THERE IS a scene in 24 Hour Party People, a film about the Manchester music scene in the late 1970s and 1980s, where Tony Wilson, played by Steve Coogan, receives the posters for a Factory Records gig at the Russell Club on the night of the gig itself.

Wilson (Coogan) expresses his admiration for the striking yellow and black artwork by Peter Saville that would eventually become part of the Factory Records aesthetic, before commenting that they are useless as the gig they are promoting has already finished.

According to the line in the film, he quotes William Morris, saying they are beautiful but useless and “nothing useless can be truly beautiful.”

Morris regularly wrote about art in a socialist context, and on issues of waste and production in both working and artistic terms, though may not have agreed that a piece of art that eventually contributed greatly to Factory Records’ identity was useless.

And it didn’t contribute to extra ticket sales on the night, but as Wilson himself went on to say of Factory Records: “We made history, not money.”

The idea of art requiring a purpose and usefulness also rears its head in sports, particularly in association football.

“It’s a results business,” some might say, combining in one phrase the idea that sport is a commercial activity and end results are the only important thing.

At the other end of the scale, it is seen as an art form. Joga Bonito. Futebol Arte. The Beautiful Game.

And it is a game, but it is one that allows, more than most, freedom of expression for both a collective, in the form of an 11-player team, and for those individual players within it.

Individual flair and expression have been under the spotlight lately, which is perhaps unsurprising given the game’s lurch even further towards commercialism.

Anything that doesn’t contribute to the end result, or produce a tangible outcome within a game, is increasingly frowned upon.

On the other hand, players have been accused of trying to build their individual brand through short snippets of in-game skills that can then be posted to social media.

This would hold more weight were these moments of flair a new thing, but they have happened throughout the history of the game.

From Garrincha running back in order to beat his marker again to Andrei Kanchelskis jumping on the ball or twisting 360 degrees in the air before attempting to take on a defender, actions with seemingly no purpose other than the entertainment provided to the player or the spectator by the action itself, have always existed.

Returning to Manchester, on Thursday night, with Sheriff Tiraspol in town for a Europa League game, Manchester United’s Brazilian winger Antony performed his trademark 360 spin move previously seen at his former clubs Ajax and Sao Paulo.

It was met with derision by the BT Sport commentator Robbie Savage, who described it as “embarrassing.”

In the moment, the spectators in Old Trafford seemed to think otherwise. A roar went up amid the low hum of this Thursday night Europa League atmosphere.

In terms of its effect on the football match, Antony’s spin allowed time for Diogo Dalot to make a run wide and open up a large space in the middle of the opposition defence.

Casemiro spotted the gap and Antony then played the through ball into that space ahead of his compatriot’s run.

Had the run been made by one of the quicker forwards, rather than a 30-year-old defensive midfielder, then it’s likely the pass would have found its target. As it was, Casemiro couldn’t quite reach the through-ball, and it rolled out for a goal kick.

Cue more derision. Apparently, the preceding action would have been fine had the pass found its target, but to do a 360 spin only for the subsequent pass to be slightly over-hit was deemed a no-no.

Even if you take away the attempt at a through ball and look at the piece of skill in isolation, there is still a case for saying such moments have a place in the game.

From Richarlison’s opposition-annoying keepy-ups to a Roberto Firmno no-look tap-in, these moments add an extra layer to the game for entertainment’s sake.

But football art can often produce results, too. A no-look pass will add a split second of doubt in a defender’s mind, which allows time for the pass to travel through a tight space without being intercepted.

A backheel, similarly, saves the player the time it would take to turn and wrap their foot around the ball and means the ball can be played instantly in the desired direction.

A moment of showboating can rouse the supporters and give one team a boost over another.

Deception, trickery and skill are used all the time in football to gain an advantage over an opponent in order to produce better results.

Antony’s 360 spin is fairly unique to him. It is certainly not at Factory Records artwork levels, but it’s definitely at the artistic end of the spectrum.

It is no surprise that Brazilian phrases such as “joga bonito” and “futebol arte” are used for this style of football that favours entertainment over results — or at least places them as equally important — and it’s no surprise the three players mentioned so far are Brazilian.

As football emerged in the South American country, it combined with other elements of expression and art from Brazilian culture.

The team that won Brazil’s first World Cup in 1958 contained such maestros as Pele, Garrincha, and Didi, while in 1982 the Brazil team featuring the likes of Zico and Socrates are probably better remembered than eventual champions Italy, due to their aesthetic, entertaining team football.

The same sentiments see football commonly referred to in English as “the beautiful game,” but the increasing sums of money involved have seen it move even more towards a results business.

Meanwhile, the quantification of a player’s every action on the football pitch has created a new currency of data attached to a footballer’s output, which can then affect their own value and ultimately their wages.

But some actions, such as individual moments of skill and off-the-cuff creativity and flair, are not measured.

What are these things they are doing? They don’t appear to be contributing to the game in any way!

The confused data collectors in the stands or watching a broadcast will not know how to quantify the action and will move on to the next one.

These actions will be of no use to the footballer’s increasingly prevalent and increasingly commercial data-value, but the spectators in Old Trafford on Thursday night will likely remember Antony’s 360 spin longer than most of the other things that happened in the game.

The idea that “nothing useless can be truly beautiful” depends partly on what is considered useful.

In a Europa League game on a Thursday night, against the Moldovan champions United were expected to defeat easily, some random entertainment has a use and a purpose, and though some may consider Antony’s Arte as more from the stationery aisle at Home Bargains than from the Manchester Art Gallery, it’s maybe better still for that.