JONATHAN Woodgate provides an example of why stardom is wasted on those with only a modicum of wisdom.

Capped by his country as a teenager, this young man is one of the most talented footballers of his generation. He earns in a week what most men of his age in Middlesbrough can expect to earn in a year.

Sadly, his predilection for recklessness threatens to jeopardise a hugely promising career.

One would hope that the ordeal of two trials, a conviction for affray, a legal bill of £1m and a hefty fine by his club would have been a salutary lesson to Woodgate.

The judge at his trial last December thought so. A sentence of 100 hours community service, deemed lenient by many people, reflected the hope that Woodgate had realised the error of his ways.

In the four months since his trial ended, he has twice been found guilty for speeding, and now has received a broken jaw during a night out with friends.

Leeds United are happy to exonerate their player from blame for what they call "horse play" in Middlesbrough on Tuesday evening.

But Leeds United supporters and the general public will be asking why any professional sportsman should be out drinking at a crucial time of the season, and still be condoned by his club.

And they will be asking why Woodgate, convicted so recently of taking part in a vicious attack during a night out with friends, would want to risk going out with friends round busy town centre pubs.

If he learned any lessons from his trial and the offence which brought him to court, he has soon put it to the back of his mind.

The events on Tuesday night vindicate the Football Association's decision to omit him from England's World Cup squad.

But they call into question Leeds United's decision to keep him on their payroll after his conviction.

The club will now surely think long and hard before it offers Woodgate another chance to prove that, for all his sporting ability, he is not a public liability.