Linfield hit out at Scottish press over '˜hysterical' reports

Linfield manager David Healy and his players will face Celtic if they win their first qualifying round clash. Picture: SNS

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The Northern Irish champions will face Brendan Rodgers’ side in the second qualifying round of the Champions League should they dispatch Sammarinese outfit Florita in their first round encounter.

The potential powderkeg match with Celtic has fuelled a number of stories in the press since the draw was made and the Irish League side have made their displeasure known at some of the reporting.

In a lengthy statement on the club’s website, they picked out an article from the Daily Record where ex-Celtic winger Joe Miller recalled a time he played against Linfield for Aberdeen.

Miller claimed that during the friendly match he was the target of laser rangefinders, and that angry home fans confronted Aberdeen players in the street following the full-time whistle.

Linfield, beyond rebuking Miller’s accusations, insist the match never even took place.

The statement read: “The club’s stated position is that our utmost concentration must be on our First Round tie against La Fiorita of San Marino. To do anything other than this would be to disrespect our opponents whom we look forward to welcoming to Windsor Park on Wednesday evening.

“Linfield feel that we must, however, issue a public response to some of the more hysterical articles that have appeared in the press over the last few days. Even in this era of “fake news” and slashed media budgets, one would have not thought it beyond the capabilities of most reporters to perform some basic fact-checking before sending an article to the presses.

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“A particularly regrettable piece appeared in the Scottish Daily Record on Saturday 24th June, wherein the former Celtic footballer Joe Miller recalled a friendly match he had apparently taken part in against Linfield at Windsor Park whilst he was on the books of Aberdeen. The interview with Mr Miller included such colourful details as the winger apparently being repeatedly targeted with laser rangefinders and that he and his colleagues, Derek Whyte, Tommy Craig and Roy Aitken were carrying match balls down a street after this game when they passed a public house where they were confronted by angry locals.

“The latter detail may cause some bemusement to Linfield supporters, given that even in those pre-redevelopment days, Windsor Park was wholly enclosed from any surrounding streets, and there remains a distinct lack of local hostelries in the area adjacent to the ground. We have played numerous friendly games at Windsor Park over the years against such clubs from Manchester United to Flamengo of Brazil, but have yet to ask opposing players to walk around South Belfast whilst carrying various match accoutrements.

“What troubles us most of all, however, is that Linfield FC has no record of having played Aberdeen at Windsor Park or elsewhere in the entire decade Mr Miller refers to, whether in a friendly fixture, training game or otherwise. In fact, it appears that Linfield have never played against Aberdeen at all throughout our entire history.”

The club then went on to explain how it was highly improbable for the players to be targeted with laser pointers, even if the game had taken place, as “neither the then-RUC nor the British carried lasers fitted to their weapons” and, in the mid-90s, laser pointers were not available to the general public.

Linfield, though revealing they had instructed solicitors to write to both the paper and Joe Miller, did stress that the Daily Record was far from the only publication to run sensationalist stories.

The statement continued: “This is just one of the press stories that have appeared in the last week that is easier to rebut. Our solicitors have also been put on retainer to investigate any further attacks on the good character of this club and its supporters. In the meantime, we would only ask that the media, like Linfield FC, concentrates on fixtures that have actually been arranged, and that any reporting of past events is conducted to proper journalistic standards.”