Chelsea recruit Bolton’s scout

Chelsea’s scouting department continues to expand with the surprise appointment of Dave Worthington, formerly Sam Allardyce’s chief scout at Bolton Wanderers, writes Duncan Castles. Worthington had been expected to follow Allardyce to Newcastle, but opted to join Frank Arnesen’s generously financed network at Stamford Bridge. Worthington, who started work on August 4, will cover scounting duties in France, Italy and Switzerland. Worthington is the brother of ex-England international Frank and father of Gary, the Chelsea scout involved in the recruitment of Leeds United academy players Michael Woods and Tom Taiwo

Sol England blow

Sol Campbell’s return to the England fold is over before it’s even begun. Portsmouth’s verteran defender, inset, named in a Steve McClaren England squad for the first time on Friday, pulled out of contention for Wednesday’s Wembley friendly against Germany last night through injury.

Pompey boss Harry Rednapp said the centre-back, who missed his side’s 3-1 win over Bolton, had not recovered from a groin strain. Steve McClaren's selection problems

Materazzi admits ZZ insult

Just as we all suspected, Italy defender Marco Materazzi was asking for it when he was butted by Zinedine Ziadane during last summer’s World Cup final. Unitil now Materazzi has refused to divulge what he said to Zindane to provoke the attack that saw the Frenchman sent off, but he has now told an Italian magazine that, after tugging Zidane’s shirt and being told by the Frenchman he could have it later, he said: ‘I prefer the whore that is your sister’. Lucky to get away with a headbutt, really

Norwich guard secret of failure

Championship side Norwich City have banned fans from training sessions, fearing that secrets will be passed on to other teams. Norwich finished 31 points behind Sunderland last season

Former Hammer dies Jeroen Boere, the former West Ham stiker, has died at the age of 39 at his home in Spain. The Dutchman, who retired from football in 1999 when he lost an eye after being stabbed in Japan, worked in Spain as real estate agent. The cause of death was not confirmed. Boere started his professional career at Excelsior Rotterdam before joining the Hammers in 1993. He also played for Portsmouth, West Bromwich, Crystal Palace and Southend United

Fans flock to cut-price Rovers

Season ticket sales at Premier League Blackburn Rovers have rocketed by 15% this season since prices were slashed by an average of 25%. The club claim they used £1m of extra TV revenue to fund the cuts and have been rewarded by more than 14,500 fans snapping up season tickets Forget the missus, it’s football first Perhaps Bill Shankly had it right after all when he said ‘Football isn’t a matter of life and death — it’s more important than that.’ A staggering 80% of fans polled by Virgin Media spent up to £2,500 following their team, while the same proportion said they would even chance splitting up with a loved one rather than miss their match-day outings. Some 20% would sooner spend their cash on football than save to get a foot on the property ladder

Briatore on fast track at QPR

Renault F1 owner Flavio Briatore’s takeover of QPR will be completed this week. Should Rangers’ fans be worried to hear chairman Gianni Paladini say: ‘Mr Briatore wants to do for QPR what Mohamed al-Fayed has for Fulham and turn us into a Premier League club’?

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