THERE was a 67,000-to-1 chance he would get caught but Leo Temple should still have stayed at home.Temple was looking forward to seeing his England heroes emerge triumphant in their quest to qualify for next year's European Championship.

THERE was a 67,000-to-1 chance he would get caught but Leo Temple should still have stayed at home.

Temple was looking forward to seeing his England heroes emerge triumphant in their quest to qualify for next year's European Championship.

Casually he meandered past police officers as he mingled with 67,000 other fans on their way to see their team's game against Liechtenstein.

The 32-year-old's only priority was to get into Manchester United's ground to roar on his team to victory.

But for Temple, his theatre of dreams was about to turn into the stuff of nightmares which have left him languishing behind bars today.

For in his desperation to see the game, he conveniently thought he could sidestep an order made by Ipswich magistrates just two weeks earlier, banning him from every football ground in the country.

However his brazen attempt to get round the order backfired when, as he was about to walk into Old Trafford, he was seen by Ipswich football intelligence officer and England spotter, Pc Dave King.

Now Temple has been left to rue his foolhardy decision and is serving a four-month jail sentence handed out by Trafford Magistrates Court.

After Temple, of Inworth, near Kelvedon, Essex, was arrested he was taken to Stretford police station where he signed a statement admitting he had ignored his ban, telling officers he thought he could get away with it.

When he appeared before magistrates he pleaded guilty to being in breach of a football banning order. He also admitted an offence of breaching the conditional discharge he was given at South East Suffolk Magistrates Court in Ipswich. Both charges occurred after he was found drunk at the England v Croatia game at Portman Road on August 20.

Manchester magistrates sentenced Temple to three months imprisonment for breaching the banning order breach, plus an additional month for breach his conditional discharge. The prison terms are to run consecutively.

Superintendent Carl Puiy, who was in charge of the massive policing operation at the Ipswich international, welcomed the court's tough stance.

He said: "The length of sentence given to Mr Temple should prove a deterrent to others.

"I think banning orders are an extremely effective tool in policing football hooliganism. By the appropriate use of orders there is clear evidence that hooliganism can be reduced on match days and lessen the threat and intimidation to the public as well as reducing the level of policing requirements."

During his original hearing in Ipswich on August 27 Temple pleaded guilty to having a bottle of intoxicating liquor in a designated area inside Portman Road.

He was banned him from all international and domestic league matches for three years in England and Wales.

Temple was also give a conditional discharge for three years and ordered to pay £25 costs.