CHARLES SALE: A dozen Premier League clubs are proud of poppies

03 November 2009 14:40
There will be plenty of discussion surrounding the Barclays Premier League clubs who have put a poppy on their match shirts to commemorate Remembrance Sunday - and those who have not.[LNB] Special shirt: Birmingham's James McFadden in action against Manchester City on Sunday[LNB]POPPY IDOLSArsenal, Birmingham City, Burnley, Chelsea, Everton, Hull City, Manchester City, Sunderland, Spurs, West Ham, Wigan and Wolves[LNB]POPPY POOPERSAston Villa, Blackburn, Bolton, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester United, Portsmouth and Stoke[LNB]So far, 12 clubs out of the 20 in the top flight have asked forpermission to do so either last weekend or next. They are Arsenal,Birmingham City, Burnley, Chelsea, Everton, Hull City, Manchester City,Sunderland, Spurs, West Ham, Wigan and Wolves.[LNB]        HAVE YOUR SAY...     Should all Premier League clubs wear the poppy with pride on their shirts? Charles Sale's Sports Agenda has named and shamed those Premier League clubs whose shirts did not carry the Royal British Legion's poppy emblem this weekend. There were 12 sides sporting poppies. Do you want your team to honour Britain's soldiers? TELL US WHAT YOU THINK Birmingham, under new Chinese management, are even auctioning off theirpoppy shirts, which they wore for one half against Manchester City, inaid of the British Legion.[LNB]A Premier League spokesman said: 'The Premier League and the FA allow clubs to embroider a poppy on to their playing shirts. This is one of many ways that the Premier League support the Armed Forces.'[LNB]Manchester United, the country's best supported club, are one of the eight not on the poppy list, but they are not helped by having a red shirt which makes the poppy emblem difficult to pick out.[LNB]A United spokesman said: 'We don't think it's particularly necessary. We sell poppies around the ground and all our officials wear them and we work with Armed Forces charities in a lot of other ways throughout the year.'[LNB] The most difficult moment of the Northern Football Writers' annual dinner at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester on Sunday was the handshake between Notts County director of football Sven Goran Eriksson and newly sacked manager Ian McParland. 'Gentleman Sven' made a point of seeking out McParland, but it was the shortest of conversations.[LNB] Freddie Flintoff always does his best to placate his sponsors, even during his regular injury spells on the sidelines.[LNB]Like turning up at the England cricket team's hotel during the summer wearing Puma-branded clothing when adidas are the official cricket kit suppliers.[LNB]And Freddie grabbed a can of Red Bull, his other sponsors, when photographed with wife Rachael at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.[LNB] Enlarge Keeping the sponsors happy: Andrew Flintoff and his wife Rachel at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday [LNB]Harry tapes are handed over in football probeCity of London Police have won a court order against the News of the World forcing them to hand over taped interviews and documents relating to a football corruption investigation.[LNB]The Sunday newspaper had refused when asked by the economic crime department, whose marathon football probe dates back to the start of the Premier League bung inquiry in January 2006.[LNB]But the court order last week gave them no option but to co-operate.[LNB] Tapes: Spurs boss Harry Redknapp[LNB]The haul includes interviews with Spurs boss Harry Redknapp, Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie and Leicester chairman Milan Mandaric, all of whom have been on bail on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and false accounting for nearly two years.[LNB]Storrie has been told by the HM Revenue and Customs, who are the lead authority in the investigation, he will be charged. Storrie says it concerns unpaid tax for Amdy Faye's signing-on fee he received on joining Portsmouth from Auxerre for £1.5million in 2003.[LNB]Storrie, on honeymoon when the deal was negotiated, will 'defend the allegations in the strongest possible terms'.[LNB]Redknapp's part allegedly relates to an off-shore Monaco account into which £100,000 was paid for his percentage entitlement from the £5m sale of Peter Crouch from Portsmouth to Aston Villa in 2005.[LNB]Redknapp said: 'This is about a discrepancy of about £10,000 in income tax when I've paid £10m in tax over the past 10 years. This is what it's come down to and I'm sick of it.'[LNB]Former Pompey chairman Mandaric has added to the confusion by claiming cash in the Redknapp offshore account was paid by him for a proposed US business venture.[LNB][LNB][LNB] [LNB]  Explore more:People:Andrew Flintoff, Harry Redknapp, Peter Storrie, Sven Goran Eriksson, Freddie Flintoff, James McFaddenPlaces:Monaco, Birmingham, Manchester, Monaco, United KingdomOrganisations:London police

Source: Daily_Mail