Following a statement published on the Often Partisan website on 13th March 2014, Blues Trust wishes to make the following statement.
On 12th March 2014, Daniel Ivery, who runs the popular Birmingham City blog, met with Club officials and their legal representatives.
In particular, legal representatives raised concerns about a blog post posted on the Often Partisan website on 27th October 2013, suggesting that it was “inciting a criminally offensive banner”.
We wish to place on record our disappointment with the Club’s latest actions, and the Trust is willing to assist Daniel in any way possible.
its sums up our excuse of a club and our owners so much for free speech kro.
I fully support OP and Dan and I am disappointed that such a big club as Birmingham City cannot tolerate different opinions when discussing ownership questions.
I have been following OP from the start and Dan, aka Almajir, does a tremendously great job in handling the comments there.
They are trying to stifle any protest or discord. It’s a pity Peter Pannu doesn’t spend more of his time speaking to Blues supporters and less time speaking to lawyers.
United Blues Stand, Divided We Fall, I dont agree with many things O.P has bogged about having fallen foul of his editing in the past regarding my comments, however the “Often Partisan” website IS the only site that tells things the way they are truthfully
Well done to the trust on this issue.I have published the orignal statement on my FB and hopefully others will.This is a blatant attempted to bully us into to being quite…because they do not like the truth…No one wants them here anymore…the higher you build your walls the louder we will shout..KRO
What happenned to FREE speech in our country ?? Without actually seeing the article myself, Personally as a SEASON TICKET HOLDER FOR 47 YEARS, I feel the actions of Pannu, Yeung and their associates, who have driven MY club from the premiership to a current laughing stock in the championship due to having to work with Freebies, Kids and loan players this season, they deserve all the stick they get !!
Until they have departed MY club I will NEVER again set foot in St Andrews !!!!!
Glad you are backing dan as he has worked really hard on behalf of the fans to keep us all updated with events at home and in hong kong and its a case of the board using bullying tactics against one of our own supporters,nobody on the board is a bigger fan of bcfc than dan they are just in it for the money ie pp k.r.o. d.n.m.
Daniel has done a sterling job on behalf of this site. He has obviously touched a raw nerve with Peter Pannu. Any owner of a football club must realise that without the fan base the club is nothing, the owners are just temporary custodians, the fans are at the heart of the club and cannot be ignored, all we care about is Birmingham City and I urge the current owners to do the decent thing and sell to someone who has the funds to take the club forward before it is too late.
This kind of action could be the final straw for the club and it’s fans and there will be a backlash that will not be reversible ? Mr Pannu & co ‘ be careful what you push for’
Well done… Daniel needs all the support he can muster to 1) ease any stress this must be causing him and 2) to stop in their tracks the bullying tactics of these ‘club officials’ who now seem to be working against the best and fairest interests of the Club and its true supporters…
I’m absolutely disgusted. I have to say I’ve expressed views that could be construed as criminally libelous, but always qualified them as a personal view. Dan has accommodated free speech, a basic tenet of democracy without attaching his view to the opinion. It seems Pannu has ratcheted things up a notch. He really ought to be careful, because HIS position will become untenable if this continues. He has grossly misunderstood the British Psyche. Whilst not condoning irrational response from fans, it is quite obvious (to me anyway) that a section are going to be angered by this “Khymer Rouge” tactic. Why hasn’t the Mail Reported on it? Is Tatts aware of this?
Definitive lines are now drawn, this board, in my view must go, Dan has my support in whatever he wants to do next, if donations are required we must all answer.
Terrible. The club is turning on the people who have made it what it is today. Such a shame that these people who know nothing about football are running our club.
Well said, Andy, I only have one regret, I didn’t think of the comments you made myself!!
I too will support Daniel as appropriate
So they can buy our club, with laundered money, run it into the ground, treat the fans with utter contempt whilst drawing ridiculous salaries and expect everybody to be cool with it, and anybody who has anything to say gets threatened by lawyers, pannu can go (edited), you wanna come to our club and take big money, take the rest of what comes with it fat boy.
I am a long standing STH but also admirer and supporter of Daniels work. If the Club under BIHL adopts this high handed legalistic bullying of its supporters and advocates then its the end of an Era whereby we should boycott even if the Club goes Admin at least we would be rid of BIHL. Sometimes to create a brighter future you need to tear down the present!
The only way forward is to have transparency. I support Dan hands down, BCFC Trust and BCFC. If we can’t all be transparent then what hope is there? Time for all Blues fans to come together and to bring out the best in Birmingham City Football Club. KRO
i too was absolutely dismayed at these bullying tactics by our clearly litigious acting chairman. disgusting. daniel has and continues to work tirelessly to show these shameful people up for who and what they are. his work is so concise that our local media outlets hang off the latest updates. maybe the time has arrived. the atmosphere at the match on wednesday felt more galvanised than normal. we have to defend our own, if this is who the board wish to take on. i think most blues fans have felt fairly apathetic and helpless, but with the voices of OP and the collaboration of a, hopefully, growing Blues Trust i sense a movement. we must Keep Right On
Dan and Often Partisan has kept the supporters updated on events that not even the local media have knowledge of.
I have followed OP’s blog for over 12 months and must say it is one of, if not the best blog for both insight information and light-hearted banter.
This is just the sort of oppression that incites aggression.
Blues supporters are above that but at the same time we cannot allow our right to “Freedom of Speech” be silenced.
I, for one will support any actions in favour of Dan and OP, the Blues Trust and anyone in support of our club BCFC.
However, what ever actions are taken they must not impact on the team or events on the pitch.
KRO+DNM
We do have a right to free speech in this great country, but I fear owners like ours (if you can call them owners) are ruining clubs all around the country.
I think with all the money they have and the legal back up the f.a should be doing a lot more! How Carson got through the fit and proper persons act i don’t know, If I’d bet on it I’d say I would have a better chance of getting a North Korean passport! K.R.O
Absolutely disgusted! The OP site that Daniel runs has always informed us Bluenoses of the goings on and all that and have to say he’s done a fabulous job, PP should be ashamed of himself! what a joker the guy is he needs to go ASAP
As a long time reader and rare poster, I am fully behind the OP site and long may it live
The only thing I can say not seeing the article is that Dan has hit a nerve. My experience of this sort of thing is that they most have something hide or they would not try to silence him with silly trumped up allegations of inciting a criminally offensive banner, as a long standing bluenose and a season ticket holder the only criminals I see our the ones ruining our football club and one of them is in prison.
Lets all get behind Dan and don’t let them intimidate him keep up the good work Dan. Remember together we are stronger lets not allow these crooks to stamp on any dissent this is the UK a democracy and freedom of speech is not against the law.
Hey Hey to that!
Daniel has done alot of hard work, and blues fans should be extremely grateful. They equally should be careful with what they write. Daniel has given his website for us blues fans to use responsibly, and in a responsable manner. I do hope Daniel will be able to open up his comments again so blue voices can be once again be voiced in a positive manner by all. The best blogger by a country mile with regards to bcfc. I do hope the trust will give their full support and backing to Daniel …………kro
Not sure what the problem could be.
I’d just ignore them and call their bluff
I fully support Dan and thank him for all his help for the club,the directors should learn some communication skills.
‘Freedom of expression is a universal human right. It is not the prerogative of the politician. It is not the privilege of the journalist. It should not be the casualty of their skirmishes nor regarded as a matter of little importance to anyone else. Freedom of expression is fundamental to a democratic society’.
http://www.newspapersoc.org.uk/press-freedom
Dan does a great job keeping Blues supporters informed.OP is the first site I go to read about BCFC.A shame our local press don’t follow his example.The best article re Blues and it’s owners was published in the Guardian this week.
Please don’t allow the club to silence Dan and OP.It’s our only real source of getting the truth!I agree that he must have hit a nerve.
KRO
Could anyone tell me or O.P what law suits resulted from the ongoing dispute between the Glazer family and Man Urd fans who blogged various comments, made very public their feelings regarding their board or Liverpool,s fans and their board,,,,both very big clubs run by big buisness, Blues ? small club [at the moment] run by a small minded, vindictive money mad lawyer eager to extract more money from the club via charging for the persecution of a single Blues fan who,s only crime is to expose the truth about the mismanagement of Blues by those in Hong Kong
Well done Trust. I do not think it is the “club” who called in the lawyer. I think it was one man. The club consists of fans and players and staff at St Andrews. Unfortunately the owners are not supportive of the most important people in the club. Well done for supporting Dan and OP – they have been a breath of fresh air in keeping fans informed. Free speech is a big thing in England.
… And the worst thing in all of this? No-one is listening to us. Hong Kong are so far removed (mentally and geographically), the football authorities are ostriches with heads in the sand, club media channels can’t (won’t) rock the boat. I hate the mention of BIHL, like it’s some real company….. Without Birmingham City FC it just doesn’t exist, it has no meaning. And yet these ‘businessmen’ will run their only viable commodity intro the ground. 3 years plus of no investment. Why can’t the FA, the Football League, whoever just wake up and smell the beans. Why are member clubs- like Coventry, like Portsmouth, like Birmingham so unimportant to their governance? Without OP and the Trust how little would we know of the goings-on? Some excellent articles recently by David conn at The Guardian, but even this smacks of after the horse has bolted… Where will the future take us off the field?
I hope OP and Dan can resolve the commenting issue, Sunday morning has been so boring without the banter from the regulars commenting on events from yesterdays game.
KRO+DNM
has Dan been nominated as the supprter of the year ?
this and a good vote would show how the fans feel
Absolute disgrace. Every Blues fan should support Dan, as so many previous posts have stated, without his hard work Blues fans would not have a clue what has been going on with these idiots from Hong Kong. This is what has upset Pannu, not some flag.
Beware, Pannu may start on this site next?
First let me start by saying I fully support Dan, OP and the Trust in all of their excellent work and efforts and thank them for it. I am completely and totally against Pannu and the current regime, and would encourage everyone who feels the same to make their feelings known to this regime. However – and I think Dan keeps this in mind when he vets the comments on OP – we have to be careful about how we present this opinion. Yes, we are all entitled to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights – but this will not protect anyone from being sued in a civil court should they’re comments to, against or about the board/ regime/ Pannu/ Young be libellous. This includes accusations of criminal activity that has not been proven and concluded in a court of law. Basically I’m encouraging people to say what they like about Carson and Pannu, really give it to them if you can/want to, but just be careful about any direct or indirect accusations you make. It wouldnt surprise me in the slightest to see this regime suing the club’s supporters, even Dan ahould his careful gaze slip. Dont give them the opportunity to silence you by suing you for libel, its the only way they can!