Sporting Digest: Football

HARTLEPOOL yesterday sacked their manager, John MacPhail, and then offered him a playing contract. The 39-year-old took over as player-manager of the Third Division team when Viv Busby was sacked last November, but failed to make any real impact as the club finished the season just one place off the bottom of the league.

SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY made an operating profit of almost pounds 2.5m last season but spent it all on players, their annual accounts revealed.

TERRY FENWICK, the former England defender, has been placed on the transfer list by Swindon. His manager, John Gorman, has made the decision barely a month after giving the 34-year-old a new one-year contract. 'Fenwick does not figure in my immediate plans. It's not a question of throwing him out - he's still going to be involved on a daily basis - but at present he's not in the team and not a part of my thinking,' Gorman said. Fenwick joined Swindon a year ago on a free transfer from Tottenham and will be allowed to leave on a free transfer.

WOLVES have signed Mark Walters, the Liverpool and former England winger, on a month's loan and he makes his debut against Tranmere at Molinuex today.

TRANSFERS: Carl Shutt, striker, Birmingham to Bradford City, pounds 75,000); P Haigh, centre-half, Gillingham to Leyton Orient, undisclosed fee.

LOANS: Gary Waddock, midfielder, Bristol Rovers to Luton Town; Matt Dickins, goalkeeper, Blackburn to Grimsby; Martin Kuhl, midfielder, Derby County to Notts County; Bryan Small, full-back, Aston Villa to Birmingham City; Jeroen Boere, striker, West Ham to West Brom.