FOOTBALL

Port Vale were unsuccessful yesterday in an attempt to recruit the former international defenders, Steve Nicol and Mark Wright, on loan from Liverpool.

Steve Bull, Wolves' record goalscorer, has become the seventh player at Molineux to undergo surgery this season. The former England striker is to enter hospital on Tuesday for an Achilles tendon operation that will keep him out for six weeks.

Karren Brady, Birmingham's managing director, is to marry the Stoke striker, Paul Peschisolido, on 10 July next year.

Brentford, the Second Division club, yesterday announced a profit of £137,774 in their financial year to 31 May 1994, thanks mainly to a transfer fees surplus of £694,400. The chairman, Martin Lange, said current liabilities were more than £1.1m.