Arrigo Sacchi once described football as “the most important of all the least important things in life”.
However much we try to tell ourselves that it’s just a game, the events that surround our football club have a profound impact on our emotional state.
For weeks now, Albion fans have been given reasons to smile as James Morrison’s Baggies embarked on a seven-game unbeaten run.
But, just as things were starting to look rosy in the Throstles’ garden again, breaking news on Monday morning struck a dagger through the heart of those who bleed blue and white.
John Percy of the Daily Telegraph reported, external that Albion had been charged by the EFL with an alleged breach of profit and sustainability rules. A charge which could carry a points penalty if proven.
Albion say they have done nothing wrong, and the EFL are saying nothing, which is not very helpful.
However, the fact the club said in a statement on their website, “The club will continue to co-operate with the EFL’s Club Financial Reporting Unit and looks forward to resolving this matter”, suggests there is a case to be answered.
Quite what that case is remains unclear.
There are suggestions that it relates to the interest on the MSD loan, which Albion took out under previous owner Guochuan Lai to help with the day-to-day running of the club.
Bilkul, Albion’s current owners, has assumed responsibility for the repayment of the interest on that loan and therefore the £5.2m it amounts to was recharged to Bilkul in the latest accounts.
This is something that some are suggesting the EFL may have objected to.
If so, then it begs questions around the point of the EFL’s profit and sustainability rules.
Albion took out that loan, not to compete at the top end of the Championship, but instead to keep the lights on.
The reason for this was, in no small part, due to the previous owner, Lai, who had paid a series of 0% interest loans to his own company, and subsequently missed multiple deadlines to repay them.
In short, Albion were forced into taking out a high-interest loan because their owner was using their cash as an interest-free loan to fund his other interests.
Of course, rules are rules, and if Albion are found guilty, they will no doubt pay the penalty.
But the motivation behind a rule matters, and the EFL seems to have lost sight of that.
If it is punishing clubs for merely trying to stay afloat and pay staff due to their owner wishing to use club finances elsewhere, then surely that goes against their reason for existing (which is to support its clubs).
The further irony is that had Albion failed to pay staff on time, they would have probably been hit with a points deduction there too, so you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
