Grobbelaar takes appeal to Lords

Bruce Grobbelaar has always denied the allegations

Former goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar has been granted leave to take his fight to clear his name to the House of Lords.

A spokeswoman for the House of Lords confirmed the 43-year-old had been granted the right to appeal against a Court of Appeal decision from earlier this year.

That judgment dramatically overturned a jury's verdict that the former Liverpool goalkeeper had been libelled by The Sun when it claimed he had taken "bungs" to fix matches.

Legal battle

November 1994 - Sun accuses Grobbelaar of match-fixing

July 1995 - Grobbelaar and three others charged with conspiracy related to match-fixing

March 1997 - first trial ends with jury deadlocked

August 1997 - second trial ends without verdict and accused walk free

September 1997 - FA fine Grobbelaar for breaking betting regulations

August 1999 - Grobbelaar wins £85,000 libel damages at the High Court

January 2001 - Court of Appeal overturns 'perverse' libel verdict

July 2001 - Grobbelaar wins leave to appeal to House of Lords

Mr Grobbelaar was stripped of the £85,000 damages awarded to him by the jury at the High Court libel case in August 1999.

It was the third time he had declared his innocence of match fixing to a court after The Sun published a series of damning articles about him in November 1994.

The paper claimed he had accepted £40,000 to make sure Liverpool lost 3-0 to Newcastle in 1993.

It also alleged the Zimbabwean had blown his chance of earning a further £125,000 more in a January 1994 game against Manchester United after he accidentally made a sensational save.

Mr Grobbelaar was cleared of conspiracy in 1997 following two trials at Winchester - the first of which ended in deadlock.

He then launched the libel proceedings, telling the jury he was the victim of a "classic scam".

Zimbabwean outraged

His solicitor David Hewitt said: "Bruce is naturally extremely pleased that he has been granted leave to appeal and we look forward to a full hearing before the House in due course."

Should Mr Grobbelaar fail, he will have to accept the return of £85,000 damages he had received from the Sun and his liability for more than £1m legal costs.

He was alleged to have accepted money to throw games

The 43-year-old Zimbabwean was outraged by the Court of Appeal's decision and insisted he had been cleared of all match-fixing allegations.

Mr Grobbelaar and three co-defendants - former Wimbledon players Hans Segers and John Fashanu and Malaysian businessman Heng Suan Lim - were acquitted of match-fixing after a trial in 1997.

Mr Grobbelaar said The Sun had misconstrued telephone conversations he had had with Mr Fashanu about organising a tribute game for Zambian national footballers who had died in Gabon.

But three judges at the Court of Appeal found that Mr Grobbelaar's version of events "beggars belief" and in an unprecedented move overturned the 1999 libel verdict.

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