As much as Welsh football fans love to deride the English, there is definitely one thing that Cardiff City and the English national side share in common - a minority of both teams followers can be guaranteed to cause a certain amount of mayhem.
Cardiff's season, abysmal as it
was, passed off without too many unsavoury incidents to report
- though the same could not be said of England. Beckham, Shearer
& co had failed again to conquer Europe on the pitch, but
off it, there's no doubt which nation rules when it comes to bad
behaviour.
A hastily assembled 'Panorama' special was aired in order that
the Rugby loving English middle classes could view the antics
of Englishmen who are unable to hold their liquor.
All of this was hugely embarrassing to Cardiff City football club, especially after the Daily Mirror ran the story that one of the fat white men with close cropped hair featured on Panorama was none other than Dai Thomas.
The goal shy City striker claimed
he had nothing to do with any kind of violent disorder but was
seen doing more running in the Belgian capital than he had done
all season in a Bluebird's shirt. Cardiff City very promptly held
a meeting about the incident, but since then, there have been
no further developments, and it must be assumed that despite the
huge offence caused, he must still be a City player.
It is regrettable that it took an incident like this to bring
Dai Thomas to the verge of being thrown out of Cardiff City -
surely his lack lustre performances and his appalling physical
condition should have seen him consigned to the dole office long
before he ever boarded his ferry to Belgium. Thomas (and he is
by no means alone) did virtually nothing for Cardiff City last
year other than draw his wages. It is so galling to be reminded
that if the side had been able to earn just one more point, they
would have retained their Division 2 status. Putting aside the
abysmal quality of Thomas's efforts for City, a wider question
should be asked about the responsibility of the Football League
and the PFA.
Dai Thomas as a professional player (???), albeit in the lower
reaches of the league, should have been charged with bringing
the game into disrepute.
His alleged involvement in embarrassing scenes of violence makes
the Vinnie Jones 'Hard men' video and Robbie Fowler's 'cocaine
sniffing' antics seem like minor offences. Yet while these two
high profile players were heavily punished, Thomas appears to
have escaped scott free.
The antics of the lunatic fringe at City have made Cardiff fans
about as welcome as a dose of the pox in most towns. Yet aspiring
chairman Sam Hamman has been using the kind of aggressive rhetoric
about 'going into battle against England' which can only appeal
to the more idiotic Cardiff supporters already involved in this
kind of childish nonsense.
Sam Hamman should view a copy of the Panorama documentary, listen
to the kind of racist rubbish being chanted by the England fans
in Belgium, and then decide if Dai Thomas is the kind of person
he wants associated with Cardiff City