last year, at the start of October
Why I have no problems with Luton getting relegated
I have no problems with Luton Town being relegated from the Football League this year not especially because the were negative in the 1-1 draw at Valley Parade but because they broken rules and are should be punished for breaking those rules regardless of how honest they are about breaking those rules.
Not only did they break rules but they overspent while doing it as they tried to capitalise on the fact they were doing well by virtue of going outside the rules that everyone else was playing to. They came to our ground and dumped us out of the FA Cup while playing on this unlevel playing field.
Why should I, we or the other fans of clubs who behaved properly while Luton obeyed the rules they wanted to obey feel sympathy for Luton Town?
I’d rather feel sorry for Tranmere Rovers or Crewe who got denied promotion or were relegated in Leagues where in the words of the FA “there can be no doubt that Luton Town Football Club, between July 2004 and February 2007 was run with a flagrant disregard for the Regulations laid down to protect the game.”
It was during that time when a City team having won five games on the bounce went to Luton and lost 4-0 to be taunted by a Referee. Our season turned on that game losing Dean Windass and confidence and it turned because we thought that Luton had beaten us on a level playing field and they had not.
Of course Luotn Town may escape the drop - Rotherham United are very excited today because they have managed to reach zero points - and they will see it as a great triumph just as they saw today’s point as a massive achievement but to me they are a cynical team on and off the field and those who have taken over them take a part in the crimes of the past by trying to avoid the punishment for them.
The other 91 clubs in the Football League deserve Luton Town to be punished and the sympathy that they try generated with the idea that they are wronged is an insult to every other club who play by the rules.
October 4th, 2008 at 20:13
Goodness me….
The most bitter & twisted one sided piece of garbage i have ever had the pleasure to read…
The fans of LTFC did’t break the rules, ie;- paying agents agents fees from the wrong account..Errr does Bradford not pay agents any fees…better hope they pay from the correct account otherwise it’ll cost you 10 points… Ohhh and don’t dare go into amin…!!
I say yon know absolutely nothing regarding football and are just bitter because you couldn’t manage to get 3 points againt a ‘club who cheats’ Very sad indeed.
October 4th, 2008 at 20:30
Please can you tell me why Luton Town do not deserve punishing and why they should be allowed to use one set of rules while everyone else uses another?
Bradford City went into administration twice and exited the correct way. While we were trying to get ourselves on an even keel you were using players you had acquired illegally to knock us out of the FA Cup and beat us in the league.
I do feel for fans of Luton who are getting punished but why should I feel more sorry for your fans that are being punished than I should for the fans of the other clubs who you have taken advantage of? Unless you can explain why then I really do not know why Luton should be considered immune to criticism and felt sorry for.
October 4th, 2008 at 20:32
Yes Luton were guilty of wrong doing, nobody can deny this, however those that are supposed to govern the beautiful game were told of irregularities that were going on at the club by a club official and decided to do nothing for 18-24 months. The fans knew something was up (well those without their head stuck in the sand did) and in the end took it upon themselves to do something about it (for the 2nd consecutive time) which ultimately took the club into administration, all because those that are supposed to protect football clubs cant/wont/weren’t doing what they should have done.
And then they have the balls to punish Luton for it.
NO TO MODERN FOOTBALL
October 4th, 2008 at 20:43
Duane - You seem to content that you should be allowed to commit the crime but that you should not be punished. How is this fair for everyone else in football?
October 4th, 2008 at 20:45
perhaps not everyone is run by crooks and chancers…..which the football league sanction and see fit as owners of clubs, and then when it all goes tits up decide to punish them for it.
you aren’t going to see why people are upset by the punishment, i suggest you do some proper research instead of just looking in the papers for your info.
October 4th, 2008 at 20:48
WE didnt commit the sodding crime, the crooks that were running the club did, and they were allowed to run the club because the football league said they were “fit and proper”, and quite clearly they were not.
and they are the ones that dish out the punishment (not forgetting the fact that those that passed judgement had a vested interest in giving as heavy a points deduction as possible to limit their own chances of relegation)
October 4th, 2008 at 20:52
Michael
What you fail to realise is when Bradford were in administration there was no “proper” way to exit administration as such as there was no penalty for going into administration and no penalty for coming out without a CVA.
Indeed you colleague on this site states
“Let me say at the outset how very fortunate I believe my beloved team have been to go into administration at the right times. Not for us the 10 point penalty on either occasion Bradford City went into administration. We got in just in time. It would, of course, have been far preferable not to have got in at all, but there’s no point in rehearsing the reasons behind either of those two periods of financial difficulty.”
The only people being punished by the draconian penalties handed out by the FA and FL are the supporters the former owners have got away scot free.
With regards to the FA deduction for payments made to agents the “crime” was merely paying funds from the incorrect company/bank account, by people who passed the “fit and proper persons test” run by the FA.
The very same people who the supporters of Luton rose up against in the face of media disinterest and in some cases local media mocking which we never be forgiven or forgotten.
In addition to this, the people that broke these rules are no longer at the club, and no longer have any say over the future of the club, thankfully.
We have new owners Luton Town 2020, spearheaded by lifelong Luton Supporters and we will rise again.
Bradford supporters of all people should know how it feels to be run into the ground by a board or chairman who is only in it to feed their own ego and line their own pockets.
Shame on Michael Wood, and you should hope that Bradford never fall into administration again, because you will be hit for 0 points, lose any decent players you have, then be hit for another 20 the following season REGARDLESS of who is now in control of your club.
October 4th, 2008 at 20:56
Also Michael
Are you aware that is is practically impossible to exit administration with a CVA now ?
The Inland Revenue with not agree a CVA due the the rule the Football League have that you must pay all football creditors in full.
So in effect the Football League have 2 rules which actually contradict each other.
Let me be clear, I believe the 10 point deduction for going into administration is fair and reasonable, and it cost us our place in League 1, however I believe further sanctions for not having a CVA should ONLY come into play IF the previous owners who put the club into administration are the “new” owners when the club leaves administration.
October 4th, 2008 at 20:59
Joey D you make some very interesting points but I feel no shame.
You and other commenters all admit that things happened at Luton Town that were wrong but you do not want to be punished and in doing that you want to punish all the clubs who did not break the rules and I ask - and to be honest am only really interested in comments that address the question - of why that is fair?
Duane says this clearly and I ask again why “WE” - the rest of football - should be punished by the fact that Luton should be allowed to break the rules that we were all sticking to without being punished?
October 4th, 2008 at 21:13
Joey - I am aware of the problems of administration and have said here that I think the punishment should be changed and that I think the blame lies with clubs making a game of administration but I still think that to keep the integrity of the football league - to make it fair - Luton need to be punished.
I ask you and other Luton fans this: If you were to be second bottom and the end of the season with a club less than ten points above you who have gone into administration but the FL had decided that club should not be punished as you have been - would that be fair? Why then is it fair that other people should be punished and you not?
And why should we all be sympathetic for your plight when we had to play Luton when they were breaking the rules and got beaten?
October 4th, 2008 at 21:15
Michael
The point is Michael, who at the end of the day is being punished ?
The supporters are the only people suffering, the previous Owners/Chairmen/Chief Execs etc have gone off into the sunset.
As I cleary stated I am in total agreement with the 10 point deduction and this combined with the loss of Edwards/Coyne/Fojut/Grant/Wilson due t being in administration caused us to be relegated as we spent the last 5 months of the season with no recognised central defender at the club.
The FA gave the new owners and the supporters a 10 point deduction for the previous owners paying some agents out of an incorrect company/bank account. The payments were perfectly legal but just not paid in the right way to fit in with FA regulations, the club itself gained nothing from this and the people involved Tomlins/Mitchell/Bagehot/Peter have gotten away with little or no punishment.
These are Facts, I just hope for your sake nothing like this happens to Bradford as you would not believe the anger and hurt caused by the injustice.
The punishment should fit the crime and Luton Town 2020 and the Luton Town supporters committed no crime, yet are being punished.
Let’s not even get into the Carlos Tevez/Leeds United/Newcastle United affairs we could be hear all week.
We shall rise again.
October 4th, 2008 at 21:16
Duane it is supercilious to believe that as soon as someone researches Luton Town they will suddenly by sympathetic to your plight. Can it not be true that someone can add the facts about Luton with the aforementioned issues about other clubs and decide you are not worthy of sympathy?
October 4th, 2008 at 21:49
Joey - You seem to be saying that the Luton fans are being punished - they are - but you fail to grasp the idea that not punishing Luton Town is punishing everyone else. Why should the other clubs who suffered at the hands of the directors who you admit were doing wrong not have some redress? Not punishing Luton is punishing everyone else.
Is it right that Luton be allowed to break rules and not be punished and if that did happen would that not be punishing everyone else? Would it have been right for the Italian FA to not punish Juventus because the wrong doers had left that club? Would it been right to not strip them of their titles just because the crime is retroactively discovered?
Why should Luton be allowed to behave in a way that gives them an advantage over other clubs who were doing things in the correct way and not be punished for that? You might think the punishment is too harsh (and I’ve said that my punishments for financial things would be different) but they are the tariffs set and it is simply wrong to decide on new sentences when you have decided someone is guilty of the crime.
It would be akin to today’s referee deciding that Paul Heckingbottom might have done two yellow card offences but he would let him stay on because he decides to change the rules.
“The payments were perfectly legal but just not paid in the right way to fit in with FA regulations.” - Please understand that when talking about legality we mean in football law not the law of the land.
As for injustice I’d ask you to remember Joe Ross and his delight at your 4-0 win over us and how little Luton did to support us in that. It was frustrating and is more so since we discovered that league was run in a way that the FL consider unfair.
Also when it comes to fans suffering hurt from things outside their control then I think we know a thing or two more than you.
October 5th, 2008 at 2:00
Comments are closed on this after Joey gave a fair right to reply and multiple submissions of the same comments started having comments flagged as spam.
Angry Luton fans can go here for a vent and thank you all for reading.