Lasagne-Gate Conspiracy Theory

Article By: Callum Moseley (@CallumMosMedia)

Let's travel back in time for this conspiracy theory debrief shall we... It's May 2006, the Premier League season was drawing to a conclusion and going into the final day of the season, Tottenham Hotspur sat fourth in the table, knowing if they matched Arsenal's result, they would guarantee themselves a place in the UEFA Champions League whilst their North London rivals would be forced to settle for the Europa League. 

Spurs faced a West Ham United side, who weren't quite as strong as they are now, whilst Arsenal hosted Wigan Athletic in the final ever Premier League match at Highbury before the move to the Emirates Stadium. This is where the conspiracy begins...

The night before the game, the Tottenham Hotspur squad made the short journey across London to the London Marriott hotel, ahead of their all-important final day match against the Hammers at Upton Park. This was a Spurs squad full of talent, consisting of the likes of Robbie Keane, Michael Carrick and Edgar Davids. 

On the menu at the hotel restaurant was a range of food, mainly consisting of Spaghetti Bolognese and most-importantly Lasagne. The lasagne option was the option preferred by the Spurs players and no eyebrows were raised until roughly three hours after the meal had been consumed. Suddenly, the Tottenham squad began dropping like flies with Michael Dawson, Michael Carrick, Robbie Keane, Aaron Lennon, Edgar Davids, Jermaine Jenas, Teemu Tainio, Lee Barnard, Radek Cerny and Andy Reid all developing sickness and stomach ache which is where the eyebrows were indeed raised. How could so many of the club standout players suddenly display symptoms of food poisoning on the evening before one of the biggest games the club has had to-date. 

On the rebound of this, Tottenham Hotspur were understandably upset and angry and immediately submitted a request to the Premier League to postpone the fixture. This was interestingly refused by the FA and subsequently the club were told that if they failed to fulfil the fixture, they would be deducted points which would ultimately give Arsenal a place in the Champions League even if they lost their final game of the season. Therefore, as a result the club had no alternative but to play the fixture against West Ham United. 

Without any surprises, Tottenham lost two-one to West Ham as a goal from Yossi Benayoun sealed the victory for the Hammers. Whereas Arsenal comfortably overcome the match against Wigan Athletic with a four-two winning. This of course sealed Arsenal's Champions League place whilst Tottenham finished fifth and missed out on the qualification, however this wasn't the end of it. 

After the game had been concluded, Spurs immediately filed a request for the game to be replayed. This was immediately rejected by the Premier League due to the league ruling that there were no grounds for an appeal. This angered chairman Daniel Levy who then threatened to open legal proceedings against both the Premier League and the London Marriott hotel. Therefore, the Health Protection Agency stepped in and conducted their own independent testing which found that there was no proof nor evidence to prove the theory that the squad was poisoned and instead it was officially concluded that it was simply a case or a bad virus hitting and being passed around the squad. 

Now, what do you all think? Were the Tottenham Hotspur squad poisoned or is it a simple case of a virus conveniently hitting the squad at the same time as one of the biggest games in the clubs Premier League history at the time. Thanks for reading!