The winner of a Chesterfield Football Club competition giving away a place at the club’s pre-season training camp was exposed as fake
by eagle-eyed supporters.
The League One club ran a £20 prize draw offering the
chance to join the team at a pre-season training tour of Hungary. However, when
only 4 people entered the competition the club decided to create a fake winner called “John Higgins”, who unfortunately became “too ill to travel.”
There were already rumours circulating among supporters on
internet message boards that something was fishy about the winner being a fan that nobody had
ever heard of.
So when the club issued a press release last week about
the winner pulling out of the trip due to illness, and stating that “as a
gesture of goodwill, all those who entered the raffle are entitled to a refund”
suspicions were raised, and fans questioned why the club would offer a refund if
the competition was legitimate.
As a result of the incident the Head of Commercial and Marketing,
Kevin Fitzgerald, has been sacked. "After a thorough internal
investigation, I can now confirm that the person responsible for this total
farce has now left the football club," said Ashley Carson, the club's Company Secretary, in a statement on their website.
But the more important question is whether any Chesterfield FC supporter will ever trust the football club again if they decide to organise a similar competition in the future
Moral of the Story
Never try to con your customers. They are smarter than you think, and when you get caught out, all trust will be lost.
Never try to con your customers. They are smarter than you think, and when you get caught out, all trust will be lost.