A Complete Farce !!!

All dressed up ... and nowhere to go ...

Yes, it's 2042hrs on Monday night - and I (together with many others) are NOT at Ewen Fields to see the Manchester Premier Cup Final between Droylsden and Mossley ... read the following statements (via www.droylsdenfc.com) ...

26/03/12

Statement from Dave Pace

( re M/cr Premier Cup )

It is an unfortunate situation which could not be avoided on

my part, I had an obligation to strengthen our position in

the league and did so by making a number of recent

signings, three wins out of three in the league justifies this

but sadly M/cr Premier cup rules state that a player who is named in the final

must have been involved in a previous round and in that respect we

fall short of eligible players, we would not devalue the competition

by turning out with eight or nine players and so informed

the M/cr FA of the situation, we need some guidance from them, we are

waiting on that at the moment, it is an unusual if not unique situation

that we find ourselves in. It is in the hands of the M/cr FA who i am

sure will be able work something out.

26/03/12

Due to injuries and the recent changes in our

playing staff, the rules specific to the M/cr Premier Cup are such

that Droylsden FC are unable to name a full complement

of players who are currently eligible to start in tonights

cup final. This was brought to the attention of the

Manchester FA and we are awaiting a decision on what will happen.

The Manchester FA has so far decided to postpone tonights

final and will advise us as and when any further decisions

are made.

To many people the Manchester Premier Cup is regarded as a "Mickey Mouse Cup" especially when you lose (see here for example !). However I'd reckon if you get to the Final, you might be taking the whole thing a little more seriously. As I mentioned yesterday (I think) the Manchester FA do have some rather strange/stupid rules regarding the eligibility of players for this competition - as Mossley have found to their cost in the past ... I recall one season when they were ringing round former players and asking them to turn out for the night (with their new club's permission of course) in order to satisfy eligibility rules - and raise a team.

Obviously this sort of effort is too much for a high level semi-pro club like Droylsden. Aaah Droylsden - this is the club where Manager/Chairman/"El Supremo" Dave Pace felt it beneath his dignity one season, so - following a bit of a spat with Manchester FA - put tea lady Stella in charge of all Manchester Premier Cup games ... the same club who had "quiet words" with the Manchester FA last season to allow three "allegedly ineligible" players to turn out in the Final against Ashton United. Yes this is a club that takes this competition seriously ... I find it astonishing that Mr Pace can quote such b*ll*x as "It is in the hands of the M/cr FA" ... and "...unique situation we find ourselves in ..." - complete cr*p ... and it would be interesting to know exactly WHEN it "...was brought to the attention of the Manchester FA ..."

Many folks (and clubs) have had problems with this competition - there have been numerous other "happenings" that have made it appear farcical at times (yes they've even included non-Manchester FA teams - ha !). However the antics of Droylsden FC over the last few years have made the competition even more farcical. - taking this a stage further, a quote elsewhere this evening (via High Peak Radio - not confirmed by myself so read into it what you will ...):

"Was listening to High Peak radio on the way home from work, Pace was on and he said he had no interest in this cup, didn't want to have anything to do with it".

Don't know about everyone else - but I tweaked my work today around this game - we've got three days to deliver the Council Tax letters so I decided to take fewer today to finish earlier to get home to prep for the game (and journey to same). Then I get a text just before midday informing me of the cancellation. Now I find myself with more to do tomorrow and Wednesday ...

It's not just the work aggro - I feel the competition - already teetering on the farcical following events from previous years - has become even further devalued thanks to the antics/whims of certain people - and unfortunately, over the last few years ... it's been the same person/same team. My suggestion is that they do the rest of Manchester FA a favour and not bother entering next season - in fact if there is a "cop out fee" for not entering (certainly used to be in the past) - I'm perfectly willing to accept donations from all right-minded member clubs of the Manchester FA (and fans of same) and will personally present the money to Mr Pace - we could make a night of it (someone else will have to take the photos though) !!

Really really p*ssed off ...
.