SELLIN OUT

Stephen Bierley on Harry Gregg taken from The Guardian

Harry Gregg, who played nearly 250 league, cup and European matches in goal for Manchester United between 1957 and 1966, and survived the Munich air crash in 1958, recently sold his hotel in Ireland. Now, some would argue, he has sold his footballing soul in the pages of his autobiography: Harry's Game.

He claims that certain United stars organised matches to be thrown in the 1963-64 season, and in other games thereafter, in an attempt to beat the bookies in fixed-odds betting.

And yet, if we are to believe the former United goalkeeper, amid it all the worm of greed and corruption was chewing inside the bud. It was, of course, in 1964 that another Sunday newspaper, the People, revealed that three Sheffield Wednesday players - Peter Swan, Tony Kay (who had moved on to Everton) and David "Bronco" Layne - had fixed for Wednesday to lose against Ipswich in a league fixture on December 1, 1962.

But what are we to make of it now? It is possible that Gregg may have been mistaken at the time or that the current "revelations" are nothing more than an attempt to help sell yet another sporting autobiography and to cash in on the world-wide popularity of all things Manchester United. Either way, it seems likely that these claims will be quickly airbrushed aside and that the reputation and the myth of Busby and his players will remain unsullied.

It is worth remembering, though, that Gregg was the man who, ignoring the threat of explosion and fire, returned to the wreck of the BEA Elizabethan at Munich in February 1958 in a brave and selfless effort to save lives. The bond between him and the club could not have been closer and he will not have put pen to paper lightly.

It may well be that what came out in the public domain concerning football match-fixing in the 60s was but the tip of an iceberg, just as it is perfectly possible that in 40 years' time, though probably less, an international cricketer will write that he was aware of matches being fixed all around him in the 90s, while refusing to name names.

"I sometimes ask myself whether I should have exposed them all - but that never was my style," writes Gregg. And that, at the time, was the pity.

There are other ways of beating the bookies though. If you follow the link below you'll be able to make a bet with Blue Square. And if you haven't already done so there is the chance of a FREE £10 punt.