LIKE Keith Massey (Letters, August 9), I too am disgusted at the amount paid to top footballers these days.

But what I find even more annoying is that these clubs pay nothing whatsoever for the often massive police coverage some games require. It would be interesting to compare the cost of the police coverage for a whole series of Test matches with just one Premier Division match.

I agree that a certain amount of police coverage is required for any large public event, but the thousands of pounds for police coverage which has to be met by the local ratepayers, many of whom have no interest in football whatsoever, is unfair. Surely a system could be devised by which police coverage above a certain standard is paid by the club. It’s not as if they can’t afford it.

M C Usherwood, Mendip Close, Huntington, York.