League 1 General Chat Thread

[Luke Imp]

Hell of a transcript here of the Judge sentencing all four people, defintely worth a read.

https://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/news/here-is-what-the-judge-had-to-say-to-andy-pilley-and-his-co-accused-4207556?itm_source=parsely-api

 

[Carver]

Surely this will now be the end of Fleetwood and I'm not being funny but as for their fans, all 100 of them, they should accept that they only had a ride as a football league club thanks to dirty money.

So now it's time for you to go back to being a little Sunday league club and to release all your best players and non criminal staff immediately so they can be picked up by proper clubs like us who can pay them honestly.

 

[Gibber_McGee]

When Fleetwood pipped us (Wrexham) to promotion to the EFL from the National League, a fair few of our fans highlighted the unsavoury business practices of Pilley, but were labelled as sore losers.

They should never have been an EFL club or even a National League club - that whole football club has been built and funded by criminal activity, and they have stolen promotions and league placings off others. They should be removed from the EFL.

 

[codaplenty]

Plenty of vitriol towards Fleetwood and only to be expected.Pilley has brought shame on the football club and the lovely town of Fleetwood and I deplore him for what he has done. It's easy to say dirty money etc propelled Fleetwood upwards from non league into the football league. I, along with plenty of other Fleetwood fans ( more than 100 ) had no idea of the scale of the scale of the fraud. I repeat, the summing up from the judge was scathing and his lying shows the depth to which he would go to save his own skin. If the EFL decide on a penalty for the club it will be taken on the chin. The club and fans will have to accept the anger, ill feeling going forward and that is a price to be paid by the over whelming majority of decent honest Fleetwood fans

 

[gainsparkshrew]

Plenty of vitriol towards Fleetwood and only to be expected.Pilley has brought shame on the football club and the lovely town of Fleetwood and I deplore him for what he has done. It's easy to say dirty money etc propelled Fleetwood upwards from non league into the football league. I, along with plenty of other Fleetwood fans ( more than 100 ) had no idea of the scale of the scale of the fraud. I repeat, the summing up from the judge was scathing and his lying shows the depth to which he would go to save his own skin. If the EFL decide on a penalty for the club it will be taken on the chin. The club and fans will have to accept the anger, ill feeling going forward and that is a price to be paid by the over whelming majority of decent honest Fleetwood fans

Codaplenty- Having read your posts over the years it's very clear that you are a good guy who has supported your team from way way back when. Please don't take any malice aimed towards Piley or your club personally,
Sadly it's the real fans who suffer and you must be hurting terribly atm and all because of the actions of a conman

 

[codaplenty]

Codaplenty- Having read your posts over the years it's very clear that you are a good guy who has supported your team from way way back when. Please don't take any malice aimed towards Piley or your club personally,
Sadly it's the real fans who suffer and you must be hurting terribly atm and all because of the actions of a conman

Thank you, it's appreciated

 

[Carver]

A shame for the only one real fan they have yes of course, so we'll see what happens but if the club just gets a slap on the wrist for all this then the EFL can fuck right off.

The message they would be sending is 'do whatever the fuck you want and we won't punish you'.

Which is how they pretty much dealt with Wigan.

 

[kieran_vale]

A shame for the only one real fan they have yes of course, so we'll see what happens but if the club just gets a slap on the wrist for all this then the EFL can fuck right off.

The message they would be sending is 'do whatever the fuck you want and we won't punish you'.

Which is how they pretty much dealt with Wigan.

I think the problem is there’s not a lot they can do unless we get to a situation where they’re not paying players or if any appeal process has been completed (if there is one from Pilley not that it would succeed).

Separate bit of news our new signing Mitch Clark now had confirmation of his punishment for breaking betting rules. Lucky boy, would say it bodes well for the Bradford fella who is in trouble for it now.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1676599526662995972

 

[Carver]

I think the problem is there’s not a lot they can do unless we get to a situation where they’re not paying players or if any appeal process has been completed (if there is one from Pilley not that it would succeed).

They can kick them out of the league that's what they can do to them.

 

[EnglishRed]

Surely this will now be the end of Fleetwood and I'm not being funny but as for their fans, all 100 of them, they should accept that they only had a ride as a football league club thanks to dirty money.

So now it's time for you to go back to being a little Sunday league club and to release all your best players and non criminal staff immediately so they can be picked up by proper clubs like us who can pay them honestly.

We should be compensated for the eleven more seasons we were in Non league after we came second to them with 98 points and didn't go up (after they poached two of our players as well).

Kick them out of the league.

 

[gainsparkshrew]

We should be compensated for the eleven more seasons we were in Non league after we came second to them with 98 points and didn't go up (after they poached two of our players as well).

Kick them out of the league.

View attachment 18726

The EFL cannot,and will not, just kick them out of the league as the league is owned by the 72 EFL member clubs.
The process can only begin if and when Fleetwood fail to pay their players and the PFA step in or when HMRC or the legal authorities get a winding up petition against them
I can understand your hatred of them,considering the last 15 years that you guys have gone through and the list of conman owners that you have had, but these things have to go through due process and they may still be hanging on in 12 months or may have been bought out.Who knows ?

 

[BRFC_Gas]

I think the problem is there’s not a lot they can do unless we get to a situation where they’re not paying players or if any appeal process has been completed (if there is one from Pilley not that it would succeed).

Separate bit of news our new signing Mitch Clark now had confirmation of his punishment for breaking betting rules. Lucky boy, would say it bodes well for the Bradford fella who is in trouble for it now.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1676599526662995972

Lucky indeed. It seems the more famous you are the harder the punishment when it comes to betting breaches> not sure how it varies so much, they all know the rules and a bet is a bet

 

[Carver]

The EFL cannot,and will not, just kick them out of the league as the league is owned by the 72 EFL member clubs.
The process can only begin if and when Fleetwood fail to pay their players and the PFA step in or when HMRC or the legal authorities get a winding up petition against them
I can understand your hatred of them,considering the last 15 years that you guys have gone through and the list of conman owners that you have had, but these things have to go through due process and they may still be hanging on in 12 months or may have been bought out.Who knows ?

If they can't be kicked out then they will at least need to start the season on minus 50 points and have an immediate 15 year transfer ban imposed on them.

And if any of their old man with his dog fans don't like it then they can easily just go and support Blackpool who are just down the road from them.

 

[kieran_vale]

If they can't be kicked out then they will at least need to start the season on minus 50 points and have an immediate 15 year transfer ban imposed on them.

And if any of their old man with his dog fans don't like it then they can easily just go and support Blackpool who are just down the road from them.

I get the sentiment but you can’t just impose either expulsion or large points deductions on teams like that unilaterally. If they tried then it would get dragged through the courts for years and probably right up to the CAS.

Lucky indeed. It seems the more famous you are the harder the punishment when it comes to betting breaches> not sure how it varies so much, they all know the rules and a bet is a bet

Reading the judgement in paragraphs 27 and 28 they have set out the mitigating factors but certainly fortunate in comparison to say Ivan Toney. Obviously from a Vale perspective am happy we can start the season with him but doing it on a case by case basis seems right.

https://www.thefa.com/-/media/files/thefaportal/governance-docs/discipline-cases/2023/the-fa-v-mitch-clark---20-june-2023.ashx

 

[BRFC_Gas]

I get the sentiment but you can’t just impose either expulsion or large points deductions on teams like that unilaterally. If they tried then it would get dragged through the courts for years and probably right up to the CAS.



Reading the judgement in paragraphs 27 and 28 they have set out the mitigating factors but certainly fortunate in comparison to say Ivan Toney. Obviously from a Vale perspective am happy we can start the season with him but doing it on a case by case basis seems right.

https://www.thefa.com/-/media/files/thefaportal/governance-docs/discipline-cases/2023/the-fa-v-mitch-clark---20-june-2023.ashx

Hmm... low value bets, but actually betting on your own team to lose that's just not on for me. 'not enriched himself through his football betting"...no shit how many of us manage that lol

 

[EnglishRed]

The EFL cannot,and will not, just kick them out of the league as the league is owned by the 72 EFL member clubs.
The process can only begin if and when Fleetwood fail to pay their players and the PFA step in or when HMRC or the legal authorities get a winding up petition against them
I can understand your hatred of them,considering the last 15 years that you guys have gone through and the list of conman owners that you have had, but these things have to go through due process and they may still be hanging on in 12 months or may have been bought out.Who knows ?

I know I know. And at this point any sanctions just hurt the club and ultimately the fans not the guilty parties. It just seems wrong. At the very least they need to have an embargo placed on them until the club is in new ownership.

More evidence that the football authorities don't bother to do anything about dodgy owners.

 

[codaplenty]

We should be compensated for the eleven more seasons we were in Non league after we came second to them with 98 points and didn't go up (after they poached two of our players as well).

Kick them out of the lea ki

If they can't be kicked out then they will at least need to start the season on minus 50 points and have an immediate 15 year transfer ban imposed on them.

And if any of their old man with his dog fans don't like it then they can easily just go and support Blackpool who are just down the road from them.

Now mate there are limits to what any Fleetwood fan would do, Thornton Cleveleys FC just round the corner from me. The Lasher's .......ugh

 

[Andy Proctor]

Now mate there are limits to what any Fleetwood fan would do, Thornton Cleveleys FC just round the corner from me. The Lasher's .......ugh

I used to play a football managing game when I was at school that was based in Thornton cleveleys kjc games extra time it was called.

 

[Pompeyblueboy]

A shame for the only one real fan they have yes of course, so we'll see what happens but if the club just gets a slap on the wrist for all this then the EFL can fuck right off.

The message they would be sending is 'do whatever the fuck you want and we won't punish you'.

Which is how they pretty much dealt with Wigan.

If you are represenitive of Carlisle then God help L1.

 

[Carver]

If you are represenitive of Carlisle then God help L1.

What because I want things to be fair?

Since we came up into this league I've seen nothing but corruption with clubs just throwing money around carelessly and a few of these clubs are smaller than us!

Well, they'll be no sympathy from me when they all go bust.

 

[Tallow]

Careful what you wish for Carver.
We had a dodgy owner once, and he was almost duped by a dodgy curry waiter.

 

[Gibber_McGee]

I think there is a difference between a club with a dodgy owner (we have had plenty of those ourselves) and a club which has been directly funded by criminal activity and has stolen promotions and league places from others. Without that funding that club would still be playing in a village league.

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

Yep I agree that is why I would be for expulsion, and I have nothing at all against fans of fleetwood or Fleetwood the club itself.

But it has clearly got here through criminal activity, fraud and you don’t know also how much the club has been used to filter through resources………the EFL shows how weak it is by fact it won’t act.

Still Fleetwood now have their fresh start they will have to adapt better than Rushden did which I think was the last similar club funded well above its level and had funding stopped, they were never able to adapt to Running themselves properly which is what Fleetwood now will have to do.

 

[EnglishRed]

Yep I agree that is why I would be for expulsion, and I have nothing at all against fans of fleetwood or Fleetwood the club itself.

But it has clearly got here through criminal activity, fraud and you don’t know also how much the club has been used to filter through resources………the EFL shows how weak it is by fact it won’t act.

Still Fleetwood now have their fresh start they will have to adapt better than Rushden did which I think was the last similar club funded well above its level and had funding stopped, they were never able to adapt to Running themselves properly which is what Fleetwood now will have to do.

No idea how they will survive from here. As far as I can see from their financial returns they were losing tend of thousands per week, owed Piley tens of millions, and as of 2020 (I haven't seen the last return) their wages accounted for 130% of turnover.

At the end of the day they are a club with an average attendance that's never got about 3.5k spending the same as clubs three or four times their size. Without Pileys money they would struggle to sustain National League North status let alone League one.

 

[Marked Ox]

Yep I agree that is why I would be for expulsion, and I have nothing at all against fans of fleetwood or Fleetwood the club itself.

But it has clearly got here through criminal activity, fraud and you don’t know also how much the club has been used to filter through resources………the EFL shows how weak it is by fact it won’t act.

Still Fleetwood now have their fresh start they will have to adapt better than Rushden did which I think was the last similar club funded well above its level and had funding stopped, they were never able to adapt to Running themselves properly which is what Fleetwood now will have to do.

The FL can't do anything as the club (a separate legal entity) hasn't broken the league's rules* as of yet.

*From my limited knowledge of them anyway.

 

[Claret Forever]

In non fleetwood news, the High Court Judicial Review of the sale of land around Sixfields has gone in the favour of the owners and against the rival property developers. Which means to make long story short, more than 9 years since it began, there's a decent chane the East Stand construction will be restarted in the next 6 months or so to finally complete it, which will hopefully mean less chance of getting soaked by foul weather in the East, which as it also becomes the overspill area for away fans is likely to be a little bit of good news.

It won't add to capacity, so we'll still have the 5th smallest ground in the League, but I'd expect us our attendance to be around 6k in League One which would make us around 75% to full capacity on average, which is less than AFC Wimbledon, Stockport, Barrow, Derby, Portsmouth, Lincoln, Leyton Orient and Camrbidge. So I can sort of understand the business case for just adding boxes, but it's a shame that there isn't an upgrade to allow the occasional sell out we get with the big games. That said, if the money doesn't exist for it, not much you can do about it.

 

[valefan16]

Its a tough one, obviously it needs investigating thoroughly and until/if any investigation is completed into Fleetwood then its all guess work.

Its easy to say kick them out etc but we have to remember they have supporters regardless of how many, employees etc,

I don't personally mind Fleetwood, unlike some money bags clubs they at least invested heavily in infrastructure such as the training ground and stadium facilities but its obviously a very difficult situation that needs resolving correctly.

 

[LordJord]

In non fleetwood news, the High Court Judicial Review of the sale of land around Sixfields has gone in the favour of the owners and against the rival property developers. Which means to make long story short, more than 9 years since it began, there's a decent chane the East Stand construction will be restarted in the next 6 months or so to finally complete it, which will hopefully mean less chance of getting soaked by foul weather in the East, which as it also becomes the overspill area for away fans is likely to be a little bit of good news.

It won't add to capacity, so we'll still have the 5th smallest ground in the League, but I'd expect us our attendance to be around 6k in League One which would make us around 75% to full capacity on average, which is less than AFC Wimbledon, Stockport, Barrow, Derby, Portsmouth, Lincoln, Leyton Orient and Camrbidge. So I can sort of understand the business case for just adding boxes, but it's a shame that there isn't an upgrade to allow the occasional sell out we get with the big games. That said, if the money doesn't exist for it, not much you can do about it.

Im glad there is light at the end of the tunnel but the whole thing has been beyond farcical. To have all that money and all that land and in the end just a row of boxes to show for it is pathetic. That being said I have looked across at that monstrosity for coming up to a decade now and I just want to see it finished.

Completely agree though, feels like a massive missed opportunity to increase the overall capacity.

 

[EricSabin]

Im glad there is light at the end of the tunnel but the whole thing has been beyond farcical. To have all that money and all that land and in the end just a row of boxes to show for it is pathetic. That being said I have looked across at that monstrosity for coming up to a decade now and I just want to see it finished.

Completely agree though, feels like a massive missed opportunity to increase the overall capacity.

Someone asked me what it was all about today and I said honestly mate I couldn’t tell you, switched off from the East stand saga years ago. Such a wasted opportunity.

 

[Luke Imp]

The EFL highlight show is changing this season. No studio set-up and it'll filmed from a stadium every week, with no guests and ran closer to a quick fire goals show instead.