But proof was never furnished, no scandal ensued.Always rare, this form of corruption offends against football people’s deepest convictions. In the Sixties also, around the time of the Kay case, one of Sir Matt Busby’s Manchester United teams was believed to have taken a dive, something the boss of legend quickly discovered. Eventually the crucial blunder did materialise but nobody could prove a thing.Proving a crime was committed is as difficult as fixing a game. Of the latter case, proceedings were said to have descended to farce because the key opposition player bribed, an experienced international, couldn’t find a way to deliver on his commitment. The unmatchable pleasure of winning would not have been significantly enhanced were I to make a few extra pounds in the process.

The misery of defeat would be compounded if the bet was lost. Betting against oneself was unthinkable.Occasionally, especially in the bad old days when players were ill-rewarded for their toil, games were fixed. In August 1905, professional football’s first great star Billy Meredith was banned for one year for his part in a bribery scandal. In the Sixties a First Division club were rumoured to have “bought” the two points necessary to win the Championship. And although I loved to bet, I never did either way on my own team. He was finished.In my 17 years as a professional I only once encountered match-fixing. In the particular match cited at their trial – away to Ipswich, then one of England’s best teams – Kay was adjudged to have been Sheffield Wednesday’s outstanding player Still, they lost.

There was no suggestion that Kay and his colleagues actually “sold” the games involved The crime was to bet against their team. An English international, Kay was an inspirational player respected for his willingness to battle as well as his considerable skill. They went to prison and were banned from professional football for life. Their fate served as a warning to a generation of footballers.Tony Kay was a particularly poignant victim of that scandal.