Why is the league punishing Rams fans?

THE EFL is a disgrace. Because Mel Morris has broken rules – none of them criminal – the fans are being treated as if they were the transgressors. Yes, big money has destroyed the game as we used to know it.

Sam Longson, chairman of Derby County in the 1970s, was frequently given to boasting that his sole financial investment in the club was only £25 in shares.

He got rid of Brian Clough, the finest football manager the world has ever seen. Who lost out? Not Longson. It was the fans, who saw our great club lose its world-class status, to drift down to where we are today.

Let us be clear. Derby County as an entity was not owned by Mel Morris. He departed, owning the infrastructure, the roof, terraces, playing field and offices. He’s left behind a club, with its fans reeling from shock.

The EFL should have drawn up rules in which the club’s board had to be more open and transparent in their financial dealings and not allow people, like Morris, to gamble with dodgy strategies.

I have supported Derby County for 77 years, since 1944, when I was 10 years old. So proud was I, wearing my black and white rosette and carrying a rattle. The players were on about £6 a week in wages. Most had been in the armed forces. Money was scarce, the country bankrupted by war.

But the wealth of spirit and comradeship was limitless, running through the dressing rooms, out on to the terraces and pitch.

We were Derby. No one could destroy it.

We won the FA Cup in 1946 and the crowds throughout Derby were in their thousands.

It’s from that standpoint that the EFL should view the game today. Why could they not have sued Mel Morris for his actions, instead of taking it out on the poor fans?

Don Shaw, Derby