Matt Holding

WBA Home & Away also follow England Football, Cricket and Rugby. Travel generally and good food.

[Matt Holding @matth893]

@Richstevens_ Brilliant mate

[Matt Holding @matth893]

@stevewba10 Nah not at this test bud

[Kieran Maguire @KieranMaguire]

Took 112 days to charge the club
2 day hearing
16 hours for verdict
19 days to publish decision

No one from EFL gave evidence at the hearing.

3/4 people from West Brom.

[Kieran Maguire @KieranMaguire]

2024: West Brom named EFL Championship Community Club of the year.

2026: West Brom deducted two points by EFL for accounting treatment of donations to Club community scheme.

[Andy Jones @Andyjoneswrites]

#wba fined 2pts for £2m overspend, much of which was charity work which the EL retrospectively punished.

Chelsea guilty of 36 separate illegal payments of £48m for players like Hazard, Willian, Matic, Luiz which helped them win trophies.
No points deduction or transfer ban.

[Henry Winter @henrywinter]

So a club can sell its hotel to itself, sell its women’s team to itself, but West Brom are punished, they believe, for legitimate “in-kind” donations to the Albion Foundation, its charity partner that saves lives. Albion also believe the alleged PSR breach is “less than £2m”

[EFL Communications @EFL_Comms]

Following a recent consultation with Clubs, the League can confirm that there will be no introduction of further technology to support Match Officials in the @SkyBetChamp.

The consultation found that a significant majority of Clubs in the division did not favour the introduction of a Football Video Support ‘challenge’ system. The use of Goal Line Technology – which has been in operation in the division since the 2017/18 season – will continue.

[David Piesing @DavidPiesing63]

@RobDorsettSky @JPercyTelegraph @GoldbergRadio @BuzagloToBalis @AliJones9 Hang on - the club had to borrow money BECAUSE Lai had literally stolen (I use that term without hesitation) money from the club with the Wisdom Smart “loan” that was made unlawfully by his stooge (then sole director of the club), Ke Xu, in blatant breach of his fiduciary duty to only act in the best interests of the company (being the football club) which that “loan” made to Wisdom Smart very clearly was not!

I sent several emails to Ke Xu about this (I have copies), pointing out his blatant breach of fiduciary duty and demanding to know as a shareholder what he was doing to enforce repayment from Wisdom Smart. Every email was totally ignored. I also sent emails about it to the club’s auditors, Azets (I still have copies) who were obviously very interested. Crucially I sent an email to Rick Parry (Chairman) and Trevor Birch (Chief Executive Officer) of the EFL on 20th January 2023 about Lai’s “loan”, which led to two video calls with their “very interested” colleagues Mark Rowan (Chief Communications Officer) and Nick Craig (Chief Operating Officer) in May 2023 about all the shenanigans. I made them aware of facts regarding the Chinese ultimate beneficial ownership of the club which neither they nor the Premier League (who originally approved Lai as “fit and proper”) knew nothing about. Because of those illegal acts by Xu, as Lai’s puppet, money unlawfully disappeared from the club, leaving it days away from going into administration.

If the club may potentially now suffer a points deduction some 3 years later directly because of the club having no option but to pay interest on expensive MSD loans taken out by Lai to literally keep the club in existence because he was unable to repay his own unlawful Wisdom Smart “loan”, then this would be a disgraceful gross injustice by the EFL and must be fully exposed and challenged. No sane person would deem that to a breach worthy of a points deduction. The EFL was made fully aware of the situation regarding that Wisdom Smart loan and if they cannot now locate their emails to refer to, I do still have them all.

The EFL has had an absolute stinker here on multiple fronts (as did the Premier League before them) and they need to recognise that and immediately dismiss any charge against the club.

[Matt Holding @matth893]

@Tgarratt10 Harsh.

[Matt Holding @matth893]

Follow them everywhere, regardless! 💙

[West Bromwich Albion @WBA]

Some sight. 🖤

[West Bromwich Albion @WBA]

Today is Morgan Amalfitano's birthday. 🎂

[Matt Holding @matth893]

@KitmanPat @AllAlbionFans How are we getting in a better position to that as it stands now?

[Matt Holding @matth893]

@WM_Loyal Agreed

[Matt Holding @matth893]

@matt_p_w Completely agree.

[Matt Holding @matth893]

@matt_p_w Think we need discipline lads, absolute must for whoever comes in.

[The FSA @WeAreTheFSA]

Football Supporters' Association statement on World Cup prices:

The prices set for the 2026 World Cup are scandalous, a step too far for many supporters who passionately and loyally follow their national sides at home and abroad.

Everything we feared about the direction in which FIFA wants to take the game was confirmed - Gianni Infantino only sees supporter loyalty as something to be exploited for profit.

Prices for England's matches have been set as some of the highest, priced at $7020 if you want to follow the team from start through to the final.

If you are "lucky" enough to reserve the cheapest ticket for the final you'll need to hand over $4185, approximately £3200 - that's £35 per minute of the game.

FIFA call this the “Supporter Value” category - that's a laughable insult to your average fan.

Supporters are expected to hand over all of this money in February to FIFA, who will keep it in their bank account to accrue interest. If England are knocked out before the final they'll then return it, minus an admin fee of course. They are beyond shameless.

This is a tournament that is supposed to be celebrated by the world, where fans of all nations come together for the love of football. FIFA have decided to make it all about the money and the elite who can afford it.

For FIFA, loyalty is not the hard-working fan travelling thousands of miles in support of their team at qualifiers around the continent. A game that should be for all is now only for those who can afford it.

ACTION NEEDED

We back Football Supporters Europe in calling for a halt in ticket sales and we are calling on the Football Association to work with fellow FAs to directly challenge these disgraceful prices.

We call on all national associations to stand up for your supporters, without whom there would be no professional game.

The most loyal fans feel they have been stabbed in the back. Those same fans, their passion, their colours, their noise will be missing in America, Mexico and Canada, unless significant price reductions are introduced.

Supporters who have looked forward to this tournament for years, supporters who have been to multiple World Cups, supporters who were excited about this being their first tournament will all be missing as it will be unaffordable.

Who needs to follow England away for disappointment when FIFA can deliver that six months before a ball is kicked? The life has been sucked out of this tournament before it starts.

[Matt Holding @matth893]

@richbaggie Great summary again Rich

[England @England]

#OnThisDay in 2001...

England 5-1 Germany. Owen hat-trick. Unforgettable. ⚡️

[Matt Holding @matth893]

@MichaelRootes Great pics there mate

[Matt Holding @matth893]

@KitmanPat Couldn’t agree more