Why Wolves should be in the play-offs - please contact the FA

[whistleblower]

I am not a Wolves fan but would like to advise you that you may wish to contact the FA and ask why Brentford appear to be allowed to break their rules.

Matthew Benham the owner of Brentford also owns Smartodds who invest money into creating models that predict the statistical probability of the outcomes of football matches and then place bets based upon these models (you can see here that Smartodds confirm they have a bet placement team: http://www.smartodds.co.uk/About/OurTeams ). Therefore although indirectly, Matthew Benham through Smartodds is betting on football. He confirms that he is aware of this relationship in this interview from 2013 http://www.probigbets.com/blog_detail.php?id=23 where he says “Do you actually bet on your own team? Never, it is strictly prohibited”. However at the time of the interview he was not just prohibited from betting on Brentford but on any competition in which Brentford competed, and since last summer FA rules were tightened further that prohibits football club employees from betting on any football at all.

I have previously emailed the FA to ask why Benham is allowed to continue to own both Smartodds and Brentford but they state that they “can’t comment on individual arrangements”, yet this is the same FA who are headed by Greg Dyke who says of FIFA: “Complete transparency is required if the actions of all those who bid, including England 2018, are to be judged fairly.” The same Greg Dyke who used to be chairman of Brentford!

I appreciate this is not as clear cut as a player popping into to his high street bookmakers and placing an accumulator on the coupon, however these are clear conflicts of interest occurring that the FA are unwilling to comment on.

Therefore I advise you that as you missed out on the play-offs thanks to Brentford you may want to ask the FA why Greg Dyke’s club appears to be getting favourable treatment.

 

[Deleted Cyber]

Great idea but I for one am not going to rain on Brentfords parade a team who sacked their manager effectively in January yet still made the play offs one year after promotion from the third tier. No I see your point but if we cant get there on merit then I dont want to be there on a technicality. Would rather put my energy into beating the teams we should have beaten this season and make it clear before the last day.

 

[Freddeno]

Great idea but I for one am not going to rain on Brentfords parade a team who sacked their manager effectively in January yet still made the play offs one year after promotion from the third tier. No I see your point but if we cant get there on merit then I dont want to be there on a technicality. Would rather put my energy into beating the teams we should have beaten this season and make it clear before the last day.

+1

 

[sycophantia]

I agree Cyber-man, fair play to all the teams that have gone up or made the play-offs

 

[playtheace]

I agree Cyber-man, fair play to all the teams that have gone up or made the play-offs

Yeah agree, and i hope for Warburton they win the playoffs.
The bloke was on the radio today and was very dignified...says the decision to get rid of everyone including him wont be overturned and the owner loves Brentford and its up to him.
Also reckoned that not one club had contacted him about a future job.

 

[Tony Towner]

I hope Norwich win the play offs, they'd be the strongest team of the 4 next year, so would rather have them out of the way

 

[croxdenabbey]

It would be nice to see Brentford in the top division, great for them and another 'new face' to go with the old ones. I really do wish them all the best in the play-offs.

 

[leedswolf]

Shouldn't you be petitioning the Football League?

 

[whistleblower]

I believe that the FA should offer clarity on why it appears Brentford's owner appears to operate outside their laws, particularly given Greg Dyke's relationship with the club, and I would like to see fans put pressure on the FA to make a statement on this.

However I fully respect your opinion that you believe Brentford have finished in the top 6 on merit, I just am not sure they have done so within FA rules.

Good luck for next season.

 

[Alan]

While I agree that Dyke's relationship with Brentford's owner looks a bit odd based on this evidence, I don't think it would be right to punish the manager, players, and supporters of Brentford for the misdeeds of the owner. That would be like saying Blackpool deserves everything the Oyston's do to it, which is patently absurd.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

I just think we would look remarkably bitter and twisted were we to even make comment.

 

[Alan]

That, too, definitely. Would be like throwing a toddler's temper tantrum.

 

[sycophantia]

That, too, definitely. Would be like throwing a toddler's temper tantrum.

Thats pretty much normal behavior for a lot of Football fans lol

 

[jd1981]

That, too, definitely. Would be like throwing a toddler's temper tantrum.

Bit like Celtic when they lost the Scottish cup semi final the other week.

 

[Alan]

I think we'd expect that from them!

Actually we might expect it from us, too... Hm.

 

[Freddeno]

Norwich for me

 

[BillyDee]

The owner of Brentford may or may not have been betting on his team, or other teams in their division. But Brentford have won, and qualified for the playoffs.
If a club owner of a team we had needed to win on the last day had been betting on them to lose, we might have a case. Whilst it might not be technically legit, if the implication is the Bees owner has influenced results, he can't have made other teams do badly against Brentford for them to do well?

It's not like Brentford were clear favourites to do well, and he bet against them?

 

[playtheace]

On a side note.
What will happen with Brentford should they win promotion?
I mean will that dreadfully dangerous terrace that people have stood on for 111 years be allowed into the league of terribly average yet overpaid players?
I did hear talk of ground share.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

The whispers I hear suggest London Irish will switch their games to Griffin Park and Brentford will share the Madejski for at least a year.

No-one has had terracing and got promoted since Fulham back in 2001 so it's not been an issue for ages. While that is something that needs to be addressed - Fulham were allowed to play there for a season with the standing areas and then they shared Loftus Road for two years while they got the stands concerned sorted out - what is enshrined in the rules is the amount of media space/facilities you have to provide and Griffin Park doesn't come anywhere near. Not something you could sort that easily either.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

No chance Griffin Park will be allowed. Expect a groundshare as Lionel Road has really only just broken ground.