This turns a modern miracle into almost the opposite of what an atheist expects and attacks.Attempts to point out this ambiguity got the last Bishop of Durham, the Rt Rev David Jenkins, into terrible trouble. If a miracle says something, it must be heard, otherwise the miracle is not complete, and remains merely magical or inexplicable Yet some people will not hear They will see the wonder, but not the sign. Most people would find it hard to explain how a radio or television works. Yet whatever the degree of superstitious awe with which people regard broadcasting, it is not miraculous Real miracles say something interesting about the world. Something which is both inexplicable and likely to remain so – like the bowl of petunias which turns into a whale three miles above the surface of a hostile planet in The Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – does not constitute a miracle, but something to be forgotten as soon as possible.Nor is something a miracle which is astonishing, but which we think we might in principle understand. In the case of the slurping statues there seems to be no agreed significance except that the gods are taking an interest in life.It is not enough that a potential miracle should be a wonder. This combination of qualities – inexplicability and significance – is what defines a miracle: it must be both a sign and a wonder.

The Hindus whom I saw at the Vishwa temple in Southall offering milk to a statue of a cow were not “frenzied” or even excited Many seemed curious more than anything Nor were they overcome with reverence. I heard one saying, “Jesus Christ!” as he came into the room: it was not an expression of either piety or blasphemy, but the common English exclamation.
Yet they were perfectly happy to believe that there was something significant and inexplicable to modern science going on. Despite all this, a lively faith in miracles keeps bursting up in the most unexpected places. All these are inimical to a belief in miracles; all suggest that the Universe is largely rule-bound; that God either cannot or does not interfere with human matters, even if he exists.

THE 20th century has seen more scientific progress, more technological advances, and more genocide than any other. The man of dignity and principle had learned the ropes, been corrupted by the glory game Now at last, the game really will never be the same again Good.Ian Ridley, page 25. Mr Taylor will have fewer members, less muscle behind his Luddite campaign to keep things as they were.Of those things, of the power of injustice, how it erodes the souls of the best of men, the epilogue to the Wizard’s story speaks eloquently: 11 years after this wonderful man turned pro he was suspended for eight months for offering an Aston Villa player a bung to fix a match. Better to honour Billy Meredith, the Wizard, who will smile wryly at this week’s news Forget the frowns of football’s established order Their power has been diminished, the money tap turned off.

All that is nurtured in such places is the vanity of the little man who’s big in Rotary. Players travelling from Torquay to Darlington in a day, eating fish ‘n’ chips in motorway “caffs” and fired out when old or injured .. it’s a hell of a way to honour a nation’s heritage. RFC Liege is the Belgian equivalent of the glorious small- town club. As someone who spent enough time at the little clubs to know a thing or two about them, let me assure you that the idea that the multi-million-pound slave trade should be continued to ensure preservation of the small shopkeepers’ small clubs is the worst joke of all. Yes, football will never be quite the same again and good men everywhere should raise a glass to that.The most disingenuous argument against reform allows the likes of Gordon Taylor to evoke the “little clubs”, the Crewes and Colchesters of this seedy world which, it is claimed, nurture young talent and maintain a glorious aspect of English heritage. Many famous men sleep uneasily in their beds at night, knowing that they would be finished if the agents who processed their bungs revealed all to the newspapers.As a result of Bosman’s hard-won crusade for justice, the transfer market – the trade in talent that is the wellspring of all football corruption – will finally be capped.

The “bung” culture, whereby players and managers get under-the-counter payments when a transfer goes through, was conceived by fundamentally honest professionals who understood that they would never be fairly rewarded over-the-counter. The revelations of recent times about corruption in English football are merely the tip of a very dirty iceberg. He said that, after Bosman’s victory in the Court of Justice, “the game would probably never be the same again”. Others spoke of “greed” and, echoing the shopkeepers of long and not-so-long ago, of “things spiralling out of control” because professionals were to be dignified with the kind of conditions enjoyed by, well, journalists, lawyers and shopkeepers”The game would probably never be the same again.” The same as what? Professional football in England is cancerous with corruption, not because of players’ greed, but because of the injustice of the transfer system.