Swindon FA Charge | Vital Football

Swindon FA Charge

Swindon have been charge by the FA with breaking rules on 'working with intermediaries' in an ongoing dispute about the clubs ownership between it's ownership and selling shares. Link below.

Swindon Town and owner Lee Power charged by FA over ownership/funding - BBC Sport

I don't think this is the type of thing that will lead to a points deduction but worth mentioning.
The last time Swindon got caught out with financial irregularities they were demoted two divisions! (cut to one on appeal)
 
The last time Swindon got caught out with financial irregularities they were demoted two divisions! (cut to one on appeal)

With the exception of us who the EFL couldn't wait to dock points they normally go to lengths to avoid points penalties. So I won't be counting on them getting any meaningful punishment this season if there is any at all.
 
With the exception of us who the EFL couldn't wait to dock points they normally go to lengths to avoid points penalties. So I won't be counting on them getting any meaningful punishment this season if there is any at all.

Think the EFL spin the proverbial Russian roulette gun barrel, pull the trigger & whatever penalty shoots out of the barrel then that's it,......a lottery within a lottery with the only winners being the EFL
 
With the exception of us who the EFL couldn't wait to dock points they normally go to lengths to avoid points penalties. So I won't be counting on them getting any meaningful punishment this season if there is any at all.
This is the FA who have got involved. You are right a points penalty is unlikely but all this nonsense at the business end of the season is not going to help their cause
 
With the exception of us who the EFL couldn't wait to dock points they normally go to lengths to avoid points penalties. So I won't be counting on them getting any meaningful punishment this season if there is any at all.

That's not really true though is it?
Every single club who has been put in to administration has been docked points since that rule was introduced - the exception of course was Blackpool who were put in to administration by a judge to allow someone who had been diddled by the existing owners to be able to buy the club. They didn't suffer an administrative episode as covered by the EFL rule

That said, the timing of the announcement from them was appalling as everyone was still actually trying to come to terms with what the hell was going on but even that I can understand as I've no doubt that they were getting inundated with queries from the other clubs involved in the relegation battle so they had to be clear (so close to the end of the season) as to exactly what was going to happen as a result of Latics entering administration - complicated by the fact that it was beyond the end of the usual March 31st deadline for punishments to be applied during the current season.

I'm no fan of the EFL but to criticise them for announcing we would be docked points & how it would work (depending on whether we stayed up or went down anyway) doesn't really hold much weight as an argument IMO
 
That's not really true though is it?
Every single club who has been put in to administration has been docked points since that rule was introduced - the exception of course was Blackpool who were put in to administration by a judge to allow someone who had been diddled by the existing owners to be able to buy the club. They didn't suffer an administrative episode as covered by the EFL rule

That said, the timing of the announcement from them was appalling as everyone was still actually trying to come to terms with what the hell was going on but even that I can understand as I've no doubt that they were getting inundated with queries from the other clubs involved in the relegation battle so they had to be clear (so close to the end of the season) as to exactly what was going to happen as a result of Latics entering administration - complicated by the fact that it was beyond the end of the usual March 31st deadline for punishments to be applied during the current season.

I'm no fan of the EFL but to criticise them for announcing we would be docked points & how it would work (depending on whether we stayed up or went down anyway) doesn't really hold much weight as an argument IMO

The Blackpool one is exactly the point, they investigated before they confirmed the penalty and decided it shouldn't apply. Derby and Sheffield Wednesday were both in trouble for breaking FFP, but both weren't docked points before they had an investigation / hearing. Derby got nothing and Sheff Wed got theirs delayed to the following season. Sheffield were in the same boat as us and could've impacted relegation but they still got the benefit of an investigation before the EFL decided to dock points.

The EFL confirmed the penalty immediately without giving us the same benefit other clubs boxed themselves in as they couldn't reverse it. If they had of announced they will look into it before applying the penalty i think we'd have had a fair crack of the whip but the appeal became a ass covering exercise for the EFL.
 
The Blackpool one is exactly the point, they investigated before they confirmed the penalty and decided it shouldn't apply. Derby and Sheffield Wednesday were both in trouble for breaking FFP, but both weren't docked points before they had an investigation / hearing. Derby got nothing and Sheff Wed got theirs delayed to the following season. Sheffield were in the same boat as us and could've impacted relegation but they still got the benefit of an investigation before the EFL decided to dock points.

The EFL confirmed the penalty immediately without giving us the same benefit other clubs boxed themselves in as they couldn't reverse it. If they had of announced they will look into it before applying the penalty i think we'd have had a fair crack of the whip but the appeal became a ass covering exercise for the EFL.

All 3 scenarios were completely different to the one Latics found themselves in last July hence why all 3 were treated differently to Latics so they're not comparable.
Blackpool is the closest scenario but even that differs significantly as I said they were put into it by a judge to allow the fella taking the Oyston's to court to buy the club coz of all the iffy things they'd been up to. Because of that they didn't suffer an administrative event so the rule didn't apply &, from what I can gather, that was known about beforehand
The facts for Latics that we were willingly put in to administration by our owner - whether he was up to anything dodgy, whether it was a plan dreamt up months before to get shut of us, whether it was a dodgy bet or whatever, it was done willingly by our owner. In those circumstances the EFL rules, which Latics have signed up, to state that it was an automatic 12 point deduction & what the EFL did to us is exactly what they've done with every other club who have been in the same situation
It's not about what they've done to clubs who've been accused of breaking FFP rules (for which there is no set penalty anyway unlike administration so they are unable to hand down an immediate punishment even if the club admits it), & it's not about what they've done to clubs like Bolton who've failed to fulfil fixtures (again for which there is no set punishment so again for which they are unable to hand down an immediate points deduction)

As I said, from our point of view the timing of the announcement stank but for all the other clubs around us the announcement of the points deduction needed to be made when it was
Comparing the situations of Latics to that of Sheff Wed & derby's FFP issues is like comparing chalk & cheese

And the appeal was carried out by an independent body so wasn't about ass covering for the EFL - the same independent body has reversed many EFL decisions where it has acted incorrectly. Unfortunately for us it (the EFL) didn't act incorrectly when it came to our points deduction
 
With the exception of us who the EFL couldn't wait to dock points they normally go to lengths to avoid points penalties. So I won't be counting on them getting any meaningful punishment this season if there is any at all.

Yet, all the EFL did was apply their rules. Rules that had been devised and agreed by the members of the EFL (that is the clubs).

Not certain on the majority required for this, but it will have been democratic.