JACK Straw this week managed to combine his role as Blackburn MP and Foreign Secretary to save the Rovers from a financial crisis.

He was involved in negotiations with the European Commission over whether BSkyB should lose its right to screen most Premiership matches for the next three years.

The original proposal was to completely break the monopoly and allow individual clubs to negotiate their own deal.

This would have meant top clubs would be able to name their price while clubs such as Blackburn Rovers could get far less money.

This week, EU competition commissioner, Mario Monti, accepted a compromise where eight major matches would be put out to terrestrial broadcasters and the rest would remain with Rupert Murdoch's satellite giant.

Mr Straw told me: "I was very involved in sorting out the compromise deal.

"It was very important for all the clubs in the Premier League that there were still an overall sum of money for everybody.

"If the EU's original proposal had gone through, the top clubs would have creamed off most of the TV money leaving others, like Blackburn Rovers, picking up crumbs.

"We are all in favour of competition and providing access to football, but it would have been a devastating blow to Blackburn and other clubs if the current deal had been broken up."

And at a time when Rovers bosses have warned dropping out of the Premiership may mean they never return to the top flight, the fans might me very grateful for Jack to ensuring that the money keeps flowing.

STAYING on sporting topics, Burnley MP Peter Pike has developed a new passion while in Pakistan - polo.

As a good old Labour stalwart he had never seen the public school version of hockey on horses until he went to Lahore on a Parliamentary visit to the country this week.

Mr Pike, a Clarets fan for many years, said: "I'd never seen it before but it was quite interesting."