x

The Horsemen of the Apocolypse.

Blog written by Curryman
Published: 3rd September 2014 8:36

In my previous blog, the second of a trilogy, I referred to the four horsemen of the Apocalypse and I thought, for the uninitiated I would expand on that theme in order to make some sort of sense out of my statement. I state here and now I don’t study the Bible and am not particularly religious, but where the cap fits.

The four horsemen of the Apocalypse are described in Revelation chapter 6, verses 1-8. The four horsemen are symbolic descriptions of different events which will take place in the end times. (in our case the end of BFC as a football club) The first horseman of the Apocalypse is mentioned in: “I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.” This first horseman likely refers to the Antichrist, who will be given authority and will conquer all who oppose him. The antichrist is the false imitator of the true Christ, who will also return on a white horse (Revelation 19:11-16).

Think about the goings on around our club and there are distinct similarities between what is written in the Bible and what our owner has done during his tenure. OO was given a crown and is still worshipped by some, although that is in steep decline, who believe he was our knight in shining armour, but his behaviour over the years including his stint in jail suggest otherwise. It has become apparent that although he attends matches and appears to be still somewhat interested in football, to a point, his input is declining and the second horseman now has the reigns.

The second horseman of the Apocalypse appears in Revelation 6:4, “Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.” The second horseman refers to terrible warfare that will break out in the end times.

Who presently holds the reigns at the club? KO. What has he done, he has caused warfare between fans of the club, fans and the Owners, players and the owners, and now the individual directors. He is in my opinion the second horseman and his real dislike of football and poor judgement will be obviously exposed once his father has passed away and been laid to rest. He will no doubt receive a large chunk of the wealth that is left when the old fellah goes. What he does with that wealth will be interesting and I personally cannot see it finding its way into the coffers of the football club, even though we are regularly told the money is there if it is needed, I don’t personally think it is, the land the ground stands on is far too valuable to have such a local amenity despoil it and that will be another tale. It could be that part of the plan is to reduce those who wish to come to the games, making BFC unviable and facing bankruptcy, because as we know someone is a past master at becoming a bankrupt in order to get their way and already we have seen the lowest attendance for a game in the Championship since 2009/10. What a shame the government stopped the idea of a Casino in Blackpool, the club could have gone already! It appears that basically he is a money grabbing, risk averse individual with the morals of a slug and the business acumen of an amoeba.

The third horseman is described in Revelation 6:5-6, “...and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!’” The third horseman of the Apocalypse refers to a great famine that will take place, likely as a result of the wars from the second horseman.

So who is the third? Who charges around, allegedly, at speeds way and above the legal limit in their car forsaking all those who despise his doltish behaviour and putting anyone who dares to step out into this path in danger of death or serious injury? The scales represent the bets that are, again allegedly, placed on the outcome of his ill thought out perilous, to others, races. The wheat and the barley seems to me to be the money that has been removed from the club to allow such greed to consume the first three horsemen. I would interpret the oil and the wine as the ways in which the removed fortune has been spent on personal avarice and other ventures instead of where it should have been spent. The famine referred to in the text (due to the wars of the second horseman) could be the loss of a great deal of the fortune by the current Chairman through his wars with all and sundry, leaving less for his heir to inherit.

I don’t know the third horseman, only by reputation, and honestly do not care if our paths never cross, but it would seem he is an extension of the egotistical dynasty that prevails within the club, if all reports seen are indeed correct.

The fourth horseman is mentioned in Revelation 6:8, “I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.” The fourth horseman of the Apocalypse is symbolic of death and devastation. It seems to be a combination of the previous horsemen. The fourth horseman of the Apocalypse will bring further warfare and terrible famines along with awful plagues and diseases.

Is the fourth horseman already within the family? I would hazard a guess and say yes. It seems there is a certain penchant for adverse publicity in the family as they nonchalantly go about their daily business of worshipping mammon and it can be seen that greed and decadence breed voracity and debauchery. Unfortunately, this theme appears to continue throughout the whole of the line. So it’s more of the same for the long suffering fan, if we survive that is. As a remark attributed to Marie Antoinette when she heard that the peasants were starving goes, “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche” (let them eat bread/cake). But we, the fans, the customers, don’t have a crumb of comfort from any source, so where are we supposed to get our brioche?

Only one thing, in my opinion, separates the four horsemen from the current incumbents. None of the horsemen of the apocalypse required body guards whereas money has to be spent on such extravagances for the above named and I would hazard a guess that they will need their protection for a very long time. Money well spent? The oil and the wine seem, to me, to be dwindling.

Can we alter it? Extremely doubtful, as I feel this is just what will occur, like it or not, under this ownership ending with the spectre of Hades (bankruptcy) and the final demise of one of the most famous old clubs in Britain.. All, I feel, we can do is keep up the pressure and pray that eventually one of the family will see the light and become a true benefactor, or a rich investor will finally rid us of the plague, (London 1665) also look what the great fire of London did in 1666, mind you pigs still don’t fly, and the cow hasn’t jumped over the moon!

More blogs by Curryman:

Trust
It’s said you reap what you sow, and looking at the state of the relationship between Blackpool FC’s owners and the fans it’s a statement that certainly rings true. The setting up of the ‘fans parliament’ is just such an example of how any trust between the owners of the club and the fans has diminished or in most cases absolutely disappeared. How, in fact, can you trust a man to control a football club who doesn’t have the ability to control himself? Therefore how can you trust that same person to choose people of varying views, some which may hurt, to populate that parliament?
Published: 9th June 2015 8:23
Dream Stealers.
A number of good Blackpool fans have been, and still are, embroiled in ugly legal threats devised by dream stealers who, it would appear, have little better to do than to seek apologies and compensation from the erstwhile individuals who have had the temerity to upset them, instead of concentrating on the job in hand, that of running a successful football team, have a happy and growing fan base and be held in high esteem.
Published: 27th May 2015 8:42
Please go, and go now.
I’m presently having a bout of amnesia and deja vous in parallel. The problem is, I have heard it all before, statements such as ‘lessons have to be learned’ roll of the tongue of a mouthpiece for the odious family that still taunt and sue the fans of Blackpool FC and laugh at the complete and utter dis-interest of both the FA and the FL.
Published: 8th April 2015 13:07
The ignorant mind.
The ignorant mind, it is said, with its infinite afflictions, passions, and evils, is rooted in the three poisons. Greed, anger, and delusion. (Bodhi dharma).
Published: 23rd January 2015 17:34
The Bad, The Good and the Ugly.
Forward:
Published: 2nd January 2015 13:05
Remembering the 56 and its effects.
A recent feature on the Bradford fire disaster in the Observer newspaper stirred up a predictably powerful reaction among fans of the Bantams, and rightly so. It was the worst fire disaster in the history of English football which occurred during a league match on Saturday, 11 May 1985, killing 56 and injuring at least 265. It was meant to be a day of celebration, City having won the 3rd Division title and being presented with the said trophy, but turned into a day of nightmares, consternation and horror witnessed by a full stadium of spectators and millions watching on television.
Published: 17th December 2014 16:46
Success and Failure, You decide why.
Henry Ford once said, ‘If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself’. Unfortunately that doesn’t seem to have been the case at Bloomfield Road for a long time now. Instead, it appears that successive managers have been pulling in one direction whilst the Oystons have been blocking their moves or pulling in the opposite direction, making their job if not untenable certainly a thankless task.
Published: 17th November 2014 15:00
Lions lead by Donkies (Asses)
"Lions led by donkeys" is a phrase popularly used to describe the poor leadership of the British Tommies of WW1 and to blame the generals who instructed them. The contention is that the brave soldiers (lions) were sent to their deaths by incompetent, foolish and indifferent leaders (donkeys). In my analogy I must include in the Lions, the Subalterns (The junior Officers who lead from the front) only to be picked out by the German gunners as first to die. Subaltern casualty/mortality rates were catastrophically high during WWI and estimates for the mortality rates range from 65 to 81%. This was, at its lowest estimate, double the rate for enlisted men. The remark, however, goes back a lot further than Alan Clark who in his book ‘the Donkeys, coined the phrase. It appears to have actually come from an ancient Arabic proverb which says "An army of sheep led by a lion would defeat an army of lions led by a sheep". Also, during the Crimean War a letter was reportedly sent home by a British soldier quoting a Russian officer who had said that British soldiers were ‘Lions commanded by Asses'
Published: 31st October 2014 16:09
What future for the fans? The true face of BFC.
Why do increasing numbers not want to go to Bloomfield Road anymore, is it because the club is dying? It's a question those leaving are more than ready to answer. The problem is, those who hold the purse strings are not listening to the peaceful but increasingly noisy protests of the fans, and a lot of the remonstrations are about a fair crack of the whip i.e. the money gained from our Premier League sojourn and that, of course, is the problem.
Published: 13th October 2014 16:04
How lucky we were.
Ian Holloway often used to exclaim ‘how lucky we are’ and then go on to explain why he felt he and the supporters of Blackpool Football Club were lucky. So all things being even, I thought I would use a similar metaphor to start this blog.
Published: 3rd October 2014 23:28
Shameful
It was Saturday morning, school had finished for the week and there was a football match to go and watch. Dad was having a bath, unusually his second one this week, and changing his underwear for the third time this week, Mum suggested he was getting rather posh changing so often and wondered whether the fact that she had finally got rid of the Burco boiler, wash board and Posser and replaced it with the latest Hoover washing machine with attached mangle had anything to do with this new era of cleanliness.
Published: 10th September 2014 15:51
The Folly of Denegrating your fanbase.
Gerald Irving Ratner (born 1949, London) is a British businessman and motivational speaker. He was formerly chief executive of the major British jewellery company Ratner’s Group (now the Signet Group). He achieved notoriety after making a speech in which he jokingly denigrated the company's products, which caused the company's near collapse (the so-called "Ratner effect").
Published: 17th August 2014 12:19
Not my fault? Are you sure?
The ongoing exasperation and indignation of the BFC fans shows no signs of ending following a summer of silence and then the usual broken promises and vacuous statements coming from the family spokesman in charge at Bloomfield Road. This has been followed up with what appears to be a regular column in the Blackpool Gazette, which began by blaming every person for the debacle of Nottingham Forest on everyone but himself. It is basically like a script from the Simpsons.
Published: 14th August 2014 22:53