LOVE IS IN THE AIR? ER, NOT THIS TIME...
VALENTINE’S Day is supposed to be a day of love, but somehow the message didn’t seem to get through on or off the pitch at EFL clubs last Tuesday.
Charlton’s Women Against the Regime protest group took their campaign against Addicks owner Roland Duchatelet on to a different level with a light-hearted lonely hearts ad in his local paper in Belgium.
It said: ‘Roland Duchatelet! Broken-hearted women of Charlton Athletic Football Club beg Roland Duchatelet of Sint-Truiden for divorce, on grounds of total breakdown in the relationship. Women Against the Regime.’
Meanwhile, Blackburn midfielder Hope Akpan got the Valentine card he didn’t want – a red card from referee Scott Duncan.
The 25-year-old is alleged to have pushed the referee after having what would have been a late equaliser against Sheffield Wednesday disallowed for handball.
And it looks like he will have plenty of time to ponder his indiscretion as he has been charged by the FA over his late dismissal and faces a ban greater than the usual three matches.
Punishment
“It is alleged that his behaviour constituted violent conduct in circumstances where the standard punishment that would otherwise apply is clearly insufficient,” said the FA. Akpan has until 6pm tomorrow to respond to the charge, while Rovers have until 6pm on Tuesday to answer a charge of failing to ensure that their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion.
Another player in hot water with the governing body is
Leyton Orient captain Liam Kelly. He has been banned for six games by the FA for pushing over a ball boy in his side’s dramatic 3-2 win at Plymouth.
Argyle reported the 27-year-old midfielder to the FA following the 86th minute incident, which wasn’t seen by the match officials but was caught on video. Kelly denied the violent conduct charge, but the FA found him guilty. Another story that came to national attention last Tuesday was a bizarre one involving a Bristol City steward. Bristol Rovers fan Mark Watson claimed unfair dismissal after calling striker Matty Taylor, who had just left Rovers for City, the cword in a video on Facebook.
Banter
The 51-year-old says he was called by Ashton Gate owners, Bristol Sport, and told he would no longer be asked to work at City’s games due to the video. “It was banter, you see it a lot in the football community and I certainly wasn’t the only one with something to say that day,” he told the Bristol Post. “As far as I was concerned that video was only meant for my friends and family. My privacy settings are at the maximum on Facebook.”