(unless I happen to be with a friend who's heard me give the answer countless times - I may be happy to go through it as many times as necessary, but a few of them are probably tired of hearing it again and again). Yes, I'm referring to the question "Why aren't you wearing any shoes?". The answer is made up of loads of little straighforward component answers.
1. I really find it more comfortable in a lot of ways. My feet get hot. REALLY hot. So do my hands in fact, though no-one seems to wonder why I'm not wearing any gloves. Unless I can get fresh air circulating around them to carry the heat away they get very uncomfortable. They also sweat a lot, and if that sweat has to stay put then that can only lead to an unbearable smell. A simple strappy pair of sandles, or flipflops would leave the soles covered most of the time and the heat would build up. It wouldn't make much difference at all that the rest of the foot is exposed to air. My feet just don't work that way.
2. It's easier to walk in a lot of ways. Not wearing shoes allows all the wonderfully evolved bone and muscle structures in the feet to be fully exploited. As much energy as possible is conserved from one step to the next. I feel light on my feet and I feel able to walk much further and for longer time. Even more so that I don't have the mentally draining effect of heat build up. I also have some joint problems which as far as my doctor can tell are a combination of mild injuries to the structure in the past to my knees and ankles (ice-skating, hockey, rugby and an epileptic fit if you're wondering), and some kind of auto-immune condition that doesn't seem to be serious enough to merit medication. Going barefoot makes things an awful lot easier.
The conversation then usually goes towards listing all the potential negatives of going barefoot and asking what I do about those. They usually cover
1) sharp objects/broken glass
2) extreme temperatures
3)dirt and disgusting things to step in
4)being stared at and confronted by difficult people
The first three aren't as big a deal as you might think. Millions of years of human evolution has given us skin that is very good at adapting to the ground. People don't realise it because they spend so much time in shoes that their skin doesn't get the chance to do what it's supposed to. But what it's supposed to do is thicken and toughen so that it can handle pretty much anything. It's best not to dive straight into the deep end from the beginning, but using your eyes and common sense will make avoiding things you don't want to expose your feet to at first pretty easy. Eventually you'll find that you can walk right through broken glass, hot and cold weather, rough pavements etc. become less something uncomfortable and more something interesting of which your senses make you aware. It's like coming out of a dark environment into daylight. If you're not careful it'll blind you, but that doesn't make daylight inherently dangerous. You just have to give your eyes a chance to adapt to it first. Then you can enjoy it.
As for dirt and disgusting things, well skin is also pretty good at keeping what should be outside outside. It's waterproof. Nothing will just seep in. I admit I do have to shower every day, but then so do you. That's all it takes to get the dirt of my feet, and that includes things I may inadvertently step in from time to time, and I don't have to worry about them.
I'd say the latter item on the above list is the biggest barrier to going barefoot for two reasons. First of all it's the main reason fewer people go barefoot than would otherwise because they just don't believe it's socially accepted and so do not want to stand out. This of course is self-perpetuating - it takes people to say "I want to do this badly enough that I'm not worried", and enough of those people to go ahead and literally walk the walk for others to realise that it's not such a big issue and join in. Secondly getting past that hurdle doesn't make confrontational people go away. It's something that you have to keep dealing with and there are all sorts of people out there who are desperate to convince you that what you are doing is wrong (my own mother among them).
I'm lucky enough to live in a country that prides itself on people minding their own business. Over in the USA where most of the Society for Barefoot Living members can be found everyone seems to want to interfere and cause trouble to the point that people can't so much walk into a shop without shoes on without someone accusing them of attempting to set up a lawsuit or citing a bogus health and safety law. The SBL discussions are full of such accounts which is rather depressing reading and one of the reasons I wanted to get the following down (I'll be emailing it over to them as well) to show that at least not everywhere is like that. That said, I don't believe I have anything like enough followers to attract a lot of comments (or any for that matter), but I've seen so many people show their negativity online, commenting on other articles and blog posts. They think they know better about going barefoot than people who go barefoot. It's rather amusing, but at the same time the ignorance and arrogance in the world is pretty frightening, when the anonymity provided by the internet makes people feel free to spout whatever they like without thinking.
So anyway, it's approaching October - the time of the year when, on paper at least, things start cooling down as we head through Autumn towards Winter with the Summer well on its way. It's not too cold for me to go barefoot yet. Nowhere near. If I want to be really stubborn I'll go barefoot in the snow, and enjoy it, but that's another story. My point is that this would probably a good time to mark as the end of summer for the purpose of getting a few things down. In the last five months, May, June, July, August and September I've probably not had anything on my feet for more than a total of 24 hours. A few gigs and one or two job interviews and that's about it. In that time I've been to meetings, football matches, other gigs, a holiday abroad and been on plenty of trains and buses, in plenty of pubs and restaurants and pleasantly encountered next to no resistance, either physical or human. In fact what I'd really like to do is document all the acceptance and positive feedback I've had instead.
I was coming back late one Sunday night from my dad's birthday dinner in a restaurant up in Cambridge. I'd got the train to Tottenham Hale and planned to go home using the London Overground to avoid Zone 1 and save myself a bit of money on the fare. I ended up sharing the last train from Gospel Oak to Willesden Junction with a young lady from Chicago who was over in London to study, by chance at the University where I'd done my degree and had asked for directions to get home given that the tubes were about to stop running. My bare feet came up in the conversation, as they often do - like a personal special case of Godwin's law almost - and I answered a lot of the usual questions. Her response to most aspects were "that's so funny" - Americans will have to help me understand the subtle nuances of her use of the word 'funny' because I don't think she just meant outright strange, but she certainly didn't mean risible or entertaining either. Perhaps just good old unusual. She told me about the NS3 (No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service - I've always wanted to go into a place displaying such a sign and say "How can you be serving that lady and this gentlemen when there's a sign outside forbidding service?!) signs, and I mentioned that we just don't have them here. And it made me think that those signs were what stopped people going barefoot in the states more than anything else, while here it's generally a fear of attracting unwanted attention for evading what appears to be a social norm.
I've been barefoot to football matches at several grounds now, those being Loftus Road (of course), Deepdale, Vicarage Road, Goodison Park and Craven Cottage. Goodison Park was this August - my first ever visit there. I went up on the club coach, the driver was perplexed and kept asking me loads of questions and I don't think my answers ever really shook his disbelief, but seeing me go through the whole day and journey without any shoes said it all to him instead. While I blog about QPR often enough I'll not include any kind of match report except to say it was a fantastic day out (Rangers won 1-0 by the way). But I just want to give an honourable mention to the stewards at Everton. While queuing up for the turnstile to go in, one of them pulled me aside. I raised my arms expecting to be searched, but instead I was just asked why I wasn't wearing any shoes. I gave the straightforward "I prefer not to wear them" reply. My interrogator was puzzled but his colleague butted in at that point saying "Oh yeah, some people are like that. It's fine." He then said to me, "just so you know, First Aid's available inside, to the right hand side." That's what I like about football. One of the last bastions of "We do not accept liability for injury or theft". I can get on with my life my way, and any problems are mine.
I had a similar encounter with Easyjet on the way to Spain for a week's holiday on the Costa Del Sol. I went through security and my passport and boarding pass had fallen out of my jacket pocket so I nearly left them behind at the other side and had to go and grab them. When reunited with my essential documents a lady asked if I needed to retrieve my shoes as well. I just said "No" and moved on. People can be puzzled. They don't quite know how to deal with me sometimes, but they know I'm not a threat so they don't interfere. It's a shame people don't work like that in the USA. I then went and boarded the plane (no, it wasn't that simple, I just missed out the 90 minute wait in the departure lounge because it's of no interest ;-) ). While taking my seat a stewardess spoke to me about the dangers of going barefoot on a plane and was desperate to make it clear to me that they would not be liable for any injury. She was being a bit over the top - I said to her the aircraft is much safer than a lot of places I regularly go barefoot - but I also had to say to her I'm much happier to have the freedom and accept responsibility for myself.
So I was able to enjoy a week in Spain barefoot - I made a point of not taking any shoes at all with me. I did hit a USA type barrier in one supermarket. I hadn't noticed before going in, but there was a sign on the window, with diagrams to make it clear to non-spanish speakers. We were about 3/4 of the way through the shopping we needed when someone from security decided to tell me I couldn't be in the shop. I don't really have enough Spanish to have a full conversation so I gave up and waited outside. A bit disappointing but it was a unique defeat.
I had one other quasi-confrontation on the last day though, just after buying a ticket on the Costa Del Sol railway at Malaga Central. Once I explained in broken Spanish I was barefoot for medical reasons (not strictly true, but it does help with my joint problems, though of course I'd have been barefoot anyway) and whipped out my disabled person's railcard, which I just happen to have because of epilepsy, Señor Seguridad suddenly became all apologetic and backed off.
Incidentally I'd normally feel rather hesitant to play the disabled card (quite literally in this case), but as it happens, one of my knee injuries, made less of a burden by going barefoot, came about during an epileptic seizure, so there is at least some connection there. Plus, it was on the way to the airport at the end of a fantastic week in Spain, made all the more enjoyable by not taking any footwear with me at all, and I wasn't going to let anything mar it at the last minute. Not to mention that while I may have blundered my way through a more substantial dialogue in French or Italian, it just wasn't going to happen in Spanish and I just wanted to get the other side of the ticket barrier with my girlfriend so we could head home.
It appears the weather followed us back to London and I'm certainly enjoying it this week. Meeting up with some other London barefooters on Saturday and hoping it'll last at least a few more days. But then I get to enjoy it just as much when it cools down, and maybe some snow in the winter which is great for surprising the general public among other things. I've come to be amused by looks of surprise on other people's faces now instead of feeling ashamed or nervous because I know what I'm doing is perfectly ok and hope to desensitise everyone else until it's as common as a tattoo or piercing.
About Me
- Ben Donnelly
- British/Irish Saxophonist, Bassoonist, Composer and Arranger. Queens Park Rangers Season Ticket Holder, Qualified Teacher, Atheist, Barefooter and occasional Political Activist.
Thursday 29 September 2011
Sunday 11 September 2011
Let's Overhaul Football PROPERLY
I've been thinking about what Man City are playing at (and let's face it, they may be the worst offenders but they're not the first and they can only pave the way for more). Also been thinking of everything being wrong with FIFA, and to a lesser extent the FA. And the way the Premier League bully the Football League and all the problems that go with inflated wages, price hikes, the control that broadcasters have over the game.
On my mind is more or less everything that makes us wish we could revert to how things were in 1991 (I bet there are plenty of Wimbledon fans nodding in agreement at that one, though my fellow Rs may resent my wishing away New Year's day 1992 - maybe we could call it compensation to Manchester United for the sacrifice they'd be making towards a level playing field).
And I've come up with some changes that I'd implement if I were in charge and always got my way. They're not realistic since there's far too much vested interest for any of them to happen. But were they to happen I believe the game would be far better for everyone (well everyone who has the right to benefit from football).
It's very much centred around fan power, cutting out the financial idiocy and the corruption it spawns and making sure that no club has to struggle to exist over an amount of money equivalent to the weekly wage of a player another club in the same country.
So here are the 11 changes (yep, just half time in an England friendly). They're pretty severe, and hence unrealistic but they're all to serve the purpose of fixing football from a fan's point of view.
1) Total amount each club can spend per transfer window is £20m
2) Maximum transfer fee a club can spend on any individual player is £10m
There's simply no need to be spending large amounts of money on transfer fees. If you have more money than another club, within reason, fine go ahead and use it to outbid your rivals for a particular player. But do so at the cost of not being able to sign other players the same window. I've heard so many complaints of clubs who play in Europe saying they play too many games. Their proposed solution is to have fewer games in the league by making the top division even smaller (the Premiership is too small as it is if you ask me which is a big factor in the lack of competition compared to each of the Football League divisions). They've got it the wrong way around. They want to boast about winning a double or a treble and call it a massive achievement. But they don't want to have to work hard for it by playing all those extra games. You can't have it both ways. The alternative is to have bigger squads, and you do that by spending £20m on six players instead of just one. Allow them to register a different 25-man squad for Europe compared to the Premier League with players allowed to be included in both if the manager so wishes and the problem is solved without interfering with everyone else's season.
3) Wages to follow a strict structure based on the number of years you have been at each club. The structure is the same for every club in each division, with a 25% increase from one division to the next. Every time a player signs for a new club he slips down to the bottom of the pay scale and starts again. For example: In the premier league each player starts on £2000 per week, and their salary increases by £1000 per week with each successive season spent at the same club.
It's obvious to everyone now that football players are simply payed too much. Stupid amounts of money are coming in from broadcasters and from rich owners and stupid amounts of money are going straight on fancy cars and multiple houses that simply aren't needed.
4) The TV money covers far much more than this so should be automatically distributed across the 92 clubs to ensure everyone can afford to follow this wage structure right down to the bottom of league 2.
5) Ticket prices to be capped in line with the limits on expenditure. The extra TV money to be directed to subsidising ticket prices and improving training, youth and stadium facilities.
6) Domestic matches always to take precedence over European games. No more moving playoff finals away from Wembley or having FA Cup Finals on league matchdays.
7) All FA, UEFA and FIFA, and League governors required to have supported a club and attended games for a minimum of 10 years before being appointed evidenced by club database records and references from other loyal supporters, or alternatively be an ex-professional from a league covered by that body. Also required to attend six non-top flight games in at least 3 different divisions per season.
8) If fans ever feel stitched up in any way, they have a right to take the matter to the appropriate body for an immediate hearing upon achieving 5000 signatures, that avoids the risk of the club being charged with bringing the game into disrepute, unless the complaint is about the actions of club itself.
9) Any actions or law changes from FIFA, UEFA, FA etc. must first be approved by a majority vote across all clubs that would be affected. Each club's individual vote must be based upon the result of polling its fans. Yes or No.
Football is run by non-football people. People who don't know what it's like to spend a fortune they've just about scraped together to follow their team everywhere and continue building up to their next big disappointment as the saying goes. Seriously, what did Sepp Blatter ever do to merit his current position as the combined Thatcher and Murdoch of football?
10) Revert European competitions and internationals to how they were structured in the 70s and 80s. Resize the English divisions to 23 teams each with similarly even distribution across other countries' leagues.
As things are with so few midweek games in the Premier League and international breaks going on all the top players stay match sharp through internationals and midweek european games giving them even more of an advantage over the other teams. It's madness. The UEFA competitions have too much influence over the domestic game, as do the internationals. Bring back the old style European Cup and Cup Winners Cup.
In England, maybe Premier League teams shouldn't enter the Football League Cup. It's the Football League cup after all. Premier League teams can save on fixtures and concentrate on the league until January, fitting in a few extra midweek games there, and then be able to take the FA Cup seriously. Meanwhile Football League Clubs have a chance to have a real taste of European football through the Cup Winners Cup.
Cut down international friendlies except on international matchdays for teams who are the odd ones out in their qualification groups. Make an international cap a rare thing to be proud of, and at the same time, make the focus on playing for your club week in week out. This also should reduce the problem managers face when they risk losing players to injury over frequent international games of questionable importance and the consequential problem of managers responding by discouraging their players from playing internationals, making a mockery of international matches.
11) Copy the Rugby Union model of refereeing games.
Microphones on referees so all conversations between referees and players are overheard by broadcasters and monitoring officials will get to the bottom of the issue of how much respect is being shown by players towards officials and vice versa. It will also allow fans, coaching staff broadcasters and other officials to clearly follow the reasoning of officials behind all of their decisions and understand clearly what the referee did and didn't observe.
The use of video replays when, and only when, the referee requests it to assist him in making the correct decision can only be good for the game. It doesn't need to be perfect. It doesn't need to be broadcast quality and if a video replay doesn't help then the referee can revert to his discretion, but the higher profile (and the more important therefore) the match, the more coverage there will be, so the big decisions will always have the best chance of support for the officials. This is the only technology needed. "Special Goal-line Technology" whatever that may be, which supposedly is prohibitively expensive for too many clubs to be practicable is really not needed.
Players other than the captain may not approach or communicate with the referee unless called. It's perfectly simple and would save far more currently wasted time than would be lost by the use of video replays to aid difficult decisions.
So there you have it. What I'd do if by some miracle I suddenly had godlike powers over world football.
On my mind is more or less everything that makes us wish we could revert to how things were in 1991 (I bet there are plenty of Wimbledon fans nodding in agreement at that one, though my fellow Rs may resent my wishing away New Year's day 1992 - maybe we could call it compensation to Manchester United for the sacrifice they'd be making towards a level playing field).
And I've come up with some changes that I'd implement if I were in charge and always got my way. They're not realistic since there's far too much vested interest for any of them to happen. But were they to happen I believe the game would be far better for everyone (well everyone who has the right to benefit from football).
It's very much centred around fan power, cutting out the financial idiocy and the corruption it spawns and making sure that no club has to struggle to exist over an amount of money equivalent to the weekly wage of a player another club in the same country.
So here are the 11 changes (yep, just half time in an England friendly). They're pretty severe, and hence unrealistic but they're all to serve the purpose of fixing football from a fan's point of view.
1) Total amount each club can spend per transfer window is £20m
2) Maximum transfer fee a club can spend on any individual player is £10m
There's simply no need to be spending large amounts of money on transfer fees. If you have more money than another club, within reason, fine go ahead and use it to outbid your rivals for a particular player. But do so at the cost of not being able to sign other players the same window. I've heard so many complaints of clubs who play in Europe saying they play too many games. Their proposed solution is to have fewer games in the league by making the top division even smaller (the Premiership is too small as it is if you ask me which is a big factor in the lack of competition compared to each of the Football League divisions). They've got it the wrong way around. They want to boast about winning a double or a treble and call it a massive achievement. But they don't want to have to work hard for it by playing all those extra games. You can't have it both ways. The alternative is to have bigger squads, and you do that by spending £20m on six players instead of just one. Allow them to register a different 25-man squad for Europe compared to the Premier League with players allowed to be included in both if the manager so wishes and the problem is solved without interfering with everyone else's season.
3) Wages to follow a strict structure based on the number of years you have been at each club. The structure is the same for every club in each division, with a 25% increase from one division to the next. Every time a player signs for a new club he slips down to the bottom of the pay scale and starts again. For example: In the premier league each player starts on £2000 per week, and their salary increases by £1000 per week with each successive season spent at the same club.
It's obvious to everyone now that football players are simply payed too much. Stupid amounts of money are coming in from broadcasters and from rich owners and stupid amounts of money are going straight on fancy cars and multiple houses that simply aren't needed.
4) The TV money covers far much more than this so should be automatically distributed across the 92 clubs to ensure everyone can afford to follow this wage structure right down to the bottom of league 2.
5) Ticket prices to be capped in line with the limits on expenditure. The extra TV money to be directed to subsidising ticket prices and improving training, youth and stadium facilities.
6) Domestic matches always to take precedence over European games. No more moving playoff finals away from Wembley or having FA Cup Finals on league matchdays.
7) All FA, UEFA and FIFA, and League governors required to have supported a club and attended games for a minimum of 10 years before being appointed evidenced by club database records and references from other loyal supporters, or alternatively be an ex-professional from a league covered by that body. Also required to attend six non-top flight games in at least 3 different divisions per season.
8) If fans ever feel stitched up in any way, they have a right to take the matter to the appropriate body for an immediate hearing upon achieving 5000 signatures, that avoids the risk of the club being charged with bringing the game into disrepute, unless the complaint is about the actions of club itself.
9) Any actions or law changes from FIFA, UEFA, FA etc. must first be approved by a majority vote across all clubs that would be affected. Each club's individual vote must be based upon the result of polling its fans. Yes or No.
Football is run by non-football people. People who don't know what it's like to spend a fortune they've just about scraped together to follow their team everywhere and continue building up to their next big disappointment as the saying goes. Seriously, what did Sepp Blatter ever do to merit his current position as the combined Thatcher and Murdoch of football?
10) Revert European competitions and internationals to how they were structured in the 70s and 80s. Resize the English divisions to 23 teams each with similarly even distribution across other countries' leagues.
As things are with so few midweek games in the Premier League and international breaks going on all the top players stay match sharp through internationals and midweek european games giving them even more of an advantage over the other teams. It's madness. The UEFA competitions have too much influence over the domestic game, as do the internationals. Bring back the old style European Cup and Cup Winners Cup.
In England, maybe Premier League teams shouldn't enter the Football League Cup. It's the Football League cup after all. Premier League teams can save on fixtures and concentrate on the league until January, fitting in a few extra midweek games there, and then be able to take the FA Cup seriously. Meanwhile Football League Clubs have a chance to have a real taste of European football through the Cup Winners Cup.
Cut down international friendlies except on international matchdays for teams who are the odd ones out in their qualification groups. Make an international cap a rare thing to be proud of, and at the same time, make the focus on playing for your club week in week out. This also should reduce the problem managers face when they risk losing players to injury over frequent international games of questionable importance and the consequential problem of managers responding by discouraging their players from playing internationals, making a mockery of international matches.
11) Copy the Rugby Union model of refereeing games.
Microphones on referees so all conversations between referees and players are overheard by broadcasters and monitoring officials will get to the bottom of the issue of how much respect is being shown by players towards officials and vice versa. It will also allow fans, coaching staff broadcasters and other officials to clearly follow the reasoning of officials behind all of their decisions and understand clearly what the referee did and didn't observe.
The use of video replays when, and only when, the referee requests it to assist him in making the correct decision can only be good for the game. It doesn't need to be perfect. It doesn't need to be broadcast quality and if a video replay doesn't help then the referee can revert to his discretion, but the higher profile (and the more important therefore) the match, the more coverage there will be, so the big decisions will always have the best chance of support for the officials. This is the only technology needed. "Special Goal-line Technology" whatever that may be, which supposedly is prohibitively expensive for too many clubs to be practicable is really not needed.
Players other than the captain may not approach or communicate with the referee unless called. It's perfectly simple and would save far more currently wasted time than would be lost by the use of video replays to aid difficult decisions.
So there you have it. What I'd do if by some miracle I suddenly had godlike powers over world football.
Friday 27 May 2011
If you're going to squeeze, squeeze here!
I'd like to expand on my opinion that there's an untapped source of income for football clubs, a far richer (literally) source than the fans and one that quite frankly caused the need for cash in the first place. That source is of course the media.
If football clubs want and/or need more money they should be squeezing it out of sources that actually have money. That's the media and the sponsors. Not the fans. QPR fans spend just about as much money as they can afford on the club whatever the prices, whether or not they buy tickets, as whatever fans can afford usually ends up in the club shop or at special Rangers events. Squeezing via ticket hikes is therefore quite redundant.
The press and sponsors on the other hand don't spend money out of love for the club- they're after something and as a premier league club they will be prepared to pay us anything for it.
It's time QPR turned to the media and sponsors and added ludicrious extra charges for every little thing, just as they do with fans. We know our board have fleecing skills, so I'm sure they could come up with some great ideas.
If we do it you can bet all the rest of the clubs will do it as well. It'd end up making televised games expensive and tickets relatively cheap.
With the internet streams available we could not only make the bastards that ruined the economics of football pay to make life easier for real supporters, but quite possibly bring them down altogether.
If the league try to stop us, we'll just let them have a cut of the revenue. I have no qualms about giving them bribes that come from sources other than the fans, especially the media.
This is my vision. Who's with me?
If football clubs want and/or need more money they should be squeezing it out of sources that actually have money. That's the media and the sponsors. Not the fans. QPR fans spend just about as much money as they can afford on the club whatever the prices, whether or not they buy tickets, as whatever fans can afford usually ends up in the club shop or at special Rangers events. Squeezing via ticket hikes is therefore quite redundant.
The press and sponsors on the other hand don't spend money out of love for the club- they're after something and as a premier league club they will be prepared to pay us anything for it.
It's time QPR turned to the media and sponsors and added ludicrious extra charges for every little thing, just as they do with fans. We know our board have fleecing skills, so I'm sure they could come up with some great ideas.
If we do it you can bet all the rest of the clubs will do it as well. It'd end up making televised games expensive and tickets relatively cheap.
With the internet streams available we could not only make the bastards that ruined the economics of football pay to make life easier for real supporters, but quite possibly bring them down altogether.
If the league try to stop us, we'll just let them have a cut of the revenue. I have no qualms about giving them bribes that come from sources other than the fans, especially the media.
This is my vision. Who's with me?
Wednesday 25 May 2011
So QPR announce the new ticket prices and WHOOPS! They're in BIG trouble.
QPR's 2011/12 prices have been announced today http://www.qpr.co.uk/staticFiles/e9/72/0,,10373~160489,00.pdf
And oh dear, they really haven't thought it through.
To their credit they've made the season tickets look pretty attractive with very reasonable prices for youngsters, junior, disabled and senior fans. The adult ones take a bit more stomaching but I suppose they're more or less in line with what we were expecting.
However when you look at their match ticket prices (rather carefully hidden at this stage behind some arithmetic trickery) you can see they've really shot themselves in the foot in a number of ways.
Next to the season ticket prices (I'm just using the adult prices as an example here) there are mentions of how much money you save compared to buying every match ticket individually:
Bronze £549 saving £346
Silver £649 saving £341
Gold £759 saving £326
Platinum £999 saving £371
So add the savings to the price and divide by the number of games (19) and you get the match prices. They're not pretty. It works out as
Bronze £47
Silver £52
Gold £57
Platinum £72
That's more than double in all cases except Gold which is still a 90% increase. THAT is the real farce. Not the 40% increase in season ticket prices over fewer games which is still quite something. But the fact that the poorest seat in the ground costs £47 is indefensible whether it's for QPR or Barcelona.
Now cast your minds back a few seasons when QPR decided to introduce category A prices and put Gold tickets up to £40 for such games. Remember the upper school end is classed as gold and is where most away fans sit (even when they get the lower tier as well it's got a smaller capacity). Back then, Derby fans quite rightly objected, and got the backing from their club and of course plenty of QPR fans joined them and the club backed down on the prices.
If Derby can manage it so can pretty much any premiership club when the prices you're talking about are not merely £40 (I can't believe I just wrote "merely £40") but £57 or £52 for a privileged few among the away supporters. The club WILL have to back down.
If they do their loss will not stop at embarrassment because look at what they've written to promote their season ticket sales. They've proudly boasted that buying a season ticket saves you an absolute value. Not a number of games, not a percentage, but an absolute value. This value will HAVE to be honoured should match prices be adjusted to something closer to the real world. Let's say they take them down to £47 for the most expensive seats, £26 for the cheapest, and £33 and £40 for silver and gold which would be pretty consistent with most premier league clubs, and then look at what would happen to season ticket prices.
Bronze: 26 x 19 = 494. Subtract 346 for the promised saving and you're left with a Bronze season ticket costing £148
Silver: 33x19 = 641. Subtract 341 for the promised saving and you're left with a Silver season ticket costing £300
Gold: 40x19 = 760. Subtract 326 for the promised saving and you're left with a Gold season ticket costing £434
Platinum 47 x 19 = 893. Subtract 371 for the promised saving and you're left with a Platinum season ticket costing £522.
Whoops, QPR you might have made the biggest financial mess ever. And this wouldn't be the first time would it. The boasting of Alejandro Faurlin's transfer value as being £3.5m lead to an investigation and ended up costing a fine of £875 000.
Seriously why couldn't they just employ me to deal with things like this? I could make quick calculations in about half an hour and the only payment I'd require would be a free season ticket and travel and tickets to away games.
I'll prove it.
Here is how I would have calculated the prices.
Let's take last season's prices, and since the number of games played has changed it's not worth working from the season ticket prices but from the match prices instead.
We're in the premier league now so let's bump up the prices by 30% each.
So from £20, £25, £30 and £35 per ticket it'll go to £26, £33, £39 and £46.
There are only 19 games per season so giving as many free games may be overdoing it a bit. Let's just say one free game each for platinum and gold and half a free game for silver and bronze.
So Platinum is 46 x 18 = £828
Gold is 39 x 18 = £702
Silver is 33 x 18.5 = £611
Bronze is 26 x 18.5 = £481
Perfectly reasonable prices for season tickets and the corresponding match prices are quite stomachable as well. Extra money needs to come from corporate deals. It's the premier league so if the club aren't milking corporate sponsorship packages and commercial deals for every penny they can get then people aren't doing their jobs properly.
Why not make press pay £10000 for every minute a player spends talking to an interviewer or £100000 for every minute Neil Warnock spends talking to an interviewer? Make that £10m or £100m if said press member is from the Sun newspaper perhaps.
I'm being slightly tongue-in-cheek here but the reality is those who provide TV coverage are costing the club a lot of money here and the club should be making them pay through the nose. Here's why:
The biggest mistake the club have made here is not realising that they don't have a captive audience in the premier league. EVERY game is televised or recorded for match highlights and broadcast somewhere in the world. It then gets leaked on the internet. So there is a live internet stream available for virtually every game played in the Barclays Premier League. If you want to see QPR next season just go to one of the various streaming websites and you will be able to watch the game on your computer without making any effort or paying a penny. It's not right, and it doesn't provide you with the satisfaction you get from going to the game, but it's free and it's easy and therefore it's a very attractive option to most fans, especially ones who travel to get to games.
When tickets are affordable fans will pay that bit of money to go to the game because it's so much better to go to the game than watch on TV or on the computer. But when it's ludicrously expensive fans will get to the point where they say "F*** you train network and F*** you petrol prices and F*** you QPR because I can't afford this and I can watch the game at home for nothing, or in the pub for the price of a few drinks, or maybe just to spite you I'll pay some money to Rupert Murdoch. Yeah, see how you like that!"
This isn't the football league. Our games get covered and Loftus Road isn't the only place to watch them. It's the best place, but not the only place and there's only so far you can take the prices as a result.
So Rangers you've let me down, you've let my fellow fans down and you've let yourselves down. What do you have to say for yourselves?
And oh dear, they really haven't thought it through.
To their credit they've made the season tickets look pretty attractive with very reasonable prices for youngsters, junior, disabled and senior fans. The adult ones take a bit more stomaching but I suppose they're more or less in line with what we were expecting.
However when you look at their match ticket prices (rather carefully hidden at this stage behind some arithmetic trickery) you can see they've really shot themselves in the foot in a number of ways.
Next to the season ticket prices (I'm just using the adult prices as an example here) there are mentions of how much money you save compared to buying every match ticket individually:
Bronze £549 saving £346
Silver £649 saving £341
Gold £759 saving £326
Platinum £999 saving £371
So add the savings to the price and divide by the number of games (19) and you get the match prices. They're not pretty. It works out as
Bronze £47
Silver £52
Gold £57
Platinum £72
That's more than double in all cases except Gold which is still a 90% increase. THAT is the real farce. Not the 40% increase in season ticket prices over fewer games which is still quite something. But the fact that the poorest seat in the ground costs £47 is indefensible whether it's for QPR or Barcelona.
Now cast your minds back a few seasons when QPR decided to introduce category A prices and put Gold tickets up to £40 for such games. Remember the upper school end is classed as gold and is where most away fans sit (even when they get the lower tier as well it's got a smaller capacity). Back then, Derby fans quite rightly objected, and got the backing from their club and of course plenty of QPR fans joined them and the club backed down on the prices.
If Derby can manage it so can pretty much any premiership club when the prices you're talking about are not merely £40 (I can't believe I just wrote "merely £40") but £57 or £52 for a privileged few among the away supporters. The club WILL have to back down.
If they do their loss will not stop at embarrassment because look at what they've written to promote their season ticket sales. They've proudly boasted that buying a season ticket saves you an absolute value. Not a number of games, not a percentage, but an absolute value. This value will HAVE to be honoured should match prices be adjusted to something closer to the real world. Let's say they take them down to £47 for the most expensive seats, £26 for the cheapest, and £33 and £40 for silver and gold which would be pretty consistent with most premier league clubs, and then look at what would happen to season ticket prices.
Bronze: 26 x 19 = 494. Subtract 346 for the promised saving and you're left with a Bronze season ticket costing £148
Silver: 33x19 = 641. Subtract 341 for the promised saving and you're left with a Silver season ticket costing £300
Gold: 40x19 = 760. Subtract 326 for the promised saving and you're left with a Gold season ticket costing £434
Platinum 47 x 19 = 893. Subtract 371 for the promised saving and you're left with a Platinum season ticket costing £522.
Whoops, QPR you might have made the biggest financial mess ever. And this wouldn't be the first time would it. The boasting of Alejandro Faurlin's transfer value as being £3.5m lead to an investigation and ended up costing a fine of £875 000.
Seriously why couldn't they just employ me to deal with things like this? I could make quick calculations in about half an hour and the only payment I'd require would be a free season ticket and travel and tickets to away games.
I'll prove it.
Here is how I would have calculated the prices.
Let's take last season's prices, and since the number of games played has changed it's not worth working from the season ticket prices but from the match prices instead.
We're in the premier league now so let's bump up the prices by 30% each.
So from £20, £25, £30 and £35 per ticket it'll go to £26, £33, £39 and £46.
There are only 19 games per season so giving as many free games may be overdoing it a bit. Let's just say one free game each for platinum and gold and half a free game for silver and bronze.
So Platinum is 46 x 18 = £828
Gold is 39 x 18 = £702
Silver is 33 x 18.5 = £611
Bronze is 26 x 18.5 = £481
Perfectly reasonable prices for season tickets and the corresponding match prices are quite stomachable as well. Extra money needs to come from corporate deals. It's the premier league so if the club aren't milking corporate sponsorship packages and commercial deals for every penny they can get then people aren't doing their jobs properly.
Why not make press pay £10000 for every minute a player spends talking to an interviewer or £100000 for every minute Neil Warnock spends talking to an interviewer? Make that £10m or £100m if said press member is from the Sun newspaper perhaps.
I'm being slightly tongue-in-cheek here but the reality is those who provide TV coverage are costing the club a lot of money here and the club should be making them pay through the nose. Here's why:
The biggest mistake the club have made here is not realising that they don't have a captive audience in the premier league. EVERY game is televised or recorded for match highlights and broadcast somewhere in the world. It then gets leaked on the internet. So there is a live internet stream available for virtually every game played in the Barclays Premier League. If you want to see QPR next season just go to one of the various streaming websites and you will be able to watch the game on your computer without making any effort or paying a penny. It's not right, and it doesn't provide you with the satisfaction you get from going to the game, but it's free and it's easy and therefore it's a very attractive option to most fans, especially ones who travel to get to games.
When tickets are affordable fans will pay that bit of money to go to the game because it's so much better to go to the game than watch on TV or on the computer. But when it's ludicrously expensive fans will get to the point where they say "F*** you train network and F*** you petrol prices and F*** you QPR because I can't afford this and I can watch the game at home for nothing, or in the pub for the price of a few drinks, or maybe just to spite you I'll pay some money to Rupert Murdoch. Yeah, see how you like that!"
This isn't the football league. Our games get covered and Loftus Road isn't the only place to watch them. It's the best place, but not the only place and there's only so far you can take the prices as a result.
So Rangers you've let me down, you've let my fellow fans down and you've let yourselves down. What do you have to say for yourselves?
Thursday 19 May 2011
QPR season ticket price increase story
There's a story from the Fulham Chronicle that's gone viral among the QPR internet community. It's suggesting the 20011/12 season ticket prices will go up by 35%. Note that's the SEASON TICKET prices, for a season that will comprise 4 fewer games than the one just gone. This would mean match prices shooting through the roof. I've done some maths to demonstrate how, but first, here's a link to the story in question:
http://www.fulhamchronicle.co.uk/london-sport/london-qpr/2011/05/19/qpr-season-ticket-prices-set-to-rise-by-35-per-cent-64767-28727829/
Here come the maths:
This year's adult prices were:
Platinum £699 per season ticket or £35 per match
Gold £599 per season ticket or £30 per match
Silver £525 per season ticket or £25 per match
Bronze £450 per season ticket or £20 per match
Ok let's interpret this story as a 35% increase in each season ticket (which is what it says after all).
So that's new season ticket prices of (to nearest pound)
Platinum £944
Gold £809
Silver £709
Bronze £608
Let's assume they've cut the number of free games to just one for all season tickets (which they might do given that there are only 19 games).
So divide those numbers by 18 for the approximate match prices.
Platinum £52
Gold £45
Silver £39
Bronze £34
And just to see how badly this would stitch up pay on the day fans let's look at the ratio between the old match prices and these estimates.
Note that this would be a minimum for match prices unless they'd be evil enough to make season ticket prices more expensive than paying for all the games individually.
Platinum - 52:35 = 49% increase
Gold - 45:30 = 50% increase
Silver - 39:25 = 56% increase
Bronze - 34:20 = 70% increase
Ok so this indicates the following possibilities.
1) The club haven't thought this through and will surely rethink following feedback from the fans.
2) The club have thought this through but
a)either don't care or
b) can't see any other way to give Neil Warnock the transfer funds he needs - (unlikely given the TV money)
3) The report is wrong.
My opinion is that the order of likelihood of these possibilities starting with the most likely is
3, 2a, 1, 2b.
And I really think it's 3.
http://www.fulhamchronicle.co.uk/london-sport/london-qpr/2011/05/19/qpr-season-ticket-prices-set-to-rise-by-35-per-cent-64767-28727829/
Here come the maths:
This year's adult prices were:
Platinum £699 per season ticket or £35 per match
Gold £599 per season ticket or £30 per match
Silver £525 per season ticket or £25 per match
Bronze £450 per season ticket or £20 per match
Ok let's interpret this story as a 35% increase in each season ticket (which is what it says after all).
So that's new season ticket prices of (to nearest pound)
Platinum £944
Gold £809
Silver £709
Bronze £608
Let's assume they've cut the number of free games to just one for all season tickets (which they might do given that there are only 19 games).
So divide those numbers by 18 for the approximate match prices.
Platinum £52
Gold £45
Silver £39
Bronze £34
And just to see how badly this would stitch up pay on the day fans let's look at the ratio between the old match prices and these estimates.
Note that this would be a minimum for match prices unless they'd be evil enough to make season ticket prices more expensive than paying for all the games individually.
Platinum - 52:35 = 49% increase
Gold - 45:30 = 50% increase
Silver - 39:25 = 56% increase
Bronze - 34:20 = 70% increase
Ok so this indicates the following possibilities.
1) The club haven't thought this through and will surely rethink following feedback from the fans.
2) The club have thought this through but
a)either don't care or
b) can't see any other way to give Neil Warnock the transfer funds he needs - (unlikely given the TV money)
3) The report is wrong.
My opinion is that the order of likelihood of these possibilities starting with the most likely is
3, 2a, 1, 2b.
And I really think it's 3.
Tuesday 17 May 2011
Job Vacancy
Job Vacancy:
Newspaper seeks Sports and Politics Journalist:
Successful candidate will be:
The ability to use correct spelling, punctuation and grammar is desirable but not essential.
Candidates with a history of leaving the office, talking to people, checking their facts and using common sense need not apply.
Newspaper seeks Sports and Politics Journalist:
Successful candidate will be:
- A complete errant hedge-born skainsmate with an aversion to facts and an eye for getting our idiotic readers excited enough to turn beyond the previous page that has a big pair of tits on it.
- Highly experienced at disregarding any potential consequences of his/her work, especially with regard to the impact on other people's lives or livelihoods.
- Familiar with using twitter, except in times following any publication of his or her articles, during which he/she will be expected to go completely quiet.
- Highly skilled at dirtying names and reputations with unfounded rumours that will stick beyond the grave.
- Familiar with the PCC Code and how to use it to one's advantage in order to add insult to injury.
- Excellent at fellatio and ready to provide it on demand as and where required.
The ability to use correct spelling, punctuation and grammar is desirable but not essential.
Candidates with a history of leaving the office, talking to people, checking their facts and using common sense need not apply.
Friday 29 April 2011
I really can't wait for all newspapers to go extinct
Today the Sun published an outrageous article about the Alejandro Faurlin affair - absolutely ridiculous, claiming to have come from a source within the FA that completely flies in the face of every suggestion and speculation that has come from sensible football-aware people, as well as pantomime pundit Steve Claridge who has a reputation for criticising QPR often.
I'm inclined to speculate that the Sun had no source at all, and I'm pretty sure that the FA will deny that the quote came from them. There are so many logical reasons to expect no points deduction, and even if that weren't the case, it's been established that neither the FA or the Club will comment so as not to harm the legal process. The club today released a statement restating that no comment position from both themselves and the FA.
I've just seen on the BBC a report saying the club have asked the FA to do the same to underline that the Sun in fact has no official source. I've pasted below this BBC article (and the link) as well as the Sun's story and link. I believe this sums up exactly what is wrong with the media these days.
Interestingly I was having a conversation with a pianist I played with the other day who reckons the papers are dying out, and that even Murdoch won't be powerful to keep them alive for ever. It's as though they're like wasps in September. They know they're dying so they're trying to sting as many people as possible hoping to take a few with them. I will not be sorry if they do go extinct. I've already promised myself that I will never buy another newspaper again.
For those of you not familiar with the story it's as follows:
QPR signed Alejandro Faurlin from Instituto (in Argentina) in the summer of 2009. He was at the time part owned by some third party or other. QPR bought that part of his ownership separately I think, before the rules about third party ownership had been brought in. The disclosed the information fully to the FA and the Football League at the time, but it seems they sent back the wrong form in triplicate or some silly paperwork thing like that. There was also an agent involved who was registerd with FIFA but not the FA. However he is Italian so I believe EU rules mean he cannot be prevented from working in England, and as FIFA are the big brothers of the FA there should be no major issue there.
Also Alejandro Faurlin was officially declared an eligible player and has continued to play even after the charges were announced, so it has never been a case of fielding an ineligible player or gaining any unfair advantage on the pitch through breaking of rules. Just a few months ago the FA decided to answer that the club were being charged with breaches of regulations. The club contested the charges and a hearing date was to be scheduled. More recently that date was set to be 3-6th of may with the outcome being announced on the 6th, the day before the final match of the league season. All along there's been no comment from the club or the FA about the details of the case, and only the media stirring things has brought any talk of points deduction. There's never been a source from the FA suggesting it may be a possibility at any stage, and it's only come from journalists looking at a list the FA have of all the punishments available for various offences and leaping to conclusions leading a large proportion of the general public along with them.
The implications of a points deduction are massive. First of all it's the timing. If the FA thought a deduction were likely they would have rushed it through - they've known about the whole affair since last October and could have dealt with it there and then if they thought it serious. The club would have the right to appeal against any punishment if found guilty, meanwhile the playoffs have to take place and fixtures arranged for next season. All football clubs involved have access to the best lawyers that money can buy, probably more so than the FA, and thanks to the fixture list knock on effect that's every premier league club and especially any club involved in automatic promotion or the playoffs at the end of this season in the championship.
Furthermore there are precedents set with Bristol City and West Ham, both of whom paid fines, the former a mere £30k. On the whole a points deduction looks extremely unlikely.
And yet the Sun have tried to cause trouble. I believe the FA will shoot them down over this.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13244531.stm
QPR ask FA to investigate newspaper claims
Queens Park Rangers have asked the Football Association to investigate a newspaper report suggesting they face a hefty points deduction.
The club, who lead the Championship by five points, could be in trouble over the 2009 signing of Alejandro Faurlin.
QPR's lawyers will seek clarification the FA source quoted in The Sun does not represent the views of the FA.
The club also want to clarify that the FA's policy is not to comment until after the 3 May hearing.
The Sun claims Neil Warnock's side could be docked up to 15 points if they are found guilty of breaking third-party ownership rules. As the table stands, QPR need only a point to secure promotion but a sizeable points penalty would see them plummet into the play-off places.
The FA has been investigating the case since September, when QPR asked for permission to buy out a third party that owned Faurlin's economic rights.
The club was prompted to do this by the Football League's introduction of rules prohibiting the third-party ownership of players.
The league told QPR they would have to notify the FA of their plans and it then became apparent the club may have been in breach of FA regulations for more than a year.
Those rules were brought in following the Carlos Tevez saga. That case dragged on for two years after Tevez helped West Ham beat relegation from the Premier League in 2007 despite being owned by a third party.
Sheffield United went down instead and lodged a legal challenge that ended with the Hammers owing the Premier League £5.5m for breaking the rules and the Blades £20m in compensation.
West Ham, however, avoided any points deduction that would have taken them down in Sheffield United's place.
The hearing into the signing of the Argentine midfielder begins next Tuesday and a verdict is set to be delivered three days later.
The Sun quotes an FA source as saying: "There's no question QPR have broken the rules. They know it as well. The only debate is what to do about it.
"If they aren't found guilty you might as well scrap the rules about third-party owners."
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3553711/The-FA-are-set-to-strip-QPR-of-promotion-to-the-Premier-League.html
QPR'S automatic promotion into the Premier League is set to be blocked by the FA.
SunSport understands the runaway Championship leaders are likely to face a big points deduction - possibly up to 15 - if they are found guilty of breaking strict third-party ownership rules over the signing of Alejandro Faurlin.
The evidence against the West London club is said to be damning and they could now end up in the play-offs.
The only winners would be Cardiff and Norwich who could then go up automatically.
The hearing into the signing of the Argentine midfielder two years ago begins next Tuesday and a verdict will be delivered three days later.
A four-man panel will comprise an independent QC, two from the FA's disciplinary panel and a football expert who will be either a former player or boss.
In theory, they should begin with a blank sheet of paper but many at the FA are openly discussing the case and reckon QPR - five points clear at the top of the table - are in big trouble. Those who have seen the evidence say Rangers are defending the indefensible.
An FA source said: "There's no question QPR have broken the rules. They know it as well. The only debate is what to do about it.
"If they aren't found guilty you might as well scrap the rules about third-party owners."
Some within the corridors of power believe QPR should be hit hard because they were well aware they were acting outside the regulations.
When West Ham were punished over the Carlos Tevez affair they were actually found guilty of failure to disclose information - not of breaking third-party ownership rules because such legislation did not exist.
Since then the FA have made third-party ownership illegal so the argument is QPR were worse offenders because they were well aware they were committing an offence.
If Neil Warnock's side are found guilty they will have seven days to appeal.
However, if QPR take legal action or other clubs decide to seek legal avenues because of points they lost when Faurlin played against them, the whole issue could drag on throughout the summer.
The nightmare scenario could even be that the Championship promotion play-offs do not take place at all until the issue is resolved.
The Sun have also been very devious - rather like the Evening Standard were towards me. They've taken fact and mixed in speculation to make the facts appear much bigger at first glance. The quotes on their own are just suggestion of the likelihood of QPR being found guilty. The possible punishment mentioned is pure speculation and does not come from the quoted source.
And as I discovered this is NOT a breach of the Press Complaints Commission's Editors code. Something needs to be done about this.
I'm inclined to speculate that the Sun had no source at all, and I'm pretty sure that the FA will deny that the quote came from them. There are so many logical reasons to expect no points deduction, and even if that weren't the case, it's been established that neither the FA or the Club will comment so as not to harm the legal process. The club today released a statement restating that no comment position from both themselves and the FA.
I've just seen on the BBC a report saying the club have asked the FA to do the same to underline that the Sun in fact has no official source. I've pasted below this BBC article (and the link) as well as the Sun's story and link. I believe this sums up exactly what is wrong with the media these days.
Interestingly I was having a conversation with a pianist I played with the other day who reckons the papers are dying out, and that even Murdoch won't be powerful to keep them alive for ever. It's as though they're like wasps in September. They know they're dying so they're trying to sting as many people as possible hoping to take a few with them. I will not be sorry if they do go extinct. I've already promised myself that I will never buy another newspaper again.
For those of you not familiar with the story it's as follows:
QPR signed Alejandro Faurlin from Instituto (in Argentina) in the summer of 2009. He was at the time part owned by some third party or other. QPR bought that part of his ownership separately I think, before the rules about third party ownership had been brought in. The disclosed the information fully to the FA and the Football League at the time, but it seems they sent back the wrong form in triplicate or some silly paperwork thing like that. There was also an agent involved who was registerd with FIFA but not the FA. However he is Italian so I believe EU rules mean he cannot be prevented from working in England, and as FIFA are the big brothers of the FA there should be no major issue there.
Also Alejandro Faurlin was officially declared an eligible player and has continued to play even after the charges were announced, so it has never been a case of fielding an ineligible player or gaining any unfair advantage on the pitch through breaking of rules. Just a few months ago the FA decided to answer that the club were being charged with breaches of regulations. The club contested the charges and a hearing date was to be scheduled. More recently that date was set to be 3-6th of may with the outcome being announced on the 6th, the day before the final match of the league season. All along there's been no comment from the club or the FA about the details of the case, and only the media stirring things has brought any talk of points deduction. There's never been a source from the FA suggesting it may be a possibility at any stage, and it's only come from journalists looking at a list the FA have of all the punishments available for various offences and leaping to conclusions leading a large proportion of the general public along with them.
The implications of a points deduction are massive. First of all it's the timing. If the FA thought a deduction were likely they would have rushed it through - they've known about the whole affair since last October and could have dealt with it there and then if they thought it serious. The club would have the right to appeal against any punishment if found guilty, meanwhile the playoffs have to take place and fixtures arranged for next season. All football clubs involved have access to the best lawyers that money can buy, probably more so than the FA, and thanks to the fixture list knock on effect that's every premier league club and especially any club involved in automatic promotion or the playoffs at the end of this season in the championship.
Furthermore there are precedents set with Bristol City and West Ham, both of whom paid fines, the former a mere £30k. On the whole a points deduction looks extremely unlikely.
And yet the Sun have tried to cause trouble. I believe the FA will shoot them down over this.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/13244531.stm
QPR ask FA to investigate newspaper claims
Queens Park Rangers have asked the Football Association to investigate a newspaper report suggesting they face a hefty points deduction.
The club, who lead the Championship by five points, could be in trouble over the 2009 signing of Alejandro Faurlin.
QPR's lawyers will seek clarification the FA source quoted in The Sun does not represent the views of the FA.
The club also want to clarify that the FA's policy is not to comment until after the 3 May hearing.
The Sun claims Neil Warnock's side could be docked up to 15 points if they are found guilty of breaking third-party ownership rules. As the table stands, QPR need only a point to secure promotion but a sizeable points penalty would see them plummet into the play-off places.
The FA has been investigating the case since September, when QPR asked for permission to buy out a third party that owned Faurlin's economic rights.
The club was prompted to do this by the Football League's introduction of rules prohibiting the third-party ownership of players.
The league told QPR they would have to notify the FA of their plans and it then became apparent the club may have been in breach of FA regulations for more than a year.
Those rules were brought in following the Carlos Tevez saga. That case dragged on for two years after Tevez helped West Ham beat relegation from the Premier League in 2007 despite being owned by a third party.
Sheffield United went down instead and lodged a legal challenge that ended with the Hammers owing the Premier League £5.5m for breaking the rules and the Blades £20m in compensation.
West Ham, however, avoided any points deduction that would have taken them down in Sheffield United's place.
The hearing into the signing of the Argentine midfielder begins next Tuesday and a verdict is set to be delivered three days later.
The Sun quotes an FA source as saying: "There's no question QPR have broken the rules. They know it as well. The only debate is what to do about it.
"If they aren't found guilty you might as well scrap the rules about third-party owners."
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3553711/The-FA-are-set-to-strip-QPR-of-promotion-to-the-Premier-League.html
QPR'S automatic promotion into the Premier League is set to be blocked by the FA.
SunSport understands the runaway Championship leaders are likely to face a big points deduction - possibly up to 15 - if they are found guilty of breaking strict third-party ownership rules over the signing of Alejandro Faurlin.
The evidence against the West London club is said to be damning and they could now end up in the play-offs.
The only winners would be Cardiff and Norwich who could then go up automatically.
The hearing into the signing of the Argentine midfielder two years ago begins next Tuesday and a verdict will be delivered three days later.
A four-man panel will comprise an independent QC, two from the FA's disciplinary panel and a football expert who will be either a former player or boss.
In theory, they should begin with a blank sheet of paper but many at the FA are openly discussing the case and reckon QPR - five points clear at the top of the table - are in big trouble. Those who have seen the evidence say Rangers are defending the indefensible.
An FA source said: "There's no question QPR have broken the rules. They know it as well. The only debate is what to do about it.
"If they aren't found guilty you might as well scrap the rules about third-party owners."
Some within the corridors of power believe QPR should be hit hard because they were well aware they were acting outside the regulations.
When West Ham were punished over the Carlos Tevez affair they were actually found guilty of failure to disclose information - not of breaking third-party ownership rules because such legislation did not exist.
Since then the FA have made third-party ownership illegal so the argument is QPR were worse offenders because they were well aware they were committing an offence.
If Neil Warnock's side are found guilty they will have seven days to appeal.
However, if QPR take legal action or other clubs decide to seek legal avenues because of points they lost when Faurlin played against them, the whole issue could drag on throughout the summer.
The nightmare scenario could even be that the Championship promotion play-offs do not take place at all until the issue is resolved.
The Sun have also been very devious - rather like the Evening Standard were towards me. They've taken fact and mixed in speculation to make the facts appear much bigger at first glance. The quotes on their own are just suggestion of the likelihood of QPR being found guilty. The possible punishment mentioned is pure speculation and does not come from the quoted source.
And as I discovered this is NOT a breach of the Press Complaints Commission's Editors code. Something needs to be done about this.
Sunday 10 April 2011
Making the most of our soon to be exhausted annual sun quota
Seems Britain is getting it's sun ration in early this year. It's been glorious largely, and this is great for me as it coincides with some work I'm doing that involves doing a lot of walking around outdoors. Loving it.
Today though I surprised myself when on a rare day off I found myself craving exercise. Then again not wearing shoes turns walking from a chore into a real pleasure and with whether like this I really had to make the most of it.
So I went into Harlesden to find a cash machine that a) doesn't charge and b) isn't out of service. I then decided to walk all the way over to Kilburn, mainly to enjoy the walk, but I chose that destination so I could check out the Good Ship, the venue for my next Platonic Curry gig on the 22nd March (Good Friday). They were very accommodating there. One of the guys gave me a quick tour, answered all my questions and even volunteered some more information that I wouldn't have thought to ask for.
By this time I'd worked up quite an appetite so decided to carry on walking until could find somewhere to eat. Ended up going towards Maida Vale, back onto Harrow Road then onto Bayswater. Great exercise for my knees as well - they're a bit fragile, but again, not wearing shoes means I can use all my joints properly and pain free.
Just got back home and can get on with some work I was born to do. No walking involved this time. Instead I feel very privileged to have been head-hunted as an arranger for a swing band recording project.
I thought about including the details of what I ate and how I caught them out nearly overcharging me by 50p, and the fact that I between each mouthful/sip I was tweeting on the #scharnerfacts hashfad, but it'd probably come across as rather banal.
Today though I surprised myself when on a rare day off I found myself craving exercise. Then again not wearing shoes turns walking from a chore into a real pleasure and with whether like this I really had to make the most of it.
So I went into Harlesden to find a cash machine that a) doesn't charge and b) isn't out of service. I then decided to walk all the way over to Kilburn, mainly to enjoy the walk, but I chose that destination so I could check out the Good Ship, the venue for my next Platonic Curry gig on the 22nd March (Good Friday). They were very accommodating there. One of the guys gave me a quick tour, answered all my questions and even volunteered some more information that I wouldn't have thought to ask for.
By this time I'd worked up quite an appetite so decided to carry on walking until could find somewhere to eat. Ended up going towards Maida Vale, back onto Harrow Road then onto Bayswater. Great exercise for my knees as well - they're a bit fragile, but again, not wearing shoes means I can use all my joints properly and pain free.
Just got back home and can get on with some work I was born to do. No walking involved this time. Instead I feel very privileged to have been head-hunted as an arranger for a swing band recording project.
I thought about including the details of what I ate and how I caught them out nearly overcharging me by 50p, and the fact that I between each mouthful/sip I was tweeting on the #scharnerfacts hashfad, but it'd probably come across as rather banal.
Monday 7 March 2011
Football and the Census
What with the census coming up, and the usual talk of "who's going to put Jedi?" etc. etc. I had an idea.
All of us who don't have an actual religion should put "Football supporter". Any fan of any team. If it's true that you only have to get a certain number and then it becomes an official recognised religion, then we could make being a football fan a real religion and it would become the law for employers to let anyone off work on matchdays (what with them being Holy Days of Obligation).
There's got to be something in this.
Here's another thought:
We might EVEN make it so Sky can't move games when they feel like it because it's our religious holiday.
All of us who don't have an actual religion should put "Football supporter". Any fan of any team. If it's true that you only have to get a certain number and then it becomes an official recognised religion, then we could make being a football fan a real religion and it would become the law for employers to let anyone off work on matchdays (what with them being Holy Days of Obligation).
There's got to be something in this.
Here's another thought:
We might EVEN make it so Sky can't move games when they feel like it because it's our religious holiday.
Sunday 13 February 2011
New Start
Following a rather traumatic experience in which all the effort I'd put into campaigning for a political cause (and still do) exploded in my face I've decided to set aside the blog that I'd dedicated towards that campaign and start a new one. The previous blog is still out there and those who know about it may continue to refer to it if they wish but I will not be drawing any undue attention to it or contributing to it any further.
So I'm leaving politics behind. I think I've got a fair amount out of it and I certainly put a fair amount into it but in the long-term, politics and I are not all that likely to get on too well.
I'm also about to give my twitter a makeover. There'll be a shedding of twibbons, a new picture and probably a change of name on there so that people not already following me (especially from political spheres) can be allowed to forget about my part in that.
I've got other things to do and document anyway. Last week was the debut appearance of my newly formed band Platonic Curry (http://twitter.com/platoniccurry). As first performances go I really have plenty to be pleased with and with another gig in April and more to be announced soon it's definitely something to be very proud of.
QPR are having a phenomenal season. I was at Loftus Road today in fact. OK we didn't beat Forest but I can't help but feel positive about it. So there'll be plenty to talk about there.
Having decided to make a clean break from politics I've a fair amount of free time on my hands now so I'm always looking for more things to do, not all of them purely music-related, and so there'll be all sorts appearing on here.
I'm also one of those unusual people who really doesn't like wearing shoes, to the point of not letting little things like social convention, inclement weather or good old fashioned dirt stop me from leaving the house without them so just very occasionally I might come across something related to that that's worth reading even to people who ordinarily wouldn't give a stuff. Remember, weirdo yes. But HARMLESS weirdo. It's important. :-)
So I'm leaving politics behind. I think I've got a fair amount out of it and I certainly put a fair amount into it but in the long-term, politics and I are not all that likely to get on too well.
I'm also about to give my twitter a makeover. There'll be a shedding of twibbons, a new picture and probably a change of name on there so that people not already following me (especially from political spheres) can be allowed to forget about my part in that.
I've got other things to do and document anyway. Last week was the debut appearance of my newly formed band Platonic Curry (http://twitter.com/platoniccurry). As first performances go I really have plenty to be pleased with and with another gig in April and more to be announced soon it's definitely something to be very proud of.
QPR are having a phenomenal season. I was at Loftus Road today in fact. OK we didn't beat Forest but I can't help but feel positive about it. So there'll be plenty to talk about there.
Having decided to make a clean break from politics I've a fair amount of free time on my hands now so I'm always looking for more things to do, not all of them purely music-related, and so there'll be all sorts appearing on here.
I'm also one of those unusual people who really doesn't like wearing shoes, to the point of not letting little things like social convention, inclement weather or good old fashioned dirt stop me from leaving the house without them so just very occasionally I might come across something related to that that's worth reading even to people who ordinarily wouldn't give a stuff. Remember, weirdo yes. But HARMLESS weirdo. It's important. :-)
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