Two weeks ago we covered Spanish third tier side Alcorcon's amazing 4-0 victory over Real Madrid in a second round, first leg match up in the Copa del Rey (see Blog on October 28th).
With the second leg to come at the Bernabeu we said that you could be sure that Real Madrid wouldn't make the same mistakes again.
Well they didn't, but they still only managed to win 1-0 despite fielding a strong side including Kaka.
Alcorcon were solid throughout and advanced 4-1, whilst the Madrid fans were clearly irate, booed their team off the park and called for the head of boss Manuel Pellegrini.
For the money that Real spent over the summer it's nice to see them get their comeuppance in any competition going. It's good for football and great for the fans of the smaller, less financially liquid sides.
Pellegrini has already had that dreaded vote of confidence that he will be at the helm to the end of the season, no matter how the side fare in La Liga and the Champions League.
They're already struggling a little in the latter and in the former they're trailing Barcelona by a point after the first ten games. With form of three win in their last eight games the pressure is going to mount quickly on Pellegrini.
As for Alcorcon, well it's like a fairy tale for them and full marks to the Real fans for giving them a standing ovation at the end of the game.
It's moments like this that fill your heart with joy.
Welcome To The World Of Away From The Numbers
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Going Down, Going Down, Going Down
Now before the East Fife fans reading this sit down and expect to read a commentary about Saturday's match and the Fife's future for the remainder of the season, don't worry, it's got nothing to do with this. That will come soon.
No the title of today's blog is for the diving cheats that are everywhere it seems in today's game.
Yesterday's English Premiership match between Liverpool and Birmingham City at Anfield was one to remember, not for the goals or the goalmouth action, but for the actions of David Ngog in blatantly diving to win Liverpool a penalty and what was to prove to be the equalising goal.
I think the Blues Lee Carsley, who had been adjudge to have made the "tackle", summed it up best when he commented after the match that it was an "embarrassing case of cheating".
I've been a big fan of Ngog this season. He's looked good when I've seen him turn out for Liverpool. He clearly has the skill and doesn't need this as part of his game.
Steven Gerrard, who is meant to be an ambassador for the English game (incidents in nightclubs apart), was also at it later in the match when he clearly embelished a challenge in the box and performed pretty much a bellyflop which the referee was having no part of. No booking though either.
How many times are players going to get away with this? The FA will probably review it, they may attempt to ban Ngog (ala UEFA with Eduardo) but then the appeal will throw it all out with the "dangerous precedent to set" line coming out once again.
Fines or player bans are not the way forward though. The only way that Clubs will actively try to stamp out this behaviour is for them themselves to be punished via point deductions.
Birmingham have just lost out on what could be two very crucial points come the end of the season. Why should Liverpool get off scot free for cheating?
No the title of today's blog is for the diving cheats that are everywhere it seems in today's game.
Yesterday's English Premiership match between Liverpool and Birmingham City at Anfield was one to remember, not for the goals or the goalmouth action, but for the actions of David Ngog in blatantly diving to win Liverpool a penalty and what was to prove to be the equalising goal.
I think the Blues Lee Carsley, who had been adjudge to have made the "tackle", summed it up best when he commented after the match that it was an "embarrassing case of cheating".
I've been a big fan of Ngog this season. He's looked good when I've seen him turn out for Liverpool. He clearly has the skill and doesn't need this as part of his game.
Steven Gerrard, who is meant to be an ambassador for the English game (incidents in nightclubs apart), was also at it later in the match when he clearly embelished a challenge in the box and performed pretty much a bellyflop which the referee was having no part of. No booking though either.
How many times are players going to get away with this? The FA will probably review it, they may attempt to ban Ngog (ala UEFA with Eduardo) but then the appeal will throw it all out with the "dangerous precedent to set" line coming out once again.
Fines or player bans are not the way forward though. The only way that Clubs will actively try to stamp out this behaviour is for them themselves to be punished via point deductions.
Birmingham have just lost out on what could be two very crucial points come the end of the season. Why should Liverpool get off scot free for cheating?
Monday, November 9, 2009
The Part Of Major League The MLS Don't Seem To Get
The second leg of the MLS first round playoff match up between Seattle Sounders and Houston Dynamo took place yesterday at the Texas side's Robertson Stadium.
The first leg was a cracker, despite finishing goalless (see Blog of October 30th) and rekindled some interest in the MLS from us this season.
With things tentatively poised, it was a slightly more cagey second game, but nonetheless still entertaining in another goalless 90 minute encounter. Brian Ching ended up scoring the only goal of the two legs, five minutes into extra time, to send Houston through and end Seattle's inaugural season.
As we explained in previous Blog posts, MLS action hasn't been on the TVs much at AFTN Towers in recent years, but the first leg, and especially the wonderful atmosphere the Sounders fans created for the whole ninety minutes, made us wonder if we should perhaps be more open minded about just how good the MLS was and how professional Major League Soccer really was. Maybe it is a proper football league after all. Then we saw the pitch.
It wasn't quite as good an atmosphere generated by the Dynamo fans but they certainly put on a great effort and still impressed, complimenting the action on the pitch well.
But all that pales into insignificance because of their shocking pitch - fake, bare, covered in sand and the worst crime of all, still with college throwball markings including big red endzone wording.
Now in an ideal world there would be no groundsharing with other sports. That is what the MLS ideally want - soccer specific stadiums. It's what Houston are also ultimately aiming for. For now though they share the University of Houston campus facilities with the Cougars throwballers.
The end result is a disgraceful pitch to play a vital playoff game on, in front of a live continentwide television audience (although if we're being honest the NFL games on at the same time were commanding many more viewers, but those that were left were the real football fans).
It's not just us that think it was shocking, Seattle's Freddie Ljungberg commented in his Blog:
"Arrived in Houston and have just been training at the stadium and noticed that they have the American football lines on the pitch. I think it is an absolute disgrace that the League allows this! They had it once before in New England and I didn’t have a clue where I was because you use the line and midfield line to know where you are on the pitch. When lines are everywhere you don't know when to shoot or do anything - it is a massive problem!"
Well put Freddie.
The Cougars didn't even have a home match yesterday and it was in that state, but were allowed to practice on the pitch according to the commentators. WTF?
You expect to see these kind of bush league facilities in something like the college football circuit or the USL Division 2 and PDL Leagues. Hell, you can even just about tolerate it with some of the newer USL1 sides in the less popular markets, but not for what is meant to be North America's premier league.
If the MLS wants to be a professional league and thought of as such by fans outwith the North American continent (although I doubt this is really a pressing concern for the insular League and some of their more insular fans), they need to make sure that showcase games like this aren't played in such conditions.
They take enough franchise money from the teams they admit (and Houston joined the League in 2006 so it's not as if they haven't had time to sort things out) and they hold Big Brother style control in a number of other less significant issues, so why not insist that the lines and markings are removed completely? Other clubs do it and the technology is there to do it.
I know it's a fear amongst some Vancouver Whitecaps fans that this is something which we will face come 2011, when we're sharing BC Place with the CFL's BC Lions.
The difference I see it though is that with true football people behind the Whitecaps they wouldn't let such embarrassing shambles happen. Would they?
The first leg was a cracker, despite finishing goalless (see Blog of October 30th) and rekindled some interest in the MLS from us this season.
With things tentatively poised, it was a slightly more cagey second game, but nonetheless still entertaining in another goalless 90 minute encounter. Brian Ching ended up scoring the only goal of the two legs, five minutes into extra time, to send Houston through and end Seattle's inaugural season.
As we explained in previous Blog posts, MLS action hasn't been on the TVs much at AFTN Towers in recent years, but the first leg, and especially the wonderful atmosphere the Sounders fans created for the whole ninety minutes, made us wonder if we should perhaps be more open minded about just how good the MLS was and how professional Major League Soccer really was. Maybe it is a proper football league after all. Then we saw the pitch.
It wasn't quite as good an atmosphere generated by the Dynamo fans but they certainly put on a great effort and still impressed, complimenting the action on the pitch well.
But all that pales into insignificance because of their shocking pitch - fake, bare, covered in sand and the worst crime of all, still with college throwball markings including big red endzone wording.
Now in an ideal world there would be no groundsharing with other sports. That is what the MLS ideally want - soccer specific stadiums. It's what Houston are also ultimately aiming for. For now though they share the University of Houston campus facilities with the Cougars throwballers.
The end result is a disgraceful pitch to play a vital playoff game on, in front of a live continentwide television audience (although if we're being honest the NFL games on at the same time were commanding many more viewers, but those that were left were the real football fans).
It's not just us that think it was shocking, Seattle's Freddie Ljungberg commented in his Blog:
"Arrived in Houston and have just been training at the stadium and noticed that they have the American football lines on the pitch. I think it is an absolute disgrace that the League allows this! They had it once before in New England and I didn’t have a clue where I was because you use the line and midfield line to know where you are on the pitch. When lines are everywhere you don't know when to shoot or do anything - it is a massive problem!"
Well put Freddie.
The Cougars didn't even have a home match yesterday and it was in that state, but were allowed to practice on the pitch according to the commentators. WTF?
You expect to see these kind of bush league facilities in something like the college football circuit or the USL Division 2 and PDL Leagues. Hell, you can even just about tolerate it with some of the newer USL1 sides in the less popular markets, but not for what is meant to be North America's premier league.
If the MLS wants to be a professional league and thought of as such by fans outwith the North American continent (although I doubt this is really a pressing concern for the insular League and some of their more insular fans), they need to make sure that showcase games like this aren't played in such conditions.
They take enough franchise money from the teams they admit (and Houston joined the League in 2006 so it's not as if they haven't had time to sort things out) and they hold Big Brother style control in a number of other less significant issues, so why not insist that the lines and markings are removed completely? Other clubs do it and the technology is there to do it.
I know it's a fear amongst some Vancouver Whitecaps fans that this is something which we will face come 2011, when we're sharing BC Place with the CFL's BC Lions.
The difference I see it though is that with true football people behind the Whitecaps they wouldn't let such embarrassing shambles happen. Would they?
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Early Days But Are Chelsea Already Champions Elect?
Today's clash between England's big two promised so much, as it has so many times before. On many of these occasions of expectation, you're left a little disappointed and that was the case for the first 75 minutes this afternoon.
The last 15 minutes, plus stoppage time, were great, fiery and ready to explode into chaos at any point it felt. If only both teams had decided to light that fire in their belly just that little bit earlier.
We shouldn't be surprised when they fail to deliver. So much at stake, blah blah blah. Rooney mouthing "twelve men" to the camera as he walked off the pitch no doubt being the viewpoint United will hold from proceedings.
Chelsea's one goal victory is probably what the Premiership wasn't needing. With a five point lead (although Arsenal do have a game in hand) and already playing like Champions with goals galore and seemingly plenty of depth, the second half of the season may be even less exciting at the top end of the table than it usually is.
It's hard to like Chelsea, or more particularly their players, at the moment. All the playacting, besieging of refs and constant whining make them a pretty loathsome bunch at present.
Today's game was one of England's showpiece matches. For the money you'd spend watching what was mostly boring action, I'm glad I'm a small team supporter and not subjected to "big league" action live every week. Not only is it cheaper, it's a lot more fulfilling to my mind.
The last 15 minutes, plus stoppage time, were great, fiery and ready to explode into chaos at any point it felt. If only both teams had decided to light that fire in their belly just that little bit earlier.
We shouldn't be surprised when they fail to deliver. So much at stake, blah blah blah. Rooney mouthing "twelve men" to the camera as he walked off the pitch no doubt being the viewpoint United will hold from proceedings.
Chelsea's one goal victory is probably what the Premiership wasn't needing. With a five point lead (although Arsenal do have a game in hand) and already playing like Champions with goals galore and seemingly plenty of depth, the second half of the season may be even less exciting at the top end of the table than it usually is.
It's hard to like Chelsea, or more particularly their players, at the moment. All the playacting, besieging of refs and constant whining make them a pretty loathsome bunch at present.
Today's game was one of England's showpiece matches. For the money you'd spend watching what was mostly boring action, I'm glad I'm a small team supporter and not subjected to "big league" action live every week. Not only is it cheaper, it's a lot more fulfilling to my mind.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Female Football Finds Its Fight
Women's football just has no appeal to me. It's not me being all chauvinistic. I'm just stating facts. I find it boring, comical and lacking of skill and I know about such things. I have spent over 25 years watching East Fife after all.
Vancouver Whitecaps season ticket package includes free admission to all the Whitecaps Ladies games, which involves several double headers. To date, I haven't been along to one in my two seasons as a season ticket holder so far and never saw any East Fife Ladies games.
Some of you will already have seen the footage below, but if we were to get all women's games to turn into catfights like this, then I think many of us would be queuing up to get into women's matches:
The main girl in question is Elizabeth Lambert of New Mexico University. I won't make the obvious PMT gag, but she's certainly a player not to mess with, as many of Brigham Young University's team have found out the hard way.
She has apparently been banned indefinitely by her side but amazingly escaped the actual match without punishment. She has some serious issues to sort out.
East Fife's Shaun Fagan wasn't available for comment.
Vancouver Whitecaps season ticket package includes free admission to all the Whitecaps Ladies games, which involves several double headers. To date, I haven't been along to one in my two seasons as a season ticket holder so far and never saw any East Fife Ladies games.
Some of you will already have seen the footage below, but if we were to get all women's games to turn into catfights like this, then I think many of us would be queuing up to get into women's matches:
The main girl in question is Elizabeth Lambert of New Mexico University. I won't make the obvious PMT gag, but she's certainly a player not to mess with, as many of Brigham Young University's team have found out the hard way.
She has apparently been banned indefinitely by her side but amazingly escaped the actual match without punishment. She has some serious issues to sort out.
East Fife's Shaun Fagan wasn't available for comment.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Do Or Die Time For Old Bayview
Well we mentioned we were going to do it (see Blog of October 26th) and now we have.
We've put our case forward for resurrecting Bayview Park from the ashes to Danny Baker to see if it makes his 20 grounds to be allowed in his totalitarian state on his 5 Live show.
You'll have to tune into tomorrow's show to see if he reads out the email and if he does, will we get success?!
Of course there is a good chance that the email won't make it onto the show, as most of the pleas for saving the grounds have been done by phone so far but the time difference rules out us being able to do this unfortunately.
If we don't make it on, we'll tell you what reasons we finally gave next week.
Another downside for us is that Dundee's Dens Park made the cut last week due to the wonky stand along the touchline. It now sits safe alongside Brechin's Glebe Park, so whether another lower league east coast ground can make it in is probably not likely.
But hey, we tried and it's been great fun, as is the whole show. What's the worst that can happen? They demolish the demolition!
So tune in to 5 Live tomorrow morning from 9am to 11am or catch the podcast later on the BBC site HERE.
And if nothing else, you'll spend an enjoyable two hours listening to some great banter and with Ross Noble being one of the guests tomorrow, what more could you want?!
We've put our case forward for resurrecting Bayview Park from the ashes to Danny Baker to see if it makes his 20 grounds to be allowed in his totalitarian state on his 5 Live show.
You'll have to tune into tomorrow's show to see if he reads out the email and if he does, will we get success?!
Of course there is a good chance that the email won't make it onto the show, as most of the pleas for saving the grounds have been done by phone so far but the time difference rules out us being able to do this unfortunately.
If we don't make it on, we'll tell you what reasons we finally gave next week.
Another downside for us is that Dundee's Dens Park made the cut last week due to the wonky stand along the touchline. It now sits safe alongside Brechin's Glebe Park, so whether another lower league east coast ground can make it in is probably not likely.
But hey, we tried and it's been great fun, as is the whole show. What's the worst that can happen? They demolish the demolition!
So tune in to 5 Live tomorrow morning from 9am to 11am or catch the podcast later on the BBC site HERE.
And if nothing else, you'll spend an enjoyable two hours listening to some great banter and with Ross Noble being one of the guests tomorrow, what more could you want?!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Scotland's Shame At It Again
Glasgow Rangers Football Club are the shame of Scotland. They have been for a long time and the reason's as to why is a long list.
The behaviour of their fans has been in question for some time and UEFA have been keeping a careful watch on their exploits, especially around their bigoted songbook.
Scotland's travelling football fans have built up a longstanding and proud reputation around the world, in competitions involving both clubs and country. That reputation is for enjoying themselves, but peacefully.
I would say in this respect that it could be argued that a lot of the drunkeness and the actions that go with it tarnish this reputation a little and perhaps too many of us view our behaviour abroad with a bit of rose tinted spectacles.
The general view is that hooliganism, of the kind that used to blight English clubs on their travels, has never been a problem for Scots fans.
All that changed of course with the disgusting behaviour of Rangers fans in Manchester for the UEFA Cup final in May 2008. Watching the footage and reading the reports was both sickening and embarrassing as a Scottish football supporter.
Despite the Club's best efforts to stamp out the sectarian songs and prevent more violence following their travelling fans, it seems like it's a case of the proverbial old dogs with tricks.
Last night saw some ugly scenes at the Ghencea Stadium in Bucharest where Rangers were taking on Unirea Urziceni in the Champions League.
Gers fans battled with stewards at half time and TV footage shows them involved in many scuffles and destroying seats in the stadium, with stewards retaliating to the provocation by spraying the fans at close range with CS gas.
The troubles were deemed to be serious enough for an announcement to be made that the game faced being abandoned if the situation didn't get back under control.
Not surprisingly UEFA reacted today by charging Rangers with improper conduct by their supporters.
Rangers response is to blame other factors, but the pictures speak for themselves. Whatever factors it doesn't merit the actions of the fans. One factor being mentioned is the lack of open turnstiles. Having faced that myself on more than one occasion (East Fife Scottish Cup tie at Dunfermline instantly springing to mind), I can honestly say that I never felt like fighting with the stewards or police as a result.
Rangers fans are an embarrassment to the Scottish game and we hope that UEFA throw the book at them. Hopefully not just financially either.
I'm sure a fine will be what follows. They may even order the Club to prevent fans travelling to away matches, which is always an impossible task to police. The only real action that may discourage the fans from this behaviour and hopefully get the decent Rangers fans (I'm sure there are some out there who follow the club solely for footballing reasons) to police themselves will be a ban from European competition.
It may take away my pleasure in seeing them make fools of themselves on the European stage but at least it'll also save the embarrassment of seeing the pictures beamed worldwide of what people think is a typical example of a Scottish football supporter.
The behaviour of their fans has been in question for some time and UEFA have been keeping a careful watch on their exploits, especially around their bigoted songbook.
Scotland's travelling football fans have built up a longstanding and proud reputation around the world, in competitions involving both clubs and country. That reputation is for enjoying themselves, but peacefully.
I would say in this respect that it could be argued that a lot of the drunkeness and the actions that go with it tarnish this reputation a little and perhaps too many of us view our behaviour abroad with a bit of rose tinted spectacles.
The general view is that hooliganism, of the kind that used to blight English clubs on their travels, has never been a problem for Scots fans.
All that changed of course with the disgusting behaviour of Rangers fans in Manchester for the UEFA Cup final in May 2008. Watching the footage and reading the reports was both sickening and embarrassing as a Scottish football supporter.
Despite the Club's best efforts to stamp out the sectarian songs and prevent more violence following their travelling fans, it seems like it's a case of the proverbial old dogs with tricks.
Last night saw some ugly scenes at the Ghencea Stadium in Bucharest where Rangers were taking on Unirea Urziceni in the Champions League.
Gers fans battled with stewards at half time and TV footage shows them involved in many scuffles and destroying seats in the stadium, with stewards retaliating to the provocation by spraying the fans at close range with CS gas.
The troubles were deemed to be serious enough for an announcement to be made that the game faced being abandoned if the situation didn't get back under control.
Not surprisingly UEFA reacted today by charging Rangers with improper conduct by their supporters.
Rangers response is to blame other factors, but the pictures speak for themselves. Whatever factors it doesn't merit the actions of the fans. One factor being mentioned is the lack of open turnstiles. Having faced that myself on more than one occasion (East Fife Scottish Cup tie at Dunfermline instantly springing to mind), I can honestly say that I never felt like fighting with the stewards or police as a result.
Rangers fans are an embarrassment to the Scottish game and we hope that UEFA throw the book at them. Hopefully not just financially either.
I'm sure a fine will be what follows. They may even order the Club to prevent fans travelling to away matches, which is always an impossible task to police. The only real action that may discourage the fans from this behaviour and hopefully get the decent Rangers fans (I'm sure there are some out there who follow the club solely for footballing reasons) to police themselves will be a ban from European competition.
It may take away my pleasure in seeing them make fools of themselves on the European stage but at least it'll also save the embarrassment of seeing the pictures beamed worldwide of what people think is a typical example of a Scottish football supporter.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Clubs In Crisis Update
Just as a follow on from yesterday's blog, Southend United staved off the threat of administration today, although that may be temporarily.
The Club promised to pay HM Revenue & Customs the 690,000 in unpaid taxes that they owe by Friday.
They also confirmed that their total debt of 2.1 million would be cleared.
You really have to ask why these debts weren't cleared earlier (never mind why they occurred in the first place) and why right at the last minute, causing much anguish to the Shrimpers support.
It's good news for them for now, but having faced administration twice before, at some time they have to stand up and run the Club differently, not just for the good of themselves, but also the game.
Another Club may not be so lucky.
Scottish Highland League side Inverness Clachnacuddin went into administration last month, owing 46,534 to Highland Council.
A new owner is being sought but it's a hard slog for a lot of the Highland League sides, especially for a team like Clach who have Caley Thistle drawing supporters from them and more so when they were a SPL side of late.
A lot of the Highland sides are well run and a main hub in the community. When Peterhead joined the league a few years ago, I know we were surprised at how important their social club was to the locals and the Club.
Losing a team with the history of Clach would be a shame, but are they ever going to be a viable source again? It was hard enough when there were the three Highland League teams in the city (Caley and Thistle used to be seperate sides for those not aware).
Having written for the Clach programme last season (and will be again this season as well), they hold a spot dear to my heart.
The sad truth though is that it's tough times out there and only the strong will survive. Hopefully Clach have that strength.
The Club promised to pay HM Revenue & Customs the 690,000 in unpaid taxes that they owe by Friday.
They also confirmed that their total debt of 2.1 million would be cleared.
You really have to ask why these debts weren't cleared earlier (never mind why they occurred in the first place) and why right at the last minute, causing much anguish to the Shrimpers support.
It's good news for them for now, but having faced administration twice before, at some time they have to stand up and run the Club differently, not just for the good of themselves, but also the game.
Another Club may not be so lucky.
Scottish Highland League side Inverness Clachnacuddin went into administration last month, owing 46,534 to Highland Council.
A new owner is being sought but it's a hard slog for a lot of the Highland League sides, especially for a team like Clach who have Caley Thistle drawing supporters from them and more so when they were a SPL side of late.
A lot of the Highland sides are well run and a main hub in the community. When Peterhead joined the league a few years ago, I know we were surprised at how important their social club was to the locals and the Club.
Losing a team with the history of Clach would be a shame, but are they ever going to be a viable source again? It was hard enough when there were the three Highland League teams in the city (Caley and Thistle used to be seperate sides for those not aware).
Having written for the Clach programme last season (and will be again this season as well), they hold a spot dear to my heart.
The sad truth though is that it's tough times out there and only the strong will survive. Hopefully Clach have that strength.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Maybe It's Time To Let Some Clubs Die
I used to be of the opinion that it would be awful to see any football club die. Nobody should wish that upon another fan, even if it's your arch rivals.
That was then. Now, I'm starting to think that maybe we should just let some of these Clubs go to the wall, if only to serve as a warning and a lesson to others (not that it would be heeded of course).
This season has seen a lot of Clubs in turmoil.
In Scotland, Livingston unfortunately hung on by their fingertips, and two divisions of demotion, to seemingly come through the other side relatively unscathed and now sit atop the Scottish Third Division.
It really isn't fair that they get a great escape once again whereas other UK Clubs may not be finding themselves as fortunate. This week really is D-day for three of them in particular.
I've a real soft spot for Accrington Stanley and it was great to see the name back in the Football League again. It was also great to see how fans of many local (and bigger) sides have rallied to try and save them and help them pay off their huge £308,000 tax bill. I would hate to see that Club die for a second time, as I'm sure anyone who saw last year's documentary on them ("Accrington Stanley, Exactly") would also feel.
It's really crunch time for them now though. Only £96,000 was paid by last Wednesday's deadline, despite the huge fundraising efforts put in place (which included Friday night games to bring in the maximum crowds possible). They were given a one week extension to pay the balance or face being wound up. As this Wednesday's deadline rapidly approached, there were a few worrying comments coming out from those connected with the Club but they settled the bill in full today and can hopefully now move on from the last 8 weeks of turmoil.
Ironically all of this comes at a time when Stanley have strung together a good set of results to see them challenging the playoff positions in League 2.
Wednesday is also the important day for Southend United as they face an administration hearing due to an unpaid tax bill. The Shrimpers have been saved from administration twice before, and have just fought off a winding up order, but currently owe HMRC a debt thought to be around a staggering £660,000.
Administration would see a 10 point deduction and a drop from being 4 points off the playoff spots to four points from safety and languishing in the relegation zone. A further relegation, following their drop from the Championship in 2007, would probably sound the death knell for the struggling Club.
Thursday is the crunch day for Stirling Albion. Currently sitting top of the Scottish Second Division, and with some pretty good wages being paid for that level to get that success, they face a winding up order over yet another tax bill. This time it's only for £48,000 but the saga and begging bowls have been going on for some time now and follows a similar petition from HMRC for £41,000 in May. The Inland Revenue have rightly reached the end of their tether and are no longer prepared to wait for this payment to be made. There is also money owed to the Council for stadium rent, ala Livingston, which takes the amount owing to something like £115,000.
The Binos Supporters Trust are wanting to buy the Club but the agreement for raising the money was that this was what it could only be used for, not paying off a previous regimes unpaid bills.
With the way that Livingston messed the SFL about, they're not likely to be overly lenient or tolerant of another club in a similar mess.
Taking my sentimentality for Clubs like Accrington out of this, you have to question how the Club's have allowed themselves to get in these messes in the first place. It's not as if having to pay taxes should come as a surprise to them. How the hell can you run up an unpaid tax bill of nearly three quarters of a million pounds anyway?
Should they even get our sympathy, our help and more importanly our money to get them out of the hole they've dug themselves in to? How fed up are you with reading and hearing about another "Save the ..." campaign?
If your average punter in the street wasn't to pay his taxes he'd soon find himself facing fines and/or jail. If he didn't pay his rent or mortgage, he'd soon find himself out on his ear. Why should football clubs be allowed to be any different?
It maybe is about time to let some of these clubs die to show others that mismanagement will not be tolerated. If Clubs can't live and operate within their means then why should those that can have to pay the price sometimes to bail them out?
The ones that do live within their budgets often do so at the sacrifice of on field success. If Clubs can't bring in enough money to be a going concern, should they really continue to be one?
East Fife nearly went out of the business a couple of times in the late 50's and early 60's. They fought back and never achieved the heady successes of their earlier sides as a result, but they also didn't have to go out asking all and sundry to put money into their begging bowls.
It doesn't seem that Clubs learn any lessons from other mistakes. Maybe the only way will be to let some die and better run Clubs from the non league set up take their place. Yes, it would be sad. Yes, it would be a shame for the fans. But it may just be what football is needing to give it the kick up the ass it deserves.
Let's just hope that a club like Accrington Stanley won't be the first to pay this price.
That was then. Now, I'm starting to think that maybe we should just let some of these Clubs go to the wall, if only to serve as a warning and a lesson to others (not that it would be heeded of course).
This season has seen a lot of Clubs in turmoil.
In Scotland, Livingston unfortunately hung on by their fingertips, and two divisions of demotion, to seemingly come through the other side relatively unscathed and now sit atop the Scottish Third Division.
It really isn't fair that they get a great escape once again whereas other UK Clubs may not be finding themselves as fortunate. This week really is D-day for three of them in particular.
I've a real soft spot for Accrington Stanley and it was great to see the name back in the Football League again. It was also great to see how fans of many local (and bigger) sides have rallied to try and save them and help them pay off their huge £308,000 tax bill. I would hate to see that Club die for a second time, as I'm sure anyone who saw last year's documentary on them ("Accrington Stanley, Exactly") would also feel.
It's really crunch time for them now though. Only £96,000 was paid by last Wednesday's deadline, despite the huge fundraising efforts put in place (which included Friday night games to bring in the maximum crowds possible). They were given a one week extension to pay the balance or face being wound up. As this Wednesday's deadline rapidly approached, there were a few worrying comments coming out from those connected with the Club but they settled the bill in full today and can hopefully now move on from the last 8 weeks of turmoil.
Ironically all of this comes at a time when Stanley have strung together a good set of results to see them challenging the playoff positions in League 2.
Wednesday is also the important day for Southend United as they face an administration hearing due to an unpaid tax bill. The Shrimpers have been saved from administration twice before, and have just fought off a winding up order, but currently owe HMRC a debt thought to be around a staggering £660,000.
Administration would see a 10 point deduction and a drop from being 4 points off the playoff spots to four points from safety and languishing in the relegation zone. A further relegation, following their drop from the Championship in 2007, would probably sound the death knell for the struggling Club.
Thursday is the crunch day for Stirling Albion. Currently sitting top of the Scottish Second Division, and with some pretty good wages being paid for that level to get that success, they face a winding up order over yet another tax bill. This time it's only for £48,000 but the saga and begging bowls have been going on for some time now and follows a similar petition from HMRC for £41,000 in May. The Inland Revenue have rightly reached the end of their tether and are no longer prepared to wait for this payment to be made. There is also money owed to the Council for stadium rent, ala Livingston, which takes the amount owing to something like £115,000.
The Binos Supporters Trust are wanting to buy the Club but the agreement for raising the money was that this was what it could only be used for, not paying off a previous regimes unpaid bills.
With the way that Livingston messed the SFL about, they're not likely to be overly lenient or tolerant of another club in a similar mess.
Taking my sentimentality for Clubs like Accrington out of this, you have to question how the Club's have allowed themselves to get in these messes in the first place. It's not as if having to pay taxes should come as a surprise to them. How the hell can you run up an unpaid tax bill of nearly three quarters of a million pounds anyway?
Should they even get our sympathy, our help and more importanly our money to get them out of the hole they've dug themselves in to? How fed up are you with reading and hearing about another "Save the ..." campaign?
If your average punter in the street wasn't to pay his taxes he'd soon find himself facing fines and/or jail. If he didn't pay his rent or mortgage, he'd soon find himself out on his ear. Why should football clubs be allowed to be any different?
It maybe is about time to let some of these clubs die to show others that mismanagement will not be tolerated. If Clubs can't live and operate within their means then why should those that can have to pay the price sometimes to bail them out?
The ones that do live within their budgets often do so at the sacrifice of on field success. If Clubs can't bring in enough money to be a going concern, should they really continue to be one?
East Fife nearly went out of the business a couple of times in the late 50's and early 60's. They fought back and never achieved the heady successes of their earlier sides as a result, but they also didn't have to go out asking all and sundry to put money into their begging bowls.
It doesn't seem that Clubs learn any lessons from other mistakes. Maybe the only way will be to let some die and better run Clubs from the non league set up take their place. Yes, it would be sad. Yes, it would be a shame for the fans. But it may just be what football is needing to give it the kick up the ass it deserves.
Let's just hope that a club like Accrington Stanley won't be the first to pay this price.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Goalie Goals
It's been a bit of doom and gloom at times in the blog of late, so we thought we'd add a video of light relief.
Everyone loves to see good goals. When it's your own team, any goal will do the trick.
There's something special about goals scored by goalkeepers though. They're more in abundance than they used to be when I was a lad. There were no goalkeepers regularly going up for corners in those days.
The one that always sticks in my head is that of loanee goalie Jimmy Glass, whose last minute goal for Carlisle United (with just ten seconds left) saved the Club from relegation from the football league and possible oblivian. If it was a movie, you'd have thought it was way beyond the realms of reality.
Anyway, for all of you that enjoy such goals, you'll love the video below (and no, I don't know why they chose the music they did!):
Everyone loves to see good goals. When it's your own team, any goal will do the trick.
There's something special about goals scored by goalkeepers though. They're more in abundance than they used to be when I was a lad. There were no goalkeepers regularly going up for corners in those days.
The one that always sticks in my head is that of loanee goalie Jimmy Glass, whose last minute goal for Carlisle United (with just ten seconds left) saved the Club from relegation from the football league and possible oblivian. If it was a movie, you'd have thought it was way beyond the realms of reality.
Anyway, for all of you that enjoy such goals, you'll love the video below (and no, I don't know why they chose the music they did!):
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