Leyton Orient have proposed a FIFA knockout tournament in which a number of clubs look to fill the current football void.
The premise is clear; clubs will represent themselves in one on one matches against other clubs to find an eventual winner. It’s an idea which gained traction yesterday with 64 teams agreeing to take part, including a large number from across our bottom two divisions.
When Orient published the list of clubs last night and announced a possible draw, many suddenly saw a problem; they had tucked the logo of their club sponsors on the bottom of the list.
They are sponsored by Dream Team, the fantasy football game that appears in The Sun newspaper and that’s caused problems for at least one of the clubs who agreed to take part: Tranmere Rovers. They hail from Merseyside, Birkenhead to be exact, an area in which the newspaper does not shift any units by virtue of its reporting of the Hillsborough disaster.
Tranmere pulled out of the tournament as soon as the logo was spotted and Orient clarified the situation, explaining how they included their club sponsor on the promo and hadn’t done a hook-up with the paper. In fairness, they do seem to have removed the logo this morning, as it clearly wasn’t done with the intention of promoting The Sun, but it’s a hugely contentious issue in which a number of supporters have had their say.
The Sun has attracted criticism from a number of areas of late, not least for the way it handled the Caroline Flack tragedy both before the fact and after. A number of clubs have issues with the paper and that became clear as the Twitter reaction rolled in.
@LincolnCity_FC if it is that paper involved I do hope Imps pull out too, great idea, awful sponsor.
— Andrew Hammond (@hammyimp) March 16, 2020
I'm an orient fan who hasn't attended since the sponsorship came in. I applaud your stand, and hope it is considered by the club when it comes to renewal.
— waine james (@rwtwm) March 16, 2020
https://twitter.com/miabwfc/status/1239666286734475264
Yes fellas you’re welcome hahah 👍🏼👍🏼
— Harry Hesketh (@HarryHesketh) March 16, 2020
Merseyside stands together, always pic.twitter.com/hBtpmBwWgw
— Shannonʸⁿʷᵃ🧣 (@icy7_YNWA) March 16, 2020
Tony really? Business is just that they make money when and how possible. I'm sorry but this is taking the piss! I don't now or will ever buy the S*n but I'm not going to beat on a club for its commercial decisions based on a "newspaper"
— Mark Mortimer (@morti59) March 16, 2020
@pnefc Same thing please lads. No club should be associated with the S*n
— Zak Goulding (@ZakGoulders) March 16, 2020
Over to you to follow suit now @Everton#shunthesun
— Paul Nugent (@rednugget) March 16, 2020
Fantastic reaction. No place for that paper in the UK.
— JohnMJ (@JohnMJames1) March 16, 2020
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