Former England footballer unhappy over golf club membership policy

A former England international footballer has been speaking to the media about a golf club that has denied him membership over his past behaviour.

Carlton Palmer, who played 18 times for England, believes his fame has meant he’s been unfairly treated.

In the 1990s he was fined for indecent assault over an incident that happened while out drinking with his Leeds United teammates.

Recently he was nominated and seconded by other former footballers as a proposed new member at the 127-year-old Abbeydale Golf Club in Sheffield, and as is standard, his name was listed as a potential member on an open message board within the clubhouse, with existing members invited to pass comment.

It is understood that a member presented tabloid clippings of Palmer’s past to the club’s admissions board, which then denied his application.

He says he was given no direct right of reply.

Speaking to The Star, Palmer claimed there are convictions of existing members of the club, which would mean there is no precedent in place for previous convictions being an issue.

He feels he has been unfairly victimised but says his focus is to shed light on the process for membership he rendered ‘archaic’. Palmer says he has since received a number of messages of support from members of the club and a number of invitations to join other Sheffield golf clubs.

“It’s not about me anymore,” Palmer said. “This is an archaic rule that allows people to blackball you. I’ve been told other people have had the same problems.

“Nobody in this day and age should be rejected from a golf club out of hand. If there’s a waiting list, you wait. I was happy to do that and I’ve always been courteous. As long as you’re courteous and you follow the rules of that club, there’s no reason you should be denied.

“And if they’ve got an issue with something, you have to have the right of reply.

“This isn’t about me being entitled. I was prepared to wait if there was any waiting list, but they’ve just denied my application out of hand without a right of reply.”

In a statement sent to The Star, a spokesperson for Abbeydale Golf Club said: “We received an application for membership of AGC which is a private members’ club from Carlton Palmer.

“AGC followed a normal process regarding the membership application which was rejected at a board meeting on 1 March 2022. In the normal way we informed his proposer of the outcome. Carlton Palmer has been treated as we would any other applicant in similar circumstances.

“We wrote to Carlton Palmer telling him of the reasons for the rejection. The reasons included reference to information that is freely available in the media regarding his previous conduct. We will not disclose a copy of that letter. That is a matter for Carlton Palmer.”