Owners of football clubs are often living out some kind of fantasy, but they are rarely fit enough to appear on the pitch (sometimes hard-up teams do raffle a slot for a supporter who then gets a shirt number and a puffing few minutes on the pitch in an inconsequential fixture). Michael Knighton, who turned out not to have the wherewithal to buy Manchester United, did get the chance to play ‘keepy uppy’ at the Stretford End.
Owners of football clubs are often living out some kind of fantasy, but they are rarely fit enough to appear on the pitch (sometimes hard-up teams do raffle a slot for a supporter who then gets a shirt number and a puffing few minutes on the pitch in an inconsequential fixture). Michael Knighton, who turned out not to have the wherewithal to buy Manchester United, did get the chance to play ‘keepy uppy’ at the Stretford End. Despite lacking the promised readies which would have given him control of United at a knockdown price, he did serve on the board for a few years, ending up at Carlisle (which apparently became the club of choice of space aliens which suggests that they don’t know that much about football). Now there has been a first: the boss of a club has been red carded and fined by the manager. Tom Mitchell, described as a ‘shaggy-haired 21-year old’ playing in midfield, was sent off for head butting an opponent in the Blue Square South fixture between Dorchester Town and Newport County. His dad, the Magpies owner Eddie Mitchell, handed control of the club in the summer to Tom and his brother Josh. Manager Roy O’Brien is insising that Mitchell must toe the line and earn the right to play. He remains manager.