Be warned - this WILL be a long one - for me anyway ....
At 1700 tonight this appeared on the Ashton United website - via Chairman Dave Aspinall:
Ashton United FC are disappointed that the courts have found against the club and former player Danny White in this distressing case. This verdict opens a potential can of worms for every single football club up and down the land as, based on the precedent set in this case, any incident resulting in an injury may now be subject to a legal challenge, regardless of the lack of any intent.
Speaking as someone deeply committed to the game of football, I fully understanding Marcus Hallows’ wish to seek redress for the unfortunate injury that he suffered in a challenge with Danny White during the game between Altrincham and Ashton United on March 19th 2005, however, Ashton United FC always felt that, as Mr Hallows’ injuries were suffered as the result of an accidental collision between two consenting adults playing a sport with a known degree of risk, no liability was owed by either Danny White or Ashton United for a genuine, if unfortunate, accident.
The club wishes to make no further comment at this stage until it has consulted with its legal advisors about the potential ramifications for both Ashton United and Danny White following this verdict. It is the club's understanding that no appeal may be forthcoming unless there is a dispute over a point of law
OK - some background here - on 19th March 2005 Altrincham entertained Ashton United. During the game Marcus Hallows was badly injured after a tackle by Danny White - he suffered fractures of both tib and fib and had to wait over 30 minutes before an ambulance arrived - on the way to the hospital his heart stopped. Danny White was not booked for the tackle.
A picture of the tackle - I must point out that it was the trailing left leg of Danny White that connected with Hallows' right leg and caused the injuries.
In June 2008 - yes over 3 years after the event - Hallows sued both Danny White and Ashton United for potential loss of earnings based on a semi-pro career until 35 years of age - Hallows was nearly 30 at the time of the incident. Original stories talked of £32,500 - later stories had the figure as high as £100,000 - certainly enough to financially ruin both club and individual - in fact I did touch on the case on this very blog back then . The story made national headlines at the time - one of the many quotes was that Hallows had to "restart his career" by becoming an Elvis Presley impersonator - not really - he was earning money from this act well before the accident (ask Sam Allardyce's wife) - and he has worked with a flooring company/in sales - as a semi-professional he could not have been dependent on his earnings from football.
In December 2009, Expert witnesses were brought into the case - acting for Hallows, Garry Mabbutt (ex-Spurs) said "It was an uncontrolled lunge" - acting for AUFC/Danny White, Jeff Winter (ex-ref) said "This particular challenge is commonplace in football at all levels" - unlike those 'lucky ones' at Premiership level, there was no video evidence - these experts were working off photos such as the one above and verbal statements of people "who were there". Ashton United had argued from the start that the tackle was "not malicious" but a "collision" - and also the fact that neither referee or linesmen took any action at the time.
A couple of points ref insurance - because the game was an away game for Ashton United, their public liability insurance would not cover any claims - as regards individual player insurance, I'm not so sure as obviously there are contract and non-contract players and I would think there are various ways and means - and much of it is up to the individual player rather than their club . A point of information - I as a "snapper" HAVE to personally take out £2 million of public liability insurance in order to take photographs at Conference level - it costs me about £90 a year - and I found this on the web tonight - obviously just an example but ...
Anyway ... the judge has ruled in favour of Hallows - and as Rasper says above this will now create a legal precedent which could theoretically turn football into a completely non-contact sport ... like bloody netball ... and potentially kill the game at our level. I thought long and hard about other such incidents - Eduardo (back playing after 12 months - no action taken against Martin Taylor), Henrik Larsson (back after 8 months out), David Busst (retired - leg healed, but infection and other muscle damage was too much) - obviously at the higher levels, the players ARE looked after and cossetted by their clubs - and are well provided with insurance etc. On the other hand we have Peter Morrison of Scunthorpe who was awarded over £400,000 compensation after a tackle that broke his leg in several places - although you must note that the tackler in this case WAS SENT OFF - unlike Danny White who WAS NOT EVEN BOOKED.
We mustn't forget Danny White and the mental damage this case has caused to HIS career (believe there could be a possible counter-claim option for Ashton United on behalf of Danny) - after leaving Ashton United he moved to Mossley for a while before moving on to Buxton and Retford - he hasn't played for a while ... for obvious reasons - and I'm sure there was plenty of work for an Elvis impersonator over the Christmas period .... And what about the officials who were involved in the game - if their decisions can be overturned by a judge (who may know jack about non-league football and the implications of his decision) on what I consider minimal evidence - there truly is no hope for the game ...
This decision HAS to be overturned .... it really does ...
23FEB10 UPDATE - (in case no-one checks later posts) on-line petition now up HERE
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