The Football Association have had to throw out 4,000 T-shirts that they were going to give to fans for England’s game against Malta – because they carried a quote from Sam Allardyce on the front.
Allardyce, 61, was preparing for his first Wembley fixture as Three Lions boss but lost his job after just 67 days following an undercover newspaper sting.
The FA wanted to mark his home debut in the World Cup qualifier on October 8 with the T-shirts which had written on them: ‘The journey starts with us all pulling together.’
It was something Allardyce said on the day he was announced as Roy Hodgson’s successor and a mosaic that the FA had planned has also had to be pulled.
The cancellation of that and the T-shirts have come at a cost and left the FA £25,000 out of pocket.
Allardyce was caught on film using his position to negotiate a £400,000 deal with Far East businessmen, who were actually Daily Telegraph reporters. He also offered them advice on how to get round FA transfer rules on third-party ownership.
That, as well as mocking former England manager Hodgson’s speech, saw him dumped by the FA on Tuesday.
Source: Vanguard
