Stanley Under Investigation
 

Just been on Radio Lancashire that the club are under investigation for fielding an ineligible player. Apparently Chris McGrail was only on a scholar's contract at Preston and was, therefore, not allowed to play in any first team Football League games. If found guilty we could be docked four points.

Football League Charges
 

http://www.accringtonstanley.co.uk


As if we haven't got enough on our plate :eek:

Re: Football League Charges
 

You just beat me to the post Shakermaker...

Its the last thing we need right now, not good at all :eek:

Re: Football League Charges
 

Oh dear :( here we go!

Is it a case that the management havent read the small print again or researched football league regulations???

Re: Football League Charges
 

Oh dear thats all you need.Good Luck to you anyway.Yerself has posted a thread about this aswell.

Re: Football League Charges
 

If it is true it will be down to careless administrative work.

In a strange way, this could help us as this might be the big kick up the arse the whole club needs to survive, including the playing staff.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Thanks for the thread moving Mr Mod.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Fishy sight says 'Players' as opposed to a single player.If so,could it be more than four points up fpr the chop?:mad:

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Very true Kiwi, which is rather worrying considering the league position we are in & the recent event of bad games, we really need to shake a leg with all this & its not very professional from the club:(

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Is it just McGrail?
Says "alleging that ineligible players participated in three recent fixtures" :confused:
As things stand now, if we did loose 4 points that would put us next to bottom :mad:
WE DON'T NEED THIS

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Alty must be cocking themselves laughing!

Do we not learn anything?

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

I was thinking that very thing too macca:rolleyes:

Ermmm seems obviously not:mad:

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Can anyone guess what Tin Monkey will have to say about it ? Radio Lancs only mentioned Chris McGrail, K.S.H. I think they said the charges related to three matches he appeared in.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Hope so :)

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Would we only loose the points we got from the games these fellas played in?? If so its a good yhing we ain't been winning much... :)

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

If we are docked points and it costs us our league status then there should be resignations from the administrative department before the guilty parties are lynched.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

:rofl38: erm ...... a lot no doubt hehehehehehhe:D

If its only McGrail then a phew but really the club should of checked this out before playing him, we had an escape last year with simular issue:(

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Apparently there is another player, according to Radio Lancs website :http://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/cont...tigation.shtml

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

...And all this bad news around the 45th anniversary of our departure ...maybe the bloke upstairs isn't a Stanley supporter...:( :(

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

we are doomed!

I cant see us winning on sat!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

There's not a lot to say is there? I need to calm down a bit first. :mad:

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Shakermaker could be correct...This could really galvanise the players...backs against the wall stuff...United we stand etc..

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Wonder who the other player is:confused:

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

I've just had a look through to see who th eother player could be ..... they were all pro's other than McGrail. The fishy site stated the he was on work experience!!!! are these rules different from the conference? maybe the other players would be the youth team lads who have filled our bench from time to time? maybe returning players from loan involves re-signing them?

Mauro was cleared wasn't he?

This is shambolic, and Jeff called it right. If we have points deducted and it is our fault then there HAS to be resignations from those to blame.

Disgusted

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

If we do go down because we have four points deducted, that is one hell of a way to go !!!! :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Wasn't he?


Remember, we dont have a great history with bringing in internationals.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

I assume so because he wasnt selected for the first game due to just that reason, surely they wouldnt then cock it up the week after?

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

True point there shaker, geez we naff up on our own plyers nevermind international ones:(

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

I'm off to work now,and when I come home,I want this thread to have dissappeared,or at least find that the issue has been resolved to a satisfactory conclusion in so much as the FA/Football League have admitted that THEY have made an administrative error and we are in the clear...PLEASE

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

And they all lived happily ever after................NOT :mad: :mad:

If this allegation is proved, then I think you might find we will lose more than 4 points..........didnt Alty get docked 14 points for fielding ONE ineligble player...........apparently we have fielded 2...........this just smacks of amateurisim (sp)............what ever next I wonder?

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

............hello conference not nice to be back but hey its a big fall ...:mad:

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Touche :mad:

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Didn't Altrincham get docked 18 points because that was the amount they got while Robinson played for them?

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

In fact, UKCowboy, Alty were docked all the points they gained when Robinson featured, either in the team or on the bench. With McGrail, I think that would be 4 points, but who's the other player - that's the worry!:confused:

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

I think we are the ones who made the error? Assuming we supported a club who knew what they were doing!
OMG this aint good is it??:(

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Thanks for the clarification......I was'nt sure about the facts, I just knew they were deducted a hell of a lot of points.

Cant think who the other player could be, apart from perhaps Mauro not bieng cleared, but surley the powers that be wouldnt make the same mistake as our Manchester based 'friends'..............would they?:rolleyes: :confused: :rolleyes:

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Can we not blame Preston for releasing him to us, surely a team of their stature should have known :rolleyes:

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

No matter what the clubs defence it seems likely that if the FA have charged them they will be certain they have broke the rules. Claims of administration errors do not wash with the FA as Bury and AFC Wimbledon have found out this season.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Like the knob enders are going to tell us owt:rolleyes:

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Well it will save us getting blamed this time :rolleyes:

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

If this is true then its negligence, as well as gross stupidity. I would suggest that those responsible, the managers and the players get there fingers out of their arses and make good any point deduction.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

I daren't look at the Confguide forum. I'll bet they are all rubbing their hands with glee!:mad:

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

The thing I can't understand, if it was Chris McGrail and it's true that he wasn't elegible to play league games, how come he'd been on the bench at Preston a couple of times before he came to us on loan?? Doesn't make any sense.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

I've just had a couple of reporters from the Lancashire Telegraph in the Oaklea. They said that this relates to 2 players.

:confused:

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

So they dont know then Jay, u did try bribing them for info:D

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

It's not all doom & gloom yet. Stanley haven't been relegated, although a points deduction won't help things. There's still plent of points available.

It's not over until the fat lady sings (she's about to start her warm up, but it's over just yet).

:)

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Well with all this doom and gloom about, why not come and join us on Sunday night at the Sports Bar for our social evening, its bound to help cheer us all up!........ok plug over.....sorry!

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

This is not good news, though for Macca and the others who mentioned it, it cannot be Mauro, because the club announced that they had received international clearance for him. I to am curious who the second player is though. Talk about 'Sword of Damacles' hanging over the players heads prior to playing Swindon. Not good at all.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Exactly! Why did he come to Stanley (presumably on loan) if he wasn't able to play league football.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

If the history of Accrington Stanley were a work of fiction people would dismiss it as too far fetched.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

So, if the club aren't going to make any further comment and the hearing isn't until "early next month", does this mean we're going to have to live through the next few weeks in a state of agonising suspense? I really don't think my nerves can take it. :mad:

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

It was reported on Radio Lancashire that a work experience player could play for another team on loan if that club received written permission from the loaning club stating he could play. Surely, it can't be that we signed him on loan, but didn't ask for written permission that he could play for our first team :(

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Just found this on BBC

"The 17 year-old has joined the League Two side on a ‘work experience’ loan deal as he is yet to sign professional forms with the Championship promotion chasers.

McGrail has appeared on the North End bench this season on two occasions and will be available to make his professional league debut in Accrington’s re-arranged home clash with Mansfield on Tuesday night."

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

OMG can this season get anymore frustrating??????????? :mad:

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Think positive everyone, be great atmosphere when we play the game that keeps us up :banjump:

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

OK, I'm ready now....

Is anyone really surprised by what's happened? I was really angry when I first heard about this, but now I feel like it's what I've come to expect.

I said months ago that Stanley is a Football League team, but a Conference North (or lower) club. The way things are run are nothing short of shambolic!! Minimal, inexperienced staff can't be expected to run a professional business, but it's what's been happening for some time now.

When we played Kidderminster at the end of last season I was talking to their ex-secretary. He said that administration in the League was a nightmare and that the paperwork and regulations were 5 times the amount of that in the Conference. He said he had two filing cabinets: one for club stuff and one for League stuff. There was so much of it. He said dealing with the admin side of the League was a full-time job, so what do Stanley do? The club passes the duties of the club secretary around a handful of employees, with a young girl with minimal experience and knowledge being given club secretarial duties (alongside her other work).

Stanley have stumbled blindly along and have now been caught out. In light of the way that other clubs have been punished for breaking similar rules, Stanley should be punished in a similar fashion.

Let's face it, we're not a League club! A League club is a professional business, not an amateur make-do outfit. I feel for the fans. I feel for the players. I feel for the innocents affected by all this. I feel embarrassed, ashamed and let down!!! However, one thing I don't feel is surprised.
Tinpot all the way!

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Depressed, betrayed, humiliated - just a few of the emotions I'm feeling tonight.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

We're not even in the relegation zone yet. Last time I checked the time to worry was when we are sitting in 23rd or 24th place. I can't see Stanley going down.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

If we go down for footballing reasons, such as we're not good enough, then fair enough. If we went down because as a club we couldn't afford to sustain league football, then fair enough. Being relegated is nothing to do with this matter at all, as far as I'm concerned.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

cant really disagree with the sentiments on this thread, but surely given the number of times this happens afc wimbledon westham etc istnt it time for the fa and the league to issue some sort of confirmation to clubs when players move?

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

This is clearly not the case regarding umpteen matters, Eric Whalley it's time to go and take that door slamming son with you.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

So, I've read all the post regarding the shambles that proports to be a football club, but I am more than a bit unhappy with the cheap sniping at Eric and his son and the other members of the backroom staff. The club is up against it now and we, the supporters should get behind the team and management and hope that they can perform a minor miracle and keep us in Div 2. Then we can have the postmortem on the admin or lack of in the club, but lets save that until this other business is concluded.
What next?? you could not write the script!

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

well i hope for the sake of stanley fans that they dont go down because of a cock up by the managagment even some hufc fans would not want them to go down in that fashion.
but with what has happened recently to other clubs im afraid it dont look good for your team.
here is one bulls fan that does not want to see you go down (hope that boston do )

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

OK mistakes happen. You show me a man who never makes a mistake, and I will show you that it's a corpse.

The club, rightly or wrongly, is run on a shoestring budget. The staff must be chasing their tails in a whirlwind of paperwork, and mistakes will obviously happen. T
he simple answer is to take on more staff, but the income of the club cannot justify this due to low attendances. Eric does not want to take the club into debt, and therfore we have to make do with what we can afford - a skeleton staff, who incidently work bloody hard for little reward.

OK a mistake may have been made. Let's not jump to conclusions before we know the facts.

Let's give everyone our moral support, and not criticise too much for what may be a mistake by someone who is working their socks off behind the scenes.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Accrington Stanley Football Club is taking expert advice in this matter and can assure supporters that they will take every available option open to them to ensure that League status is maintained
so does this mean that Stanley will loan out players and win every single game left

i don’t think so.

I really hope Stanley get out of this mess. For a lot of people Stanley is the main thing in their life and it would be devastating to see them go down
If we go down then i can’t see us coming back up again in the next season or so because the only place Stanley will get the money from is the ticket sales which will plummet.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

seems abit wierd 4 poitns deduction, i dont want no deduction but, on sky sports news who seem to get all the news stright away they didnt mention any four points apart, thewy did mention AFC wimbeldon got docked 18 points and bury got chucked out of cup!!! only hope all goes well but cant see it only being 4 points :( although it could be 2 points a game they play

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Well said Tin Monkey, it's time for change at the top, this has happened for a reason. Being a league team is totallly different and Whalley (great job previously) should have gone last season when the time was right. I too am not surprised, this season has been a total anticlimax from day one. Lets face it the club couldn't even get the replica shirts through in time for the new season!!!

Whalley OUT!!!! Macca for Chairman!!!!

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

They take the games played in by the ineligible player and deduct the points if guilty. Hence 4 regarding McGrail and possibly 3 more for the unnamed player if that game was won. However if he also played in the same game as McGrail they would only take the same number of points away.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

ok. u dont know me, ive never posted on here before. my interest in this is purely financial - ive had a substantial bet on boston utd being relegated. which means i dont want yr mob to go down. i also know quite a bit about the wimbledon story, as i specialise in non lg football (down south).
u know who one player is, the preston loan kid. but u dont know who the other player is. heres a clue as to find out who he is. jermaine darlingtons inneligibility only came about AFTER he had been booked and the paperwork was sent to the FA, where they found out wimbledon hadnt got clearance from the welsh FA - he was previously playing for cardiff. so find out which player u have recently had booked for the first time and that should be yr man.
i dont agree with all this. wimbledon, altrincham last yr, bury this yr (should have been made to replay). as far as im concerned, its sorted out on the pitch, not in some kangaroo court (which is what the FA is).
good luck, but i fear the worst for u.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

joe jacobson? he cam eform Cardiff and featured in our draws with Shrewsbury, Macclesfield and Bury and the win at Wrexham. Curtis McDonald also came at the same time and featured in no extra games - he didn't actually play for us so we may be okay there. 5 points from Jacobson and 4 points from the holy McGrail!



2BR have said 3 players, Lancs Telegraph says two. Personally I think they are all ineligible ....... or is that illegitimate?

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Almeida, Rogers and Jacobson.


All the rest are seasoned campaigners.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Even though I said the FA in one of my earlier posts it should be made clear it's the Football League which is a totally seperate organisation, and if any consolation slightly less aggressive.

However I do agree that it's pathetic somebody is sat in an office checking that i's have dots and t's are crossed while there are bigger issues ruining the game of football which they clearly turn a blind eye too.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

ok. but try and i find out who has recently received THEIR FIRST BOOKING. thats the only reason darlingtons case at wimbledon came to the FAs attention. if ssn are saying its 18-120 points yr losing, and the other kids lost u 5, then yr looking for a player who has played approx 15points worth of games.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

we have earned 15 points since 2/12/06 at home to Shrewsbury so the player would have to be here longer than that, so it aint Mauro or Rogers, Jacobson didnt stop around long enough for 15 minutes.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

If I remember rightly Mauro played for the reserves before he had International clearance, maybe this has something to do with it. Didn't we get fined last season for playing that unregistered player in the reserves before he went to Alty. Whose fault was that ? Who got reprimanded for that ? Who resigned over that ? As I said before, if this costs us our league status there had better be resignations, preferably starting at the top. As we have been saying all season - we are a professional club being run by amateurs. We should have learned our lesson last season.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Could it be something to do with Stuart Fleetwood's loan - did anyone check his passport before he came over the border from Wales? Don't mean to sound flip, I'm as worried and angry as anyone but as we're not gonna get to know anything till early April all this guesswork won't get us anywhere. It's the lads I feel sorry for, they're gonna be out there battling for every point they can get and could still have some taken off them for something that ain't their fault which is putting even more pressure on them. All we can do is get behind the lads on the pitch - and pray!

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

How many games did Shaun Whalley play in Dec before he 'signed' in Jan

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

You may be onto something there, but not Stuart Fleetwood. Joe Jacobson is registered with Cardiff City who are members of the Football Association of Wales, maybe Stanley needed International Clearance for him to play for an English team. I am sure we had to wait for Gary Roberts to get International Clearance when we signed him from Welshpool who are also members of the Football Association of Wales.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

You're right Jeff, we did have to wait for clearance on Gary. I remember how funny it sounded at the time - if it turns out to be that it won't be so funny!

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Says in todays Telegraph
"charged with fielding 2 ineligible players in 3 recent games"
McGrail played in 2 for us so that means the other player only played 1 game ( or 3 if he played in same ones as McGrail)
My guess is going on - David Martin, any more?

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Incidentally Joe played in the 2-0 defeat at Grimsby, the 2-0 defeat at Doncaster, the 3-3 draw with Shrewsbury, the 4-3 defeat by MK Dons, the 3-3 draw at Macclesfield, the 4-0 defeat at Bristol Rovers and the 1-1 draw with Bury. We picked up three points in the games that he played for us. Chris McGrail played in the 3-2 win against Mansfield and the 1-1 draw at Wycombe that's four points gained. If it is Joe Jacobson and Chris McGrail then we could be looking at losing seven points

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

I think we can rule Jacobson out can't we?, says on fishy site 3 games - he played in 7

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Hi folks,

just registered to commiserate. As a Don's fan, I know what it's like to go through this situation. I hope you get treated more fairly than we did. Good luck for the rest of the season.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

If it's David Martin, surely they can't count that - the lad never even touched the ball before he was injured so we didn't gain any advantage from him taking to the field. I wish the club would tell us who the other player is so we would know what we might be up against, all this is so frustrating!

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

If it is David Martin then we could be looking at five points.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Ashley Foyle, how many did he play for us, was it 1 or 2?

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

According to the Bull's messageboard he was a deliberate "plant" to knacker us!:D

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

He played at Wrexham too. So thats 10 points

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Wouldn't surprise me - I bet they're loving it!!

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

What's with all the panic and acaremongering? !0points! 15points! 18points! etc. etc.
It clearly states on the fishy site that the charges relate to just 3 games. We know that two of those involve McGrail and could possibly cost us 4 points. THe third could, at worst, cost us an extra 3, and, at best, none. We all know that the fishy site is renowned for keeping us all informed with the true facts, so I reckon that makes it maximum 7 and could be less.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

it wouldn't surprise me one bit!

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

You really don't want to know! If you go on there you will be bringing a machine gun to the Hereford home game to wipe the b***s out.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Well said that man.:D

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Yeah when he arrived he was planted in the middle of the pitch and he never fricking moved!!! :mad:

Thats why we have that lovely sprayed green patch, nobody wrote stuff there, its where we had to dig him up to send him back!!!:D

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

He was on the bench but didn't come on.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

International clearance is surely a matter for the F.A. We've been charged by the Football LEAGUE - a completely different animal!

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

I see what you mean, could'nt resist going on to have a squiz at what they're saying. Aren't they a treat! Tried to post on their forum to give em a mouth full but for some reason it won't let me register. Would be sweet that, if is anything to do with Mr Fleetwood, it all falls back on them and it being their error, then they could have points deducted and be struggling down here with us:mad:

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

What a cock up. This used to happen to Hyndburn Boys teams years ago, it really shouldnt be happening at a PROFESSIONAL football club. Points deducted - wages should be deducted.

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Well its not good news the way I look at it

Re: Stanley Under Investigation
 

Just been on FC United website.Some are talking on there about this.You'll notice Kipax responding to a bad post on there to.
http://fcumforum.org.uk/mainforum/viewtopic.php?t=57023

http://fcumforum.org.uk/mainforum/viewtopic.php?t=57061