Champions League final tickets plan looks a nice little earner for the Football Association

Well, there’s a way up Wembley Way, a very expensive way. The Football Association is offering Uefa-sanctioned hospitality packages, including ticket, for £3,480 per person.

“Messi, Nani, Xavi, Rooney, Iniesta et al going head to head, what a fantastic final this promises to be – certainly one not to be missed,’’ reads the excited blurb from Wembley as if United supporters needed reminding.

The deal includes a “ticket located behind the goals or in the corners on Level Two; pre and post-match access to the hospitality lounge in Wembley Arena; informal seating with a range of bars and food options with pre- and post-match buffet; Champagne reception with inclusive beer, wine and soft drinks pre- and post-match; live entertainment; ex-player expert panel; photo opportunities and one match programme per person”. At £3,480, that’s a nice little earner.

For those wondering whether the governing body of English football, a non-profit-making organisation, should be involved in such trade, the small print confirms that “hospitality packages are being provided by the FA on behalf of Uefa” and adds that “the price for the packages has been set by Uefa”.

Whatever happens on the pitch, this 2011 Champions League promises to be the greatest money-spinner in club history.

United fans sing when they're winning

Now that a 19th title seems destined for Old Trafford, Manchester United fans have set their sights on finishing No 1 in the charts. United fans are busily spending 79p to download the Paul Hardcastle song 19; they believe they need around 30,000 to be No 1 by Sunday. Hardcastle has given the United fans his blessing even though he’s a currently crestfallen follower of Chelsea.

“I’m asking EMI to put proceeds to charity,’’ he tweets. “I see it then as a good cause. Anyway we will have the title back in 2012, ha ha.” Hardcastle also points out a quirk of the 1985 charts to Liverpool fans disappointed at United breaking their 18-title mark. Having spent five weeks at No 1, 19 was knocked off its perch by a charity version of You’ll Never Walk Alone.

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Barnet celebrate another final-day Football League survival success

It was a win that guaranteed this 123-year-old club at least one more season in the Football League.

Nothing against Lincoln City, the fall guys on the final day of the League Two campaign, but it was a heart-warming scene. There is something engaging about Barnet, whose idiosyncratic ground, Underhill, sounds like a hobbit’s home, and slopes so drastically that one goalkeeper’s boots are level with the other’s crossbar.

The phrase “family club” is often used for anywhere without a 30,000-seat stadium and a shady absentee owner, yet at Barnet it truly seems to apply.

In April, they suffered a managerial crisis when Martin Allen left for Notts County after only 19 days in the job. Their response was to appoint Giuliano Grazioli, their community development officer, as caretaker manager.

“I was here every Saturday afternoon, watching the boys play, keeping my face around the place,” chuckled Grazioli, a former Barnet striker who scored 62 goals in a five-year stint at Underhill. “I would give the chairman a little wink when things weren’t going well. There was a method in my madness, because this is what I want to do. And it means so much more because I am a fan of this football club.”

Allen had started the revival for Barnet, who were eight points from safety on April 1. Grazioli continued it. Coming into Saturday’s deciders, Barnet knew that if they could beat Port Vale, they had a chance.

That was not the end of the story: a win for Lincoln over Aldershot would still knock Barnet out of the Football League, no matter how many goals they scored. But Lincoln had taken just one point from the previous nine matches. The Imps were limping towards the finish line in what was now a two-horse race.

In the early stages the diminutive Mark Byrne was at the heart of everything Barnet did, running the game like a cut-price Scott Parker. He had promising outlets in a pair of speedsters: left-winger Mark Williams and striker Izale McLeod, who once earned a transfer fee of £1million on his way to Charlton Athletic.

Port Vale, who had nothing to play for, were coming second on every 50-50 ball. And yet, for all their energy, Barnet could not get the ball home.

They were fortunate that Port Vale were so disinterested, and indeed charitable: a ridiculous penalty at the start of the second half meant that Grazioli’s nervous strikers did not even have to score from open play.

Straight from the restart, Byrne slipped the ball to McLeod, who ran 40 yards into the Port Vale penalty area without being challenged. When a tackle did finally come in, from centre half Gareth Owen, it was mistimed and brought McLeod down. McLeod struck the ball home.

Soon afterwards, news began filtering through of Lincoln’s plight: Aldershot landed a penalty of their own just before the hour, and eventually romped home 3-0.

“We’re all grateful to Aldershot,” said Grazioli afterwards, “but what really gives me pleasure is that six weeks ago nobody gave us a chance in hell. I looked at the crowd and saw a lot of the kids I’ve been coaching for the last year with their families: it was great to do it for them.”

So what now? “On Monday, I’ll be back in the community development office,” he replied. “The chairman has to think about what he has to do. If I’m part of it, fantastic, if I’m not the manager, I’d still like to have a place.”

Grazioli was a folk hero at Barnet during his playing days, and after Saturday’s feat of escapology – the second time in as many seasons that they have defied the drop on the final day — he is more revered than ever.

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Sunderland striker Darren Bent reveals he prefers to watch basketball in his spare time rather than football

Darren Bent has revealed he prefers to watch basketball in his spare time rather than football.

Sunderland striker Bent, 26, has had a basketball court built at his family home – and a hoop in his north-east bolthole – because he loves the sport so much.

He said: “I have also got a court in my mum’s house in Cambridge in the back garden so when I get back there in the summer I get my friends around.

“I have just put a hoop up at my place in the north-east as well – I love the sport.”

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