The Football League Thread

Go on cherries!

 

Gary Rowett already making a difference at Birmingham ... top coach and one for the future. Beating leaders Watford.

 

Wow Bournemouth. Wow. Amazing stuff.

 

****ing hell, Bournemouth top of the Championship. Mind you, it's so tight so they need to keep this form up.

 

Nice to see wee Ryan Fraser from Aberdeen scoring for them tonight. Go Cherries !

 

Ah balls..! Missed Bournemouth's match. Really looking good this season.

EDIT: And Andrew Surman scored..! Excellent.

 

6 points seperate the top 8 in the Championship, and Bournemouth go to 2nd placed 'Boro on Saturday...win that and that will truly be a statement of intent!

 

Forest 3 down at home to Brentford ? Phsyco`s early season bubble has burst.

 

The FL has voted against artificial pitches in Leagues 1 and 2.

 

good thing?

assume that would have affected playing cup fixtures against clubs who opted for such surfaces.

 

The FA allow artificial pitches in the FA Cup

 

yeah but the number of teams you would be likely to meet who use them might increase if they were allowed in the football league.

 

Millwall have raised 20K by selling an alternative camouflage kit which they will wear when they play Brentford. The money will be given to an injured servicemen's charity. Well done to them.

 

Won't it be difficult for the Brentford players to see them..?

 

Jonathan Forte named League 1 Player of the Month for April - after scoring 5 goals in October for Oldham Athletic.

 

Derby 3-0 Wolves after just 42 minutes.

 

You watching it? Derby are looking brilliant.

 

4-0 to Derby!

 

5-0. Another 8-0?

 

Dear Mr Whelan

I wanted to write to you before talking about this face to face and explain my reasons for not wearing a poppy on my shirt for the game at Bolton.

I have complete respect for those who fought and died in both World Wars - many I know were Irish-born. I have been told that your own Grandfather Paddy Whelan, from Tipperary, was one of those.

I mourn their deaths like every other decent person and if the Poppy was a symbol only for the lost souls of World War I and II I would wear one.

I want to make that 100% clear .You must understand this.

But the Poppy is used to remember victims of other conflicts since 1945 and this is where the problem starts for me.

For people from the North of Ireland such as myself, and specifically those in Derry, scene of the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre, the poppy has come to mean something very different. Please understand, Mr Whelan, that when you come from Creggan like myself or the Bogside, Brandywell or the majority of places in Derry, every person still lives in the shadow of one of the darkest days in Ireland’s history – even if like me you were born nearly 20 years after the event. It is just a part of who we are, ingrained into us from birth.

Mr Whelan, for me to wear a poppy would be as much a gesture of disrespect for the innocent people who lost their lives in the Troubles – and Bloody Sunday especially - as I have in the past been accused of disrespecting the victims of WWI and WWII.

It would be seen as an act of disrespect to those people; to my people.

I am not a war monger, or anti-British, or a terrorist or any of the accusations levelled at me in the past. I am a peaceful guy, I believe everyone should live side by side, whatever their religious or political beliefs which I respect and ask for people to respect mine in return. Since last year, I am a father and I want my daughter to grow up in a peaceful world, like any parent.

I am very proud of where I come from and I just cannot do something that I believe is wrong. In life, if you’re a man you should stand up for what you believe in.

I know you may not agree with my feelings but I hope very much that you understand my reasons.

As the owner of the club I am proud to play for, I believe I owe both you and the club’s supporters this explanation.

Yours sincerely,

James McClean

http://www.wiganlatics.co.uk/news/a...ames-mcclean-2070059.aspx#irPkZKpJydlJvQZC.99

So what do you think of this?