West Brom fans organise drastic action against board in desperate EFL plea
West Brom require “prompt” action from the EFL as they are currently one of the “worst slow-motion car crashes” in football, says football author Martin Calladine.
The Baggies fans are organising another protest during this weekend’s game against Stoke (12 November), angry at the financial direction the club is heading in.
Chairman and majority shareholder Guochuan Lai has borrowed “significant” sums of money from the club and has already missed a deadline for repayment, so with Albion supporters planning to “blow the whistle on the board” in the 12th minute against Stoke, journalist and author Calladine has called for urgent intervention from the Football League.
He wrote on his personal Twitter account Tuesday (8 November) of the organised protest: “Important upcoming fan protest to draw attention to one of the worst slow-motion car crashes currently taking place in English football.
“The klaxons are sounding at the Hawthorns and there’s worries that, without prompt EFL action, the club could be heading into deep trouble.
“In a properly run sport, representatives of the league (or an Independent Regulator) would be involving themselves *now* to make sure that the club doesn’t slip into financial chaos.
“But instead, fans are left trying to get answers themselves, trying to hold the ownership to account and raise awareness of the plight of the club. The clock is ticking for West Brom and few people, bar the fans, seem to be acting.”
Worrying
That Calladine is calling out the situation at the Hawthorns in such strong terms should be a wake up call to the authorities.
Fans are already concerned about what is happening at the club, after years in, or on the way back to, the Premier League, but now attempting to recover from two disastrous managerial appointments that have them closer to relegation from the Championship.
There was little in the form of a transfer budget in the summer for Steve Bruce, yet the owner owes the club money.
Financial mismanagement at the likes of Derby, Bury and Blackpool among others has led to those clubs’ fanbases going through all manner of misery in recent years, and West Brom supporters are desperate to avoid following suit.
If owners are left entirely to their own devices it feels like it is almost asking for trouble considering the amount of money that is flowing through English football.
The alarm is being sounded in a big way by the supporters, and Calladine has put his full weight behind them, so the league needs to take notice and ensure the Baggies aren’t headed for ruin.
In other West Brom news, one highly-rated Albion player has been unfairly made the scapegoat by his own fans while out on loan.