Football: Roving Duncan set to return

CHESTERFIELD are set to replace Chris McMenemy, who became the 14th manager to be dismissed this season when fired by the Third Division club on Wednesday, by re-hiring John Duncan, the former Dundee, Scotland and Tottenham striker and Ipswich manager.

It was at Saltergate that Duncan made his managerial reputation, taking the Spireites to promotion from the Fourth Division during a five-year spell from 1980 to 1985. After leaving Ipswich he taught English and PE, broadcast for BBC Radio Suffolk and scouted for Graham Taylor; communication should not be a problem.

Luton Town added another centre-forward to their illustrious canon yesterday when Kerry Dixon came home, if only on loan. The former Chelsea and Englamd striker, born in the Bedfordshire town, still lives in nearby Dunstable and has gone to Kenilworth Road on a month's loan from Southampton.

Next month's FA Cup quarter- finals are arousing public interest to such an extent that the clubs involved are finding themselves at loggerheads with the Football Association and local police over ticket allocations. The first row saw Sheffield United complain to the FA that they had been allowed only 500 seats for the tie at Blackburn on 6 March. Rovers pointed out that, with the Darwin End closed, Ewood Park holds only 15,000 and that they had 12,000 season-ticket holders to satisfy.

The rules state, however, that the visiting club shall receive 25 per cent of the ground's capacity, ie 3,750, so the FA have emerged with an uneasy compromise: 2,000 places for travelling fans in the Blackburn End enclosure.

Manchester City faced a similar difficulty with the home tie against Tottenham on 7 March. The Londoners are taking their full allocation of 7,500 and the only way City can accomodate them, with one side of their ground being rebuilt, is to move their own season ticket- holders out of the North Stand and hand the stand over to the visitors, on police insistence. Fortunately for City, their new pounds 7m Umbro Stand will be open by then.

Milan, undefeated in 55 Italian Serie A games, were beaten 2-0 in a friendly at Athletic Bilbao last night. In the 88th minute Carlos Garcia beat the Milan goalkeeper, Sebastiano Rossi, with a right- foot shot and, in the final minute, a misunderstanding between Rossi and Franco Baresi ended with the goalkeeper putting the ball into his own net. However, Milan were without Jean-Pierre Papin, who was on World Cup duty with France, and their trio of injured Dutchmen: Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard.

Chris Kamara, the Luton midfielder, is to sign for Middlesbrough, his home-town club, in a pounds 60,000 deal. Kamara, 35, was on loan with Sheffield United last month.

International postcript, page 31