York | Archive | 2004 | September | 18
From the Evening Press, first published Saturday 18th Sep 2004.
PAUL Crichton has claimed he feels like the "Eric Cantona of Non-League football" because of the attention his argument with Minstermen supporters has attracted.
The 35-year-old goalkeeper reckons he has been vilified in a similar fashion to when Cantona landed a kung-fu style kick on Crystal Palace fan Matthew Simmonds almost ten years ago.
Enigmatic French star Cantona was handed a lengthy suspension from the game while Crichton's spat with his own fans at Gravesend & Northfleet led to the termination of his week-to-week contract at Bootham Crescent.
But the ex-Norwich, West Brom and Grimsby stopper feels that the club have never given any credence to his side of the story. He said: "I respect York City as a football club and their decision to free me as I was only there on a game-to-game basis. It's just the way it was handled that I object to.
"I would have liked a bit more back-up from the club towards me as an employee and would have liked them to have given me more of a chance to hear my side of the story. I spoke to Jason McGill for five minutes after the game in the presence of the chairman, who I did not know because he did not say anything.
"I would have preferred it if I had got at least ten minutes on Monday morning but they seemed to spend more time talking to supporters. I spoke to Sophie McGill after I was sacked, who seems a lovely woman who I have no problems with, but she said a few things that did not really add up.
"She said if I had been a central midfielder it would not have gone so far and a lot of it was to do with my position on the pitch. But all I did was ask the supporters to get behind us and I still deny the allegations of what I said.
"I would not have been a professional footballer for nearly 20 years if I said that I didn't care for clubs and was only in the game for the money. I could have followed the referee's and police's advice and got the club in trouble for a public disorder offence because of the abuse from the fans but I have never had this level of controversy in my career and, at the moment, I feel like the Eric Cantona of non-League football."
Crichton has been seeking legal advice from the PFA but is now unlikely to take action.
He does, however, want the club to help him clear his name, saying: "The only action I ever wanted was for the club to say I was only trying to get the fans behind the team and my comments were taken in the wrong way. I wanted my name untarnished.
"I know it's a supporters-run football club and I'm sure everybody is grateful that they saved the club but where do you draw the line? I'm 35 and have had a long career in the game but what happens if a young player is having a bad time, gets booed and finds himself in a similar situation?"
City's North Yorkshire rivals Scarborough have cooled their interest in Crichton, who was due to turn out for Conference North side Stafford Rangers today.
In response to Crichton's comments, City communications director Sophie McGill said: "Paul obviously continues to be upset. But, as we have stated before, the high-profile media coverage this incident has attracted and the level of complaint from the supporters meant that Paul Crichton's position as goalkeeper was untenable.
"We are not prepared to enter into a slanging match with Paul. This is an unnecessary distraction no one at the club needs.
"Everyone is working hard to ensure our on-pitch performances improve and this should be the focus of everyone's efforts."
Updated: 10:45 Saturday, September 18, 2004
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