BarryJV: Everton clearly only got in thanks to some extremely underhand behaviour at the FA

What underhand behaviour? The FA had publicly stated that they wouldn't allow Liverpool to take the EPL's fourth UCL qualifier spot should Liverpool fail to finish fourth but still win the UCL. I think they said that as far back as before the round of 16 even began. They probably felt safe saying it, no-one gave Liverpool a hope in hell of winning.

Everton finished fourth. The FA had already stated that whoever finished fourth would get in. Further, under the rules at the time, the reigning UCL champion DID NOT have automatic right to qualify for the next tournament.

Everton qualified, Liverpool didn't. Simple as that. If there was anything 'underhanded', it was UEFA being pressured to allow Liverpool to compete this year.

/Liverpool fan.
//Celtic fan too. Hopes Liverpool gets drawn against Rangers, and humiliates them!!

Cutter: What underhand behaviour? The FA had publicly stated that they wouldn't allow Liverpool to take the EPL's fourth UCL qualifier spot should Liverpool fail to finish fourth but still win the UCL. I think they said that as far back as before the round of 16 even began. They probably felt safe saying it, no-one gave Liverpool a hope in hell of winning.

Errm, nope.

The UEFA rules said that in the event of the winner finishing outside of the top four, the fourth placed team would have to give up their place to the cup winner. However, it was poorly worded and made it look as though the local FA had the final choice (they've now reworded the rules to reflect what the real rule was, as previously applied to Real Madrid if you recall). The FA publically stated the year before that fourth place loses out to cup winners if that event should occur. That interpretation was published on their website and remained there until the day after Liverpool beat Chelsea at which time the FA announced that fourth place had priority over the cup winners. Embarrasingly, they forgot to delete the web page and several sources published stories about it.

I've just checked your location and I'm guessing that the stories didn't get published in Oz.

Everton qualified, Liverpool didn't. Simple as that. If there was anything 'underhanded', it was UEFA being pressured to allow Liverpool to compete this year.

That was underhanded, but the method they used was to re-interpret the rules post-hoc in order to put UEFA in an embarassing position. The situation was quite clear:

The day before Liverpool beat Chelsea, the FA's published position was that cup winners took priority over 4th place.

The day after Liverpool beat Chelsea, the FA's stated position was that 4th place took priority over cup winners.

Damn right it was underhand.

/Laughed a lot more at Everton getting knocked out than I did at Man U
//Wonder how much cock Moyes had to suck at FA headquarters
///Had he got rid of the taste by the time they were eliminated from all Euro competitions

OK, so I got my timing wrong. Mea culpa.

I'm still not entirely convinced it was underhanded, because the two teams in question (Everton and Liverpool), are intra-city rivals. One was always going to be utterly pissed at missing out over the other. Maybe it was simply a case of the FA trying to cover their arses and just botching it horribly?

/Also laughed at Everton bombing out of Europe!