Messi, Maradona, Pele, Best and Beckham have game stopped

Messi, Pele, Maradona, David Beckham and George Best will not be playing in Farnborough’s home game against Chelmsford City this afternoon or at Havant & Waterlooville on Monday. The Skrill Football Conference has called the games off.

Messi, Pele, Maradona, David Beckham and George Best will not be playing in Farnborough’s home game against Chelmsford City this afternoon or at Havant & Waterlooville on Monday. The Skrill Football Conference has called the games off.

In a statement the Conference said: ‘After the agreement of a CVA and the subsequent sale of Farnborough Football & Social Club Limited the Board of the Football Conference has recently been considering an application from the Administrator of the company to transfer its membership to a new company, Boro FC Limited (newco). Unfortunately Boro FC Limited (newco) was unable to meet the criteria required for such a transfer before the deadline [of 3 pm yesterday].’

Bookmakers Paddy Power gave the club a £100,000 sponsorship on condition that all the players changed their names by deed poll to those of famous figures in the history of football. The stadium was also re-named as Paddy Power Park.

Farnborough has been one of the most financially troubled clubs in non-league football, despite (or perhaps because of) having a state of the art stadium. It has emerged that the purchasers of the club were the administrator’s third choice.

In a statement on the club’s website with comments from Paddy Power, Farnborough FC described this as an ‘extraordinary demand’ and claimed it was ‘disproportionate and wholly unfair’. But the message added: ‘Paddy Power have agreed to post this bond to ensure that the greatest team in the world lines out this Saturday in Paddy Power Park.’

The statement also alleged that the new owners of Aldershot Town FC were allowed to compete without a bond in place, while Truro City FC were given permission to play under a bond of just £50,000.

Paddy Power added: ‘This bullyboy tactic from the Football Conference makes them a real contender for our Ball of Shame season review. We’re always happy to support the underdog and in this case we’re only too happy to ensure the gates of Paddy Power Park remain open for the coming season.’

Dennis Strudwick, general manager at the Football Conference, responded: ‘The Conference requested a bond of £100,000. It’s not a new thing. We want to ensure that the club will fulfil the season and not leave other clubs incurring expenses.’