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8pm

It was only a matter of time, wasn't it?  The ink probably isn't yet dry on Faddy's contract with Everton and the players made redundant by the club in April 2002 are already looking for their money.  The SPL are expected to call Motherwell to a meeting to discuss the implications for the sacked players.  Scottish Professional Footballers' Association secretary Tony Higgins met with SPL secretary Ian Blair today, and later said: "We are talking to the players to establish the exact extent of their debt and we should be able to present that to the SPL in the next week to 10 days.  We understand that the club are still in administration, but we would hope that the money from the McFadden transfer would be used to pay the football debt."

Meanwhile, Scotland manager Berti Vogts has welcomed James McFadden's move to Everton, and said: "It's a good move for all of them - for Motherwell, Everton and James.  There will be a lot of matches and training for Everton and I think it will be a big challenge for him.  He has done well for Motherwell and it's another great challenge that he must be relishing.  He has to learn and I am obviously hoping that he does play a lot of matches.  I saw him at the weekend and he scored some nice goals, but there is a big difference when you watch Manchester United and Arsenal and Motherwell play Partick.  I'm also happy that Scottish players are playing here with Celtic and Rangers, but they have to be playing, which is more important."

"It's good for the new generation to learn their trade here, but it's great when someone plays in the English top-flight.  Kenny Dalglish always played for big clubs, which was good for the national team."

Stevie Hammell has also spoken of his former team-mate's move to Goodison Park: "I think it got to him that, despite all the interest, nothing had happened.  But he's finally got the transfer and it's a brilliant move for him.  I don't know what their plans are for him, because they've made a few signings. But if he does play right away then he'll do brilliantly because he's got that character and determination to do well and work hard for everything.  But we'll miss him. On Saturday, his first goal was created out of absolutely nothing and we'll miss him doing that.  He's worth about 20 goals a season to the team and we'll need someone to fill that gap."

Many thanks to Keith Foster for allowing me to reproduce his post to the Motherwell Mailing List below.  I'm sure he speaks for the mast majority of us:

Well, we can't say we thought this day would never come but I'm still absolutely gutted. Of course, I can see the financial logic in selling him and I'm not about to argue with that, but even in Motherwell's perilous financial state, there's still more to football than that. Nobody with an ounce of passion for football would have watched Faddy break into the team and their first thought be: "Well, I reckon we'll get at least a million for him in a couple of years, which will help service our debts and put us on a better financial footing."

Like pretty much everyone who saw Faddy develop I was excited. I was seeing a player with immense skill and passion, two qualities which are not often combined in the Scottish game. Someone whose unpredictability made you sit up; whose petulance and arrogance was forgiven, not just because of his obvious talents, but because it showed he cared. Someone who could turn a game on its head (and how many Scottish players can do that?). Someone who would leave you mesmerised, frustrated, ecstatic and furious in the same game.

That Faddy scored 32 goals in 58 games is remarkable enough but think of the sheer quality of many of those goals. The individual efforts against Dundee, Clyde, Livingston and Partick Thistle, the free kicks against Killie, the spectacular strike against Rangers in the semi-final against Rangers last season and the cheeky penalty against Livi. The man could surprise, shock and inspire you with his ability.

But all that is gone. We're a small club and we can't realistically expect to keep a talent like Faddy at Fir Park for very long. It could be argued that we've done well to keep him for as long as we have - who would have thought when we went into administration in April 2002 that we'd sell him as late as September 2003?

Despite this, I am gutted that he's gone and still quite can't believe that Saturday was the last time I'll see him in a Motherwell shirt. But he left behind a lot of fantastic memories and for that I can only thank him.

I've been asked to publicise the National anti-racism week of action in football on this site.  So here goes...

National anti-racism week of action in football, 16 - 28 October 

This October professional footballers, their clubs, community groups and fans everywhere will join forces and unite behind Kick It Out for the anti- racism week of action.

Last year, all 92 professional clubs organised an event as part of the week alongside 300 community groups, school and libraries. This year the week will be bigger, involving more grassroots, amateur, youth and community organisations.

To help you plan activities as part of the week, Kick It Out has available 30 separate grants of up to £1,000 each and countless T-shirts, badges, stickers, etc.

If you want to apply for the 2003 Community Chest Grants or resources, just send us an e-mail with your address and you'll get more details - the deadline for grants is August 22nd.

If you're looking for ideas as a football fan, try the following:

- Produce an anti-racist leaflet to distribute at a game,
- Work with the club on their anti-racism game during the period,
- Volunteer to help distribute badges, stickers, fanzines outside your stadium,
- Organise a pre-match activity, such as an anti-racism fans friendly,
- Design an display anti-racism banners around the ground,
- Work with a local ethnic minority group to organise an event.

Look out for the United Colours of Football fanzine during the week and check out what's going on where www.kickitout.org

9am

• Faddy says he wants some of the £1.25m transfer fee the club will receive for him to go towards honouring the contracts of the 10 players made redundant last April
• As part of the transfer deal, Faddy will return to Fir Park with his Everton team-mates for a pre-season friendly before the start of the next campaign.
• McFadden says he will silence the critics he thinks have had it in for him since he missed his flight home with the Scotland squad last summer.
• Faddy was so desparate to move to Everton that he waived his own slice of the transfer fee, believed to be £50,000, after the negotiations stalled yesterday lunchtime.
• His move to Everton beat the English transfer deadline by just 15 minutes.

Cast your vote in our THREE new Opinion Polls:

Were the club right to accept Everton's offer for James McFadden?

and

Who has been the most impressive of our new signings so far?

and

What do you think of our start to the season?