There was an opportunity last week to take through Parliament a simple piece of emergency legislation to allow magistrates to ban 'fans' shown on police photographs taking part in affrays from travelling abroad. That chance has now been lost.
In the ridiculous roller-coaster way we focus on these things, the national uproar over Copenhagen has subsided, leaving in its place a security vacuum that can now be filled in only two ways.
First, the names of known hooligans must be supplied to the Benelux authorities so that attempts can be made to deny them access to Euro 2000 next month.
Back in 1992, when I was the Minister responsible, such a list was supplied to the Swedes who were hosting Euro 92. True, it didn't stop trouble in Malmo but that was mainly because the Swedes chose to ignore the information they were given.
Secondly, there must be an alcohol ban. When the drink's in, the wit's out, my mother used to say, and who can deny that all-day drinking before big matches fuels trouble? With beer companies among the leading sponsors of Euro 2000, that probably won't happen, but once again UEFA have been warned.
Over the weekend a German police chief called for English and Turkish fans to be banned. What a cheek. Does he need reminding that one of the vilest incidents at the last World Cup was when German thugs almost kicked a French policeman to death in Lens? And when even a friendly between the host countries ends in disorder, with more than 100 arrests, sensible people know we are dealing with a Europe-wide problem.
That's not to say there aren't particular reasons for concern about a developing England-Turkey blood feud that was so evident in Copenhagen and north London last week.
That is set to get worse if indications from the Turkish court trying the alleged murderers of the two Leeds fans turns out to be right.
Suggestions are being made right, left and centre of all manner of dreadful things these unfortunates are said to have done which 'justified' the 20-odd stab wounds one of them received from a bunch of known hooligans.
In short, these yobs are likely to get off with just a few years in jail.
We're entitled to assume that since nothing akin to the revelations last week that the Arsenal fan stabbed in Copenhagen had been in prison for football-related violence ever came out about the two Leeds men, they were just what they seemed to be - decent blokes who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It merely adds insult to fatal injury that they are now being abused in this way in Istanbul.
The Turks are shameless about all this. As I predicted last week, the Turkish Football Association haven't apologised for the number of Turkish fans roaming around Copenhagen waving carving knives about.
There's also no reason to believe anything will be done to crack down on the 'welcome to hell' garbage in Istanbul next season. So why bother to punish properly murderers of inconvenient foreigners? The chances are the Turks won't.
If all that happens just before Euro 2000 begins, more fat will be poured on some already fiercely burning flames.
If only UEFA were better prepared. The comments of general secretary Gerhard Aigner about Copenhagen being entirely the fault of the media would be laughable if they didn't have such serious implications for the future.
Such evidence of wilful negligence makes trouble next month next to inevitable. When even Belgian parliamentarians say Charleroi is an unsuitable stadium to stage the England-Germany game and with the place awash with black market tickets at £500 a time so we have no idea who will end up sitting where, why won't UEFA act?
I'm staying away and anybody else with any sense will do the same.
Now Mac can prove his worth to critics
Let no one deny Steve McManaman his moment of glory with Real Madrid in the Champions League Final on Wednesday night, but is it just a moment, or a trend?
McManaman rarely turns it on for England and is regarded by many as the John Barnes of his generation. He has a chance to prove us all wrong over the next few weeks.
And England coach Kevin Keegan needs him to do so, because almost all the other news is bad.
Just how wafer-thin England's resources are was starkly revealed this week by the withdrawal of Jason Wilcox, hardly a player of proven international quality himself, but who apparently can only be replaced by parachuting in Aston Villa's Gareth Barry, a relatively untried 19-year-old from the Under-21 squad.
And we're told, presumably from the lips of Keegan himself, that a vital role will now have to be performed by Philip Neville, a right-footed Manchester United reserve, who is to be our first-choice left-back!
God moves in a mysterious ways, but even given that, there are few more unlikely saviours than the hitherto feckless McManaman.
But we can hope just the same.
Rennie's rough treatment is shameful
I won't miss Paul Alcock but the banishment of Uriah Rennie from the Premiership referees' list gives me no pleasure at all.
True, his performance over the past two seasons, after such a splendid start three years ago, have not been great, but is he really worse than Mike Reed, Andy d'Urso or Jeff Winter? I hardly think so.
Slowly, even the most inert, insensate objects move about the universe. That is a basic law of physics that even the Football Association have to obey. So the positive news is that they are finally catching on to the full extent of the disillusionment at all levels of the game with refereeing standards. Messrs Alcock and Rennie have been shot on their own quarter-decks, like Admiral Byng, pour encourager les autres.
But it is thoroughly unsatisfactory, just the same, not to publish the full assessment and tell us why these two have been picked out.
Indeed, I hope they've been told more than we have, otherwise a good lawyer could cause the FA some problems. There is, after all, such a thing as natural justice, although the football authorities prefer not to think so. The only thing we do know for sure, disgracefully, is that this news was leaked to the Press before the two men themselves had been informed. Shameful and disgraceful are the only words for that.
As to Uriah, far from being the arrogant, self-publicist some tabloids have described, he is a relaxed and gentle man. He took a lot of persuading to join my football task force because he was worried about being able to cope with his work, his refereeing duties and this on top.
Having been persuaded, he was a quietly spoken, authoritative colleague with a personality and presence that commanded respect. Throwing him on the scrap heap is not something of which Lancaster Gate should be proud.
Give Cup champions status
There may not have been much to be cheerful about on the pitch for non-Chelsea fans last Saturday, but the supporters present did football proud. Those who've written lyrically about the great atmosphere at the Champions League final on Wednesday, as if it couldn't happen here, should note it can, and on Saturday it did.
Lunching at an Indian restaurant opposite the ground packed with rival fans, and walking over to the stadium in the thick of things at 2.15pm, I have rarely enjoyed a big-match atmosphere more.
Even better, for the first time in my memory, the singing of Abide With Me was actually a pleasure, not an embarrassment.
Now for the bad news. Only half the number of people that watched the final 10 years ago tuned in last Saturday. Have they had enough football in a season that threatens never to end, or is it the FA Cup that has lost its magic? I fear it's the latter, and that's inevitable given the big clubs' preoccupation with Europe, and the fact that winning the FA Cup conveys no greater advantage than winning the Worthington Cup - a place in the UEFA Cup.
If the FA really want to restore the gloss, among the myriad things that would help, and that I've listed before, only one will really do the trick. The FA Cup winners should get one of our three, hopefully soon to be four, Champions League places. Nothing less will do.
