That was the weekend that was

Referees strike blow for justice

Referees hit back at the weekend after repeated assaults on match officials in the Halifax area. Members of the local referees' society went on strike, forcing more than 1,000 amateur players to stay at home kicking their heels.

One Halifax and District League official recently had to be helped from the field after being knocked unconscious by a player whom he was trying to caution. It was the fifth assault on a referee in this league in the past four seasons and the Halifax Referees' Society decided it was time to blow the whistle on violent conduct.

"We made this stand because it's time the public was aware of what's happening," Phil Dunn, the secretary, said. "We hope that the small minority of players who have taken this action against officials have learned their lesson, having missed their games over the weekend."

More than 50 matches in three leagues were postponed but fixtures are expected to resume as normal next weekend.

David Rattigan, the fixture secretary for the Halifax and District League, said: "The league will take very tough action against both the player and the team, who have been suspended for an inquiry and possible disciplinary action."

Lund homes in on new goal

Looking for a move and need a good agent? Give Notts County a call and ask for Gary Lund. He would be delighted to sort out the best possible deal ... if you're trying to sell a house.

The 31-year-old centre-forward cannot find a place in County's promotion- chasing Second Division line-up. But rather than bemoan his luck, he is developing a parallel career as an estate agent - so successfully that the names of Royston and Lund are as familiar in County's neck of the woods as Devlin and White or any of the strikers keeping him idle on Saturday afternoons.

"I knew I'd have to do something when I stopped playing and management strikes me as too precarious," he said. "When a friend in the property business set up on his own I decided to go in with him. It is not a good time for the market but we operate in the best part of Nottingham - the one new players are usually recommended - and there is always a demand."

Training in the morning and trading houses in the afternoon has become Lund's daily routine - not that he has given up the idea of actually playing. Transfer-listed, he is trying to sell himself as well. "I know I've got investment potential for someone," he said.

Well,

obviously...

'When we got to 5-0 I thought, 'with our defensive record we might just get a point here'' - Ron Atkinson, back to wise-cracking form after Coventry's romp against Blackburn.

'Some of the stuff we played even I enjoyed, so it must have been good' - Peter Reid, Sunderland manager, cock-a-hoop after smashing erstwhile First Division leaders Millwall 6-0.

'These chaps got us out of trouble last season and I'm confident they can do it again' - Ray Wilkins, taking adversity on the chin after defeat at Tottenham left QPR with deepening relegation fears.

'I am resigned to the fact that there is no future for us as a Premiership club in London' - Joe Kinnear putting his weight behind homeless Wimbledon's proposed relocation, to Dublin or Cardiff.

'We died without trace' - Dave Bassett, summing up a sixth home defeat of the season for crisis club Sheffield United.

'McGhee is still our manager. He simply has not turned up for work during the last couple of days' - Martin George, chairman of Leicester City, still refusing to accept his employee's controversial resignation.

'I didn't have time to think, but given the same circumstances I'd probably do the same again' - England captain Tony Adams, about his dismissal for a cynical foul on Southampton's Neil Shipperley. Who said the English sense of fair play was dead?

Rumours

Fact and fiction from the Sunday papers

Chris Waddle and Martin O'Neill are on the shortlist of contenders for the Leicester City manager's job, according to the News of the World, whose report suggests Waddle will ask for his free transfer agreement with Sheffield Wednesday to be brought forward from the end of the season. O'Neill was targeted by Leicester when Brian Little quit but has since taken over at Norwich, although his relationship with Robert Chase, the chairman, is reportedly less than ideal.

The same paper suggests that Middlesbrough are prepared to offer Jan Age Fjortoft, as well as cash, to make their interest in signing Dion Dublin from Coventry more appealing to the Highfield Road club, while Queen's Park Rangers are apparently preparing a pounds 500,000 approach to Tottenham for their reserve defender Kevin Scott. A fomer Spurs player, Steve Hodge, should soon be on his way from Loftus Road to Watford.

Should Mark McGhee be installed as the Wolves manager this week, the People predicts an early move for Blackburn's Paul Warhurst.

It also says Graeme Souness is coming under pressure at his Turkish club Besiktas, and if the manager went, that could mean Dean Saunders following him.

Missing person

JASON CUNDY (Tottenham Hotspur)

Bought for pounds 800,000 from Chelsea in July 1992, the 26-year-old defender's disappearance has left so little evidence that the current PFA Footballers' Factfile omits him entirely. Cundy (right) last played a senior match on 2 March 1993, and has been sidelined by a chronic back problem and other injuries. Now fully recovered he cannot break into the team. "It is easy to be forgotten if the manager changes when you are injured," he said.

Red card

MARK McGHEE

Take a bow

CREWE ALEXANDRA

Turn back

the clock

Stan Collymore's second goal in successive games leaves Bolton still looking for their first victory over Liverpool in a league match since 1962-63. Liverpool were the top-flight new boys on that occasion, having just won promotion under Bill Shankly. By contrast, the Bolton of that day, in their 11th season under Nat Lofthouse's management, had not been out of the First Division since the mid-1930s.

Which possibly does not mean a great deal to today's Bolton fans, who, in any case, would be happier recalling the third round of the FA Cup just three seasons ago, when Liverpool scrambled a late equaliser at Burnden Park, courtesy of Ian Rush, and famously lost the replay 2-0, a result which signalled the rise of Bolton under Bruce Rioch and brought Graeme Souness's demise a little closer.

Comparison of the teams who faced one another then with Saturday's line- ups is an indication of how each club has been turned on its head since. Only three players from each of Saturday's sides played in both games - Rob Jones, Stig Inge Bjornebye and John Barnes from Liverpool, and Keith Branagan, Scott Green and John McGinlay in Bolton's colours.

PREMIER XI

TEAM OF THE WEEKEND

HEALD

WIMBLEDON

PETRESCU

CHELSEA

WRIGHT

LIVERPOOL

REEVES

WIMBLEDON

BRISCOE

SHEFF WED

FOX

TOTTENHAM

STAMP

MIDDLESBROUGH

KINKLADZE

MAN CITY

CANTONA

MAN UTD

DUBLIN

COVENTRY

COLLYMORE

LIVERPOOL

Watch out for...

IAN MOORE (Tranmere Rovers)

Having a famous father is sometimes more of a hindrance than a help, but being Ronnie's boy has clearly done nothing to inhibit Ian Moore's progress at Tranmere. The 19-year-old striker's goal on Saturday was his ninth in eight full first-team matches, bringing favourable comparisons with his dad, a prolific centre-forward for Tranmere, Rotherham and Charlton and now the assistant to John King, the Tranmere manager.

Programme notes

No 2: Crystal Palace

Price: pounds 1.50. Pages: 48. Endsleigh League Palace still produce a Premiership class programme. Lots of club news, good guide to visiting team and excellent stats package. The impression that nobody knows who is running the team is reinforced by the A View from the Top column, which has been written this season by Steve Coppell, Ray Lewington, Peter Nicholas and, whisper it, Ron Noades.

Verdict

9/10

reasons why...

Europe won't miss Blackburn

1 No need to appoint boxing referees for the away ties.

2 No more Ray Harford press conferences.

3 Coronation Street returned to its rightful place in the schedules (there's only one Rovers' Return...).

4 No more prime-time Bob Wilson.

5 Uefa is running out of red cards.

6 No need to worry any more about the humiliation in store should Blackburn meet Ajax.

7 No more Ron Atkinson saying: "Very much so."

8 No teams left in the European Cup who are prepared to leave out their star striker.

9 Those "Champions' League" logos just don't look right on Blackburn players.

10 No more cameras pointed skywards to follow Blackburn's passes out of defence.

n Vincent Fallon, of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, wins the bottle of champagne for last week's competition. His eleventh reason why Sky's increasing domination of televised football is a bad thing was: "Murdoch, Murdoch, Murdoch...?"

Next week

Readers are invited to submit 10 reasons why (almost) everyone hates Manchester United. Send to: Reasons Why, Sports Department, The Independent, 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5DL; or fax to 0171 293 2894. The best entry will be published next week.