sent this football league [e-mail]

[chrispk76]

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to inform you of a breach of the football league rules in the game on the 29th of March at Hillsborough where Sheffield Wednesday drew 1-1 with Stoke City.
Sheffield Wednesday broke the league rules by illeagally including 6 loan players in their 16 man matchday squad.
One of these 6 players actually scored an equaliser with just 8 minutes to go resulting in Sheffield Wednesday gaining a point by unfair means.
I'm sure you are aware of how this can affect teams in both relegation and promotion battles. Wednesday have cheated their way to an important point in the relegation dogfight they are currently in with half a dozen or so clubs and Stoke have been robbed of 2 points in their bid to gain access to the £50 million premier league prize.
Unlike the Leeds case a few years back, Sheffield Wednesday did gain an unfair advantage from the rule breach and ALL of the 6 loan players featured in the game itself. It is a fact that Stoke City dropped Paul Gallagher (on loan from Premiership Blackburn Rovers) and Gabriel Zakuani (on loan from Premiership Fulham) for this fixture as they didn't want to break the 5 loanees rule. This meant that their squad was weakened by adhereing to the rules while Wednesdays was seriously strengthened.

Please respond as I feel many teams, and fellow football supporters have been wronged by this breach of the rules.

Yours Sincerely,






[e-mail]

[starkiller]

Well put.

[markscfc72]

i have sent this to the same e-mail, whenever i have e-mailed the football league they always reply so it will be intresting see what they say


hi there



sheffield wednesday fielded 6 loan players in there 16 man squad, the rule quite clearly states that you are only allowed to field 5. We (Stoke City) had to leave out Paul Gallagher and Gabriel Zakuani who are on loan and would have at least been on the bench had we been aloowed to have more than 5 loanees in the squad.



It seems absolutley pointless having these rules if they are going to be broken, when they are broken the team in question should be severely punished, it shouldnt just be a small fine which wont hurt them, otherwise it will encourage other teams to break the rules.



for the record the 6 loan players they had in there squad were



Graham Kavanagh (on loan from sunderland)

Adam Bolder (on loan from QPR)

Enoch Showunmi (On loan from bristol city)

Franck Songo'o (On loan from Portsmouth)

Ben Sahar (On loan from Chelsea)

Bartosz Slusarski (On loan from West Brom)



could you please look into this and find out why they thought it would be ok to break the rules



Many Thanks



Mark Roberts!

[knowles]

Mark,

I was angered by the referee at the home match against Southend last season. This was the reply:

Dear Mr Knowles

Your recent communication was referred to the official concerned for comment and he has responded as follows:

"In response to Mr Knowles’s observations regarding the above match I would make the following comments to each of his points.

I recall approx 30 free kicks were given in this game, and rest assured that when awarding free kicks I do not invent imaginary offences. The game of football at whatever level is all based on individual’s opinion and therefore people are not going to agree with every single decision.

The challenge which resulted in Andy Griffin being cautioned for unsporting behaviour was more than just a heavy collision. Any player who has both feet off the ground whilst attempting to challenge for a ball has no control of that particular challenge. That action alone is reckless and as per law 12 warrants a caution.

With regards to the substitution, I refer to the PGMO directive on substitution procedure which all Premier league, Football League and National Conference teams adhere to, which clearly states:

The fourth official shall receive a completed substitution form before the substitute takes place.
The fourth official will be responsible for checking that the substitute’s equipment is in order before they enter the field of play.

The fourth official, quite correctly, did not inform me he was ready for the substitution as firstly, no one from the Stoke technical area had completed the substitution card and secondly the necessary equipment checks had not been carried out. I would suggest that instead of the Stoke manager Mr Pulis jumping up and down waving his arms displaying his displeasure, inciting 20000 plus spectators, he should channel his energy into adhering to a set down procedure that has been in place for several seasons now.

Finally, when Freddy Eastwood scored Southend’s equaliser, as Mr Knowles states he and two colleagues ran towards the away spectators to celebrate. As per the PGMO directive, I considered the three scenarios stated when a player must be cautioned for goal celebrations.

Firstly, no provocative, derisory or inflammatory gestures were made to the crowd. Secondly, Mr Eastwood did not climb onto the perimeter fence or even go into the crowd, as they stayed on the area immediately in front of the fans. Finally, there was no excessive time wasting as Southend celebrated the goal.

For further clarification, I even mentioned to both teams at the exchange of team sheets what was expected of them at the scoring of a goal following a conversation I had with the police match commander, and both sets of players adhered to this request when goals were scored."

The Referees' Development Manager was also in attendance at this game and, in his view, the incident relating to the substition was a a result of Tony Pulis refusing to adhere to the ruling that a substitute card be passed to the 4th Official to enable the exchange of players to take place. Russell Fletcher quite correctly awaited the card and the opportunity to inspect the substitute players equipment prior to attracting Anthony's attention. Pulis's petulance in his opinion then resulted in two players being cautioned as they left the field at half time as they too lost their discipline.

The challenge in the 42nd minute, although on the opposite side of the field from his viewing position, was due to the amount of force a very straightforward yellow card. As for the goalscoring celebrations they did not cause him to pass undue comment which means they were acceptable.

We are sure you will find this clarification helpful and thank you for contacting The Football League.


A similar response would be pretty helpful (so long as it means three points to the mighty Potters!!)

[chrispk76]

i'm looking forward to the reply then

[MrMagic]

My mail to the idiots in charge of the game


Dear Sir / Madam

As I know from reading various internet news sites and message boards, you will now be fully aware from emails sent to this address of a breach of rules concerning the use of loan players in the above match.

Sheffield Wednesday fielded all six of the following;

• Graham Kavanagh (on loan from Sunderland)

• Adam Bolder (on loan from QPR)

• Enoch Showunmi (On loan from Bristol city)

• Franck Songo'o (On loan from Portsmouth)

• Ben Sahar (On loan from Chelsea)

• Bartosz Slusarski (On loan from West Brom)

Clearly, this places both Stoke City (who were unable to field two loan players, Paul Gallagher and Gabriel Zakuani, who both would have at least made the bench), and the other teams around Wednesday who are fighting relegation at a disadvantage.

I’d appreciate a reply from you explaining why the FA or Football League does not have the correct checks and controls in place to prevent a breach such as this occurring. Surely clubs are expected to submit team-sheets to the officials prior to the game? If rules such as this are in place, then some governing body should be accountable for ensuring that they are adhered to, and these checks and controls should be in place to identify any deviation from rules before it occurs rather than after the game has finished. The prizes and penalties involved in today’s game are far too high to be affected by what appears to be an amateurish approach to compliance and governance.


Yours in anticipation