The Guardian from London, Greater London, England • 19

THE GUARDIAN Saturday June 1 1991 Soccer SPORTS NEWS 19 Heaves WdDDsi QoCsDimg the World Cup final against Russell Thomas A phone call from Atkinson to Ellis forced the Villa chairman to scrap a press conference planned for today to announce the new manager's arrival. Atkinson had been tempted by the Villa job, he said, because of his "long affinity" with the club, which is just 20 minutes from his home. Paul Gascoigne left hospital on crutches yesterday with his business adviser Mel Stein confirming that he would travel to Rome on Tuesday to finalise details of the revived transfer to Lazio. Those talks should be a formality, said Stein, adding: "Gascoigne is fine, raring to go. He obviously doesn't want to rush things too much." Meanwhile, Tottenham pic's board issued a statement denying that the sale of season tickets had been suspended.

It said: "The board wish to make it clear that the sale of season tickets is continuing and that cheque, credit card and cash applications are currently being processed. "The board recognises and appreciates the tremendous support shown from its season-ticket holders. As a result of this, the processing of approximately 12,000 applications is expected to be in a time scale similar to previous years." Berti Vogts has warned his German side that their European Championship tie with Wales in Cardiff next Wednesday will be "more difficult than STON VILLA'S chair-f man, Doug Ellis, resumed his search a manager yesterday after Ron Atkinson drove to Sheffield and performed a U-turn. Atkinson's decision to stay with Sheffield Wednesday came during a two-hour session in the Hillsborough boardroom and on a day when the team and manager were treated to a civic reception to honour their promotion and Rumbelows Cup triumph. When Atkinson emerged from the board meeting to confirm he would serve out his recently signed two-year contract, he explained his turnabout "I must be barmy to think of leaving here I would have been leaving the best job in football." But there was an indication, too, that money had played a part in changing his mind.

Villa's offer was a reported 250,000 a year for three years, nearly 100,000 a year more than Atkinson was understood to be on at Hillsborough. The Wednesday director and Labour MP Joe Ashton admitted: "We have matched and bettered what Villa were offering. We would have been selling ourselves short if we had not been prepared to match any club in the country." PHOTOGRAPHS: FRANK MARTIN Grey whistle test the Derby favourite Mystiko comes through an early morning training session at the gallop Mystiko ready to weave a Derby spell Chris Hawkins meets labours and luck augur well for Wednesday Hirst picked for Aussie test DAVID HIRST, Sheffield Wednesday's powerful striker, adds a first England senior cap to his twin club honours when he lines up alongside Gary Lineker in the opening tour match against Australia in Sydney today. The 23-year-old Hirst, whose 32 goals helped Wednesday to the Rumbelows Cup and promotion to the First Division, is one of four changes from the team that drew with Argentina last week because of the absence of Arsenal and Liverpool players. Taylor gives Nigel Clough his first England start since his debut two years ago, while Ran-gers's Chris Woods returns for David Seaman in goal and QPR's Paul Parker switches to right-back to replace Lee Dixon.

Play-offs promote excitement David Lacey on the Wembley jamboree that completes the season's ups and downs Argentina. To support this contention, Vogts paid tribute to Wales's forwards. "Witn Kusn Saunders and Hughes they have the best attack in the world apart from ours. But we have better individual players and a better team, and the pressure is on them because they must win. "We still tend to look up at British players and we don't need to we are the world champions, not the British." Voets has all seven Italian- based players available in his 17-man squad, which includes Bayern Munich's uncapped Ste fan Efienberg in place of the in jured Andreas Moeller.

The squad's former East Ger man internationals Matthias Sammer, who signed a new con tract with VfB Stuttgart yesterday, and Thomas Doll are likely to play against the Welsh, who head Group Five by a point from Vogts's team. Frank Gray, the former Scot land defender, has been ap pointed manager of Darlington, After two years at Feethams as player-coach, he takes over from Brian Little, the new man ager of Leicester. Brighton's preparations for their Second Division play-off final against Notts County at Wembley tomorrow have sui- fered a minor scare with their full-back, John Crumplin, con tracting chickenpox. his eight-match unbeaten run. The most disappointed Eng land player was the Australian- born Tony Dongo.

But Leeds left-back may be a substitute. Australia, yet to beat a British international side, name their side just before kick-off. ENGLAND! Wood (Rangers); Parkar (QPH). Paarca (Nottm Forest). Bally (Leeds), Walkar (Nottm Forest).

Wright (Oerby), Piatt (Aston Villa), Thomaa (Crystal Palace), Clough (Nottm Forest), Unaker (Tottennam), Hint (snen weaj. Penalty shoot-outs in the final of future World Cups could be scrapped if a radical proposal by the United States organisers to replace them tor the 1994 tournament is approved. A plan for a replay after extra-time is being studied byFua. which will be put at risk if the FA creams off the First Division clubs for its Premier League. Nevertheless, the sight of Brighton and Notts County vying for the remaining First Division place does raise an issue that the FA, through its Premier League plans and Graham Kelly's Blueprint for Foot ball, is keen to tackle.

Neither club has the sort of ground that would be acceptable in a Super League. Even now Brighton are looking for a new home. Notts County's direct, physical approach would probably have a better chance of survival next season than Brighton's more intricate passing patterns. Yet if the Sussex side reproduce the attacking form that defeated MillwaU 6-2 on aggregate in the semi-finals, and especially if Small still feels inspired, Brighton could leave Wembley this time feeling elated rather deflated. Walker, recovered from the arm injury suffered in the semifinals, is expected to return to the Brighton attack, but Lloyd may be reluctant to recall Byrne only a fortnight after a second cartilage operation.

County are hoping Phil Turner recovers from an ankle injury. He missed yesterday's practice match but Warnock said: "He still has some way to go but he has done some light training and has a smile on his face for the first time this week. We will leave the final decision as late as possible but I'm now hopeful he will be available." the equaliser on 29 minutes. Nine minutes more of an exciting first half and a penalty put Torquay in front. Myers, released by the club in 1987 and also on a building site a year ago, tried a cross from the left.

Bamber it was not his night handled, and Edwards scored from the spot his 19th goal of the season. The best chances after the break fell to Evans after Mcll-hargey had parried a fierce Edwards shot, and Garner, whose effort was blocked on the line. But on 69 minutes Blackpool were level. Eyres's overhead kick was tipped on to the bar by Howells, but Curran bundled the rebound into his own net. Mackpooli Mcllhargey; Davis (Sinclair, 103mln), Wright, Groves.

Horner, Gore, Rodwell, Taylor, Bamber, Garner, Eyres, Torquay IfnUadi Howells; Curran, Holmes, Saunders, Elliott, Joyce, Myers. Holmes, Evans (Rowland, 115), Edwards (Hall, 87), Loram. bourmey (tsoennymoorj. treble is on the cards; perhaps even a four-timer come the Irish Derby in July. Luck is running for Brittain at the moment.

On Tuesday evening he was about to land in a light plane after flying back from Sandown Park when the front wheel refused to come down. Diverting to Stansted, the pilot flew over the control tower for confirmation and unfortunately got it The full emergency procedure was put into operation with fire engines and ambulances racing along the runway as the plane tried a landing. As a last desperate effort to get the wheel down the lever was given a hefty yank and a kick, and incredibly out she popped. "I wasn't worried. I had faith in my pilot and I knew we'd get down," said the unflappable Brittain.

With luck like that surely it is just a question of who is going to finish second on Wednesday. Hailsham (left) and Mystiko Rugby League Millward will coach Halifax Paul Fttz Patrick ROGER MILLWARD, who ended a 25-year association with Hull Kingston Rovers at the end of the season, has not been long finding a new job. He is the new coach at Halifax. He will replace Peter Roe for whom there will be much sympathy. Last season, his I first with Halifax, Roe took the club to promotion and to the final of the Second Division Premiership Trophy.

It would seem, that the Halifax board had its doubts that Roe, who was on a one-year contract, would have the experience to keep the side in the First Division. Experience is something that Millward, given a two-yeari contract, possesses in abundance. His brief will be to re-establish a club who enjoyed a glorious period in the mid-Eighties when they won the Challenge Cup final, appeared in another, won the League championship but then suffered relegation and chronic financial distress. "We are not looking for cups or championships this time," said Peter Marsland, the chairman, yesterday. "We are looking for a place in the top half of the table." And he confirmed that money would be available to Millward to buy new players.

Leigh East are the first Lancashire club to win the Barla Opencast National League. They made sure of the title with a 42-4 victory over Egremont of Cumbria. sees that as his role in life and takes it very seriously," says Brittain, whose home is littered withlabradors. They lie at his feet as he breakfasts on sausages, bacon and eggs, seeming to get more of the meal than the trainer, who is lucky to be allowed two minutes without the portable phone ringing. Conversation is virtually impossible.

At eight o'clock most mornings Brittain phones Lady Bea-verbrook, Mystiko's owner, to give her the latest progress report For Lady as she is affectionately known throughout racing, this is one of the most exciting weeks of an eventful life. Besides Mystiko she has Luchiroverte in tomorrow's French Derby and Brittain is confident he will finish in the money. Last Sunday the stable won the Italian Derby with Hail-sham, who will run again at Epsom, and so a unique Derby team with his Epsom runners Sailing Smith's race within a race Bob Fisher In Kiel FIRST blood in what has become a final selection trial for the one-ton berth in Britain's team for the Admiral's Cup went to Port Pendennis, the 40-footer skippered by Law-rie Smith, which was fourth to Shardana's seventh in yesterday's race in the Bit Cup here. Since none of the three who will choose the Admiral's Cup team are present, the cup threatens to become a match-race series, something the absentee selectors and the skippers and crews of the two trialists wanted to avoid. Ed Dubois, Port Pendennis's owner and designer, said it was poor "not telling us until we were here that this would be a trial.

We came here to tune for the One Ton Cup in July, not for a match race which could have been held in the Smith agreed. "We could learn a great deal to help us in that regatta and the Admiral's Cup if we could sail our own race." And to an extent he proved it in the 21-mile race in Kieler Fiord, held in 20-22 knots of westerly breeze. A jib sheet which let go on the second tack shortly after the start left Port Pendennis in an embarrassing position. Smith and his crew came good only by clever sailing. Dubois and Peter Jones, charterer of Shardana, are agreed that the Admiral's Cup trials have become an im, on this regatta.

The Galeb club's challenge for the America's Cup, accepted as from Yugoslavia, will sail under the flag of Croatia. Clive Brittain, whose won 20 I'd put 15 away. If I won 100 I'd put 90 away. I could have had one of my best wins ever on Lupe in the 1970 Oaks. If I'd stuck to my bet at 20-1 but I sold it at 5-1 because there was no way I could see her winning.

"Lupe was a great illustration of the guvnor's genius with horses. She probably wouldn't have eaten more than three bowls of oats a week yet he coddled her and kidded her, proving he knew more about horses than I did." That was then. Brittain knows plenty now, as a haul of 5.1 million in first-place prize money and nearly 800 winners testify since he saved enough to start training on his own 20 years ago. The best horse he has had during that time is Pebbles, who in the mid-SOs won the 1,000 Guineas, Champion Stakes and the Breeders' Cup Turf, yet Brittain says Mystiko is more exciting than even that female phenomenon. "Some of his work before he won the 2,000 Guineas was unbelievable," he said.

"Most of the time I had to gallop him on his own because he'd simply demoralise everything else. "Since then we've had to calm him down and teach him to settle to help him get the mile and a half of the Derby. Michael Roberts the jockey has done a wonderful job and the horse has adapted brilliantly. "Provided he gets the fast ground he loves I'm absolutely confident he'll stay the trip. He doesn't have to make all the running and the fact that Aro-kat's in there as a pacemaker for Toulon will help us." Brittain has thought it all through and maintains he is totally relaxed.

But he is not the pond with of supporters World League's president Mike Lynn. "Who would have thought that we'd have had more than 100,000 people for the last two games in London and Frankfurt?" The news from elsewhere has been less encouraging. Although the New York-New Jersey Knights, the Monarchs' opponents tomorrow night, have twice attracted more than 40,000 curiosity seekers to the Giants Stadium, fans in the United States have generally reacted sniffily to the new product, judging it inferior, unseasonal and devoid of stars. ABC's ratings indicate that only about two million households have been tuning in to their broadcasts about half the league's target figure. ABC paid $28 million (about 16 million) for the network rights to the league's first two seasons.

The USA cable station paid $25 million (14 million) for Saturday and Monday night games. Eurosport, the satellite station that the league hoped would deliver their product into several million homes from Lisbon to Lahti, closed down last month. North American viewing figures are unlikely to revive should the World Bowl next Sunday produce the expected championship final: London against Barcelona. But the league will be back next year, at least as big and just as eager to please. Last week the 26 NFL teams that run the World League voted to fund the operation with another $500,000 each.

Expansion from 10 teams to 12 or 14 is likely and Europe can expect at least one of the new clubs. quite talking in terms of "just another This is the big one and for the last two weeks he has abstained from all alcohol to ensure he is completely on top of the job, "to make sure nothing's missed and nothing goes There is not much chance of that Brittain's stable is essentially a team effort, with long serving, reliable men such as the assistant trainer Jock Brown and Mick Leamen, a man whose sole job is feeding the horses, perhaps the greatest intuitive art in racing. Security, normally tight, has been stepped up. Extra sets of gates have been built Dean Eaton is up all night in the box next to Mystiko, whose day usually begins with a swim in the equine pool. This exercise is supervised by Billy, the terrier, who has taken it upon himself to see there is no slacking by running round the edge barking endlessly.

"He Rosy prospects Brittain and Athletics Haringey fired up for Pickering Our Correspondent In Jerez HARINGEY, who aim to become the first British representatives to win the European Clubs' Championship here this weekend, will dedicate any success to their former president, Ron Pickering, who died this year. "After all the work Ron did for the club we want to win the trophy for him," said Tony Jar-rett, the European 110 metres hurdles silver medallist. Haringey, who field several other British international athletes, including Dalton Grant, John Herbert, Brian Whittle and Darren Braithwaite, are confident they can improve on their previous best of third place in the competition at their fourth attempt. "We believe this is the strongest team ever to have represented Britain in Europe," Jar-rettsaid. Shaun Pickering, Ron's son, is competing here for Haringey in the hammer and discus.

Larios, the host club at the Chapin complex, field Brahim Boutayeb, Morocco's Olympic 10,000 metres champion, while the Italian champions Propa-tria have Francesco Panetta, the world steeplechase champion. Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson, who will meet for the first time this season at Lille on July 1, lost in separate 100 metres races in Seville staged to coincide with Japanese early-morning television time. Lewis was second to Dennis Mitchell of Canada in 10.30sec; Johnson was fifth, behind the winner Mark Witherspoon, in 10.69. WITH snorted breath steaming, and silver tail streaming, the grey goes drumming by. With bated breath released, the trainer turns and smiles; all is well with Mystiko the Derby favourite is on course for Epsom glory.

Clive Brittain, happy man, sits alone on his hack perched halfway up Warren Hill like, a lord surveying his domain; the rolling heath beneath, the town of Newmarket beyond. At 5.30am he has only the larks for company and he savours the solitude, the thinking time that helps turn scatty thoroughbreds into disciplined champions. He has sat up here countless times before, watching and disseminating; noting actions, head carriages, sweati-ness, greenness and all the idio syncrasies that determine char acter, which if correctly read can be harnessed to success. He is not always right. Some times he deludes himself and, very occasionally, he pinches himself.

He has been doing that since March, when Mystiko began to show him things he had not seen for years, since the days of Crepello in the 1950s when Brittain was a stable lad with Noel Murless. That is how he began on the bottom racing rung soon after the war. You cannot start much lower, but Brittain saw it as an opportunity and took it I worked for Sir Noel for over 20 years," he said. "I was never more than a lad doing my two, officially that is. But Maureen Murless's secretary who became his wife in 1957 and I lived well.

We always had two weeks abroad in the winter and I always had a car. Of course, I used to bet in those days. If I American Football Monarchs cross a patriotic wave Robert Pryco HUNDREDS of London Mon-archs supporters have crossed the Atlantic this week to support the team in their World League play-off semi final at the Giants stadium tomorrow night. Thousands more will watch the game on giant video screens at the Wembley Arena. Millions of Ameri cans could not give a damn.

Whichever way the World League counts the score, Europe has beaten America this season. The league's three European clubs have the league's best records no American club has won more games than it has lost. And games in Europe have attracted crowds that have averaged more than 30,000 50 per cent more than games in North America. The Monarchs lead the league in both these categories, among others. London won their first nine games before going down to their only defeat last week, 20-17 at home to the Barcelona Dragons.

And the official figures have it that their average home attendance was 40,481. Rarely can so many Britons have gathered in one place so determined to prove that they wear their shirts unstuffed. At Wembley the good humour has been so contagious that any curmudgeons in the crowd would have been forced to seek cooler air before the wave had made the first of its many circuits. "The most phenomenal thing that's occurred is what hap DECIDING promotion by play-offs seems as unnatural as deciding cup finals by penalties. In each case the denouement bears no relevance to the action which has preceded it, as Red Star Belgrade proved in Bari this week to nobody's satisfaction but their own.

Yet the popularity of the League playoffs is undeniable and the decision to abandon the two-legged system for the finals and instead stage them at Wembley over a long weekend has added further interest to what would otherwise be the fag-end of the season. A year ago the Second Division decider between Swindon and Sunderland drew a crowd of 72,873 to Wembley. Tomorrow's confrontation between Brighton and Notts County will do well to match this figure but 30,000 fans are expected to travel up from the south coast in the hope of reliving the 1983 FA Cup final experience though without its ultimate frustration. Gordon Smith's famous miss in the last minute of extra-time denied Brighton an astonishing victory over Manchester United, who won the replay 4-0. Brighton then disappeared into the Second Division after four years in the First and spent a season in the Third before beginning the steady revival Hirst comes in for Alan Smith, becoming Lineker's fourth partner under the Taylor regime, while Clough fills the gap left by John Barnes, though the Nottingham Forest player will not play wide but in his usual club role, linking midfield and forwards.

Hirst was added to Graham Taylor's squad 11 days ago after his two splendid goals on his debut against Switzerland. He is now preferred to Crystal Palace's Ian Wright today, with Taylor eager to see the Wednesday player, a more conventional target man than Wright, in senior international action. England's line-up features six players who helped the team reach the World Cup semi-finals as Taylor aims to extend under Barry Lloyd which has brought them back to Wembley in search of higher things. Notts County lost their First Division place the year after Brighton went down and plunged straight through to the Third Division, where they spent five seasons before Neil Warnock managed to turn things around. If they defeat Brighton tomorrow, County will become the first club to win promotion from Third Division to First in successive seasons solely through the playoffs.

A year ago they beat Tranmere at Wembley to reach the Second. Tranmere will try again today, this time against Bolton Wanderers who were among the play-off system's first victims four years ago when they lost their Third Division place. The fact that Bolton and Blackpool, who between them have appeared at Wembley eight times in FA Cup finals, should have returned in humbler guise while the likes of Brighton and Notts County reach for the stars, says much for the endless changeability of the Football League. If this season's gates are included, aggregate attendances for the play-offs from 1987 onwards nave now exceeded 1.3 million. That indicates a continuing depth of interest in League football at all levels the goalkeeper, put Torquay ahead.

Then up stepped Bamber, Blackpool's leading scorer playing his first game after an absence through injury. He sliced wide, Blackpool's misery was complete and Torquay, after 19 years, were out of the Fourth Division led by a manager, John Impey, who was working on a building site a year ago. Blackpool had not been to Wembley since 1953, when the "Matthews final" of FA Cup folklore was won largely by Stan Mortensen, who died last week. But they settled early last night to take the lead on seven minutes. Taylor, on the edge of the area, fed Groves, who slid the ball past Howells.

Morty would have liked that one. Blackpool continued to force the pace, but when Loram curled a left-foot cross in from the right, Saunders headed in Fourth Division play-off final: Blackpool 2, Torquay Utd 2 (aet; Torquay win 5-4 on penalties) Howells of delight Don Best at Wembley FTER a pulsating match defeat for either of these aVslteams would have been cruel; that one should lose after a penalty shoot-out was heartless. Blackpool may be a long way from Marseille in terms of class but they will share the same feeling of futility at seeing a season's work wiped out by the lottery of spot kicks. To make matters worse for Blackpool, they had finished seven points clear of Torquay in the League, and missed automatic promotion only by losing their final League game. After 120 minutes of this contest for a Third Division place the two seaside clubs had been perfectly matched.

And after the first batch of penalties they were still level. In the sudden death Howells, pened in Europe," says the.