It was a scandal that hit the nationals and a discussion that was had by many it was also an incident that helped Ian Holloway fire up his Crystal Palace side in the final leg of a Championship Play-Off Semi-Final but now, two years on, the real culprit of the poo-gate scandal has been revealed.
Brighton hosted the game at the Amex Stadium in May 2013 with the winners set to play Watford in the play-off final at Wembely for a place in the Premier League, it was the Eagles that ended up triumphing against the Seagulls on a memorable night for Palace fans and what was even more memorable was the resulting play-off final that seen manager at the time Ian Holloway get his side promoted to the top-flight but one thing that will never be forgotten from that campaign was the incident that occurred in the away dressing room on the night of the play-off semi-final on the south coast.
Ian Holloway and his team entered the dressing room at Brighton on the night of the game, only to find that someone had relieved themselves in the changing room – an incident that gained an instant apology from staff at the club and a further in-depth apology days after the game.
The pre-match incident gained national press coverage throughout the week after the game with Holloway claiming that it helped him carry out his team talk before the game with the incident saying all that had to be said and with the incident occurring against bitter rivals, Brighton took the matter into their own hands assuming that someone of home club support had carried out the dirty deed with manager Gus Poyet sending an e-mail to staff (as revealed by the Sun) asking the person whoever carried out the hideous crime to resign.
This evening though, all has been revealed at Fairfield Hall where Julian Speroni’s testimonial Q&A at was being held; an event attended by fans, journalists and players who have played with the goalkeeper at the club.
It was former club captain Paddy McCarthy who revealed all about that night on the south coast and what he disclosed shocked many. As our own guest blogger, Alex White, reports.
“The dressing room scandal at Brighton was thanks to our coach driver who couldn’t control himself,” he said.
“We wouldn’t be in the Premier League if it wasn’t thanks to that driver. Olly wasn’t very happy. The driver was ill and in the changing room the day before. It was coming out of both ends. He tried to clean and only made it worse.
You can find more tweets from the event via Alex White below from Julian Speroni’s testimonial Q&A tonight.
Speroni: “The atmosphere in this room is better than the one at Old Trafford. I was really looking forward to it but quite disappointed!”
— Alexander White (@awhitey96) January 20, 2015
Speroni: “I started the beard gang. They copied me!” #cpfc
— Alexander White (@awhitey96) January 20, 2015
Speroni: “Paddy is the best defender I’ve had in front of me… That’s only because he is here!” #cpfc
— Alexander White (@awhitey96) January 20, 2015
Speroni: “I’ve been blessed with centre halfs- Dann, Paddy, Sorondo, Delaney, Poppa and so many more” #cpfc
— Alexander White (@awhitey96) January 20, 2015
Paddy: “On our Xmas party we were worst for wear put it that way, our choice of song was ‘oh DF what have you done!'” #cpfc
— Alexander White (@awhitey96) January 20, 2015
