Football

Preston North End will open their new pounds 4.4m, 8,000-seat Tom Finney Stand before today's Third Division fixture against Darlington.

The former German international midfielder, Bernd Schuster, was awarded compensation of pounds 1.2m by a German court yesterday after a four-month legal battle with the Bundesliga club, Bayer Leverkusen, who had barred him from playing and training after a dispute with coaching staff. The court ruled that the club's cancellation of the 36-year old player's contract, which ran until June 1997, was invalid.

Vitor Baia, Porto's Portuguese international goalkeeper, was yesterday suspended for two months after being sent off for kicking the director of football of rival club Campomaiorense during a League match eight days ago.

TRANSFERS: Mark Stimson (defender) Portsmouth to Southend; Steve Holmes (defender) Preston to Lincoln; Paul Sparrow (defender) Crystal Palace to Preston; Simon Wood (midfielder) Coventry to Mansfield; Jim Slavin (defender) Celtic to Partick Thistle.

LOAN TRANSFER: Steve Robinson (midfielder) Birmingham to Peterborough.