BOSS HITS BACK IN BROWN ROW
Accusations are unfounded, says chief Robinson
HURT Bostik League chairman Nick Robinson says former Heybridge Swifts manager Jody Brown has isolated himself after branding the league unprofessional.
Brown hit out at the standards of the division following his resignation and claimed the league didn’t help with their fixtures last season during their prolonged FA Cup and FA Trophy runs.
An incident with opposition supporters after Heybridge’s defeat at Basildon United was the final straw for Brown, having allegedly been told two weeks prior by Aveley chairman Graham Gennings that the league’s vice-chairman, and Aveley chief executive, Craig Johnson, hated him. The Bostik League have entirely refuted the allegations with Robinson (below) questioning Brown’s own professionalism.
Emotions
“We are disappointed at the allegations he’s made particularly about the board because his own vice-chairman [Michael Gibson] was on it up until last year,” he told The NLP. “His club chairman [Gary White] wrote to me and said that Jody’s comments are his own views and opinions and not those of Heybridge Swifts.
“Jody has come out and said these things which are quite hurtful to those who run the league and its 81 members. What he’s actually saying is the whole league is unprofessional, all the clubs are unprofessional.
Respect
“I think that Jody has actually isolated himself in many ways by a blanket attack on the league.
“We run a respect table for all the clubs, Heybridge Swifts were certainly in the bottom few last year for dissent, cautions and the behaviour of the bench. What we say is please don’t make us out for being unprofessional when actually you need to hold a mirror up first of all.
“A lot of it is not based on fact; a lot of it is inaccurate. I’ve been involved in the league since 1982 and I can’t remember anybody coming out like this. They’re totally unfounded.
“In the FA Cup from the fourth qualifying round and the FA Trophy from the first round proper, if a club has a league match in the week proceeding, we will allow them to postpone it. Clubs are very grateful for that.
“I hope it blows over but I do have to defend my league, 81 other clubs, the board and the executive. The email traffic we’ve had this week just shows how he (Brown) is in a very small minority.”