London Clarets members may recall
that, at our AGM last July, we voted overwhelmingly in support of a boycott
of our final game
of the season, against the club once known as Wimbledon FC. We chose to do
this as a way of making a protest about what has been done to Wimbledon,
and as a way of showing our solidarity with Wimbledon supporters. In voting
the
way they did at our AGM, our members gave this supporters’ club a clear
mandate to call for a boycott on the 4th of May. Nothing having changed in
the meantime, that call for a boycott still stands.
Instead, this supporters' club is organising an afternoon of fun in - where
else? - Wimbledon. If you, too, want to stay away from the game, you'd be very
welcome to join us! Details are at the bottom of this article - or click here
to view them now.
Everyone must, of course, be free to decide for themselves whether to attend
the game. There can be no comebacks or recriminations, whatever decision people
take. We only ask that people give staying away from the game some serious
thought and follow their consciences. Those who do not attend will be no less
supporters of Burnley than those who do. We realise that for our members, most
of whom live across the counties of the South East and in London, deliberately
missing a Southern game will not be an easy decision to take. The cornerstone
of the existence of our club is to help Burnley supporters living in the South
get to games and support Burnley. Supporting a boycott was, therefore, an extraordinary
step for our members to take. That should tell you something about how seriously
we take this. Let me tell you why we're doing it.
Why it matters
While being dedicated to Burnley, as a club we have always tried to build
bridges with other supporters. We try to remember that little distinguishes
us from supporters of other teams, other than where we were born or who our
parents supported. We try to keep in mind that supporters share the same kinds
of problems.
What has happened to Wimbledon supporters should not have happened to supporters
of any team. It must never happen again.
Over the course of the season, the plight of Wimbledon has fallen off the
back pages, and perhaps slipped people's minds. I suppose it was inevitable.
The franchised club that now occupies Wimbledon’s former place in the
League has shown disappointing resilience. But the problems of Wimbledon haven’t
gone away. Just because the franchise holder still plays at Selhurst while
the real Wimbledon fans have successfully gone about establishing their own
club in the nursery of non-league doesn’t mean that everything's okay
and there’s nothing to worry about. This looks like the old Wimbledon's
last game at Selhurst Park before they fully become the new, franchised club
of Milton Keynes. It seems that the unimaginable is actually going to happen.
There is still an important principle at stake here. You can’t just ‘move’ a
football club to a completely different town. You can’t just take a club
away from its supporters, without the consent of those supporters. Imagine
if Burnley were ‘moved’ to Stoke. It makes about as much sense
as Wimbledon ‘moving’ to Milton Keynes. If the 'move' is successful,
a precedent will have been set. Any unscrupulous businessman could seize on
a struggling club, uproot it from its community and plonk it down in a distant
town. Any town looking for a lucrative stadium (plus, of course, attached shops
and leisure development) could buy a ready-made league place. This is what
franchising means, and if Milton Keynes succeeds, the concept will have been
introduced to English football. Franchising, an idea which is alien to the
tradition and structure of our game, will be here to stay. There is a danger
that it will quickly become commonplace.
Do not be fooled by propaganda. Remember always that what is at stake for
the owners of the franchised former Wimbledon club is a property deal. They
paid over the odds for their club, managed it badly, got relegated, and now
re-locating it to Milton Keynes is the only way they can get their money back.
They must not get away with it.
They must fail. If they succeed, it will happen again, and again. Every time
a struggling club meets a circling shark, there will be danger. I want to support
a club rooted in its community, and I want to see us playing games against
other clubs which have a tradition, roots and a soul. Who could face a league
season filled with encounters against new town teams with no identity playing
in plastic grounds long distances from their home communities?
What
we’re going to do
As supporters, there are simple ways in which we can demonstrate our
abhorrence of franchising. We can withhold our money from the proponents
of franchising, and demonstrate our contempt by leaving as many empty
seats as possible. We can publicly show our support for the Wimbledon
supporters who have seen their club hijacked. So don't give the franchisers
your money. Don't become a statistic as they desperately try to massage
the attendance into four figures. Show your contempt by staying away.
The franchisers are banking on football supporters carrying on 'business
as usual' and turning up come what may. Surprise them.
Please think seriously before deciding whether or not to go to the game.
Please bear in mind that your attendance, if you do decide to go, will
be taken as tacit approval for what has been done to Wimbledon. If you
don’t approve, make the sacrifice, and give the game a miss.
Of course, it would be boring just to stay at home! The London Clarets
are therefore organising an alternative afternoon out for anyone who
decides to boycott the game. We are organising it in co-operation with
others who share our concerns, including the Clarets Independent Supporters
Association (CISA), the Clarets Mad website, When the Ball Moves fanzine
and of course the excellent Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association
(WISA).
