Chelsea snub FA over fixture farce
CHELSEA’S top brass made a point of snubbing Fa chairman David Bernstein before their Fa Cup semi-final victory over Tottenham in protest at the scheduling of the Sunday evening game.
The Fa invite two representatives from each club to sit on the chairman’s table at the pre-match VIP reception in the Wembley Suite.
But Chelsea declined the opportunity to join Bernstein for the meal, such is their continued annoyance about the 6pm kick-off ahead of their Champions League semi-final against Barcelona tomorrow.
The official Chelsea contingent, who were led by chairman Bruce Buck, gave full vent to their opinions about their treatment by the Fa when general secretary alex Horne made a courtesy call to their two tables in the room.
It was even suggested to Horne — not necessarily in jest — that the Fa had demonstrated what they think about Chelsea by relegating features on the team to the back of the match programme while Tottenham were in the front.
meanwhile, Tottenham fan Lord Triesman, who resigned as Fa chairman in may 2010 after his former secretary melissa Jacobs taped a conversation in which he claimed Spain and Russia were plotting to bribe referees, was back in Wembley’s inner sanctum as a guest of the Spurs board.
MURPHY, the stable lad who won £1million on a £50 ante-post rollover bet at Cheltenham on five Nicky Henderson-trained horses, has yet to spend any of his winnings in the month since his seven-figure gamble came in. Murphy (right), who is staying on as assistant head lad for Henderson, says his new-found wealth is still sinking in. He intends to have a similar punt this December on Henderson’s 2013 Cheltenham-bound horses. Murphy should have collected £3.15m from Bet365 but, like most bookmakers, they have a maximum £1m pay-out. TOTTENHAM chairman Daniel Levy, who is having to spend most of his time in Florida for family reasons, is expected at White Hart Lane for Thursday’s board meeting. The upcoming Fa approach for permission to speak to their manager, Harry Redknapp, about the england job is sure to be a subject of discussion.
Some on the Spurs board want the Fa to wait to talk to Redknapp until the club’s Champions League destiny is decided, which could go to the wire on may 13. But others respect the way the Fa are doing everything by the book and don’t mind them having initial discussions with Redknapp, provided the terms of his contract are honoured.
the sexism controversy that led to the departure of Richard Keys and Andy Gray from Sky Sports still fresh in the memory, perhaps it wasn’t the brightest move of the weekend for Sky Sports News presenter Hayley Mcqueen to tweet during the Liverpool v Everton semi-final: ‘Wow bet Andy Carroll couldn’t even score with Jennifer Thompson if he tried.’ Hayley, who was needlessly referring to the prostitute who claims to have bedded Wayne Rooney and Mario Balotelli, was employed the following day by the FA as host for their high-rolling Club Wembley patrons. At the opposite end of the corporate hospitality scale, talksport’s Alan Brazil was entertaining punters in the nearby, spit-and-sawdust Green Man pub, which was a designated drinking spot for Everton and Spurs fans for the two semis.