This afternoon we were contacted by Amar Mehta, of Sky Sports news – who wanted a response to the below article, following an interview with Irfan Liaquat.
We provided the reporter in question with a response, and decided to post a full transcript of what they sent us plus our response, so ensure nothing could be edited done or taken out of context. He has then asked us to remove the story he wrote, and remove the quotes – which we have done.
However, the response to the story from ourselves has can be found below.
It should go without saying that naturally, we condemn any kind of racist language or abuse towards any club official, member of staff, player, supporter or volunteer.
However, the chairman’s comments are simply nonsensical. For months supporters have been concerned about the lack of communication and the direction in which the club is going, and the chairman has failed to even clarify what is 5 year plan actually even means.
When the Chairman and his team came in, they paraded themselves around in the social club and told us they were going to invest, and knew exactly what they needed to do. 6 months later, we’ve see nor heard of any improvements scheduled to take place in and around the ground, and we now find ourselves in the relegation zone once again following some rushed and last minute recruitment this summer.
For months we’ve tried to extend an olive branch out to the football club to put supporters concerns and questions across to them, and this is now the second time we’ve been met with a statement of sorts from the owner, branding us as misleading and pushing ‘fake news’. At present we are not trying to get the owner to leave or sell up, we are simply trying to get him and his team to simply speak to us and the rest of the fan base.
Since the takeover, supporters have been threatened with legal action on multiple occasions, with the chairman even getting the police involved at one point, giving them my contact details without consent. Former players and have been disrespected as have many volunteers – who’ve been replaced by paid staff.
The chairman seems to be willing to do anything to avoid addressing legitimate concerns and questions by supporters. To suggest this is a coordinated attack, is both childish and laughable.
Dan Rolls – Blyth’s Green Army