Sport in Short: Football

MARK GALL, Brighton's top scorer last season, has retired because of a knee injury. Gall, 29, has failed to recover from two operations on his left knee and has been advised to retire by specialists. He was a prolific scorer with Maidstone before joining Brighton for pounds 45,000 at the start of last season, and he scored 14 goals in 32 games for the Seagulls.

DUNCAN SHEARER, the Aberdeen striker, will be out of action until the New Year after undergoing exploratory knee surgery. Shearer, who injured his knee last month, has scored 21 goals in 20 games since joining Aberdeen from Blackburn in the summer.

WATFORD yesterday moved to end one of the last remaining links with the Graham Taylor era when they placed their former England Under-21 midfielder, Gary Porter, on the transfer list. Porter, 26, is one of Watford's longest-serving players - one of only three left at the club who played under the former manager Taylor. The others are Nigel Gibbs and Luther Blissett.

NACIONAL of Montevideo won the Uruguayan championship by beating their local rivals, Penarol, 1-0 on Tuesday with an 85th-minute goal from Julio Cesar Valdez. Nacional have sealed their first title since 1983 with three games left to play.