Embargos, HMRC Payment defaults, non payment of wages, the usual under Dai Wrongge

[WestYorksRoyal]

And we've no beef with the FA/FA Cup.

I wouldn't do it vs Charlton either as our name's on the trophy.

Save it for a league match

Let's get Barnsley abandoned

Honest question here - have any of the sadly many clubs that have found themselves in this situation had their fans actively seek to abandon a game? I can't think of a single case but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened.

And also, what is the plan for an abandonment, what would it achieve that another form of demo/protest doesn't?

Man Utd v Liverpool got abandoned after the Super League debacle. Not quite sure how; a peaceful protest happened and about 100 managed to get on the pitch and never left. Gross policing failure given it was a tiny minority, and I'd say hardly a coordinated fanbase attempt.

No significant punishment dished out to Utd.

[Snowflake Royal]

The EFL certainly owe us an apology for approving this scumbag's takeover of us when the PL failed him in their directors test.

You're an idiot.

[Stranded]

Let's get Barnsley abandoned

Honest question here - have any of the sadly many clubs that have found themselves in this situation had their fans actively seek to abandon a game? I can't think of a single case but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened.

And also, what is the plan for an abandonment, what would it achieve that another form of demo/protest doesn't?

Sends a strong message to the EFL who are as much to blame for this mess

Yeah but does it though? They already know the fans are pissed as they can see the protests and the SBWD lot have been speaking to them - all forcing an abandonment guarantees is yet more charges potentially leading to more deductions or a closed stadium.

Again - has it been done before, even by clubs in a worse state that we currently are in? If the answer is no, which I think it is, then you need to think why that may be.

[Stranded]

The EFL certainly owe us an apology for approving this scumbag's takeover of us when the PL failed him in their directors test.

On this point, under what criteria could he have been failed.

He had/still has plenty of money
No criminal charges
The clubs that have since gone pop, were very much still going at the time.

Unless they go all Minority Report and can see that he planned to stop financing the club, there was absolutely f-all they could do.

Rules can be changed of course so that owners can't just turn off the tap but need to be voted through by the majority of clubs and hard to say how likely that is given there are more than a few clubs at risk of going down the same road.

[Stranded]

Let's get Barnsley abandoned

Honest question here - have any of the sadly many clubs that have found themselves in this situation had their fans actively seek to abandon a game? I can't think of a single case but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened.

And also, what is the plan for an abandonment, what would it achieve that another form of demo/protest doesn't?

Man Utd v Liverpool got abandoned after the Super League debacle. Not quite sure how; a peaceful protest happened and about 100 managed to get on the pitch and never left. Gross policing failure given it was a tiny minority, and I'd say hardly a coordinated fanbase attempt.

No significant punishment dished out to Utd.

Ok, one moderately uncoordinated attempt that was more due to poor policing that anything else. I doubt those on the pitch were even really trying or expecting the game to get shelved.

[PieEater]

Blackpool v Sheffield Wed got abandoned at half time after a fan invasion of the pitch. It was the last game of the season so they got off lightly with punishment, at the time I was sorry for the Wednesday fans treking over to see their team.

[Royal_jimmy]

Blackpool v Sheffield Wed got abandoned at half time after a fan invasion of the pitch. It was the last game of the season so they got off lightly with punishment, at the time I was sorry for the Wednesday fans treking over to see their team.

That was Huddersfield not Weds

[genome]

Get match abandoned, kicked out of cup
Eastleigh get drawn away to Manchester United
Reading miss out on money that would've covered staff wages

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Blackpool v Sheffield Wed got abandoned at half time after a fan invasion of the pitch. It was the last game of the season so they got off lightly with punishment, at the time I was sorry for the Wednesday fans treking over to see their team.

That was Huddersfield not Weds

Yeah I remember it being Huddersfield. It's not a bad journey over to the seaside, last day of the season, potential for some decent weather. Just a shame the place you're visiting is a dump.

I remember going to Blackpool away that season. Throwing eggs at the stadium, protests outside the ground, Karl Oyston was stood in the top window looking down and fans went into fury when he just pulled his blinds on when they were all, er-hem, "calling for his head" shall we say.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Blackpool v Sheffield Wed got abandoned at half time after a fan invasion of the pitch. It was the last game of the season so they got off lightly with punishment, at the time I was sorry for the Wednesday fans treking over to see their team.

That was Huddersfield not Weds

And as a useful precedent, it barely moved the dial on ownership. Oyston hung around for another 4 years and it was ultimately the boycott of home games that forced the issue.

[Dirk Gently]

Blackpool v Sheffield Wed got abandoned at half time after a fan invasion of the pitch. It was the last game of the season so they got off lightly with punishment, at the time I was sorry for the Wednesday fans treking over to see their team.

That was Huddersfield not Weds

Oh, I was at that one! Was shown on the telly under the end credits of whatever the Football League highlights programme was at that time.

[Stranded]

Blackpool v Sheffield Wed got abandoned at half time after a fan invasion of the pitch. It was the last game of the season so they got off lightly with punishment, at the time I was sorry for the Wednesday fans treking over to see their team.

That was Huddersfield not Weds

And as a useful precedent, it barely moved the dial on ownership. Oyston hung around for another 4 years and it was ultimately the boycott of home games that forced the issue.

Ok so that makes one PL game that was essentially an error and one abandonment that *checks notes* had no discernable impact whatsoever, to the extent that most people probably can't even remember it happened.

[Sutekh]

The EFL certainly owe us an apology for approving this scumbag's takeover of us when the PL failed him in their directors test.

On this point, under what criteria could he have been failed.

He had/still has plenty of money
No criminal charges
The clubs that have since gone pop, were very much still going at the time.

Unless they go all Minority Report and can see that he planned to stop financing the club, there was absolutely f-all they could do.

Rules can be changed of course so that owners can't just turn off the tap but need to be voted through by the majority of clubs and hard to say how likely that is given there are more than a few clubs at risk of going down the same road.

But then there should be some things that are just common sense and enforced by the FL as a matter of course and not just looked on as a good idea that never happens as not enough of the turkeys vote for xmas.

[Stranded]

The EFL certainly owe us an apology for approving this scumbag's takeover of us when the PL failed him in their directors test.

On this point, under what criteria could he have been failed.

He had/still has plenty of money
No criminal charges
The clubs that have since gone pop, were very much still going at the time.

Unless they go all Minority Report and can see that he planned to stop financing the club, there was absolutely f-all they could do.

Rules can be changed of course so that owners can't just turn off the tap but need to be voted through by the majority of clubs and hard to say how likely that is given there are more than a few clubs at risk of going down the same road.

But then there should be some things that are just common sense and enforced by the FL as a matter of course and not just looked on as a good idea that never happens as not enough of the turkeys vote for xmas.

Don't disagree but the constitution of the EFL would require the clubs vote for that change too.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Tbh, the change that is desperately needed, which most fans probably agree with, would be bitterly opposed by the industry. We should have owners making forecasts and depositing capital to cover expected losses, with an allowance for uncertainty so that one key injury doesn't tip a club over the edge (see Everton's argument about player Y; don't sail so close to the wind). Some owners would agree, but definitely not the majority needed to pass it.

We need hardline government/regulator intervention. I'm generally not a fan of populism, but a speech along the lines of "football belongs to the fans, not billionaires, hedge funds and petrol states" would set the agenda well. Don't see it happening unfortunately.

[Schards#2]

I've seen some talk of a hardship fund and a gofundme being set upon twitter. That's very well intentioned but I can't see it getting much support with people having no idea what will happen to the funds, will they get reimbursed etc. Also, assuming the staff get paid on tuesday, it's too late to have any effect this month.

If it is likely this issue will repeat in December, I think it would be great if STAR could organise a hardship fund with clear guidance as to what the funds will be used for and whether there will be loans or gifts and would there be reimbursement if not required. Just some guidelines. I don't know the sort of funds required to meet the non playing staff bill for a month but I can't imagine it's that huge. It would be great if, say, 1,000 people chipped an average of £100 each to raise £100,000 which staff can call on temporarily as required. Even better if the players were invited to chip in, plus a starter from SCL.

Great PR for the club and demonstrating it's community spirit, utter disgrace for Dai who will be seen in the media as a multi millionaire shafting ordinary staff who have had to be bailed out by other ordinary fans.

I have no idea about an legalities regarding this but I, and I'm sure many others, would be happy to contribute and trust the good intentions of STAR to do what's best depending on the circumstances

[rabidbee]

Tbh, the change that is desperately needed, which most fans probably agree with, would be bitterly opposed by the industry. We should have owners making forecasts and depositing capital to cover expected losses, with an allowance for uncertainty so that one key injury doesn't tip a club over the edge (see Everton's argument about player Y; don't sail so close to the wind). Some owners would agree, but definitely not the majority needed to pass it.

What is needed is a way to force clubs to live within their means (and FFP is an imperfect step in this direction), so that they should be able to manage ordinary fluctuations in revenue (with perhaps some kind of safety net to preserve clubs that unexpectedly fall into hardship whilst they work their way back out of it).

It would mean clubs not relying heavily on rich owners pumping in huge amounts of cash (thus putting pressure on everybody else to compete at that level of expenditure), not mortgaging anticipated future revenues to pay for today's excesses, not offering unsustainable contracts, and (hopefully) investing in training facilities to produce a revenue stream.

But it also requires clubs to accept that they can't just take a perceived (if by no means guaranteed) shortcut to shoot up the leagues by pumping money. Ideally, you'd like to see the money within the game being shared better across all the levels, to ensure the strength of the entire league, rather than being mostly sequestered in the hands of a few rich clubs (and extracted by shareholders).

Which is why we can't just rely on clubs to do this.

[Snowflake Royal]

The EFL certainly owe us an apology for approving this scumbag's takeover of us when the PL failed him in their directors test.

On this point, under what criteria could he have been failed.

He had/still has plenty of money
No criminal charges
The clubs that have since gone pop, were very much still going at the time.

Unless they go all Minority Report and can see that he planned to stop financing the club, there was absolutely f-all they could do.

Rules can be changed of course so that owners can't just turn off the tap but need to be voted through by the majority of clubs and hard to say how likely that is given there are more than a few clubs at risk of going down the same road.

But then there should be some things that are just common sense and enforced by the FL as a matter of course and not just looked on as a good idea that never happens as not enough of the turkeys vote for xmas.

Common sense doesn't exist.

You can't just make up decisions. They have to follow a procedure and rules. Or you just get your arse sued off.

[rabidbee]

And hindsight is 20/20.

[Snowflake Royal]

I've seen some talk of a hardship fund and a gofundme being set upon twitter. That's very well intentioned but I can't see it getting much support with people having no idea what will happen to the funds, will they get reimbursed etc. Also, assuming the staff get paid on tuesday, it's too late to have any effect this month.

If it is likely this issue will repeat in December, I think it would be great if STAR could organise a hardship fund with clear guidance as to what the funds will be used for and whether there will be loans or gifts and would there be reimbursement if not required. Just some guidelines. I don't know the sort of funds required to meet the non playing staff bill for a month but I can't imagine it's that huge. It would be great if, say, 1,000 people chipped an average of £100 each to raise £100,000 which staff can call on temporarily as required. Even better if the players were invited to chip in, plus a starter from SCL.

Great PR for the club and demonstrating it's community spirit, utter disgrace for Dai who will be seen in the media as a multi millionaire shafting ordinary staff who have had to be bailed out by other ordinary fans.

I have no idea about an legalities regarding this but I, and I'm sure many others, would be happy to contribute and trust the good intentions of STAR to do what's best depending on the circumstances

This is a great post.