One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson Causes A Furore Over Competition Entry

Some days, Louis Tomlinson must wish that he had stayed in bed. One Direction star Tomlinson must feel that he cannot do anything without some hack or other trying to turn it into some sort of scandal. It has been reported in The Inquisitr on numerous occasions over the past 12-months how some sections of the U.K.’s tabloid press have been sharpening their knives ready to plunge them into Louis’ heart at every opportunity. Now it seems that Tomlinson can’t even have a bit of fun designing a soccer strip for his favorite team without being attacked.

Tomlinson is well-known for his love of soccer in general and Doncaster Rovers, his home-town club, in particular. As reported in The Inquisitr earlier this week, Louis and his grandad, Len Poulston, entered a competition to design a new kit for the club. Louis and Len entered, and their competition entry was selected as one of the winners. This means that Doncaster Rovers will wear shirts designed by Louis in all of their away fixtures next season. The club announced that everyone who bought one of the shirts would be entered into a draw, with 20 lucky winners receiving a shirt signed by Louis.

Soooooo me and my Grandad Len won the competition of designing the new Donny away shirt. Pretty sick ?

— Louis Tomlinson (@Louis_Tomlinson) April 4, 2016

Tomlinson has been a lifelong supporter of Doncaster Rovers and even attempted to buy the club in 2014. Louis even turned out to play for the reserve team, so it is hard to believe that some people are determined to cast Tomlinson’s commitment to the team. Sadly, that has not been the case, and the club have been accused of fixing the competition so that Tomlinson would win and thereby sell more shirts, presumably to One Direction fans eager to get hold of a shirt designed and signed by Louis.

Supporter Shaun Smith designed our home shirt… Here's who designed our away shirt https://t.co/hR2uwKm44c #DRFC pic.twitter.com/DhXBzaguVJ

— Doncaster Rovers FC (@drfc_official) April 4, 2016

According to the BBC some fans have hit out at the club, claiming that the vote by fans was rigged to ensure Tomlinson won. The accusation being that the club were using Tomlinson to raise more money in shirt sales. Doncaster Rovers fans might be surprised to learn that clubs in the lower reaches of English soccer are not exactly on the gravy train; every penny helps to keep the club afloat. Having Louis Tomlinson design a club shirt would actually be very smart marketing, but the club have released a statement on their website insisting that the vote was “fair and above-board.”

“The process for receiving kit designs, shortlisting and the public voting for our kit design competition followed strict legal guidance to ensure that the club adhered to competition law and that all processes were fair.

“We are aware that the result of the competition has attracted some mixed feedback, but we can assure our fans that the voting process for the 2016/17 shirt designs was all was fair and above board.”

According to the Mirror, Louis’ grandad has had to step into the furore and has said that Tomlinson will not accept the prize that went along with the competition. This included a trip to Thailand to see the shirt going into production.

Tomlinson is renowned as an incredibly generous young man, and it seems that Louis will continue to give by donating his prize back to the fans as an auction or draw prize to help the club raise some additional and much-needed cash. Tomlinson’s grandfather confirmed that the prize was going back to the fans.

“Louis was never having the prize himself anyway. He’s going to put it back into an auction or whatever, so one of the fans will win.”

Tomlinson really must get heartily sick of all of this negativity. At the end of the day Louis is a 24-year-old man who tries to make himself, his family, and his fans happy by getting up on stage to sing songs. Millions of people adore Tomlinson for doing just that. Why, then, must every single part of Tomlinson’s life be turned into a media circus? Not everyone likes Tomlinson and One Direction’s music, and that’s fine, but why must some people try to make a young man’s life a misery because he sings in a pop band?

Today is probably one of those days where Louis Tomlinson wishes he had stayed in bed.

[Photo by Brian Ach/Getty Images]