BOLTON WANDERERS 1

NEWCASTLE UNITED 0

It seems that even when the football season is over, there is little escape from the avarice of the game.   But this week there`s good news and not so good.  The good news is that, thanks in large part to fans` objections, Bolton Wanderers Football Club have decided not to pursue the deal the club had for Quick Quid to become their shirt sponsors.

Now Quick Quid are but one of a plethora of companies who operate what are known as pay day loans - lending out cash to unfortunate punters who need it but then find they have to repay it at ridiculous rates of interest.   Seems to me they prey on the needy, those in difficult straits and the last thing we need is for their `product` to be emblazoned on the shirts of professional football teams.   So well done Bolton for having the moral courage, possibly at some financial cost, for giving up on what was always a distasteful initiative.  They will now be sponsored by a sustainable energy company and, as Bolton Chairman Phil Gartside said, "We don`t want our commercial relationships coming between us and our community."

Up the road at St. James`s Park (or is it the Sports Direct Arena these days?) Newcastle United have entered into a sponsorship deal with another of these outfits.   This time it`s Wonga, formerly sponsors of Blackpool, I believe.   Now at Newcastle there seems something of a determination to press ahead with the Wonga deal which was announced late last year, even though at least one of their players, Pappis Cisse, has stated his intention not to wear a shirt which advertises money lending, as it would offend his Muslim religion.

Newcastle United are, of course, still in the Premier League which seems to have a rare talent for money grabbing and a commercial approach which seems not only immune to  any areas of sensitivity but also increasingly arrogant in its dealings with the rest of the `football family.`   Bolton Wanderers on the other hand are currently plying their trade in the second tier of English football and it might just be that a football club`s morality is in direct relationship to its place in the football pyramid?