The draw has been made for the fourth round of the Carling Cup.

The ties drawn by former Arsenal duo Niall Quinn and Brian Marwood are:

Burnley v Tottenham Hotspur
Nottingham Forest v Fulham
Newcastle United v Chelsea
Liverpool v Middlesbrough
Watford v Southampton
Manchester United v Crystal Palace
Arsenal v Everton
Cardiff City v Portsmouth

The matches are due to be played on Tuesday 9 November and Wednesday 10 November.

Socrates set to star for Garforth Town

One of the greatest-ever Brazilian players is set to play in England next month. In an amazing story, Socrates will be joining Garforth Town of the Northern Counties East League.

A notice on the official web site of Garforth Town AFC reads:

“In one of the most unlikely moves in recent times, Brazilian legend Socrates will be coming to Garforth Town. His first game will be at home against Tadcaster Albion on 20th November. The majestic midfielder retired 14 years ago but the lure of a spell in the Northern Counties East League has proved too much for the 50-year-old. Socrates skippered Brazil at two World Cups and was unquestionably one of the greatest players of his generation. Garforth already have one former international on their books in the form of Lee Sharpe. But Socrates, who still has his famous long hair and beard, will undoubtedly be the most high-profile player to pull on the Garforth shirt after signing a one-month deal with the club. He is expected to make his debut against Tadcaster Albion in front of a capacity 3,000 home crowd at Garforth - a far cry from playing in front of 200,000 at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro. Socrates - not surprisingly - has a reputation as a deep thinker with strong views not only on football but society in general. Quite what he will make of Garforth - a former pit village in the heartland of West Yorkshire - remains to be seen.”

The man behind the audacious signing is the Miners’ owner / manager Simon Clifford.

A graduate in Sports Science and Media at Leeds University, Clifford became closely acquainted with Juninho when the Brazilian ace was playing for Middlesbrough in the mid-nineties.

Juninho introduced him to futebol de salão, a type of football played on a basketball court that uses a small, weighted ball. In Brazil, most of the greatest players of the last fifty years began their careers playing with this type of ball.

Clifford - the son of a policeman from Middlesbrough - founded his first Brazilian Soccer School in 1996 and has developed an impressive network of contacts in Brazil.

He is quoted as saying:

“I wanted to put the focus on the club, so a few weeks ago I began putting feelers out in Brazil. This is the result. I’m told he’s still in good shape, although he’s still smoking. I’m pretty strict on discipline and smoking but I guess I can make an exception for him. Careca’s also coming for next season and Zico is going to try his best.”

As well as Garforth’s Wheatley Park, Socrates month in England could also him play at Pontefract Collieries’ Skinner Lane and the Riverside Ground - the home of Gedling Town.

South American shake-up

The South American Football Confederation is set to re-structure its qualifying competition for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Currently, the familiar CONMEBOL qualifying format sees the ten nations playing each other in a 18-match single group campaign. The top four qualify for the finals with the fifth facing a Play-Off against the winners of the Oceania region.

The most likely alternative would seem to be two groups of five in a round-robin tournament. Each country would play four matches with the top three in each group going forward to a final group of six. These six would therefore play nine matches in total.

The re-think has been brought about by the combination of poor economic conditions and the complaints from European clubs concerning the demands on their players.

The Confederation’s press officer Nestor Benitez commented:

“There is an agreement that these qualifiers are costly and very long.”

Record holder joins part timers

Boston United’s appearances record holder Paul Bastock has brought his 12-year association with the League Two outfit to an end.

After a club record 625 games, the 34 year-old goalkeeper has been offered the chance to join Conference club Scarborough on a part-time basis.

Paul joined the Pilgrims from Kettering Town in August 1992 and the stalwart has seen the Lincolnshire team rise up through the playing fields of the Northern Premier League, Dr Martens League and Conference to reach the Football League in 2002.

He boasted a 100% appearance record in United’s first two seasons in Division Three but a knee injury in pre-season has seen him lose his familiar place this term to Nathan Abbey. The injury has seen him struggle to contend with the rigours of full-time training.

Born in Leamington Spa, Paul started at Coventry City and was a member of the Sky Blues team that won the FA Youth Cup in 1987.

He failed to make the professional ranks at Highfield Road though, but joined Cambridge United in March 1988. He went on to make a total of 13 appearances for the Us before trying his luck in Malaysia with Sabah.

His return to England saw him move into the non-league circles with Fisher Athletic. Paul joined Kettering Town in 1990.

Paul passed Billy Howells previous club record of 572 appearances at the start of last season.

As the trusty shot stopper bowed out of York Street, United manager Steve Evans told the club’s official web site:

“Paul Bastock has been a tremendous servant to this football club and everyone will miss him. In my opinion, his appearance record will never be beaten. I have already spoken to Paul about the possibility of bringing him back in some coaching capacity, so I get the feeling that he is just off on a little holiday for now. On behalf of everyone at Boston United, I wish Paul every success.”

It is with great regret that the AFS records the sad passing of the legendary former Tottenham Hotspur player and manager - Bill Nicholson OBE

Bill Nicholson Factfile

1991 Retires and is named as club president

A Memorial Service will be held at White Hart Lane on Sunday 7 November (11am)

On behalf of all members of the Association of Football Statisticians, we would like to express our sincere condolences to his family and friends.

Quinn’s appeal rejected

Rushden & Diamonds Graham Allen’s claim for wrongful dismissal following his sending-off at Wycombe Wanderers on Tuesday has been upheld by the FA Disciplinary Committee.

The former Everton and Tranmere Rovers defender was shown a red card by referee Steve Tomlin for “denial of an obvious goal scoring opportunity” in the 71st minute of the 1-1 League Two draw at the Causeway Stadium. His one match suspension has now been withdrawn and he is available for the Diamonds visit to Bury tomorrow.

Sheffield United’s Alan Quinn’s appeal was rejected though, and his three match suspension commences with immediate effect. He misses the forthcoming games against Plymouth Argyle, Watford and Crewe Alexandra.

The Blades midfielder also saw his red on Tuesday. He was dismissed by referee Graham Salisbury for a tackle on Nottingham Forest’s Michael Dawson and was charged for ‘violent conduct’ - a breach of FA Rule E3.

More details of suspensions involving players in the Premiership and Football League this season can be found in our Suspensions section at www.11v11.com

Former Holland boss resigns

Former Holland head coach Louis Van Gaal resigned as technical director at Ajax yesterday.

While the Amsterdam club revived their hopes of Champions League progress with a 3-0 win against Maccabi Tel Aviv, Van Gaal’s departure ended a period of increasing tension with coach Ronald Koeman.

Van Gaal joined Ajax a year ago. Koeman won the double in his first season back but it soon became apparent that Van Gaal wanted more involvement with the players.

The tension increased when Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic was sold to Juventus in August and his intended successor - Roda JC Kerkrade’s Arouna Kone - failed a medical.

The coach clashed with Van Gaal after the earlier 4-0 Champions League defeat at Bayern Munich. Koeman believes the expectations for his young and inexperienced squad were unrealistic.

Van Gaal enjoyed a highly successful spell as Ajax coach. He won three Dutch titles, the Champions League, UEFA Cup and World Club Cup.

He led Barcelona to Spanish titles in 1998 and 1999 but resigned the following season, while his spells as Dutch national coach and Ajax technical director have both ended in acrimony.

Relegated duo clash

The two clubs who were relegated from the Football League in May have been drawn together in the fourth and final qualifying round of this season’s FA Cup.

Carlisle United will meet York City at Brunton Park on 30 October with both clubs aiming to re-claim their familiar place in the draw for the First Round Proper.

York won both last season’s Third Division games (2-0 at Bootham Crescent and 2-1 away) but the Cumbrians will start as favourites next week after making the better start to their first Conference campaign.

While City are down in 16th place, United are second and attracted a staggering 9,215 supporters to Brunton Park for Saturday’s visit of leaders Barnet.

Amongst the more romantic ties is Bristol club Hallen of the Screwfix Direct Western League Premier’s daunting trip to Conference new boys Canvey Island.

Can Preston prevent an eigth straight victory?

Queens Park Rangers travel to Preston North End on Tuesday evening with the chance to equal a 73-year-old club record.

If Ian Holloway’s side bring three points back from Deepdale, they will have won eight consecutive league games. The only occasion they have previously achieved such a feat dates back to 1931.

Following promotion last term, Rangers’ Championship season got off to a far from promising start. They were down in 20th place following a 1-0 home defeat by Sheffield United on 31 August.

Starting with a 3-2 win against Plymouth Argyle at Loftus Road on 11 September, their seven-in-a-row has now taken them up to third position following the 1-0 London derby win over West Ham United on Saturday.

They have also recorded home victories against Leicester City and Coventry City. Away wins have been secured at Crewe Alexandra, Brighton & Hove Albion and Stoke City.

The club record eight wins began on 7 November 1931. In the Third Division (South), new manager Archie Mitchell guided them to home wins against Luton Town, Northampton Town, Southend United, Thames and Torquay United while they won at Cardiff City, Torquay United and Fulham.

The run ended on 2 January 1932 when they suffered a 2-1 reverse to their West London rivals Brentford at their new home at White City.

FL face fight to retain exemption

Reluctantly, the Football League is set to follow the lead of the Premier League and implement a transfer window system at the end of the current season.

It was introduced to England’s top-flight four years ago and now, following a revised draft from FIFA executives, the FL faces a fight to retain its exemption.

The Premier League have a bi-annual window which opens for three months in the summer (1 June to 31 August) and again in January.

Major leagues have embraced transfer windows because they believe they encourage financial stability. They also satisfy the European Union due to the associated development of youth talent.

The Football League’s main concern is that it denies clubs vital income that could cause them to go out of business.

Their respected chairman Brian Mawhinney also explained:

“Of course, transfer windows work to the benefit of the Premier League clubs. The market value of players has been skewed in their favour, to the detriment of Football League clubs. In addition, transfer windows are making it increasingly hard for promoted clubs to compete effectively in the Premier League, as they have so little time following promotion to increase the strength of their squad. Neither of these facts enhance the overall health of the professional game in this country.”

Talks will continue until December but it is expected that the Football Association will be ordered to implement a transfer window system across the professional game from the start of next season.