I look at it like this:
- we play for fun
- games with lots of antagonism and arguments are less fun
- cheating or dishonest umpiring inevitably causes antagonism and spoils the game
- if games aren't fun, people will stop playing
- winning, losing, promotion, relegation are ultimately unimportant
- what matters is maintaining enough enthusiastic players to keep growing as a club
- teams that are dishonest might win more games, but they have less fun, eventually lose players, fold teams, sometimes fold altogether
- clubs that are honest may lose more games, but they have less antagonism, more fun, and continue to grow
So that's our team philosophy. If teams want to beat us by cheating, good luck to them. Let me get promoted in our place. We'll carry on doing things our way.
Over the last decade, we've encountered plenty of teams of dickheads that used dishonest means to get promoted. Without fail, they've always collapsed a few years later, while we continue to grow.