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DEAR MIDDLESBROUGH FOOTBALL CLUB... 10-3-08
Toby Higgins
Dear Middlesbrough Football Club
Firstly, let me be the first to congratulate you all. Thanks to you, I’ve probably experienced a totally new sensation for the first time. Never before have I felt so let down and so disappointed by something I hold so dear to my heart.
The bulk of my anger (and the anger of every other fan) is pretty clear. You don’t need me to tell you that one shot on target in ninety minutes at home to a side sitting in the midriff of the country’s second division is not good enough.
Had we lost in the same manner that Chelsea and Manchester United had done on Saturday, then maybe this pill would be a little easier to swallow as at least we would have put up a fight. The entire playing and coaching staff rolled over and died in front of Cardiff, in front of the BBC cameras and more disappointingly, in front of their own supporters.
What disappoints me the most is that we, the fans, gave everything you could have ever wanted from us. Not only were we there to capacity but we supported you in the way you asked us to and you let every single one of us down.
Events of Saturday night clearly affected the fans as we believed we could genuinely win the FA Cup. It clearly affected the players too and that is unforgivable. Call yourself professionals? You’re not fit to wear the shirt.
Here’s the pisser. When we sold out our stadium, we had no idea that Manchester United and Chelsea were out of the Cup and that we would be second favourites to lift the Cup with three rounds left to play. We turned up just wanting our chance at Wembley, our big day(s) out, our fair shot at lifting the Cup. You have taken all of that away with the worst performance I’ve seen from any Boro team in my life. Every single one of you bottled it.
You had the chance to permanently win back some of the 10,000 extra fans who turned up on Sunday to support you. You crave a packed stadium, we gave you one and that is how you reacted. When do you think you’re going to see the Riverside full again? You’ve lost those 10,000 fans, some of them probably forever.
You’ve lost me until next season, at least. At the start of this season I was forced to give up my season ticket after six years. This season I’ve seen us lose at home to Blackburn, West Ham, Everton and Reading (goals scored one, points scored zero). I did, however, see us beat Sheffield United.
I’ve been to see us lose at Manchester City, draw 0-0 at Bolton and draw 1-1 with Reading. That’s eight games, four goals and one win for hours and hours of travelling and a financial layout of probably somewhere near £300. But I always came back for more because like thousands of others, I love this club and follow it always.
But I refuse to pay money to watch us again this season. You don’t deserve my support. I fully expect the record for the lowest attendance to be broken between now and the end of the season too. I’ll always support and love the Boro but Sunday really made me wonder why. There are those whose love for the club is not as strong as mine and they could be gone forever.
Maybe to the players, Sunday's defeat cost them a game at Wembley and the chance at another medal to stick in their trophy cases in their million pound mansions. It has cost the club so much more; namely the respect of its fans for the players and staff.
Sporting Glory? Oh, the irony.
The scant consolation is that you didn’t drag us all the way to Wembley to put us through that. I mean it when I say I never, ever, expect to see a Boro side look as uninterested and play with as little passion and charisma as that again.
What worries me the most is that when I go back to watch us next season, it might be as a Championship team.
Yours (forever),
Toby
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A GUARANTEED PROFIT OF AT LEAST £41.00 ON THE FA CUP FINAL
Did you know that it is possible to win money on Saturday afternoon's FA Cup Final clash between Portsmouth and Cardiff, whatever the result?
The game kicks off at 3.00pm and we can guarantee you a profit of at least £41.00, whatever the result of the match. All you have to do is follow the simple instructions below and then sit back and enjoy the game. At full-time (ninety minutes), you will be at least £41.00 better off, whatever the result of the match.
We must point out that if you want to take this bet, you should do it now because if the odds change, then the figures here will be invalidated. If they have changed, let us know and we will rework the bet for you.
You can still do this if you have a Betfair account but your overall profit will be reduced by £25.00 as you won't receive the £25.00 cashback as an existing account holder.
If you are unsure about this bet, you are most welcome to call us on 01642 223229 and we will help you as much as we can.
We're going to lay out a total of £129.00 on the FA Cup Final and we will collect £175.00 if Cardiff win, £171.24 if Portsmouth win and £170.00 if it's a draw. That's a minimum profit of 31%, a much higher interest rate than you will get in any high street bank.
Here's how it's done. Just follow these simple instructions.
1. Open an account with Coral. It is really important that you enter the bonus code of CORALTD when prompted. This is to ensure that you receive your bonus.
Open an account with Betfair. It is really important that you enter the promotional code of BFB425 when prompted. This is to ensure that you receive your bonus.
Open an account with Extrabet
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This shouldn't take you any longer than a few minutes.
2. Make the following deposits into your new accounts.
Deposit £20.00 into your new Coral account.
Deposit £84.00 into your new Betfair account.
Deposit £25.00 into your Extrabet account.
3. Now make the following bets.
Place £20.00 on Cardiff at 5.00 (4/1) with Coral.
Coral will now add a £10.00 bonus to your account. Place this on Cardiff as well. You will now have £30.00 riding on Cardiff.
Back Portsmouth with £84.00 at 1.78 (4/5) (or higher if available) with Betfair.
Place £25.00 on the draw at 3.44 (12/5) with Extrabet .
Extrabet match your first bet up to £25 so you will now have £50.00 riding on the draw.
The £25.00 matched bet will not show in your account but you can read all about how it works on the Extrabet site. It's the purple box that says '£25 FREE BET FOR NEW CUSTOMERS' on the top right hand side. Click here to visit the Extrabet site.
If you are unsure about placing these bets, please feel free to mail us or call us on 01642 223229 and we will talk you through it, no problem at all. There is no such thing as a stupid question.
You have temporarily laid out a total of £129.00 on the FA Cup Final. I stress, temporarily... Now sit back, crack a beer open and enjoy the match.
4. Here's what happens at the end of the game. All winnings are paid out on the ninety minute result.
If Cardiff win, you collect £175.00. That's £150.00 from Coral plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If Portsmouth win, you collect £171.24. That's £146.24 from Betfair plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If it's a draw you collect £170.00. That's £145.00 from Extrabet plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
5. This means that the worst case scenario on the Portsmouth v Cardiff match is a draw and you make £41.00 profit. However, if Cardiff win you make £46.00 and if Portsmouth win you make £42.24. That's a minimum profit of 31%, a much better rate of interest that you would get at any high street bank or building society.
6. It is absolutely vital that you click on the links on this page to open the accounts with the two bookies and enter the correct bonus codes or you may not qualify for the bonuses.
Also, before you place your bets, you should check that the odds haven't changed. If they have, let us know by mail or phone us on 01642 223229 and we will rework the bet for you.
Please feel free to contact us or phone us on 01642 223229 if you have any questions at all about this bet and we will help you as much as we can.
Please note that the bonuses are valid for new customers only so if you already have an account with one or more of the bookies we are using, you won't be able to do this. If that is the case, mail us or phone us on 01642 223229 and we'll create an alternative bet for you using different bookies.
This method of betting was used very successfully during the 2006 World Cup and you can read all about how it was done right here.
We guarantee this bet
It's understandable that some people will not believe that it is possible to do this. "What's the catch?" I hear you asking. My answer to that question is that we have been publishing arbitrage bets for four seasons now and literally hundreds of people have profited from following the advice on these pages.
Only twice has our refund guarantee been triggered and that was when we did all the figures wrong and sent refunds out to those who had followed our advice and made a small loss.
Our refund guarantee works like this. If this bet doesn't work like we say it will and you end up out of pocket, we will refund your losses. Simple as that.
That means that you simply cannot lose on this, whatever happens and even if we messed up the numbers.
The only stipulation here is that you must click on the links on this page to be eligible for the refund guarantee, not that you'll be needing to claim anyway. Just enjoy the profit and stay posted for many more of these throughout the season.
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