Thursday, June 29, 2006

You may take our clubs................


Over the past couple of weeks, the FC Forum has been visited by fans of Crawley Town regarding the situation there. Basically the club was taken over by two brother and has been run into the ground. Basically they have:
- sacked the most successful manager in the club's long and proud history
- sacked dedicated office staff
- A tribunal declared four dismissals were illegal and the SA Group failed to even attend the hearings
- the club slashed the wage budget in half and incurred a three-point deduction for bringing the Football Conference into disrepute
- Having gone into administration, the club have also incurred a ten-point penalty for next season
- the financial problems have caused great anguish to players and their young families, as well as to fans
- the club's public relations are at rock bottom, with supporters continually being fed mistruths
- Known SA Group heavies have attempted to threaten a teenage fan who was organising a democratic protest against their regime
- while the players and fans suffer, the Majeeds have purchased a new £350k sports car and announced plans for new nightclubs and restaurants
This comes on the heels of what happened to the fans of Wimbledon, Manchester United, Wrexham etc etc. (I know there are more, these used to show the point.) Whilst these are all different situations, all have their merits and should be supported by people who have the interests of the future of football at heart.
The direction the game seems to be taking, is all too familiar, people are seeing football as a cash cow, whether they are from the USA or from the local community. Clubs are being run down to the ground, grounds are being sold for profit for club owners, profitable clubs are being put into debt and the fans are being expected to pay that off. Basically the fans are being sold down the river.
Its time to fight back, AFC Wimbledon, FC United etc are proof that things can be done, the status quo can be changed and the fans will only take so much before they start to act and fight back.
The revolution has begun people and it will not be televised.
Please support the Crawley Town situation and sign the below petition, it may make some difference, it may not, but the more people who sign it, the more it shows that the fans won't take this stuff lying down.
Sign the petition Support the Crawley Town fans

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