Goodbye Alfredie

Most people called him AJ. Most people thought he’d be with us this season. But Saturday evening he made his debut for Hemel Storm, leading their scoring with 25 points in a 95-94 loss against Reading Rockets.

It’s one of the hardest thing that’s happened in the 14 years since I gave up sleeping to help run Leopards. I certainly don’t blame him for ensuring he’s playing this season. He’s been a great guy throughout this mess, and it will particularly galling if we end up meeting Hemel in the Cup quarter-final. I’m quietly confident he’ll be back with us if we return to Division One next season.

And we look forward to having a cheeky peek at Martell McLemore’s status when we meet in 12 days time. Because if he hasn’t got an EU passport, I’m pretty sure he’s ineligible. Watch this space.

Obviously I’ve spoken to several people about this. Most people are incredulous that a guy who has leave to remain and played for us last year (before getting that status) now can’t play in Division Two. Apparently the rule is three years old, McLemore isn’t the only player who’s played at a level higher than D2 who has since played in the lower divisions.

And more than one person has said how this hands yet another advantage to the uni teams as bringing in a player on a student visa appears to be the only real way of getting a quality import into the country. It moves us ever closer to a Division One packed full of uni teams watched by no one and with zero fan interest. It’s as if the game in this country is determined to move backwards.