ABSTRACT
Football in the new media age can often appear ubiquitous. The month of October 2003 saw football related stories dominate much of the mainstream UK news and current affairs agenda. The stories of alleged sexual and criminal misdemeanours involving young, wealthy professional football stars merged with poor behaviour by players on the pitch. While the failure of the Manchester United and England player Rio Ferdinand to turn up for a drugs test resulted in his subsequent omission from the England national squad on the eve of a major international fixture. This ‘crisis’ was then escalated by the threat by the England national team to withdraw from the game and threatened to end in a major court battle between the biggest club in England and the governing body of the English national game.
