“Tottenham fans are absolute magic.”@SpursOfficial face non-league @MarineAFC tomorrow in the FA Cup 3rd round – and Marine FC chairman Paul Leary says supporters have bought 10,000 “virtual match tickets”.
— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 9, 2021
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Marine’s FA Cup emotional rollercoaster went from elation when they heard that they had drawn Tottenham at home, to outright despair when they discovered that COVID-19 regulations meant that the club wouldn’t be permitted to allow any fans into their stadium ground. Next stop? Selling virtual tickets for £10-each to make up the shortfall.
How will the vast sums raised by this initiative and the countless sponsorships Marine have dreamt up? ‘Grassroots football; appears to be the stock answer. I’d like them to show us something tangible, after all, they have plenty of blank canvas to work with!
“So Marine have managed to milk this tie to get them some much needed income, but what about all the sides who didn’t get a cup draw?” … The simple, but obvious, answer is the other sides didn’t earn it, did they? Generous Spurs fans are rewarding actual achievement, from their own hard-earned money, to compensate Marine for the loss of revenue, due to COVID 19, from their ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ tie.
Well the Government is printing money like nobody’s business no reason they can’t help out those clubs. They’ve already bailed out The Royal Opera House etc with millions.
Meanwhile Spurs fans have put their money where their mouth is. One Spurs blog has donated $12, 000. A Spurs fans GoFundMe page has raised over £6,000.
The club have donated merchandise to Marine. Maybe when fans can return Spurs could play a friendly at Marine.
So Marine have managed to milk this tie to get them some much needed income, but what about all the sides who didn’t get a cup draw? What about Alfreton, Billericay, Oxford City, Darlington, York, Concord Rangers, Bishop Stortford, Enfield, Havant and Waterlooville ,Banbury, St Ives, AFC Fylde, Dorking, Kingstonian, Guisborough Town, Tamworth etc etc etc etc etc…
Anyway, it’s time this charade was ended now, we all know thanks to Whitty and Hancock’s advisors that the virus doesn’t effect people on 10 grand a week or more so enough “magic”, call the match off, give Levy and Jose a buy and be done with it.