Boon: ITV is not fair

Nov 17 2009 By Jon Batham, Staines News

STAINES chairman Alan Boon must be wary of getting over-excited with the wave of cup fever sweeping Wheatsheaf Park - but ITV's decision not to televise his side's FA Cup tie with Millwall has done little to stop his blood boiling.

The Swans supremo, who suffered a heart attack in the summer, revealed he faces an assessment for a quadruple heart bypass operation on Wednesday - just three days before his Blue Square South side face the Lions in the biggest game of their lives.

Yet the decision not to televise the David versus Goliath clash in favour of Northwich's home tie with Lincoln has got Boon's goat.

It means Northwich have had two bites of the financial cherry, while his charges, who reached the same round two years ago after ousting Stockport in a replay, haven't even been given the consolation prize of being streamed on the FA website.

Boon said: "It's unfair, but my feeling is, because we've drawn Millwall, ITV doesn't want to televise it. "When it was the FA's decision two years ago, they told us it wouldn't be fair for them to televise our game with Peterborough because we'd already had the money from the Stockport replay.

"Now it's ITV's decision they've gone against that and given Northwich a second live game, while the FA have streamed Norwich, which is another £40,000 for them after they'd already had the Paulton game."

Boon is upset with the TV company's decision to make their match choices on the Sunday night, before Millwall had even played their first round tie against AFC Wimbledon.

"Usually they wait two or three days to sit down and decide what will be the best games to televise, but they had already made their mind up this time," he said.

"I suppose they went for Northwich because they could see a shock, but they've got Lincoln, which is not very

exciting. If they were worried about a one-sided game after Paulton versus Norwich, then why are they showing Kettering against Leeds?

"We'll just have to hope we beat Millwall and get Manchester United - if that's exciting enough for them."

As for his impending surgery, which has been on hold since the summer, Boon has other reasons for hoping it happens later rather than sooner.

He added: "I've got a family holiday booked in Jamaica at Christmas, so hopefully they can hold it off until the new year."