Following a visit from the ghost of his deceased business partner, Ebenezer Sullivan has received nocturnal visits from the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present. Each represents a different period in Ebenezer’s life but the most fearful of all was the visit of the shrouded, ominous, and silent Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
At the last stroke of twelve, ‘a solemn Phantom, draped and hooded, coming, like a mist along the ground, towards him… Sullivan feared the silent shape so much that his little legs trembled beneath him and his gold medallion tinkled and he found that he could hardly stand when he prepared to follow it’.
David feared that the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come would reveal to him the future consequences of his past and present actions; His lack of sympathy for the West Ham fan base, his undying support for his clerk Karren with two R’s Brady, and that the cancellation of concession tickets for the old and young will result in the death of the West Ham as a true supporter-friendly club.
Ebenezer Sullivan suddenly finds himself transported to a deserted London Stadium, ‘why is it so deserted’, he asks the ghostly figure. A skeletal hand points to a faded poster displayed on which is the West Ham fixture list and the comments: ‘Please note that due to the London Stadium being too close to the Westfield shopping centre all home festive games will now be played at our second home the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey the US of A. Please note travel packages can be booked via the minions employed by her Royal highness Lady Brady of London’.
Ebenezer Sullivan looked closer at the poster, ‘Why are we playing Rotherham?,’ he asked the Ghost of Christmas Yet ago Come. ‘They must have done really well to be now in the Premier League’. As he says this, an old copy of the Evening Standard gets blown into his face and Sullivan reads the back page: ‘West Ham board dither over sacking of manager despite being in relegation form, a club spokesperson stated that the board are not prepared to pay out on the removal and appointment of a new manager.”
Sullivan shudders and once more the ghost points to the poster: ‘Why is there only one ticket price’ he asked as a black balloon floats by. The spectral figure doesn’t answer. Suddenly Ebenezer is transported to a board room. On the wall is a portrait of his late partner David Gold but Ebenezer Sullivan sees no portrait of himself.
There is a large throne at the head of the table and a woman with two R’s in her first name is holding court. She asks if everything is ready for the trip to the MetLife. A minion goes through the list: ‘Half and half scarves, tick. Extortionate mascot places, tick. Corporate tickets, tick. Ticket allocation by persons income bracket, tick. One price ticket for all, tick’.
A lone voice speaks up: ‘What about the club supporter group requests?’. The board all laugh out loud as one: ‘Why should we listen to those? They contribute nothing to our income compared to others,’ says the woman with two R’s in her name. ‘We’ve never listened to them before so why should we listen to them now?’, she continues.
A minion says that it was one of her predecessor’s key plans, that of speaking to supporters. She answers: ‘Well, it’s never been one of mine. I remember the days of the black balloon protest, what did that achieve? Absolutely nothing, and we still have a full stadium every game.’
Suddenly, the ghost transports Ebeneezer to a street that Sullivan immediately recognises. He sees the street sign depicting the words ‘Green Street’, and the spectre points his bony finger to make Sullivan look into the window of one of the houses. Inside there is a boy and a girl and what appears to be their father with them.
Sullivan hears her ask if she can go and see West Ham when they return to London as her father had done with his father. ‘I’m sorry,’ the father says. ‘I just can’t afford to pay for three adult tickets as like the country in the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, they don’t want concession people at their games.’
Then Sullivan finds himself transported once more, this time to a grim and foreboding place, and no it wasn’t back to the London Stadium. This time Ebenezer Sullivan finds himself in a graveyard. And once more the spectre points to a grave, one with a tiny headstone.
He is forced to look at the inscription. ‘Here lies Ebenezer Sullivan,’ it reads, ‘once owner of a football club but his greed forced out old style supporters and brought in only those who wanted to support a winning team.
‘With the core fan base alienated and not wishing to change managers due to the cost it may entail, the club declined. Ebenezer will be better known for his time in the porn industry, an industry where he sponsored the woman who replaced him as the power broker in his later life. If only he had listened. May he rest in turmoil.’
Ebenezer suddenly realised that by the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come offering this insight of his future, doesn’t mean it’s cast in stone. Maybe the spirit was offering him redemption like that bloke in that story by Dickens?
Ebenezer woke in a cold sweat and rushed to the window. Seeing his gardener outside he asked: ‘What day is this boy?’. The answer was, of course, Christmas Day. Ebenezer shouted: ‘Don’t think you’re getting double time you lazy sod’.
He then picked up his phone, the person answered: ‘Karren, what if we play our festive games in America and organised travel packages ourselves, oh and adult tickets only?’ Putting down the phone and with a smug look on his face he started to count the stack of money by his bedside.
‘Thanks spirit for giving me some great ideas, but you’re not getting a cut. Redemption, nah give me cash any day’. It seems some people will never change.
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