In a series of tweets on Thursday evening, Brighton and Hove Albion have revealed that a traffic delay on the M25 was the primary factor in Norwich City being able to hijack their transfer of Spurs youngster Alex Pritchard.
The club took part in a Fans Forum Q&A, with the whole event being tweeted on the south coast club’s twitter feed.
Given the drama surrounding the whole situation over the last couple of days, it was no wonder that the transfer that never was came up quickly.
Q: Can clubs be prevented from gazumping others at the last minute, giving recent activities? #FansForum #BHAFC — BHAFC (@OfficialBHAFC) August” class=”redactor-linkify-object”>https://twitter.com/OfficialBHAFC/status/761262207… 4, 2016
Here was the response from the club, and it makes for interesting reading.
PB: We don’t usually share transfer info, but we will make an exception with this one. #FansForum #BHAFC — BHAFC (@OfficialBHAFC) August” class=”redactor-linkify-object”>https://twitter.com/OfficialBHAFC/status/761262339… 4, 2016
PB: We agreed terms with Spurs, and then agreed terms with the player and agent. Player was travelling to us. #FansForum #BHAFC — BHAFC (@OfficialBHAFC) August” class=”redactor-linkify-object”>https://twitter.com/OfficialBHAFC/status/761262437… 4, 2016
PB: There were delays on the M25, and it was during that delay another club jumped on the deal. #FansForum #BHAFC — BHAFC (@OfficialBHAFC) August” class=”redactor-linkify-object”>https://twitter.com/OfficialBHAFC/status/761262527… 4, 2016
PB: These things happen in football, and we are not naive enough to think that doesn’t happen. #FansForum #BHAFC — BHAFC (@OfficialBHAFC) August” class=”redactor-linkify-object”>https://twitter.com/OfficialBHAFC/status/761262663… 4, 2016
PB: We move on. CH, TB, PW and I weren’t happy, but most important thing now is getting players who want to play for us. #FansForum #BHAFC — BHAFC (@OfficialBHAFC) August” class=”redactor-linkify-object”>https://twitter.com/OfficialBHAFC/status/761262880… 4, 2016
You often hear about these kind of dramatic twists and turns on deadline day on Sky Sports News, but this shows it’s not just the media trying to make an interesting headline.
It’s not very often people are grateful for traffic jams, but everyone at Carrow Road will be thanking their lucky stars for this one.
It’s no secret that this transfer window hasn’t been a great success so far for Alex Neil, but maybe this is a sign that the luck is starting to come for promotion hopefuls.
