AN A-level in soccer?

Yes, seriously, the beautiful game could actually be on schools' and colleges' exam curricula later this year.

But while not doubting that it will be a super subject for youngsters to "study," our concern is whether it will be a subject that will really count.

Not on paper, nor with the schools or colleges which offer it as an A-level course, but, vitally, as a qualification that will impress employers.

Standing alongside A-levels in core subjects like maths, the sciences or languages, and even compared with the less "solid" subjects like theatre studies or photography, we are afraid an A-level in football will be regarded as frivolous and possibly even as a joke.

After all, the game has managed to reach levels of excellence already without the academics' help.

This has much of the smack of the dilution of the educational gold standard that has occurred as a result of revenue-minded examination boards' and colleges' efforts to make themselves "attractive" to pupils.

Their emphasis should be on making their pupils attractive to employers and places of higher education - with solid-gold qualifications, not debased ones.

For what next - A-level dominoes?

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