IT’S football season and it’s  the players, of course, who are making the news. But their women, too, have made headlines.

England coach Fabio Capello famously banned all wives and girlfriends (Wags) from tagging along, and spied on his World Cup team via high-tech TV sets in their hotel  rooms (not that it helped the outcome of last Saturday’s match).

Still, I thought it would be timely to dish out a few Wag awards. After all, they’ve made their fame through their association with big-name footballers, and they’re made for life, with the huge pay cheques their other halves get.

Let’s see who made the cut.

BREAKAWAY AWARD
Cheryl Cole
This year’s Breakaway Award goes to long-suffering British singer Cheryl Cole.

This gorgeous brunette doesn’t need to take any crap from the cheating sleazebag who is Chelsea’s Ashley Cole (who played in last Saturday’s game).

Women all around the world applauded when we heard she broke up with her footballer husband via a simple text message in February. You go, girl!

Now, it’s true that Cheryl has begun divorce proceedings against Ashley, so you could argue that she isn’t a Wag any longer.

However, it’s undeniable that the scandal over the affairs helped push this Girls Aloud star to even greater fame as she launched her solo album, 3 Words, just months before
news of the scandal broke.

THE SAINTLIEST WAG AWARD
Toni Poole
Another Chelsea player, John Terry, has been cheating on wife Toni Poole for years with all kinds of women.

He made headlines recently when it was revealed that he took sleaze to another level by sleeping with a former teammate’s girlfriend (Vanessa Perroncel,
former girlfriend of  Manchester City’s Wayne Bridge). Gasp!

What  did Terry’s sweet wife do? Poole forgave him and gave him yet another chance. If that isn’t saintly, I don’t know what is.

And yes, sometimes, being saintly also means being stupid.

THE B****IEST WAG AWARD
Vanessa Perroncel
This award goes to French underwear model Vanessa Perroncel, Bridge’s former girlfriend.

She had the audacity to sleep with Bridge’s best friend, the aforementioned Terry (who was stripped of his England team captaincy after news broke of his five-month affair
with her).

You could say that Terry - who reportedly got Perroncel pregnant and made her get an abortion – would not take no for an answer.

But, well, Perroncel could’ve kicked him in the you-knowwhere to hinder his advances if she had wanted to.

WORST-DRESSED AWARD
Yulia Arshavin
The wife of Arsenal player Andrey Arshavin (who also captains the Russian national team) deserves some respect.

In spite of the massive amount of cash that her husband brings home (reportedly 4.8 million euros, or S$8.2 million per year), she has chosen to remain true to her working-
class roots and continues to dress like a Russian peasant.

I guess it beats looking like a high-maintenance poodle (hello, Mrs Beckham!).

FASHIONISTA OF THE YEAR
Victoria Beckham 
Who else could take this award but Victoria Beckham, wife of David?

From the ever-changing hairstyles to the ever-changing breast sizes, Posh truly lives it up as the ultimate Wag. Now that she’s done torturing us with her music, she’s resorted
to fashion and the occasional appearance on reality-TV shows to up her exposure ante.

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The writer is an ESPN Star Sports presenter and a Stomp Star Blogger.


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