A Hull City supporter who has spent approximately £2,000 to attend the Championship playoff final from his home in Australia has accused the English Football League of having “no regard for fans” after the “Spygate” controversy cast uncertainty over the game.
Jack Gorbert, a former season-ticket holder now living in Melbourne, rushed to book a flight back to England after Hull’s victory over Millwall in the playoff semi-final earlier this month. The 27-year-old paid nearly £1,300 for the return journey, plus an additional £700 for hotels and travel, but now faces the possibility that the fixture against Southampton may not go ahead as scheduled on 23 May.
Southampton have been charged with breaching EFL rules by spying on a Middlesbrough training session before their semi-final. The EFL issued a statement on Thursday confirming an independent commission hearing would take place by Tuesday, but warned that appeals could lead to changes to the fixture. Critics have slammed the EFL for lacking a fixed sanction for such breaches.
“As soon as the final whistle went at Millwall I was looking for flights and I booked straight away,” said Gorbert, who attended Hull’s previous playoff final wins in 2008 and 2016. “With the situation in the Middle East things are pretty volatile, but there’s no way I was going to miss out. I’d probably sell a kidney if I had to.”
“What’s happened is absolutely crazy. Without dropping expletives, all I can say is the EFL has no regard for the fans at all. I’ve spoken to another fan who is coming from Sydney, and someone else in Peru. But it’s not just that, it’s fans in Hull booking trains and hotels and disgraceful prices.”
Although Gorbert admitted that a free pass to the Premier League would be decent compensation, he stressed that the sense of occasion at Wembley cannot be replaced. “If we were going to go up on a technicality I wouldn’t say no to the Premier League but everyone wants that big day in the big smoke at Wembley,” he said. “The feelgood factor is really back at this club and I think we’d take over Wembley this time around. I hope common sense prevails.”
The EFL’s statement clarified that it does not control the timetable of the independent disciplinary commission and acknowledged the concern and disruption for supporters. The Hull City Official Supporters Club expressed dissatisfaction, stating that the situation resulted from the EFL’s own error in failing to publish sanctions for spying breaches.
