THE new Bishop of Durham has given his blessing to a football club's controversial choice of player.

Canon Tom Wright, who arrives in the diocese next month, said he backed Newcastle United manager Bobby Robson's decision to sign Lee Bowyer to the club.

His support comes amid opposition to the move, due to the player's much-publicised on and off-the-field problems.

Canon Wright, who was born in Northumberland and is a lifelong Newcastle fan, said: "My guess is that if Bobby Robson wants him in the team, he will have looked him in the eye and said 'The first thing you have got to do is to realise you are on all fours with every person in this team, and with every person you play against, and that there are some attitudes which you have simply got to grow out of'.

"I actually trust that guy Robson. I think he is a man who has got a wise old head on his shoulders, and I think he knows what he is doing.

"I actually trust him in making a decision like that; considerably more than some politicians."

Canon Wright expressed his views in an interview with journalist Tony Cartledge being broadcast on Sunday at 12.30pm on ITV1.

Canon Wright also attacked homosexual marriages following a controversial ceremony in a Canadian church, saying: "There is no such thing as homosexual marriage.

"It is simply not something that the church can or should condone."