Keane hit with fine after ban

Roy Keane, the Manchester United midfielder, was yesterday fined pounds 5,000 by the Football Association for bringing the game into disrepute in last month's FA Cup semi-final replay against Crystal Palace at Villa Park when he was sent off for stamping on Gareth Southgate.

The fine follows a three-match ban the Republic of Ireland international has already served for the incident. The FA had delayed the hearing until to allow the player to appear for in last Saturday's FA Cup final.

Although United made plain their objection to a further charge on top of the automatic ban, their director, Maurice Watkin, admitted: "We've had a fair hearing and there will be no appeal against the punishment."

David Davies, the FA spokesman, said: "In deciding the punishment we also took into consideration Roy Keane's disciplinary record over the last five years. This is the first time he has appeared before the FA and, in fact, he has never been sent off before."

Darren Patterson, the Crystal Palace defender also sent off in the semi- final replay for his reaction to Keane's foul on Southgate, is next up in front of the FA, also on a disrepute charge. That hearing has been delayed while he is on tour abroad with his club.

David Unsworth, the Everton central defender, could add a first full England cap to his FA Cup winners' medal after being called up by Terry Venables for the Umbro Cup next month. The 21-year-old Preston-born player becomes the sixth uncapped player in the 22-man squad following the withdrawal of Arsenal's Tony Adams, who has a thigh injury.

Venables, who on Thursday drafted in Liverpool's Jamie Redknapp for the "emotionally drained" Paul Ince, has ignored the claims of Crystal Palace's Richard Shaw and Nottingham Forest's Colin Cooper, the two defenders he named on Tuesday in his three-man standby list.

Instead he has gone for the versatile Unsworth, a powerful, strong-tackling but quick player who successfully shackled Mark Hughes in the FA Cup final win over Manchester United. Unsworth, who switches from the Under-21 squad to play Latvia, impressed the England coach during last month's two-day training school in the Midlands.

Sheffield Wednesday's hunt for a successor to Trevor Francis appeared no nearer to being resolved with Danny Wilson, who had been tipped for the post after an excellent first season as player-manager of Barnsley, agreeing to an extended contract at Oakwell.

The Barnsley chairman, John Dennis, described himself as "more than pleased" that Wilson had agreed to extend the remaining year of his contract by another 12 months. "Danny's enormously well-liked and respected in the club and in the town," he said. "It would've been a serious blow if he had decided his future lay elsewhere and there has been a lot of speculation, which we're pleased to have laid to rest."

"But to be honest I thought it would take longer for Danny's influence to be felt and for him to take us to a position which would have meant a play-off place in any other season was a superb achievement."

Wilson joins Chris Waddle in ruling himself out of the Wednesday frame, while the Sheffield United manager, Dave Bassett, has been offered an improved and extended deal at Bramall Lane.

Altrincham, one of the best known non-League sides, may be forced to drop into the relative obscurity of the North West Counties League Second Division - four levels below their present GM Vauxhall Conference standing - if they fail to find a buyer for the club.

The Robins, who played Tottenham at White Hart Lane in the third round of the FA Cup in January, have until 10 June, the date of the Conference's annual meeting, to stump up the pounds 200,000 which all clubs must provide as a guarantee they will fulfil their fixtures.

The Scotland manager, Craig Brown, has refused to sentence the Everton striker, Duncan Ferguson, to the international wilderness after his three- month jail sentence for head-butting an opponent. "I don't remember England not selecting Tony Adams a few years ago," Brown said, referring to the Arsenal defender's spell in prison in 1990 for a driving offence.