How the League refused to acknowledge that directors could be involved in match fixing

The Football League did not come out of the match fixing scandals of the early 20th century very well.  They had initially refused to accept the possibility that match fixing could be taking place and threatened anyone who mentioned the possibility of a lifetime ban from football.  And then when they were finally forced to investigate, because of the outcry from punters when gambling firms refused to pay up on games they claimed were fixed, the League did not even try to investigate if club directors were involved.

Which is interesting given that they had ordered one such director (Henry Norris) not to comment on match fixing any more after he had raised the issue in a newspaper article.

But then the League committee that investigated the match fixing was made up of club directors, so it could hardly have been otherwise.

Here are the anni...