FOOTBALL LEAGUE ARE AS MAD AS HATTERS
Monday, July 14th, 2008 by Stuart Stratford
The Football League’s decision to impose a twenty point penalty on Luton Town for failing to exit Administration has placed the future of the club in further doubt. Coming on top of a ten point deduction for paying Agents via a third-party, a direct contravention of the League’s rules, relegation to the Blue Square Premier League seems inevitable at the end of the 2008-09 season. In order to claw back their -30 point starting total, the Bedfordshire club must produce form that would ordinarily see them occupy one of the three automatic promotion spots.
Luton were left with little option but to accept the penalty as the League set out the criteria that appeal was not allowed if their membership of the organisation was to continue. In itself, that seems against natural justice, a feeling compounded by the fact that the League took into account that this was the third time in a decade that the club had entered administration. That the rules governing this aspect were not in place during all of that time again emphasises the absence of fairness in the penalty. However, Leicester City were accused of avoiding relegation from the Championship - a fate they succumbed to last season - by exploiting the now-closed loopholes in the League’s rules. Indeed, following Leeds United’s unsuccessful appeal against their fifteen point deduction last season, The Hatters fate was sealed.
It begs the question though whether or not the points deduction and the severity of Luton’s plight was in the best interests of sporting justice. Given their handicap, would it not better if they had been relegated to the Blue Square Premier League this season. Unless Luton get into the winning habit regularly, the odds of 1-10 on their survival will become even less attractive. Had they been put into the highest rung of Non-League football, the club would at least have the chance to rebuild and may have bounced back immediately in an altogether more healthier financial position.
As it is, they seem doomed before they have begun. There are two effects that this position though could have on the club. If they won their initial five games, the position would not seem so bad. However, the opposite will possibly ruin the future of the sport in the town as crowds may fall accordingly. Initially though it ought to be a rallying cry for the manager and players to use, a siege mentality created externally often brings out the best in sides. With Luton’s future still not resolved off the pitch, it is a club in dire need of good news. The only place that seems likely to come from is the band of players who are fighting for their professional lives.
Tags: Football, Football League, Luton Town, Soccer
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