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AIBU?

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Original poster

Hartlepool and the Rapist Ched Evans :(

214 replies

WeirdCatLady · 20/12/2014 19:29

Oh dear. Please no.

Apologies for a DM link

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2881937/Hartlepool-reveal-want-sign-convicted-rapist-Ched-Evans-despite-national-outcry-return-football.html

OP posts:
TinselHalo · 04/01/2015 14:53

Does anyone have a template letter that can be emailed to sponsors?

Libitina · 04/01/2015 14:54

Who are their sponsors? Maybe we could contact them to make our feelings known?

TinselHalo · 04/01/2015 14:55

There is a list here of their official 2014/15 partner:

www.oldhamathletic.co.uk/commercial/club_partners/index.aspx

chockbic · 04/01/2015 15:04

Oh my lord this is ridiculous. He is still on licence, why is he being offered a job? The Government needs to step in and put an end to this. While they're at it, they can put some effort into protecting his victim and prosecuting those who are harassing her.

Libitina · 04/01/2015 15:15

Tinsel that link seems to be rather popular atm, can't think why though.....

Original poster
WeirdCatLady · 04/01/2015 15:21

Oldham FC must be mad!

OP posts:
ILovePud · 04/01/2015 15:52

Totally bizarre that they'd even consider this, morally and commercially. Surely the writing is on the wall about how toxic this signing would be. I but loads from Sports Direct, not anymore......

TiggyD · 04/01/2015 16:02

Facebook page is:

www.facebook.com/OfficialOAFC

UsedToBeAPaxmanFan · 04/01/2015 16:09

Theres a big article in today's Sunday Times (main section, not sports page) which reads very sympathetically towards this convicted rapist.

It's by David Walsh, who I usually have a huge amount of time and respect for (he's the journalist who brought down Lance Armstrong, at considerable personal cost). However, I think he's seriously wide of the mark here.

That said, I do believe that prisoners who are released on licence should be able to work. I don't see any difference between being allowed to work in a shop to being allowed to work as a footballer. Clearly, as a convicted sex ooffender, there are certain jobs he couldn't do (working in a school, for instance), but afaik, football isn't a prohibited profession for a sex offender. I too feel uneasy about it, but am not sure why.

TiggyD · 04/01/2015 16:13

Poll on on signing Evans on the fan's forum is currently 88% no.

Petition to chairman on change.org here.

aermingers · 04/01/2015 16:13

Oldham were also the club who signed the guy who killed two little boys drink driving when he was released.

Storytown · 04/01/2015 16:19

TiggyD, that's really encouraging. Although 12% yes might seem high, in "normal" circumstances Evans would have been an amazing signing for Oldham and they really need his goals. Even so, only 12% of fans think he should be signed.

The drink driver was a bit different. IIRC he wasn't on license and was very remorseful.

TiggyD · 04/01/2015 16:20

That was somebody else I think aermingers: Luke McCormick?

Oldham employed Lee Hughes, who killed a man by dangerous driving and then ran away to hide for a day or so.

limitedperiodonly · 04/01/2015 16:21

I'm on the fence about whether he should become a footballer again but I think it's hilarious that he's being hounded given what his friends have done to his victim.

Perhaps they could meet at some Checkpoint Charlie and he'll call his dogs off and she'll settle for him kicking a ball about from some Z-division club in Malta.

Storytown · 04/01/2015 16:24

Hibernians are the League leaders in Malta. Maybe not Man U but not Z-division. In any case, the Maltese PM has said they don't want him and the terms of his license prevent him working abroad.

Libitina · 04/01/2015 16:27

Storytown have you read the thread recently?

Storytown · 04/01/2015 16:32

Yes Libitina , I was responding to the last post above mine, which refers to a tf to Malta Confused

Libitina · 04/01/2015 16:37

Sorry Storytown, I obviously need to take my own advice.

Blush
MrsCakesPrecognition · 04/01/2015 16:43

If Evans was proposing to integrate his return to professional football with voluntary work aiming to change male attitudes to women and using his experiences to become a genuinely positive example of someone who has learned a lesson and changed himself, then fair enough.
But he thinks what he did was OK. He thinks he is the victim. He thinks that raping a woman should only be a temporary blip in his life and I think he needs to be made to understand that it will be a huge burden to him until such time as he changes his whole approach to life and women.

limitedperiodonly · 04/01/2015 16:43

Thanks storytown.

I'm not dismissing Malta and it was unfair of me to refer to it as Z-list. I noticed that the Prime Minister and Justice Minister seemed to be at odds.

Personally I hope the PM, who seems to be against the rapist Ched Evans playing football in his country, prevails.

Who knows what will happen.

I just find it funny that the rapist Ched Evans's mates wail about a campaign to blacken his name and ruin his prospects while doing the same to the woman he raped.

BoneyBackJefferson · 04/01/2015 16:46

"I just find it funny that the rapist Ched Evans's mates wail about a campaign to blacken his name and ruin his prospects while doing the same to the woman he raped."

Yes limited and it should be repeated often and loudly.

Storytown · 04/01/2015 16:47

Not sure that funny is the right word, but yes, I agree limited

Chunderella · 04/01/2015 16:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Storytown · 04/01/2015 16:53

Why would it be better for him to work as a painter and decorator, in people's homes, than as a footballer in full public view?

Genuine question. I feel very strongly that he shouldn't play football, certainly not until his license expires and he shows some remorse, but can't get my head around why or why if it's OK for him to earn a living he shouldn't do that playing football but other avenues would be open to him.

aermingers · 04/01/2015 16:57

Honestly? Would you want him coming in your home to decorate? If you had a teenage daughter? He is not on his uppers, his girlfriend's father has made it very clear he has employment with him.

But honestly, apart from a few environments like construction sites who would want a rapist in their place of work? I feel really sorry for female staff there, especially any who may be called on to work alone with him such as physios.