Macclefield or Stevenage, which one goes?

[BlackHaddock]

Just great. In stead of a few pints in the Railway View and a game afterwards I have now got another Saturday at home because I refuse to go to Stevenage.

 

[Boz]

As a supporter of another demoted club, I can empathise, although the situations are very different. The EFL gets what they want; the dis-similar treatments handed out to Bolton and Macclesfield highlights that. Feel very sorry for the Silkmen fans for this situation and hope that the club can survive in some form.

 

[denzel ecfc]

Dancing in the streets of Carlisle...

 

[Son of Cod]

That's a disgrace.

Shameful that other clubs (Carlisle and Grimsby) got involved too and helped make this happen, had nothing to do with them.

I'm assuming you're talking about Phillip Day's comments that were apparently pretty unanimous and in line with the rest of the boards in the division? He pretty much just said that points deductions rules should be adhered to and that clubs with financial problems shouldn't be fined. Overtly said it's not a case of Stevenage vs Macclesfield too.

 

[chipmunx]

Carlisle as a club and town should be forcefully moved to Scotland for their disgraceful part in this...

 

[masi51]

As a supporter of another demoted club, I can empathise, although the situations are very different. The EFL gets what they want; the dis-similar treatments handed out to Bolton and Macclesfield highlights that. Feel very sorry for the Silkmen fans for this situation and hope that the club can survive in some form.

Why do Bolton get brought up time and time again....we never fulfilled a fixture at the end of the 18/19 season...No points were deducted a because we was already relegated and had a -12 tally for the following season.
We then postponed a game the following season 19/20 against Doncaster due to Duty of care issues with our young team.

This went to a independent panel who took no action

 

[Luke Imp]

Stevenage have made about 10 signings already despite not knowing what league they're likely to be in (unless they got a tip of a month or so ago).

 

[Bottega Don]

I'm assuming you're talking about Phillip Day's comments that were apparently pretty unanimous and in line with the rest of the boards in the division? He pretty much just said that points deductions rules should be adhered to and that clubs with financial problems shouldn't be fined. Overtly said it's not a case of Stevenage vs Macclesfield too.

Carlisle and Grimsby were reportedly supporting Stevenage and wanting Macclesfield to lose their place in the division. Macclesfield's board came out and criticised Carlisle/Grimsby for just that. As much as other teams may have wanted Stevenage in, they didn't attempt to directly influence the EFL like Carlisle and Grimsby reportedly tried.

 

[Conker]

What a absolute farce of

Stevenage have made about 10 signings already despite not knowing what league they're likely to be in (unless they got a tip of a month or so ago).

Stevenage have been pretty certain they will be playing in the EFL for a while now.

 

[Son of Cod]

Carlisle and Grimsby were reportedly supporting Stevenage and wanting Macclesfield to lose their place in the division. Macclesfield's board came out and criticised Carlisle/Grimsby for just that. As much as other teams may have wanted Stevenage in, they didn't attempt to directly influence the EFL like Carlisle and Grimsby reportedly tried.

So there's absolutely no evidence to suggest that we did that? Have you read Phillip Day's comments on this? I highly doubt we'd be supporting Stevenage considering the beef we've had with them over recent seasons.

 

[The_Boss]

Also don't forget Stevenage has a game postponed due to international call ups, which were then proved to be false - no punishment though.

 

[Bottega Don]

So there's absolutely no evidence to suggest that we did that? Have you read Phillip Day's comments on this? I highly doubt we'd be supporting Stevenage considering the beef we've had with them over recent seasons.

Well your chairman came out and said the EFL should appeal the decision to dock Macclesfield more points. I personally don't think any chairman should get involved when it doesn't involve their club. Is there more to his comment that I've missed?

 

[Reremnart]

Yet another reason why the current leadership of the EFL are totally incompetent witha definite bias towards former PL and southern based clubs. I wonder if the other club involved had been, say, Morecambe or Accrington , rather than one based in leafy Hertfordshire would Mac be playing VNL football next season.

 

[masi51]

Yet another reason why the current leadership of the EFL are totally incompetent witha definite bias towards former PL and southern based clubs. I wonder if the other club involved had been, say, Morecambe or Accrington , rather than one based in leafy Hertfordshire would Mac be playing VNL football next season.

Former PL teams ?
Wigan have been shafted...ohh i forgot you was again sniping at Bolton

 

[Minstermen central]

Should start a petition and get Stevenage relegated like they deserve.
Have Macclesfield signed any players thinking they a league team?

 

[Son of Cod]

Well your chairman came out and said the EFL should appeal the decision to dock Macclesfield more points. I personally don't think any chairman should get involved when it doesn't involve their club. Is there more to his comment that I've missed?

At an EFL AGM or something similar it had been discussed and the overwhelming decision of representatives from L2 felt there should be a clear system in place, ie. 3 points docked when you can't pay players. He was just relaying this when asked about it. From what I read it was more of a criticism of the arbitrary denominations of points deductions dished out and how that could be seen as unfair in terms of relegating Stevenage as opposed to be anything anti-Macclesfield.

 

[rudebwoyben]

Sorry but this is just disgusting and not right,EFL is disgrace and screwed Macclesfield over.
Stevenage 100% deserve to go down,they would of been lowest ever points for a season and believe this coming from a York fan who got relegated under McNamara this takes some doing.
So a team who won 3 games all season stays up. Ridiculous why not promote Notts County if they are desperate to ruin Macclesfield.
Hope Stevenage get hammered every week next season,it’s just not right.

Not true, Doncaster Rovers 97/98 comfortably hold this record.

 

[shoddycollins]

Carlisle and Grimsby were reportedly supporting Stevenage and wanting Macclesfield to lose their place in the division. Macclesfield's board came out and criticised Carlisle/Grimsby for just that. As much as other teams may have wanted Stevenage in, they didn't attempt to directly influence the EFL like Carlisle and Grimsby reportedly tried.

Have you any evidence of this or are you just talking out your arse?

We withdrew ourselves from playing any part in the hearing due to a conflict of interest seing as John Nixon, our managing director is also the representative on the EFL board for League 2 clubs.

As far back as early March when we were still playing we made it clear that we wouldn't be voting either way owing to the fact that we were still in danger of relegation ourselves AND had this conflict of interest, it wouldn't be appropriate for us to have any say in Macclesfield's fate. Of course the danger of relegation has now gone but we haven't said anything further on the matter.

Nixon's only input into the hearings was to repeat views presented to him by other club owners who he had spoken to as part of his role at the EFL. He has spoken of his own personal views on occasion and this was definitely unwise but hardly counts as him working to influence the EFL into getting rid of Macclesfield.

So I'd be interested to know what part Scunthorpe played in this but we didn't play any significant part. Maybe the views which Macclesfield were so unhappy with and singled us out for were actually your owner's views. I can understand that Macclesfield are unhappy with the EFL right now and Nixon being on the EFL's board is going to make him a target of their anger but other clubs in the EFL are hiding behind people like Nixon and pretending they had nothing to do with this.

 

[The_Boss]

I can understand that Macclesfield are unhappy with the EFL right now and Nixon being on the EFL's board is going to make him a target of their anger but other clubs in the EFL are hiding behind people like Nixon and pretending they had nothing to do with this.

Yep this. I think there's plenty across the division that wanted us gone.

We would have just been better going into administration than all of this.

 

[The_Boss]

Should start a petition and get Stevenage relegated like they deserve.
Have Macclesfield signed any players thinking they a league team?

Not signed a single player. Only arranged our first pre-season friendly in the last couple of days. We put everything on hold whilst we put together a business plan for the EFL as requested for end of July.

 

[Bottega Don]

Have you any evidence of this or are you just talking out your arse?

We withdrew ourselves from playing any part in the hearing due to a conflict of interest seing as John Nixon, our managing director is also the representative on the EFL board for League 2 clubs.

As far back as early March when we were still playing we made it clear that we wouldn't be voting either way owing to the fact that we were still in danger of relegation ourselves AND had this conflict of interest, it wouldn't be appropriate for us to have any say in Macclesfield's fate. Of course the danger of relegation has now gone but we haven't said anything further on the matter.

Nixon's only input into the hearings was to repeat views presented to him by other club owners who he had spoken to as part of his role at the EFL. He has spoken of his own personal views on occasion and this was definitely unwise but hardly counts as him working to influence the EFL into getting rid of Macclesfield.

So I'd be interested to know what part Scunthorpe played in this but we didn't play any significant part. Maybe the views which Macclesfield were so unhappy with and singled us out for were actually your owner's views. I can understand that Macclesfield are unhappy with the EFL right now and Nixon being on the EFL's board is going to make him a target of their anger but other clubs in the EFL are hiding behind people like Nixon and pretending they had nothing to do with this.

I wouldn't be happy with our chairman either if he had a part to play in this. I think it's nothing to do with any club but Macclesfield and any other club is in the wrong by getting involved.

Macclesfield singled out Grimsby and Carlisle as clubs that were involved, therefore I would assume they were the ones most involved. Either way, any club (including mine) shouldn't have been involved one bit.

 

[The_Boss]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1293457195347120134

Wow. Just wow.

 

[shoddycollins]

In amongst all of this bickering we're forgetting the true victims of the Macclesfield owner's actions.

In December, Macclesfield were due to host Crewe Alexandra, yet the game was postponed due to a player's strike following the Macclesfield owner withholding their wages.

Scandalously, the EFL ignored widespread calls for Crewe to be awarded a three-nil victory and three points and against all common decency Crewe were to be forced to play Macclesfield in a rearranged game. The game was eventually played in January but Crewe were only able to salvage a draw, still reeling from the sucker punch the EFL had dealt them.

Tragically, it turns out this game could have been the difference between Crewe winning the L2 title on PPG and having to settle for a second place finish. Literally hundreds of fans have been denied a once-in-a-lifetime moment and instead left shellshocked, devastated and lacking all hope that any good exists in the world.

#Creweremembers

 

[shoddycollins]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1293457195347120134

Wow. Just wow.

how embarrasing... I mean it would have been bad if it was simply the response to avoiding relegation over a 46 game season with no assistance from points deductions.

 

[Chris FGR]

Stevenage should make a DVD special of their miraculous escape from relegation.

 

[Son of Cod]

I wouldn't be happy with our chairman either if he had a part to play in this. I think it's nothing to do with any club but Macclesfield and any other club is in the wrong by getting involved.

Macclesfield singled out Grimsby and Carlisle as clubs that were involved, therefore I would assume they were the ones most involved. Either way, any club (including mine) shouldn't have been involved one bit.

Are you gonna give us a link for this or what then?

 

[Chris FGR]

Didn't Philip Day come out publicly and say that the EFL should appeal the decision?

 

[Bottega Don]

Are you gonna give us a link for this or what then?

A letter to the Chief Executive Officer of the English Football League
SST Secretary
c/o 3 Lincoln Place
Macclesfield

Cheshire

SK10 3EW

Mr David Baldwin
Chief Executive Officer
English Football League
EFL House
10-12 West Cliff
Preston
PR1 8HU

Dear Mr Baldwin

Macclesfield Town Football Club (MTFC) are a small town football club within a hotbed of Premiership clubs in the North West, and one with a proud heritagedating back to 1874. The "against all odds" mentality that pervades our club has seen MTFC achieve promotion to the English Football League (EFL) on two occasions, and on much smaller budgets than many of its peers.

It is further use to note that in this day and age where there is a great concern about the lack of Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) coaches and managers in English football within the game, Macclesfield has appointed 3 BAME managers and a number of BAME coaches during their tenure in the ELF.

Please be assured that the overwhelming majority of Macclesfield Town Football Club (MTFC) Silkmen fans including the Silkmen Supporters Trust (SST) board, would be the first to admit that the stewardship of our beloved club by majority shareholder Mr. AlKadhi has been heartbreakingly horrendous. Silkmen fans everywhere despise his mismanagement of the club and in addition to his contemptuous attitude towards the club’s playing and non-playing staff and of course our long suffering supporters. It is our view that the actions of Mr. AlKhadi have clearly angered the English Football League (EFL), and as a result of his actions MTFC have been rightly docked points for this mismanagement., The recent re-involvement of former Silkmen chairman Mark Blower who played a major role in MTFC's defence at the recent independent panel hearing, had subsequently pointed to a more secure future for our beloved club both on and off the field with an inspiration of a fully operational board dedicated to effective governance of MTFC going forward.

The SST would like to place on record our frustration by the EFL's apparent inability and unwillingness to deal with the actions of appalling owners which have been manifest this season with the cases of Bury and now sadly Wigan. The SST have appealed for help on behalf of the fans, players and community, and have found the EFL to be unsympathetic and largely unresp;onsive. The lack of action on the appeals relating to staff mental healthhave been particularly galling..

The last disciplinary hearing held by an Independent Panel against MTFC made their decision after considering all the evidence and this should be respected. It must be pointed out that the decision was made considering the flawed way points per game (PPG) was calculated. MTFC were in effect deducted 16 points not 13, as recommended by the panel. A comparable analogy to this is a criminal sentenced to 18 months in prison who on arrival at the point of incarceration is told "forget what your sentence is, it is now 2 years" without rhythm nor reason. This is against English Law and legal advice appears to be on the side of MTFC.

It is our view that the EFL are inconsistent to say the least. Stevenage avoided a points deduction following an independent panel's decision, regarding a postponement of a fixture against Oldham Athletic where it was cited that three Stevenage players were identified for international call ups when only two were alleged to be eligible to be counted. Where was the EFL appeal? Southend another serial offender of paying wages late received a suspended point deduction. Again, where was the EFL appeal? These follow the imposition of no points reduction to Bolton Wanderers for missing two games.

The last two weeks have seen a publicity orchestrated campaign by members of the EFL to get Macclesfield demoted, an action the EFL well knows would obliterate the club. The prime orchestrator has been Mr. Philip Wallace of Stevenage, along with others including Mr. Philip Day of Grimsby. We believe that it is disgraceful, that the EFL board representative for League Two, Mr. John Nixon who sits at the high table of the EFL hierarchy, and who should surely provide an unbiased approach to all League 2 clubs; highlighted on social media that such was his indignation at the recent independent panel's decision regarding MTFC, that he was considering resigning from his aforementioned role. Is this the way the EFL conducts its business? The SST has seen no evidence of him demonstrating denial of his apparent ire since this time. The self-righteous indignation from Mr. Nixon was palpably silent following the decision on Stevenage, not to mention inrespect of the PPG calculation that effectively saw the SIlkmen receive a further three point eduction.

It is of further use to note that on the 6th March 2020 Carlisle’s Chief Executive Nigel Clibbens spoke of how "on discussions and deliberations of [Macclesfield], penalties etc, [Mr. Nixon] does not participate, except to simply collect League Two views and pass them to the EFL." The above statement from the Cumbrians Chief Executive appears to have fallen on deaf ears to Mr. Nixon, and the SST would politely request that the EFL provide us with an outline of Mr. Nixon’s role as the League 2 representative, and your explanations to how his recent actions can in any way be seen as reasonable and unbiased.

The decision of the EFL to appeal against the independent decision now appears to be a witch hunt towards MTFC. Stevenage only managed to win three games in the 2019/20 season and were clearly the worst performing team in the division and deserved relegation. The independent panel made its decision and, as in the cases highlighted above, that decision should be accepted by the EFL

In order to understand what is happening could the EFL please answer the following questions:

What date is the appeal to take place on?
On what grounds are the EFL appealing? Has any undisclosed evidence come to light?
Has the EFL been pressureised into the appeal by the owners of other League 2 clubs If so, by how many and who?
Why has the EFL only appealed the MTFC decision?
Does the EFL want to remove MTFC from League 2 because of the mismanagement of its owner?
It is clear that the PPG has been rigged to remove MTFC from League 2. WIll the EFL produce the full minutes of the PPG meeting together with all the relevant comments from League 2 clubs to a Parliamentary committee?
Why can't the EFL sanction miscreant owners rather than clubs?
The EFL were supplied with information from the SST and knew the problems that MTFC were having. In particular the SST highlighted the concern that the owner was taking money out of the club. Would it not have been more sensible to help the club and pay the wages directly?
Could you provide the SST with an outline of the context of MR. Nixon's role as the League 2 representative and could you please provide a view as to whether Mr. Nixon's recent actions can in any way be seen as reasonable and unbiased?


I look forward to your prompt response.

Yours Faithfully

Andy Worth

Chairperson SST

Copy to:

Nigel Huddleston MP Minister of Sport
Damian Collins MP
Lisa Nandy MP
Davi Rutley MP

 

[Chris FGR]

Can't believe Grimsby would back Stevenage after bra-gate etc.

 

[Son of Cod]

Didn't Philip Day come out publicly and say that the EFL should appeal the decision?

He did, but like I just said above he was pretty much just relaying what the vast majority of clubs in the division had discussed in that they would like to see a fair penalty system adhered to. His point was that Macclesfield, who were up shit creek financially, should be getting points deductions and not fines.

"It is not a question of do we want Stevenage or do we want Macclesfield to be relegated. It is more a case of whether the decision of the tribunal was the right one."

"It was a strange decision, it really was. For a club in financial peril, to say to them we won’t deduct a lot of points but we will fine them £20,000 – it just seems an illogical approach, and adding to their financial burden. At one of our previous meetings, the overwhelming view of League Two clubs was that it should be an automatic three points for a first offence, second offence - six points, and so on. So if clubs do not pay their players, they will know they will incur that penalty."