The thing that incensed me about this when I read it this morning is that he tries to make out that it was all just a bit of harmless fun and never had any impact on the results of games.

But slamming the ball out for a throw in or corner in the first minute of a game (or at any other time for that matter) can have an indirect impact on the result. And he even mentions penalties, without going into any further details.

I find it all just as reprehensible as purposely letting a goal in; it's cheating the paying public, as simple as that.

??????

Never captained a football team then?

You get the choice - possession or choice of ends.

What does he mean when he says they bet on "who started with the ball"? If he means kick off, how can this be fixed between the 2 teams. Whoever wins the toin coss gets choice of ends and the loser gets to kick off. Or am i missing something as this would mean the ref would have to be in on it?

When I played the winner of the toss could choose ends or take kick off.