Proving fair play - or foul

A less well-known name is that of Joseph McCudden, convicted in the same High Court in 1952 of football bribery offences.

Yet in McCudden's case the Moorov doctrine was to play a crucial role and its application in that case illustrated how it could be used outwith the confines of sexual offences.

Samuel Moorov was convicted of a number of indecent assaults on his female employees over a period of about three years. He ran a drapery business at 186 Argyle Street, Glasgow where the offences took place.

The only evidence on each charge was that of the victim and there was therefore not the corroboration (supporting evidence from an independent source) which Scots law generally requires for a conviction.

However, it was decided that the close interrelation in time, place, and circumstances between the offences demonstrated that this amounted to a single course of conduct which could be proved by the witnesses to each offence corroborating one another.

Moorov's appeal was unsuccessful, although he did manage to get his sentence reduced from four years to one.

The view was generally taken that the ''Moorov doctrine'' applied only to sexual offences where corroboration was normally difficult to obtain.

Although in the 1951 case of Michael McQuade Lord Carmont ruled that the doctrine did apply to a series of assaults by razor slashing, there was still some uncertainty about its scope by the time of the McCudden case.

McCudden's trial took place at the High Court in Glasgow before Lord Russell and a jury. Two charges were left for the jury's consideration under the Prevention of Corrruption Act 1906.

It was alleged that McCudden had offered bribes to two footballers to ''throw'' their games. The implied motive was that this would enable him to win a betting coup. The first charge involved the offer of a bribe of #250 on October 26, 1951, to ''Sam'' Waldie of Queen of the South to lose his team's fixture against East Fife the next day at Palmerston Park, Dumfries. The second charge concerned the offer of a bribe of #200 on October 15, 1951, to William Telfer of St Mirren to lose his team's fixture against Partick Thistle at Firhill two days later.

Both players were centre-halves, a factor which assumed importance as the evidence unfolded. Waldie was from Inverness and had been signed from Hibs in 1949, a journeyman player who featured irregularly in the first team.

Willie Telfer, on the other hand was a well-known player who had been on tour with Scotland in the US and went on to win several league caps as well as a full international cap.

The high point of his career came late when he was signed by Rangers in 1957 to shore up their defence following the 7-1 trouncing by Celtic in the League Cup final. Curiously, he was to end his playing days with Queen of the South in 1960.

Lest it be thought that McCudden's attentions were focused on the nether regions of Scottish football, it has to be remembered that Queen of the South and St Mirren were then two reputable teams in the old First Division.

The bribes offered were not insignificant sums then, although they would scarcely tempt a modern-day player to lose the toss. The average weekly wage for a Scottish player at the time was about #6 a week.

Both players gave evidence. Waldie recounted how he was walking along the High Street in Dumfries when a black Austin Sheerline driven by McCudden, whom he had never met, pulled up alongside. McCudden shouted: ''Hello Sam, jump in.'' Sam did and was driven to the Whitesands were he was told it would be ''worth his while'' if East Fife won tomorrow.

It was suggested that a couple of short pass-backs to his goalie, enabling the opposition to score, might do the trick.

Waldie said he told McCudden ''no deal''. Queen of the South lost 3-2 and Waldie admitted: ''I had a bad game.'' He added: ''But I was always trying.''

Telfer, a part-time player who worked in the local slaughterhouse, was visited at his home in Raploch Street, Larkhall, by McCudden (whom he didn't know) and asked him if he wanted to make easy money against Partick Thistle.

It was suggested to him that he could concede a penalty or head past his own goalie. He refused the offer of #200, the police were called in, and St Mirren went on to beat Partick Thistle.

In his evidence, McCudden accused both players of deliberate lies but could not provide any reason why they should. His counsel suggested that the Moorov doctrine did not apply but the case went to the jury, which returned a unanimous guilty verdict after 40 minutes.

McCudden, a former member of the Scots Guards, who ran a successful bakery in Blantyre, was jailed for nine months.

Lord Russell remarked that if offences of this kind were to continue, professional football in Scotland would be paralysed and warned that future cases would be much more severely dealt with. McCudden failed with his appeal.

Lord Justice General Cooper ruled that there was a close enough connection between the two incidents to apply the Moorov doctrine. Both players were centre-halves, the method of approach was similar, both were offered similar amounts of money to ''throw'' a game in similar ways.

Scottish cases of football bribery have been few and far between, although much more common in England.

Proceedings are undertstood to be pending at the moment over floodlight failures at various grounds linked to alleged betting rings, and only about 18 months ago Johnn Fashanu, Hans Segers and Bruce Grobelaar were acquitted of corruption charges involing Far East betting syndicates.

Perhaps the most celebrated betting ring case occurred in the early sixties and culminated in a number of high-profile players being jailed, including Peter Swan, David ''Bronco'' Layne of Sheffield Wenesday, and Tony Kay of Everton. Each was sentenced to four months and banned for life, all for one game against Ipswich which won them #100 each.

The player represented as the ringleader was Jimmy Gauld, a Scot from Aberdeen, who was sentenced to four years. Dick Beattie, the ex-Celtic goalkeeper, was also involved, so perhaps we should not be so smug about the lack of corruption north of Hadrian's Wall.

n Advocate Jack Davidson plays centre-half for the Faculty Phantoms football team. He says no-one has ever offered team members a bribe since they give away goals freely and frequently.