It will be rather surprising if the Premier League suddenly takes an interest in gentlemen’s agreements like the one that kept Robert Snodgrass out of West Brom’s game at West Ham. Not that they shouldn’t — but they certainly didn’t before.
In 2007, against the backdrop of the investigation into third party interference in Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano’s contracts with West Ham, an equally significant scandal was unfolding.
On April 28 that year, Everton played and lost at home to Manchester United. Everton went 2-0 ahead, but in the 61st minute their goalkeeper, Iain Turner —bought from Stirling Albion, but previously loaned to Chester, Doncaster, Wycombe and Crystal Palace — dropped the ball at the feet of John O’Shea, who scored.