Letter From John Gibson!!

[Colin Zeal EFM]

FAO Mr Paul Jones

Mr Colin Thoms

Mr Anthony Costello

 

Dear Sirs,

 

It is with regret that you have once again brought shame on the good name of St Albans City FC and as a result you are forthwith banned from both the ground and the club bar.

 

The gatemen on the turnstiles have been notified and will refuse you entry and likewise James Brewer will not allow you to be served in the bar. Any attempted breach of this ban will be dealt with by the Authorities, rather than personnel within the Club.

 

I am not prepared to enter into any further discussion on the subject, as there are a multitude of witnesses from last Saturday's game at Billericay and your denials would be a little pointless.

 

Please accept my apologies for this notification by email but this is the only format in which I can make contact.

 

Yours faithfully

John Gibson

 

 

An email address of a solicitor was CC'd in.

 

Once again, Gibbo has taken the cowardly way out. It would be laughable if it wasn't so sad.

 

He obviously hasn't spoken to a multitude of witnesses. If he had, he'd have been properly informed of the events and would instead be issuing complaints to Billericay Town FC and the Isthmian League rather than dishing out bans to us.

 

Anyway.

 

Give a sh*t.

 

 

[Colin Zeal EFM]

Oh, and webbo was CC'd in too.

 

Very odd.

 

 

[Webbo MFI]

nothing to do with me mate <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

[Colin Zeal EFM]

Just half an hour this has been on the board, and already PM's and emails of kind support for us have been flooding in.

 

I am not too bothered about being unable to watch home games, but just furious at the injustice of it all.

 

Obviously Gibson has spoken to Billericay officials, and has been given a load of lies about "racial abuse" which simply did not happen, and the Ricay keeper and the Ricay Official are just trying to cover their own arses.

 

 

[EFM's Librarian]

I think the worst thing about it all is his refusal to even listen to what you 3 have to say about it.

 

Can you imagine if this was the case in a courtroom and the judge said "my mates have all told me you did it - and I refuse to listen to anything you say" - there'd (rightly) be uproar.

[Colin Zeal EFM]

He's a stubborn man, Libro. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

 

 

[gertcha EFM]

Who is Colin Thoms ? Also, the club don't own the ground anyway so surley any ban should come from the council.

 

 

[Harding's Minion]

Free the EFM three! Total injustice. I'm in advanced talks with a fellow EFM member to produce posters, flyers & banners for the campaign.

[Colin Zeal EFM]

Good work, HM!

 

<img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

 

 

[Guest]

sorry but why the ban in the first place? what happened?

 

Good name of St Albans? - he's having a laugh there [****!!****].

 

This Gibson fella sounds like a right [***!!***]

 

 

[GHA EFM]

This may be the wrong thread to post this in, but then again it might be the right thread...

 

Why is Zeal no longer a moderator in here?

[Guest]

So what has happened is that after an incident at Billericay Zeal receiveds a letter from Gibson telling him that his lot are banned, webbo has been copied in as well, and the next thing is that Zeal had had his moderator status removed.

 

Dosen't take a genius does it?

So Webbo are you the collaborator?

So explaining to be done methinks...

[Colin Zeal EFM]

I've been making some calculations.

 

The first game I went to at Clarence Park was Hendon in the FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round in 1997, six years ago to the week.

 

The following is an estimated amount of money I've spent at the club...

 

Gate receipts - assuming an average 24 home games a season at an average £7 per game (including league and all cups) - £1008.00

Bar receipts - varies a lot, but a conservative average would be £15 per game (and often a lot more) - £2,160.00

Merchandise - I have bought nine replica shirts in total at an average of £35 each - £315.00

Programmes - used to buy one per game for my first four seasons - £192.00

Shirt sponsorship - twice I sponsored a player (Paul Turner and Neil Trebble) at £100 each - £200.00

Match sponsorship - sponsored a match twice at £20 each - £40.00

 

That little lot totals £3,915.00 in just six years, and that's without the little extra's like Golden Goal tickets, scratchcards and the odd few quid behind the tea bar.

 

My support, however, is no longer required.

 

My bank manager will be delighted.

 

 

[Webbo MFI]

Have you received a reply to your e-mail?

[Colin Zeal EFM]

No.

 

Gibson did warn in his first email that he is "not prepared to enter into any further discussion on the subject", so I am not too hopeful of a reply. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

 

 

[GHA EFM]

I presume this applies to home reserve team matches as well??

[CANV EFM]

4 bags.. nice one! i trust you put all that in your e mail

[EFM Trev]

Hmmm. Has he spoken to you about this at all, Zeal? Does he not know that, so faras I'm aware, you've never acted aggressively towards anyone, whether inside a football ground or on theway there or back? I suspect possibly not, but Ialso suspect that he doesn't really care that much.

 

I don't think I'll be in too much of a hurry to get back to the Park in the near future.

[YELLOW]

I seriously think this Gibson fella has lost the plot. You can't just go and ban people for no apparent reason.

EFM were and hopefully still are the heart and soul of St Albans City.

They were the ones doing all the singing and getting behind the team at away matches and also spending their hard earned cash travelling the country by train when most supporters wouldn't bother.

 

If Mr Gibson wants further evidence on why he should revoke this stupid ban then what about the £1500+ cash raised for Leukaemia sufferer Candy Bloomfield by EFM members prior to the Canvey game back in April. How many supporters of other clubs would have had the idea or even been bothered to do this?

 

EFM are loud and like to get drunk but so do our supporters and they don't get banned (unless you write a slightly critical match report criticising the management's tactics and happen to own and run a successful website in competition with the club's official website <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />)

 

Mr Gibson should look at the facts before he starts banning people on a whim. If he wants to turn Clarence Park into a morgue then fine but what is shocking is his failure to enter intelligent discussion. Sending an e-mail seems rather inpersonal. If he could have had a proper discussion with the three banned then any misunderstandings could have been cleared up but that is easier said than done.

 

Good luck Zeal and the boys and don't let them drive you away!

[EFM Trev]

I suppose that now is about the time to say this, YA - I (and others) have heard rumours that the club were specifically requested to NOT mention the money raised for Candy on the way to Park Lane last year in the programme the week after we raised.

 

Personally, I was willing to listen to all sides of the argument until then, but I couldn't really be bothered after that.