Is this the right way to treat fans of the club you own?

[bobjimwilly]

Despite a full, public apology after comments he made on social media, Blackpool's owners are still demanding £20,000 from a retired Blackpool fan.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/apr/17/blackpool-fan-20000-oystons-threaten-court-online-post

[Filo]

Not sure what he actually posted, but it's not very good is it? Multi millionaires sueing for £20k, from a pensioner

[Belle-Vue-Ghost]

Disgusting really.  The threats to fans partly reminds me of the Richardson days here.

Good to see the fans fund raising to pay it off for him and have collected just over £2000 so far

[Muttley]

I'd let them take me to court, rather than agree to pay the shysters a penny!

[Muttley]

Link to the fundraiser...

http://www.gofundme.com/s5bbb8r

[silent majority]

Disgusting really.  The threats to fans partly reminds me of the Richardson days here.

Good to see the fans fund raising to pay it off for him and have collected just over £2000 so far

Why go that far back, members and directors of the VSC were threatened with exactly the same thing 18 months ago.

Its disgusting that someone should force that on a pensioner, and as for the statement, its something the Supreme Leader Kin Jong-un would be proud of!

[bpoolrover]

They can't go to court thou as if they lose it will bankrupt them

[albie]

It is not just this unsavoury incident chasing an elderly fan in court, it is the deals done to transfer funds from the club;
Blackpool bosses drive fans to despair as Tangerine dream turns to dust | Football | The Guardian

I posted this before, but in case some missed it.

How deluded do you need to be to think harassing fans is the way to go?

[BobG]

It always had an always will be the last resort of the thug, the bully and the thief Albie. Threaten, and hopefully hurt, a few of those weaker than himself and 'make an example' pour encourager les autres. It was a very different context, but the same underlying principle was alive and kicking as far back as the 1700's - Admiral Byng anyone? The street thugs at Blackpool have a way to go yet.....

BobG

[silent majority]

£20k raised within 3 days. A great gesture by the football community.

They now need to keep it going for all the other fans that have large legal bills to pay because of Oystons.

[albie]

Yes Bob, the "make an example" take is probably the reasoning.

I don't know what this fella said on social media, but how important was it? He has apologised, and withdrawn his remarks, surely that is good enough.

The local butcher, baker or candlestick maker on the board of the football club was once a civic badge, like being in the Masons, or a Councillor. Most of them were not up to much, in both senses of the term.

The trouble with this Blackpool carry-on is it causes others to think what is the back story behind all this. In the world of mega buck footy, the reasons people give for taking ownership of a football club are sometimes a cover for ulterior motives.

This story in the Guardian is interesting;
Twenty-eight English clubs are now owned overseas, increasing the risk of tax avoidance | David Conn | Football | The Guardian

Nowadays, the reason an offshore "investor" buys a club is never fully explained. It might be a vanity purchase, it could be an asset chase, it could be a tax vehicle. The fans are the last to know, and then only to pick up the pieces after the damage is done.

I'm just glad the Rovers don't have the Oystons, or Cellini, or some off the shelf tax haven company muddying the waters around their ankles.

[BobG]

Lol! Good job we dodged that bullet from Belize though! Not a hard bullet to see coming though tbh.

BobG

[bpoolrover]

He was made to say sorry the oystons wrote his apology letter,he only said it on Facebook and only had 34 friends