Football won't find its morality at the bottom of the bottle

In ‘To Hull and Back,’ arguably the jewel in the crown of the much-loved sitcom ‘Only Fools and Horses’ exquisitely written by the late John Sullivan, ‘Boycie’ – a crooked second-hand car salesman played by John Challis – sniffs the chance to make a few quid by smuggling diamonds from Holland.

However, he and Del Trotter, with whom he is in cahoots, are denied at the last by the Old Bill. Jim Broadbent’s character Chief Inspector Slater is the real brains behind the operation, allowing petty criminals to take the risks while he makes a profit. Fearing jail, Boycie and Del are offered a simple alternative; “Why don’t we pretend that this never happened?”

Brushing the whole saga under the carpet and forgetting about it is football’s forte.

Dutchman Phillip Cocu, manager of Derby County Football Club since July this year, also recently had some precious cargo being transported. Namely his club captain and Republic of Ireland international, Richard Keogh.

Regrettably, despite being offered transport following an evening of team bonding which included alcohol, cars driven by Tom Lawrence (right) and Mason Bennett crashed with Keogh on board and the pair have been charged with drink driving.

As unfortunate as it is that the 33-year-old Keogh’s career is hanging by a thread, it is merely a footnote.

Someone could have died.

But not to worry, Lawrence and Bennett sat out one single game and have been fined six weeks wages each. The former has actually been selected to represent Wales in the forthcoming Euro qualifiers, much to the faux disdain of Welsh boss Ryan Giggs.

Both Cocu and Giggs have had the opportunity to show courage and a degree of morality by shunning Lawrence yet decided against it.

Football’s unhealthy inescapable association with drink-driving is a worryingly deep-seated stain on the game and sport as a whole.

The sense of entitlement is not confined to those who have the pressure of performing on a Saturday afternoon in front of thousands of fans, but transcends generations and has had previously dire consequences.

Only a matter of days ago, 55-year-old Dean Saunders, coincidentally once of Wales and Derby County, won his appeal against a 10-week jail sentence despite admitting to failing to comply with a roadside breath test and failing to provide a breath specimen.

A finely polished apology was issued, the dust will settle (he hopes) and the wheels of the footballing world will roll along its blinkered highway.