Sheffield United have withdrawn their offer to allow Ched Evans train with the team. But their chairman Jim Phipps is not happy about having to do so.
In an interview with Sky Sports News, the American born chairman blamed 'mob-like behaviour' for forcing the retraction of the offer. He admitted the backlash was worse than he and the club had anticipated.
Numerous figures associated with the club expressed their dismay at the decision to allow Evans train with the team. Jessica Ennis said she wanted her name removed from the stand in Bramall Lane named in her honour - should the club re-sign Evans.
But Phipps disputes that footballers should be treated differently to those in other professions, saying 'It is not fair to treat a footballer differently, they should have a right of rehabilitation like everyone else. We are not ashamed of that view in the slightest.
That has found resistance, some of that has been in the nature of a mob resistance, willing to impose a penalty which the law does not contemplate.'
