HOW the beautiful game of ours has changed over the years!

Our national game of association football has gone from one extreme to the other.

Players were used as chattels by their clubs and this method had to change.

However, the money top players receive today is crazy.

No wonder the game is in financial trouble, particularly in the lower leagues.

There were no such problems in the past when there was a minimum wage and the admission fee was peanuts.

Indeed, I remember going on Deepdale as a lad for 6d.

There were some great games. Every team seemed to have star names and players of real quality even though their pay was abysmal.

PNE have had a topsy turvey time since the great Tom Finney retired but there have been many top class players at Deepdale over the years.

In the past too when an international match took place, club matches went ahead irrespective of how many players a team had out.

How different it is today. Craig Brown's squad, although lowly placed in the First Division, have five players called up for international duty -- three of them not even automatic selections in the PNE team.

Surely this speaks volumes about the dearth of really top class players -- or am I being too nostalgic?

Well I remember the likes of Charlie Wyman and Willie Forbes never getting a call-up and many more who deserved caps -- one feels they would if they played today.

J Hunt, Carrfield, Bamber Bridge.