such a massive contract.

But I believe the game could do one thing. I don’t see wages or transfer fees going down but English football could start putting something back into the community.

I’d like to see every manager and every player in the Premier League make a donation to charity from their monthly pay packets.

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It would be a difficult thing to set up but it could be done.

I would be more than happy to try to form a panel to investigate how we could do it but we would need the Premier League to get involved.

A lot of clubs do stuff for charity already. A lot of players, as well, put time and money into projects which raise money, even though they do not always shout about it.

But if every player was forced to make a contribution, that could earn each club’s designated charity £1m, maybe even £2m a year.

I really believe the majority of players would not have a problem with this. Most are family men with kids and would be willing to help.

I can understand why a lot of football fans are frustrated by the amount of money players earn but at least this type of gesture would bring back some much-needed goodwill.

All this money being spent bringing foreign players to this country would actually make a difference to people who are not as fortunate.

Bob Wilson has spent years involved with the Willow Foundation, which provides special days for terminally-ill people. We could help out with things like this.

And as the wages rise, which they will, then so would the amounts being handed out.

It amazes me how quickly football is changing just when we thought the spending had hit its peak.

City, with massive financial backing, are able to sign who they want. Carlos Tevez could be next for them.

And I’ve no doubt they will be right up there next season if they continue to sign this type of quality players.

It wouldn’t surprise me if they won the title quite soon as they seem to have more money than everybody else.

City are reminding me of Blackburn who were suddenly given pots of cash by Jack Walker.

As many clubs have discovered, strong financial backing does not guarantee success but Kenny Dalglish signed wisely by bringing in quality like Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton.

If any club, whatever size, finds a rich backer, they will be up there in a short amount of time, providing they have a good manager.

No disrespect to someone like Burnley but even they could challenge for the Champions League if the Sheikh of Wherever decides to plough loads of money into them.

My first wage as a professional footballer was £20 a week.

Our best player at West Ham, Bobby Moore — who was captain of England and one of the world’s best players — was on £60-a-week. If he was alive today, he’d be on the wages of John Terry.

Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters, who helped us win the World Cup, were also on about £60.

This was good money but certainly not relative to what the modern footballer earns.

Meanwhile, there are doctors screaming for more money in the hope that one day, they will be able to stop kids dying from a terrible disease.

Hopefully, football can start helping out in the real world.

But I believe the game could do one thing. I don’t see wages or
transfer fees going down but English football could start putting
something back into the community.

Cheesy wrote:Triffick

bluealf wrote:

Cheesy wrote:Triffick

Dont let him see your avatar or they will have to sedate him to stop the twitching

bluealf wrote:www.justpopitinabrownenvelope.com

stony wrote:

bluealf wrote:www.justpopitinabrownenvelope.com

Oh Walfie, stato will have a field day when he comes on. You've posted a made up url instead of a made up e-mail.

bluealf wrote:

stony wrote:

bluealf wrote:www.justpopitinabrownenvelope.com

Oh Walfie, stato will have a field day when he comes on. You've posted a made up url instead of a made up e-mail.

You are becoming worse than him at the fucking moment

I hope you have decieded to be a man this evening instead of a big gaylord non drinking fairy

stony wrote:

bluealf wrote:

stony wrote:

bluealf wrote:www.justpopitinabrownenvelope.com

Oh Walfie, stato will have a field day when he comes on. You've posted a made up url instead of a made up e-mail.

You are becoming worse than him at the fucking moment

I hope you have decieded to be a man this evening instead of a big gaylord non drinking fairy

I wasn't ridiculing your tinterweb skills. I was merely pointing out that stato will, when he gets here.

bluealf wrote:I see it has risen from beneath its cum stained duvet for the weekend

bluealf wrote:I see it has risen from beneath its cum stained duvet for the weekend

bluealf wrote:What you are doing is highlighting it so the cunt see's it and even when i edit it, it is still available on your bloody quote

stony wrote:

bluealf wrote:What you are doing is highlighting it so the cunt see's it and even when i edit it, it is still available on your bloody quote

I had thought of that