Pool fans blast EFL dithering
BLACKPOOL fans are furious with the Football League over the League One club’s ownership saga.
The Tangerines host Peterborough today against a backdrop of continued uncertainty over the club’s future under Oyston family control.
The club is at the wrong end of League One after promotion from the bottom tier last season.
That is frustrating enough for the longsuffering Pool fans. But the club’s supporters believe that the Football League’s (EFL) insistence on sitting on their hands while Blackpool’s fortunes unravel is unforgiveable.
Andy Higgins, vicechairman of the Blackpool Supporters Trust, said: “It has been a Shakespearean farce – it’s unbelievable what has gone on. The frustration all along has been the Oystons and the footballing authorities’ lack of desire to intervene.
“No one has done anything for us, we have been left to do everything ourselves.”
The Trust’s main issue relates to a statement by Oyston back in September which announced that would-be backer Valeri Belokon had failed the EFL Owners’ and Directors’ Test and was therefore banned from holding high office.
The Supporters Trust contend that the criminal conviction – hotly disputed by representatives of Belokon - that bars him from taking over was dished out by a ‘kangaroo court’ in Kyrgyzstan.
Higgins said. “We feel cheated by the EFL. There are a lot of words but that’s not good enough.”
An EFL spokesman said: “The EFL remains in regular dialogue with Mr Belokon’s legal representatives and these will continue as required.
“Blackpool FC will be treated no differently to any other club who participate in the EFL.”