Take a look at what this belter has written to the EFL;
I'm writing to you as a Northampton Town fan. I've purposefully waited a couple of days before contacting you as I didn't want this to be coloured by the range of emotions I was feeling after the unusual events we saw in League 2 on Saturday, but I have now sufficiently calmed down to articulate this in a proper manner.
I often get very tired of hearing my children wail about things being unfair and have little time for it. Indeed, only last week I was playing catch with my little girl when she threw the ball about a meter over my head.
"That wasn't fair!" I exclaimed, to which she responded, “Life’s not fair, daddy.”
She’s only 4, so I’ve a pretty good idea that she’s picked that phrase up from me!
Even so, what happened on Saturday…. just wasn’t fair.
I’ve no complaints about Bristol Rovers, they simply did what they needed to do to achieve promotion, however I do take exception to the side fielded by Sc***horpe.
It included:
- 7 teenagers, amongst them…
- A 2nd year scholar making his debut
- An 18-year-old captain
- A 17-year-old goalkeeper making his second ever start.
This is taken from section 5 of the EFL Rules and Regulations pertaining to Fixtures:
24 Requirement to Play Full Strength Sides in League Matches
24.1 Each Club shall play its full strength in all Matches played under the auspices of The League unless some satisfactory reason is given. In the event of the explanation not being deemed satisfactory the Board shall refer the matter to a Disciplinary Commission which has the power to impose such penalties as it shall think fit.
Guidance
From the fourth Thursday in March, any team sheet for a League game should include at least 10 outfield players who featured on the team sheet for the League game before.
I appreciate that Sc***horpe fielded a similar (but slightly stronger) team in the previous match against Hartlepool, but that game was a proverbial “dead rubber”; no one minds blooding youngsters in those matches, in fact it’s nice to see, but in games that have a material impact on the outcome of the league, surely there should an ethical imperative to field a full team? Barrow did against us, so why shouldn’t Sc***horpe? Their failure to do so has undermined the integrity of the competition.
I genuinely don’t mind losing. I don’t even mind losing out on a promotion spot, but when that loss isn’t inflicted on a level playing field it is very hard to take - I think it’s fair to say it's highly unlikely Bristol Rovers would have won by a seven-goal margin against ANY other club in the division (if they fielded a full team).
On a second point, there are rumours circulating that Sc***horpe’s sale of Ryan Loft to Bristol Rovers in January included a clause that stated Sc***horpe would receive further payment should Bristol Rovers achieve promotion to League 1. I’ve no idea if these rumours are true but I’ve seen them mentioned by several sources, including from a reputable local journalist.
If this is true, it may or may not have been a factor in the outcome of Saturday’s match, but surely clauses such as this should not be allowed when a transfer involves two clubs playing at the same level, where either team may be able to influence whether that clause is triggered?
In either case, what is done is done and Northampton Town now head into the playoffs. I’m certainly not writing this in the expectation of anything changing in terms of league position, however it would be nice to see:
a) Ideally some form of sanction against Sc***horpe United
b) An acknowledgement from the EFL that events this weekend were not in the spirit of the game, even if they weren’t an outright breach of the rules.
c) A review of the existing rules and regulations to see if they can be tightened up, both in regard to fielding weakened teams and in how transfers are allowed to be structured between clubs at the same level.
As I say, I appreciate nothing can be done about what has already happened, but measures can be put in place that ensure this sort of farcical situation doesn’t affect other clubs in the future as it seriously undermines the integrity of the sport we all love.
Kind Regards,