To the Chairman and Board of Crystal Palace Football Club,
Former professional footballer Steve Claridge has been a pundit on the BBC’s "Football League Show" for some time now. During this time, football supporters of many teams have noticed a considerable bias for or againist certain teams during his pundit comments.
Supporters of Crystal Palace Football Club are one such group. It is not uncommon that Claridge’s comments regarding Crystal Palace FC are overwhelmingly negative, or extremely minimal as he forces the discussion towards the opposing team very quickly. Supporters have discussed this in both serious and humourous fashions on various social media, and any specific complaints should certainly be directed towards the BBC.
On Saturday 1 October 2011, Steve Claridge was present at Selhurst Park for Crystal Palace hosting West Ham United FC in the English Football Championship. During The Football League Show, Mr Claridge used the term "…I was at the West Ham game…" during a conversation. While this does sounds innocuous, the match was hosted by Crystal Palace and not West Ham United. Such a casual turn of phrase shows a disrespect for Crystal Palace as well as Mr Claridge’s own lack of professionalism. If Mr Claridge was a media guest for the game, it was even more disrespectful.
We are signing this petition to request that Mr Steve Claridge is, from this day forth, not permitted to enter Selhurst Park as a media guest or on any other complimentary ticket. If legally permitted, we also request that he is not granted entry into Selhurst Park in any capacity whatsoever. This should stand until Mr Claridge’s public comments regarding Crystal Palace Football Club can be deemed respectful and professional.
Signed,
The supporters of Crystal Palace Football Club
There are currently 54 signatures for this petition: