After a break of a month, football (soccer) is back on the TV and I admit it - I was starting to go through withdrawals.

After the World Cup ended on July 13, other than some half-hearted friendly matches there has been very little to watch.

The British Premier League started again last Saturday night and some friends and I celebrated with a little get together which saw some of us leave after Arsenal had scored a last gasp winner to defeat Crystal Palace at around 4.30am on Sunday morning.

Last week when I told my wife that the Premier League was starting again she looked at me with a look of incredulity and said “When did it stop?”.

I knew recording those matches from last season would come in handy over the break.

Arsenal won their first opening weekend match in four years.

While not playing their best it was pleasing to see the players stick it out and get the three points.

Long may it continue!

- - - -

Still on football, I have always said that the top players’ wages are ridiculous.

Luis Suarez, the well-known biter from Uruguay, signed a contract extension with Liverpool last season that saw him getting paid 200,000 pounds a week.

He has since left Liverpool for Barcelona and more money, less than a year after signing his bumper contract with the English side.

Not all of the highly paid superstars are bad though.

Paris St Germain’s Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic is widely regarded as being money hungry and having one of the biggest egos in football.

This ego has caused him to depart a number of top teams but his football pedigree has never been questioned.

Zlatan was approached to sign a shirt so that the Swedish learning difficulties team could raffle it to raise money they needed to attend the INAS World Football Championships in Brazil.

The INAS World Football Championships are an international competition for footballers with intellectual disabilities which takes place every four years.

He asked the team how much they needed to make the trip and was told 30,000 pounds.

“Forget the shirt, give me the account details and I will give you the money” was his reply in typical Zlatan fashion.

Inflated ego or not, it was a great thing to do by the man who once said “Arsene Wenger asked me to have a trial with Arsenal when I was 17. I turned it down. Zlatan doesn’t do auditions.”

Former Fulham and current Seattle Sounders player Clint Dempsey knows a good deal when he sees one.

While thanking the fans after a match by walking around the stadium, he spotted a young fan with some popcorn.

Hungry after his match he asked the boy if he could eat some.

The boy obliged and gave Dempsey the whole bucket.

Inspired by the boys generosity, Dempsey returned the favour by taking his playing shirt off and giving it to the fan.

Not all football stars are money-hungry, spoiled, egotistical brats it seems.

- - - -

A friend asked me the other day what sort of money Formula 1 drivers are on.

I said the top drivers are on upwards of $30 million a season.

This is not entirely true.

A report I read has some of the “top” drivers being paid that amount. 

Australia’s Red Bull Racing driver Daniel Ricciardo, the only driver outside of the Mercedes team to have won a race this season (he has won two), is being paid $1.1 million this season.

Ricciardo currently sits in third place on the competition ladder, ahead of Fernando Alonso, Sebastien Vettel and Kimi Raikonen who are all on $31.7 million.

Red Bull may want to fix that disparity or teams will be lining up to sign the Perth native very quickly.