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The most memorable match I have seen at Elland Road resulted in in a Champions League tie.

It was September 2000 and a remarkably wet Tuesday evening, even by West Yorkshire standards. The match seemed to be heading for a goalless draw when Lee Bowyer, in the form of his life, smashed the ball optimistically towards goal and Brazilian keeper Dida allowed it to slip through his hands and into the net.

The crowd went wild, singing their anthem , and as I walked out of the turnstiles and into the late autumnal rain there was a palpable sense that anything was possible. Leeds truly were living the dream.

Fast forward almost eight years and the same club are preparing for their second season in League One.

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tells a cracking story from his days as a Newcastle player.

It was late summer 1987 and mercurial Brazilian , the star import at the club, held a BBQ at his house before the start of the season.

Jacko, who had been blown away by the South American's skills in training, had a great time but was a touch puzzled when he noticed that the central heating was turned up full blast, with condensation running down the windows.

Needless to say, when the English winter firmly took hold Mirandinha's form dropped off spectacularly (?).

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Some things change, some things stay the same.

There are six new clubs in the Championship this season but, as was the case last summer, I really couldn't say with any degree of certainty what the division will look like at the end of the forthcoming season.

I have asked various people how they think their team will do this season. None of them know.

And although I'm more likely to stagger next door half asleep at three in the morning to ask my neighbour to crank up his awful European techno than feel sorry for a bookmaker, I don't for a second envy the Championship odds compilers.

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The game of rugby league in Europe is on the cusp of a dramatic change.

From next season there will be no relegation from Super League, hopefully leading to a marked increase in the intensity of the competition and the number of top-class home-grown players.

At least, that is the plan according to the architects of the , the .

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Love him or loathe - and he is generally a man who divides opinion - no one can question that is a man who speaks his mind.

And on his mind last week was the outcome of the Football League tribunal that decided .

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To people of a certain age, the memory of delirious with joy while wearing a beige suit that belonged firmly in 1983 cannot fail to induce a wry smile.

And who could blame him? Raddy Antic had scored a late goal to secure the Hatters' top-flight survival and send Man City down.

The 1980s was a great decade for the Kenilworth Road outfit. Luton, part of the plastic pitch brigade, spent 10 seasons in the old First Division after winning promotion in 1982.

In 1988 they and lost in the final of the long forgotten Simod Cup the same year. The following season they reached the League Cup final again but . Had it not been for Heysel they would have played in Europe.

Fast forward to the present day and the club now face a major fight for their Football League survival.

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London

I still haven't finished washing my dirty clothes after returning from Euro 2008 but already the focus is firmly shifting to the forthcoming domestic season.

Every possible inch of copy is being squeezed out of the summer's transfer sagas, players are departing for pre-season training camps with guaranteed sunshine and managers are spending vast chunks of their life on the phone trying to bring in the missing piece of the jigsaw.

The Football League campaign starts on - 30 days from now; ridiculously early in my humble opinion.

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