Flowers - Apology Due From Ian Hart

[South Stand Zealot]

On SCR Mr Blabbermouth said that all the flowers had been dumped in a wheelie-bin.

Totally untrue.

They were taken to St Thomas' Hospital where they were very much appreciated.

Mr Hart's absurd comment was about the worst piece of PR that one could imagine at this horrendous time and must have deflated the sorely tried confidence of so many Albion fans especially those who dug deep into their pockets and sent flowers.

A VERY BIG APOLOGY IS DUE - NOW !!!!!

 

[El Presidente]

Surely he is entitled to his opinion on the flowers

 

[Beach Hut]

I agree - Harty is through and through BHAFC.

Not sure he would dis us.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Through his day job, Harty probably knows more about the ultimate fate of flowers than the rest of us put together.

It doesn't matter where they end up, as long as they bring a bit of cheer along the way.

And they've certainly cheered me up this week, as well as people in Whitehall and at St Thomas's.

 

[South Stand Zealot]

Yes - but they weren't DUMPED IN A WHEELIE BIN as he said, were they ?

That's the point !!!

 

[Everest]

Maybe that's what somebody told him.

 

[London Irish]

You should check whether Harty was supplied this information in good faith from a reputable source before condemning him. He is part of the NSC community and it might have been a better approach to send him a private message before starting a thread like this. No one can have any doubt that Harty's support for Albion and the Falmer campaign is 100%.

 

[harold robbins]

Frankly, so what?. If Harty made a mistake it really isnt that significant in the context of our present problems. He is the sort of bloke who would have the good grace to apologise anyway if he had got it wrong.

I am getting more then a little fed up with people on NSC continuously slagging off Harty. He does an enormlous amount of good for this club but that never seems to get mentioned.

How about we turn this thread into a Harty appreciation thread?.

 

[Gullet]

What about the 40 note fund? A simple idea which really caught on and WAS effective.That was mostly down to him (and a few others) wasnt it? He is soley responsible for the fans phone in, which apart from NSC is the main way for fans to express their opinion.No one can say he hasnt got the best interests of the club and fans at heart.I think the flower incident was a simple mistake. We all make them.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Did he say they HAD been dumped in a wheelie bin or that they WOULD be dumped in a wheelie bin?

There's a difference. The second statement is true.

 

[Everest]

To be honest LB, I think he actually said they HAD been dumped. I'm not condemning him though, I don't know who he got this info from.

 

[Easy 10]

Look, the flowers did their job, we got some good coverage for it. I couldn't really give a toss what happened to them afterwards, thats not really what it as about. Got some great photo's, and it was covered on the TV news, job done. Mission accomplished.
Just leave it at that.

 

[balloonboy]

Posted this before, but just for the record, Paul Samrah and I delivered the 100 or so bunches of flowers to St Thomas's after the Whitehall event. They were exceptionally well received, and although we got no direct publicity from this, both Paul and myself felt very good about the Albion and it's fans having yet another positive impact, in this case on a whole bunch of people far less fortunate than ourselves. As for Harty, it must have been a genuine mistake on his part - he is a tireless campaigner for the Albion, and one of the true heroes of all our campaigns since the dark days of Archer & Bellotti.

 

[South Stand Zealot]

Message for Gullet

You said "ian Hart is solely responsible for the fans phone-in."

WRONG

People have short memories.

Before the fans phone-in SCR had a very boring phone-in for all fans including Woking, Leatherhead, Farnborough, Aldershot, Bashley and some team called Brighton & Hove Albion.

I managed to get on air. Said the programme was boring and why didn't SCR split the frequencies (just as they did for match broadcasts) so Albion fans could have their own programme.

The very next Saturday SCR did just that. FACT

Ian Hart is a died in the wool and very enthusiastic Albion supporter supporter and can be very amusing.

However he sometimes says things without engaging the bit between his ears and what he said was not exactly conducive to keeping this current and critical campaign going.

If you had spent over 20 quid on flowers only to be told that they had been dumped how would you have felt.

I rest my case.

UP THE ALBION !!! FALMER HERE WE COME !!!!

 

[Gullet]

POINT TAKEN.

 

[Harty]

Having read this thread its clear that at least one person in Sussex either has too much time on his hands or some kind of grudge when it comes to me, but here goes.....
On Tuesday night at around 6.00 myself, Norman Gall and our two travelling companions went for a pre-match beer, we went to a pub not far from Kenilworth Road, it was full of Albion fans and when we got to the bar, one fan who I know, but I cannot name him because of the information he gave us, informed us that his brother worked in Whitehall and that he had been told that because of the fact that the flowers could have construed as a bribe had to be disposed off and the wheelie bin was the mode of disposal.
Clearly South Stand Zealot despite hanging on my every word has misheard what I said on Tuesday, I said sources close to the Government dept had led us to believe that ultimately the flowers would end up in the bin.
I am very pleased they went to the hospital instead, although having spoken to a fellow Funeral director in the 'smoke' however pleased they may have been at the reception desk with the limited resources of the NHS there is a fair chance the majority ended up in a wheelie bin!
Having said the flowers got the publicity the Albion needed so all power to whoever thought it up, personally I would have sent just one wreath with BHA RIP on it, and given the rest of the money to the club via the 40Note Fund for wages, but there is more than one way to skin a cat.
South Stand Zealot as much as I appreicate anyone who listens to my show on SCR I suggest you should really get out more!

 

[Henfield One]

Harty - you should check your facts.

We always knew that Whitehall could not accept the flowers directly. They took the cards though - and I gave the bods on the gate a bunch each to thank them for being so helpful.

Our plan was always to take flowers to the local hospitals.

I contacted St Thomas's and Jim (Balloon Boy) and I took over 80 bouquets by taxi & car to St. Thomas's Hospital.

We personally handed them to patients in the Outpatients Dept. Some of the nurses took a few bunches up to the Wards.

There was not a wheelie bin in sight.

Some fans took a few bunches to hand them out with leaflets in Trafalgar Square - probably no more than 12 or so.

Incidentally, the local florist has already had a call from one recipient saying how brilliant the flowers were.

We are all in this together - don't get sidetracked by rumours.

 

[Lush]

I agree. Even if it is true that the flowers that were delivered directly to JPs office WERE put into wheelie bins as they could be construed as a bribe, you can imagine how disheartening it was to hear someone say it, on the radio, when you've spent time and effort and money getting a bunch delivered in support of the club.

I think possibly Ian Hart thinks that the money spent on flowers would have been better off donated to the Forty Notes Fund. I disagree. If we don't get Falmer, then the Forty Notes Fund might as well pack up and go, because there will be no need to buy players.

The flowers campaign was worthwhile. It generated a lot of publicity that can only help the Falmer cause. Let's not try and "rubbish" it eh Ian?

 

[balloonboy]

At the risk of appearing like I've got too much time on my hands, I'd like to assure Harty that the flowers stayed away from a wheelie bin for as long as flowers possibly can. Within a few mins of me & Paul Samrah arriving at the hospital, the small office that we'd wandered into had grown from 2 people to about 15! As I said before, they couldn't believe our generosity, and in a couple of mins had commandeered every available porter to distribute the flowers amongst the wards. Bearing in mind the high quality of the bouquets, I have every reason to believe that the majority are still gladdening the hearts of the residents of St Thomas's.

End of debate?!

 

[Beach Hut]

I think so - let's not all beat each other up over a stonkingly good publicity stunt that gave our plight good media coverage.