THE contrast between the first division's haves and the have-nots was clearly illustrated this week when Bradford City chairman Geoffrey Richmond spoke on Five Live Radio's Breakfast show.

It was pointed out to him that the latest report by the accountants Deloitte Touche revealed that the AVERAGE Premiership player earned £250,000 a year and he was asked what the AVERAGE player at Division 1 club Bradford was on.

"Around £100,000," he said.

At Oxford United the AVERAGE player earns a salary of around £35,000 and there are a great many younger players on considerably less than that.

It is hardly surprising that clubs in Oxford's position find it hard to compete against clubs such as Bradford.

But compete they must, and tomorrow, before a sell-out Valley Parade crowd of 15,100, they must do more than just compete.

To stay in the first division they must defy all the odds and beat Bradford, just as Crewe did last Saturday by winning at Ipswich. United's 4-2 defeat by Norwich made it look as though they were virtually down because so many of the clubs around them have to pick up points by playing each other. They can't all lose all the time.

But Port Vale's 2-1 home defeat by Watford on Tuesday night has opened up an escape route for Oxford, and one that is not beyond the realms of possibility.

If Bury do not win at West Brom tomorrow and Port Vale are held to a draw by fellow strugglers QPR, and then Bury v Port Vale on the final day of the season also ends in a draw, United can climb above both Bury and Port Vale by claiming six points from their last two games.

And while there are still a lot of "ifs", it offers a glimmer of hope.

But all possible escape routes depend on the simple factor of United winning both games, and victory over an in-form Bradford side will be just as hard as was winning at Chelsea in the FA Cup fourth round replay two months ago.

"Whatever else happens, we've got to win," Malcolm Shotton said. "We'll give it the best shot we can, you can be sure of that." Reflecting on the clubs' wage differences, he said: "We can't compete against the Bradfords of this world, wages-wise.

"It's one of the biggest problems we've got with the ground size at the Manor and the capacity we've got. We just can't get in the revenue to pay those kind of wages.

"If you look at Sheffield United, their total wage bill this season is £6.5m," Shotton added.

"The bigger clubs are getting bigger and the smaller become smaller."

Bradford's highest earner is thought to be Stuart McCall, signed on a free from Glasgow Rangers.

He is on £8,000 a week, Peter Beagrie is on around £5,000 a week and Dean Windass is on a pretty good whack too.

If Bradford beat Oxford and Ipswich lose at Birmingham on Sunday, they will be in the Premiership, and be able to look to even greater riches ahead.

Story date: Friday 30 April

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.