Match Fixing Claim

[Ryan.c]

Sadly it won't look good. I'd hope the FA/Gaming Commission have the common sense to make this a very swift investigation.

[Brightside Bloke]

Doe's make ya wonder about the chelmo / urchin game. Sorry couldn't resist that one.

 

Maybe some of the people making money from these bets might like to donate some back to the clubs who could do with it i'm sure.

[rich the pipe]

Nope, I live in Romford which is in greater London, and my doggy stick is purple.

 

My dog is a bit gay though.

I was born in Chadwell Heath and thats Essex?

[missunderstood]

Sadly it won't look good. I'd hope the FA/Gaming Commission have the common sense to make this a very swift investigation.

 

Its impossible for me to believe any club could be so stupid as to get involved in match fixing, but I can understand why a neutral would choose not to attend a match until this almighty mess is cleared up.

 

IMO the FA owe all the clubs named a full explanation on what they know, and how they intend to react to what has the potential to destroy non league football.

[Brightside Bloke]

Based on some of the god awful decisions handed out by SOME of the so called officials over the last few months I think the FA need to be looking a lot closer to home regarding match fixing.

 

It's not as if it isn't blatantly obvious to people watching the game week in week out.

 

100% pens not given and free kick decisions turned to the opposite team.

 

It's quite understandable why some managers & Supporters feel like decking some of the officials.

 

They are the only people able to turn a game to suit the desired outcome.

 

That was a rant by the way.

[cup of tea]

I know the management at hornchurch would never get involved with anything like that and although I don't know billericay as well I'm certain they wouldn't either.

[Rick the Dick]

IMO the FA owe all the clubs named a full explanation on what they know, and how they intend to react to what has the potential to destroy non league football.

 

It's a self adjusting mechanism. If the betting market feels it can't trust Non League match outcomes to be genuine it stops offering odds, which is what has started to happen. If greedy bookmakers want to sell a product where they can't be sure of it's provenance they deserve to be scammed. Horse racing exists for the betting market, football doesn't. I don't see it as the FA's problem. It's a betting problem and non league football would be better off if you weren't able to bet on it, which will hopefully be the outcome.

[Eastside Urchin]

Agreed rick.

As for the chelmo v urchins match,it does make you think.We did play well and went out to attack thm but there was some ridiculously woeful defending by them,almost laughable at times

[SEVEN TEARS BOY]

Surely Chelmo wouldn't want to put their playoff place at risk would they? I'd have thought they just had a bad day (not that I was there), we do have a habit of scoring 4 up there, last time was when they won the Ryman Prem by a mile...

[Eastside Urchin]

Doubt any of the clubs would be so stupid to get involve.

Sadly it is my experience that players can be greedy bastards at all levels.

It would be easy if a group of players wanted to throw a game,although given the situation all 3 clubs are in,it would be remarkably stupid.

I still think the bookies have lost a bit of money and as usual don't like it,perhaps they need to know something about non league football before they start taking bets on it.

[Rick the Dick]

Agreed rick.

 

I bet Alan Alger doesn't

[missunderstood]

Doubt any of the clubs would be so stupid to get involve.

Sadly it is my experience that players can be greedy bastards at all levels.

It would be easy if a group of players wanted to throw a game,although given the situation all 3 clubs are in,it would be remarkably stupid.

I still think the bookies have lost a bit of money and as usual don't like it,perhaps they need to know something about non league football before they start taking bets on it.

 

There may be the odd one or two players that are bent, but a rogue group playing in the same team seems highly improbable to me.

[Billericay Town Unofficial]

Though the BBC have reported the basic facts, all the BSS clubs have been contacted and some bookies have stopped taking bets on Billericay, Chelmsford and Hornchurch, it's still irresponsible journalism to keep it that basic.

 

As Missunderstood correctly pointed out it may just be a few players that are involved. The BBC have left this open to misinterpretation so it looks like the clubs themselves are involved.

 

I suggested to a mate severla months ago that the irregular betting patterns could be a red herring to divert attention from elsewhere.

[Rick the Dick]

There's a thread on the Soppybox regarding this and an interesting post is quoted below, from a Forest Green Rovers supporter. He seems to have a low opinion of Alan Alger, but perhaps I'm misinterpreting him...

 

Hi, just thought i'd add something as this isn't the first time Blue Square clubs have been involved in suspicious betting allegations. My club Forest Green got in the national news after a huge amount of money was bet on us leading at half time but losing at Grays in April 2009 in a meaningless end of season game. A couple of bookies, Blue Square and William Hill, stopped taking bets on the Friday, but didn't inform either club and the game went ahead and unsurprisingly went with the betting patterns.

 

I was at the game and it was a bit suspicious, strange handball to give away penalty, defensive howlers etc, and of course some of the bookies kicked up a fuss, including Alan Alger of Blue Square who made more unfounded allegations against us on national radio, saying our win at Cambridge was dodgy.

Nothing was proven and the case was dropped, partly due to the Gambling Commissions ineffectiveness at investigating this sort of stuff. Here's an extract from a later match fixing related article in The Independent a year later-

 

But while bookmakers report the cases, industry say that thier attempts to weed out cheats are frustrated by the GC and the police. In 2007 an offence of cheating in betting was created to help prosecute offenders, but in the three years since the GC has not brought a single prosecution in relation to sport.

 

The GC's lack of action over one paticular event is the source of great consternation in bookmaking circles. A Forest Green Rovers v Grays Athletic tie saw about £50,000 gambled on Grays being behind at half time but winning at full time,-a bet which offered odds of 22-1.

 

When this happened, the incident was reported to the GC but the investigation was dropped and Grays denied knowledge of any corruption. But one betting source told The Independent: "Of course the Grays game was fixed, but the Gambling Commission lack the skill to prosecute. And the police aren't particularly interested in taking cases on because they often relate to small events and are relatively small amounts of cash.

 

Basically, what we found is bookies will cry foul very easily and kick up a fuss to avoid having to pay out, but at the end of the day it's very difficult to prove anything so unless someone has concrete evidence, which I doubt, I wouldn't worry about the repurcussions at the moment.

[Eastside Urchin]

This isn't actually anything to do with Blue Square,its another bookie (s) who have raised suspicion.

I agree with James that its irresponsible journalism by the BBC but lets face it,the BBC have gone from being a worldwide organisation that is respected to becoming the gutter which it now represents

[The Mayor Of Simpleton]

The BBC have got to be sure that they have their facts right.

 

Reading NLM, a comment there said something along the lines of 'the Conference got into bed with a betting agency, so they've really got no comeback.'

 

Aren't Blue Square dropping their sponsorship of the Conference leagues soon anyway?

[rich the pipe]

Based on some of the god awful decisions handed out by SOME of the so called officials over the last few months I think the FA need to be looking a lot closer to home regarding match fixing.

 

It's not as if it isn't blatantly obvious to people watching the game week in week out.

 

100% pens not given and free kick decisions turned to the opposite team.

 

It's quite understandable why some managers & Supporters feel like decking some of the officials.

 

They are the only people able to turn a game to suit the desired outcome.

 

That was a rant by the way.

Got to agree with this, after today i'm hard pushed to find an excuse, normally i can blame poor officials or the decisions they've made, but because betting has not been allowed on todays game, I believe the officials today were not perfect but among the best we've had this season, take from this what you want

[Rick the Dick]

Just listened to Alan Alger on todays BBC Non League Football Show (aired this evening but podcast available now).

 

He gave an interesting "strict" interpretation of the FA Rules about "insider knowledge" which just go to re-enforce my opinion that Bookies have no place at our level of football.

 

Club volunteers, who may know something about a particular players return to fitness, not permitted to discuss it with interested fans? What a load of spherical objects.

 

Non League Football's a competitive sport which, unlike the top levels, needs community and volountary involvement to survive. Betting is a parasitic side show. Once the rules governing the latter impact on the enjoyment by the former someone in charge has lost the plot.

Edited March 17, 2013 by Rick the Dick

[Eastside Urchin]

What a load of old tosh

[kt:@btfc]

Based on some of the god awful decisions handed out by SOME of the so called officials over the last few months I think the FA need to be looking a lot closer to home regarding match fixing.

 

It's not as if it isn't blatantly obvious to people watching the game week in week out.

 

100% pens not given and free kick decisions turned to the opposite team.

 

It's quite understandable why some managers & Supporters feel like decking some of the officials.

 

They are the only people able to turn a game to suit the desired outcome.

 

That was a rant by the way.

 

Spot on Brightside Bloke! It's the SHIT OFFICIALS that are ruining the game and we see this week in week out! The worst case was being told to play on advantage, we never got it and they scored!