Laughed out
The reminiscences of Bates in Steve Dale's actions shouldn't make Leeds fans glad to see it happening to someone else, even if that's our first instinct. Instead we should be furious that, in more than ten years, nobody in charge of football has come up with a way to stop this happening.
It's the beard. That quivering nest of hair and spit covering the jowls, while above, the eyes grow wide, indignant at the interviewer's line of questioning.
He's bewildered by the accusations, astonished by the reaction, mystified by the doubts about his motives. He's the one being betrayed by the authorities and threatened by the very people he claims to be helping; why isn't there sympathy for him, instead of this anger? Thumbing over a phone he says contains countless messages of support, he insists that if only everybody would trust him the way those uncounted people do, everything will turn out fine.
Add an imagined Shaun Harvey somewhere out of shot, disavowing responsibility with a shrug, and the demise of Bury FC under Steve Dale becomes superficially reminiscent enough of Ken Bates presiding over the end of Leeds United — the business founded in 1919, that was finally liquidated earlier this year — and the start of the new company that emerged from administration in summer 2007, with Ken Bates still in charge of the club, after it dropped into the third tier for the first time in its history.
Bury FC met a worse fate, expelled from the Football League, and now their fans want answers about the events of this summer. Specifically, they want to know more about a company that was established days before a delayed board meeting and took on a crucial £7m debt, and whether The Guardian's allegation that it was owned by Steve Dale's daughter's partner is correct. And they want answers from the Football League about how a club can end up ruined and thrown out of the competition while its owner is, ostensibly, abiding by its regulations. I wish them luck in their search for answers.