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'Right to reply' row sees writer banned from ground

A football reporter was forced to report from the stands after his newspaper was banned from the press box.

The row erupted between Watford FC and the Watford Observer over its coverage of ticketing for a concert by former club chairman Sir Elton John.

The club demanded front page space to put its point of view – and when the Observer said it could not guarantee the page required, the Vicarage Road club barred the paper.

Talks between the two sides have now ironed out any difficulties, and good relations have been restored.

The row centred around a front-page report in the Observer about the demand for tickets to the concert, to raise funds for the club.

The paper’s coverage included criticism from fans who had experienced problems in buying tickets, leading the club to request an equal amount of space on the next front page in which to state its point of view more clearly.

When the Observer said it could not guarantee a front page lead seven days prior to publication, and instead offered significant front-page signposting to the back page or an inside page which would be made exclusively available for the club to make their points, the club declined and imposed the ban.

Sports editor Anthony Matthews was forced to report on the next home match from the stands.

Watford Observer editor Peter Wilson-Leary said: “It is pleasing the issue is now resolved. Both sides retain their own views on how the situation could have been avoided or resolved but the main thing is that we can now move forward from this point.

“It has been an unpleasant and serious hiccup in an otherwise relatively smooth relationship. It must be pointed out that the criticism directed at the club on this issue emanated from fans and not the newspaper.”

Watford FC chairman Graham Simpson said the club recognised the need for the two organisations to work together.

He said: “I would make it quite clear Watford FC has a high regard for the newspaper and the reporting has generally been fair.

“However, on this occasion, we felt the Watford Observer failed in its standards of journalistic practice to make us aware of the ‘angle’ that the newspaper was preparing to take with the article.

“We were unhappy with the communication between the club and the Watford Observer in the build-up to last week’s lead story. We are not a concert venue but a football club, holding a concert in a bid for our continuing survival.

“We feel we were not made aware of the specific criticisms from readers and were disappointed not to be given the opportunity for a right to reply with Mark Ashton, our CEO’s comments being taken out of context.”

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