posted Jan 13, 2009

Obviously Crawley and Mansfield fans (and clubs) feel that Oxford got the better deal, 'only' being deducted 5 points. In fact Crawley have stated:

The decision is even more surprising given the sanction awarded to Oxford United for an identical but much deeper breach of The Football Conference rules.

First of all this statement doesn't make sense, how can it be identical but different at the same time. Also, it clearly is different, Hutchinson has been at Oxford for three years, so a) has played in the Conference before (Crawley) and be wasn't registered with another club (Mansfield).

The other point to add is that on all three occasions it was the Conference spotting the error. So in fact Mansfield were lucky it was spotted after two games, that's why it was only 4 pts. Why should Oxford be penalised more because the Conference didn't do their job until a third of the way through the season?

So, in fact Oxford got the worst deal, for an administrative error (which could easily have been committed by the Conference, not the club); Crawley can still make the play offs, Mansfield would still be in the bottom half of the table even with the four points added back on; Oxford are in no man's land.

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posted Jan 13, 2009

Clearly the crux of this problem, and that faced by the other clubs in this league, is the poor administrative procedures in place by the Conference Association. It is ridiculous that any club is penalised hard fought for points on the field, by the error of a clerk in an office. On another point, any lawyers like to comment on the restrictive practice of limiting Conference players wages. Surely in this day and age of freedom of trade across the EU, it must be illegal to impose wage caps on businesses as it effectively becomes a restriction of practice. When will someone challenge this, in the same way the Bosman ruling was fought for some years ago regarding restrictvie contracts. There is no incentive for Conference teams to attract better players, given the restrictions they have on paying wages as a percentage of income.

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posted Jan 13, 2009

Maybe as individual supporters we should all sue the Conference for at least the value of our season's tickets (and travel costs).

If they are going to deduct points for clerical errors, then what is the point in supporters paying money to support their teams?

Oxford has an amazing fan base which can, on its day, create the atmosphere to change the outcome of the game - if this can get nullified by the Conference then I think they should pay us back for the money we've spent.

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posted Jan 13, 2009

This is ridiculous.

As a Crawley Town fan, I can't find the words to describe the Conference Board, I mean, surely it would've taken ONE PHONECALL to each club at the start of the season to clarify who has and who hasn't been registered correctly!

I know Crawley have had points deducted before but this time, we can safely say that the fault lies squarely at the feet of the Conference, who are too spineless and gutless to admit their own mistake, so they fob the blame onto the clubs and keep convincing themselves they deserve their overblown salary.

The rumour is Bognor in Conference South have had 7 points off too for the same thing, again inconsistancy in the deductions, but the Conference need to take a long hard look at themselves, and get their own house in order before handing out point deductions and fines to clubs for a mistake they don't even know it their's to make!

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posted Jan 13, 2009

Gutted, now you really do need to prepare for life in the BSS!

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posted Jan 13, 2009

Shocking. Some people just dont know what heyre doing. Gutted, Up The Oxford! OUFC TID

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posted Jan 13, 2009

Doesent matter at what point of the season nor whether they have played for the club for x number of years if they are ineligble they are ineligible.

Therefore the 11 points picked up should be the 11 points deducted like mansfield got 4 points earned 4 points deducted.

Dont wish points deductions on anybody but rules are rules and it cant be one rule for one club and one for another.

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posted Jan 14, 2009

The law in football is similar to law in court, the verdict depends on the situation(as history tells us), so lets compare.

Stags fielded a player who was new to the club but was still registered at his previous club, completly ineligible to play.

Oxford fielded a player who had been playing eligibly for 2 years already but was simply not re-registered at start of the season, he was not registered with any other club.

I dont think the different circumstances bear the same weight in punishment.

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posted Jan 20, 2009

Oxford shouldn't get any points deducted we're too big and important.

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posted Jan 25, 2009

Sorry mate....too big, what for. It should have been 30 points just like Luton then you can play each other on Sunday Mornings

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