A Comedy Of Letters Thursday May 11 2006
The new lines of communication in football are here. And we like them...
For a long time, F365 have been calling for communication in football to be more fun. We don't mind how. It could be announced by town criers, sung by a barbershop quartet or even embroidered on a banner and flown around the country behind a plane piloted by Sir Trevor Brooking (what else does he do?). But press conferences? Press releases? Shambolic websites trying to pass themselves off as professional (ahem). No, that's not for us.
But in all this time of weighing the benefits of semaphore from the top of the Wembley arch against smoke signals from Soho Square, we overlooked the simplest idea - open letters. Has there ever been a purer form of humour?
So well done to Spurs and, more specifically, Daniel Levy. Yes, they've come across like whiney schoolgirls. Yes, the country is cringeing as they desperately try and come up with some way of sneaking into the Champions League. But at least they've kickstarted this:
Daniel Levy, Tottenham Hotspur: 'Mr Dave Richards, Chairman, The FA Premier League - Dear Dave, Re: Protest and request for the match between West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur FC on 7/5/06 to be replayed.'
Richard Scudamore, The FA Premier League: 'Dear Daniel, Re: Protest and request for the match between West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur FC on 7/5/06 to be replayed. The Board of the Premier League has today convened to consider your letter to Dave Richards regarding the above and would respond as follows.'
DL: 'As you are aware, Sunday could have been a momentous day for our Club and our fans. It was the first time since the inception of the UEFA Champions League that we were in a position to qualify for European club football’s most prestigious competition.'
RS: 'Firstly, the Board and a majority of Premier League Clubs are sympathetic to your situation. To have Tottenham Hotspur Football Club's ('THFC') "momentous day" marred by such unprecedented events is clearly an unsatisfying way for the season to end.'
DL: 'After such a successful League campaign, the excitement and expectation of our fans was simply enormous. Our match at West Ham was effectively a Cup Final.'
RS: 'The fact that so much may have been riding on one game is not as a consequence of just last Sunday's results, but is the product of 380 games played throughout an entire nine-month season.'
DL: 'Our fans have been left with a sense of suspicion and injustice at the way subsequent events unfolded.'
RS: 'As always, the Board can only deal with the facts.'
DL: 'I was contacted from a distance by the FAPL and told that we had to play the game that day or suffer the consequences. This, by implication, may have meant a significant loss of points and the denial of participation in any European competition.'
RS: 'You asked what the consequences would be if THFC failed to fulfil the fixture. I said that I could not pre-judge or advise. An independent commission would be convened to consider the facts and clearly THFC could plead mitigating circumstances. However this was one of the most serious of offences and John Alexander could advise on what has happened in the past, though, of course, all cases were different and based on their own facts.'
DL: 'Our next issue was team selection. Martin Jol and his staff, having originally selected their squad of 17 players for the match, were then left in the invidious position of choosing between starting the match with their original 17 players, 10 of whom were feeling very unwell, or drafting in Reserve Team players, the majority of whom have not played for the First Team this season or are untried and untested at First Team level.'
RS: 'On checking records it turns out to be as follows... Total eligible to play 52... 33 players used in the first team this season. Of the six players confirmed with S & D (sickness and/or diarrhoea), only two were in the starting eleven for your last three Premier League matches.'
DL: 'To add insult to injury, the FAPL's announcement that our game would not be postponed was made live on Sky TV from the pitch side at Highbury. In light of the obvious sensitivities and the competition for 4th place between Arsenal and Spurs this was, to say the least, an unfortunate choice.'
RS: 'The Premier League made two official statements via its press office to PA concerning the situation. I only referred to the contents of those statements as part of a pre-planned review of the season on Sky Sports. This was not the chosen method of conveying the decision. For your information, the Sky Sports interview took place 40 minutes after your own Press Office had confirmed you were playing the game as scheduled at 3.00pm.'
DL: 'We therefore formally request that you order that the game be replayed. It is regrettable that we have been put in this position, but we feel let down by the FAPL's abdication of its responsibility to consider the request for a postponement fairly and after due consideration of all relevant factors.'
RS: 'We believe we expedited our responsibilities effectively and with due care and consideration based on the facts available to us. We of course realise that for THFC a feeling of unfairness at the ill fated events of last Sunday will linger but trust that you will put this behind you and concentrate on domestic and UEFA Cup success next season.'
Meow...
http://www.football365.co.uk/features/fun\_features/story\_185106.shtml
