I think it might be more along the lines of, you sponsor someone for a fiver on the spur of the moment and then you forget about it, and a couple of weeks later they come round with the envelope and you're totally happy to give it to them, you're not going back on your promise, BUT you don't have your wallet handy, or it's your last fiver until you get to a cashpoint and you need it to buy lunch today, but you'll definitely give it to them tomorrow, and then tomorrow comes and oops, forgot again, mind like a sieve...

Just a question of scaling up from £5 to £5,000.

Or maybe the cheques are in the post.

At least your/my local team were one of the main contributors, getting a good write up in the papers!! They may be complete and utter crap at football, but - at least - they seem to have good hearts. (Not that it helps when you're bottom of the table).

As far as I've heard (relying on Said & Done in the Observer sports section) the teams the pledged the most tended to be those at the lower end of the premiership, with a general trend that the players who are paid less more likely to pledge.

But then what do you expect of people that actually believe they're worth over £100,000 a week?

I can't believe that even if it was the end of the season, they have still taken five months paying! If you pledge money for something like this then surely the chequebook comes out before you leave...right?

This is one of those rare occasions where I think they should just name and shame them. Imagine the abuse they'd get from the terraces. They'd open their wallets then.

Actually thinking about it, this makes sense.

If you're going to go to the media about nonpaying footballers and you name and shame them all straight off, I bet there's a certain proportion of footballers who would (a) initiate legal action or at least (b) simply refuse to pay on the basis of "well, if you're going to be like that about it".

It could also have the effect of reducing the charity-giving potential of those individuals in the future ("I'm not pledging to charity again, look what happened last time! One honest mistake/cockup by the accountant and I'm getting booed off the pitch...")

Whereas if you go to the media and get everyone feeling angry about the issue, and make it clear that while you're not naming and shaming, you *could*, oh so easily, and the media would lap it up as well... I reckon that would have a lot of people reaching for their chequebooks and calling their accountant to check it's been paid before the nice lady from the nursing fund with the list of names of non-payers changes her mind.

The equivalent of selling insurance by telling people how very flammable their property looks and it would be a shame if anything happened to it.

I wonder if they even know they've pledged the money? Or, if they did, maybe they assumed their agents or accountants have dealt with it and so don't even realise it's not gone through. I'm not defending them though. None of them earn their obscene salaries, they just receive the money. They should have checked.

I wonder if they even know they've pledged the money? Or, if they did, maybe they assumed their agents or accountants have dealt with it and so don't even realise it's not gone through. I'm not defending them though. None of them earn their obscene salaries, they just receive the money. They should have checked.

Now come on Tom. we're talking about characters with overinflated egos who exist on a mere £100,000 a week. They don't have the cash to spare. Besides it would mean less for them to lose at the roulette tables.

Wealth and conscience are rarely found together.