Eels dump Ray Price
By Nick Walshaw
December 07, 2007 12:00am
THEY called him Mr Perpetual Motion - but Parramatta hero Ray Price has finally been floored by the ultimate insult.
In an exclusive interview with
The Daily Telegraph, Price has slammed the Eels for stripping his name from the main lounge bar at Parramatta Stadium.
In a letter received from the Stadium Trust last week, the Eels legend was told his room had been renamed the Cumberland Lounge for "business strategy" reasons.
The snubbing means there is now not one public facility - grandstand, terrace, lounge or bar - named after the only man to play in all seven Parramatta grand finals.
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"Mate, the whole thing is pathetic, sickens me," Price fired yesterday.
"I mean, why give me something if you're only going to take it away again?
"And then to come up with some excuse about it being for a business strategy or something. Is my name really that f...... bad?"
Despite being arguably the greatest Parramatta player ever, Price has never received the same honours as fellow champions Ken Thornett, Michael Cronin, Peter Sterling or Brett Kenny.
And the Budgewoi carpenter fears this latest insult is the result of his ongoing feud with Eels boss Denis Fitzgerald - himself one of seven Trust board members.
"There's definitely a stench to it," Price conceded.
"I mean, first they took down the (Ray Price Lounge) sign for a couple of years. I know that because I went in there and the bloody thing was gone.
"Even when I received life membership they gave me grandstand tickets on halfway, but do you know where they are now? They're down behind the dead ball line.
"So what can you say? Do they really want me gone that bad?"
Defending the board's decision, Fitzgerald last night said the lounge was hired out "100 times a year" for weddings, seminars and corporate functions.
"So it's not just a football room," he said.
Eels chairman Alan Overton agreed the renamed room would be "easier to hire out" while venue manager Luke Coleman described the decision as "unanimous".
As a trade-off, Price's name will now be attached to a smaller suite in the corporate bleachers - a decision already angering club supporters.
"Because Pricey is a hero to the battlers, not the suits," Joe Saad, a fan for 30 years, spat. "But they'll probably take that too . . . eventually just name a chair after him."
Asked if he feared his footprint being removed from the club completely, Price added: "That's probably their aim, yeah.
"But to be honest, I don't give a s... about the officials. The only people I care about these days are the fans.
"And I still have my achievements. That and all the great memories . . . mate, they can't take that away from me."
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22883358-5001023,00.html
