Fight, fight, wherever you may be! This is the plight of Luton Town FC
Wednesday, 29 October 08, 08:10 PM · Comments(5)
OK, so we love breasts, big tackles and boozy players – but as well as all your favourite footballing frivolity, I think that blogs like us, our oleole.com chums and everyone out in the wider blogosphere have a responsibility. A responsibility to do whatever we can to bring sporting injustice to the wider audience, and get fan power back on the agenda! For too long the FA has been dicking over 'smaller clubs' – and my pal has recently let me know about this Facebook group representing Luton Town... Perhaps the most unjustly treated team of the last year.
Everyone knows the story (if you don’t, click here) but as a result of the FA's treatment of the Happy Hatters (the deduction of 10 points for "transfer irregularities" that were nothing more than technicalities - payments to agents - in the correct sums - were simply made out of the wrong bank account), one of their supporters took the matter up with the FA and eventually lodged a complaint with the Independent Football Ombudsman which was promptly ignored.
His concern was that we had been treated differently to premiership clubs that had been found guilty (by the courts of the land, not just by an FA panel) of similar "transfer irregularities".
As well as the "suspect" premier league transfers in the Stevens report, which appear to have been swept under the carpet, both Birmingham City and Newcastle United have been criticised in
published court cases for falsifying documents, breaching FA rules and generally presenting a misleading picture of their transfer dealings. Why had no FA charges been brought against them? Was
this evidence of premiership favouritism? Is it just clubs that cannot fight back that the FA chooses to make an example of?
Put simply – it is, and once again the smaller club have been made an example of, and now face what seems to amount to almost impossibility. Staying in the league after a deduction of 30 points – a punishment far more than I, and the majority of others, think they deserve. As the group says “Inevitably it will be lower league clubs that the FA will try to stamp their authority on. Large numbers are already in or approaching crisis, and the FA should be helping them to weather the storm, not just protecting the premiership pot of gold.”
This is true – and I urge every darkside reader who truly cares about football to join this campaign, and let’s get some answers from the bigwigs up in Soho Square. Thankfully Barwick’s off, but unless we act – how long before superleagues rule the footballing world, and the likes of Bournemouth, Luton, Southampton, and many others are dead? So join the group, spread the word – and ladies and gentleman - whoever we support... Let’s save football!
Like this blog? Help spread the word: 
P.S. Whoops - Please make sure if you email that you include "subscribe" in the subject line.
Yeah - sorry, should have made that clearer - Join the group, send the email and then if they still won't listen, hows about a march on Soho Square to 'pukka pie' the bastards! :-D
The FA and FL are a total disgrace. They don't represent the football fans, all they represent are the fat suits in the corporate boardrooms. They've done their best to ensure that my club, Luton Town, will be forced out of the football league for the first time in their 123 years of history. Their pomposity and double standards are disgusting at the very least and at worse are a frightening precedent of the demise of the lower league clubs. In my opnion, these bastards have firmly set their sights on a global league, where the rich continue getting richer and the poor just disappear. If we do not ensure that all clubs are treated evenly, then we are all guilty of aiding and abetting the death of English football (which despite what sky/the FA/Football league wish us to believe, was not invented in 1992). Please join the facebook group and sign up to aid the complaint. Lets start fighting for the rights of all football fans in this country!
5 Comments · Add yours
good article keep up the good work and cmon people help out the smaller clubs, and even championship clubs that are in trouble. it made me sick the other day to hear the west ham chairman say that there should be 2 premier leagues with no relegation! join the facebook group and lets make ourselves heard!
Don't just join the group - to actively take part in the complaint email admin@facomplaint.co.uk. In the next few days, when the numbers are huge enough to really frighten the suits in Soho Square,you will receive a template complaint to email / post and show that supporter power is alive and strong!