“More nutters, I suppose.”Hugh Pritchard and company wouldn’t have been in the least fazed They’ll just keep rolling along.. The Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed is not a man used to having his offers of cash turned down But the Football Association have done just that. Fayed wanted to donate £5,000 a goal for every penalty scored in the celebrity shoot-out which precedes the kick-off to the women’s football season at his Fulham ground today. But the FA have said thanks, but no thanks – which means the women’s charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer could be up to £100,000 poorer. Officially, the new enlightened FA didn’t want their existing sponsors, AXA and Nationwide, to think anyone was muscling in on their territory.

Unofficially, sources close to the event say the organisers are relieved that Fayed will not be involved – even though they are happy enough to accept the use of Fulham’s facilities for the occasion. “They don’t want Mr Fayed taking over the show, parading on the pitch and presenting cheques.” Mel C, Gabby Yorath, Anna Friel, Anthea Turner and EastEnders past and present Patsy Palmer and Tamsin Outhwaite a

The Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed is not a man used to having his offers of cash turned down But the Football Association have done just that. Fayed wanted to donate £5,000 a goal for every penalty scored in the celebrity shoot-out which precedes the kick-off to the women’s football season at his Fulham ground today. But the FA have said thanks, but no thanks – which means the women’s charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer could be up to £100,000 poorer.

Officially, the new enlightened FA didn’t want their existing sponsors, AXA and Nationwide, to think anyone was muscling in on their territory. Unofficially, sources close to the event say the organisers are relieved that Fayed will not be involved – even though they are happy enough to accept the use of Fulham’s facilities for the occasion. “They don’t want Mr Fayed taking over the show, parading on the pitch and presenting cheques.” Mel C, Gabby Yorath, Anna Friel, Anthea Turner and EastEnders past and present Patsy Palmer and Tamsin Outhwaite are among the 20 celebs putting their best feet forward in the shoot-out and, if all scored, Fayed, whose Fulham Ladies are the first women’s club to go professional in this country, would have had to cough up £100,000. With Fulham Ladies on duty elsewhere, the opening match at Craven Cottage will feature Arsenal against Charlton Athletic, who used to be Croydon Ladies. Women’s football is the fastest-growing UK sport – there are now 400,000 players and around 1,000 teams. The FA want a professional league within three years, but this is the same FA who have just banned an 11-year-old girl from playing with a boys’ team in the Midlands Her name is Chelsea.