Two players’ agents and a club manager have been condemned by a judge for their willingness to use bribery and corruption for financial gain as he handed them a total of four and a half years suspended sentences for their part in a scandal which shocked the game.

The three had been convicted of bribery charges last month, after an investigation by The Daily Telegraph exposed their activities.

Giuseppe ‘Pino’ Pagliara, Dax Price and Tommy Wright were found guilty of soliciting and accepting bribes in order to gain influence in the selection, management and ownership of players.

The three men had their sentences suspended and will not spend any time behind bars only because of what His Honour Judge Jeffrey Pegden QC described as a set of “wholly exceptional set” of personal circumstance and family responsibilities.

Pagliara, 64, of Bury, Greater Manchester, who the judge said played a “leading role” in the offences, was sentenced to two years concurrently for each of two counts of paying and facilitating a bribe.

The sentence was suspended for two years, with Pagliara having to undertake 300 hours of unpaid work in the community and subjected to a 7pm to 7am curfew.