Sporting Digest: Football

Darren Purse, the Oxford central defender, has completed his player- plus cash move to Birmingham City, with striker Kevin Francis moving in the opposite direction. Birmingham have paid Oxford pounds 600,000 in cash, plus Francis who has been valued at pounds 100,000.

ICI, which has sold off a number of its businesses in recent months, is to sell its 25 per cent share in Middlesbrough.