THE accused goalkeeper, Bruce Grobbelaar "played along" with his former business partner to find out who was behind a plot to fix games, he told a court yesterday.
Although he discussed throwing games it was all part of his plan to learn who was behind the match rigging scheme, he said.
The scheme had been suggested to him by Mr Christopher Vincent, in whose failed safari business he had lost around £60,000, he told Winchester Crown Court.
Grobbelaar said Mr Vincent came out with the "blockbuster" proposal that he throw games as a means of recovering the money.
He told Mr Vincent he was a "bloody fool", but later decided to play along with him.
In reply to his defence counsel, Mr Rodney Klevan, QC, the goalkeeper said there was no truth at all in what he was saying to Mr Vincent about throwing games and he had not done so.
Grobbelaar (39), was giving evidence for the first time on the 21st day of his trial at Winchester.
The former Liverpool and Southampton goalkeeper, the former Wimbledon keeper Hans Segers (35), the former Wimbledon and Aston Villa striker John Fashanu (34), and a Malaysian businessman, Mr Heng Suan Lim (31), deny conspiring to give and accept corrupt payments.
Grobbelaar is also accused of corruptly accepting £2,000 from Mr Vincent for improperly influencing or attempting to influence the outcome of a football match or matches.
Tomorrow the jury will see the full replay of Liverpool's 3-3 draw with Manchester United in January 1994.
Grobbelaar speaks of the match in conversation with Mr Vincent, secretly videotaped by the Sun at a Southampton hotel that October. He tells of losing £125,000 after instinctively making two blinding saves, one of them when he was diving the wrong way.
In evidence Grobbelaar denied diving the wrong way and said: "It was something I was putting to him to see if he would pick up on any part of it, something that he wanted to hear."
The hearing was adjourned until tomorrow when Grobbelaar will continue his evidence.