Stupidest ever decision by the football authorities

[upthemaggies]

Obviously it's voting Nottingham F****t into the Football League in 1892, for which Notts have to take a fair amount of blame, but there are some others which defy belief.

High flying Peterborough United's punishment in 1967/68: Posh were looking good for promotion to the 2nd tier, they were told in NOVEMBER that they would be relegated for financial breaches, they had to play out the rest of the season knowing that no matter what they did, they would get a points deduction at the end of the season to ensure they finished rock bottom. Incredibly. 4th tier Port Vale were expelled for similar offences that same season, but this was effectively meaningless because they were voted straight back in again and suffered zero consequences. Manchester United also breached the financial rules the following season and were merely fined.

Perhaps worse still, Arsenal in 1914 finished 5th in the 2nd tier. The top flight was expanded after the war allowing for an extra team to be promoted, 3rd place Barnsley could have expected to go up but instead Arsenal went up on a vote due to 'historical achievements'.

[Nigel_M]

ITV Digital deal, the collapse of which, without any recourse to ITV, nearly sent a whole load of clubs to the wall.

Didn't we boycott the 1st World Cup as we were too good for it?

[queenslandpie]

The formation of the Premier League. Which to me spelled the death of the sport.

[SwalePie]

The formation of the Premier League. Which to me spelled the death of the sport.

I'd second that one

[BigFatPie]

If you look at the state of football before it’s formation, I’d say that the establishment of the PL was one of the best things to happen to football.

The distribution of resultant funds has been poor however.

[sidders]

The formation of the Premier League. Which to me spelled the death of the sport.

Taint what they did - it's the way that they did it!

[magpie_mania]

After last night's Man City game - the way offside is now applied.

[upthemaggies]

UEFA deciding that the crumbling Heysel stadium was a suitable European Cup final venue and allocating tickets to opposing fans as well as neutrals behind one of the goals. Then, rather than accepting responsibility, banned a whole bunch of clubs who had absolutely nothing to do with it including Everton, Norwich and Southampton who had no record of causing significant trouble abroad.

Deciding drawn European ties on the toss of a coin until 1970.

Not introducing substitutions until 1965.

Holding FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley.

VAR.

[Frigiliana Pie 1]

Awarding the World Cup to Qatar.

[trentunder]

All of the above..