FINES AT CORRECT MOMENT ARE FUN!

JOKE: Blackwell – or Biggins?

IT’S been a bright start to a new era at my old club Swindon Town.

Manager David Flitcroft was appointed in the summer and 12 new players have arrived in Wiltshire.

Experienced midfielder Matt Taylor was the latest to join but that wasn’t the only news to fill column inches in the West Country this week.

The players’ list of fines was leaked from the training ground and made headline news!

Any member of Flitcroft’s squad caught in the showers without flip flops will be £10 poorer. Not bringing in cakes on your birthday will mean £20 in the kitty and failing to show up for a night out in Swindon’s Old Town would set you back a hefty £250!

Now, this is nothing new. Much to the amusement of my friends, a set of rules is standard at most football clubs.

If used fairly, discipline can be very important in a dressing room, especially when a new manager has just taken over. I imagine the thinking is a diligent team off the pitch will hopefully transfer those skills into match days.

When Kevin Blackwell took over at Luton Town in 2007, I was installed as his debt collector. His trusted lieutenant Sam Ellis was in charge of the ‘court cases’ on a Friday and any player wanting to question their alleged misdemeanour faced the prospect of the fine being doubled. I’ve got to say that Sam was brilliant in his role as the prosecutor.

Despite being somewhat ‘on the other side’, I still found plenty of time to add to the fund.

After spotting the similarity between my new manager and ‘I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here’ contestant Christopher Biggins, I naturally took the opportunity to pin the doppelgänger’s picture up on the canteen wall. I was fined £20 – and the boss fined himself for going to Australia mid-season!