May 7 – Enfield Town, the tiny part-time club in the eighth tier of English football whose case against being docked three points for no other reason than being honest has made national headlines, will discover tomorrow whether they will be let off the sanction.
Enfield, the country’s first supporter-owned club, believe they are victims of a gross miscarriage of justice after being punished for fielding an ineligible player back in January, even though his previous clubs were responsible for the mistake and Enfield themselves suspended the player as soon as they discovered the discrepancy.
Non-league teams across the country have come out in droves in support of the north-London side, who reached the Ryman Premier League play-offs by finishing fifth on the last day of the season in front of a record league crowd, only for their big day to be wrecked when they learned days later that they had been docked three points after being found guilty of fielding an ineligible player several months earlier.
On Friday, board members will meet FA representatives at Wembley in an attempt to overturn the deduction. Enfield will drop out of the playoffs if they lose their appeal and have no money to subsequently go to arbitration and pay for legal fees.
“It seems you are punished for crossing the white line whatever the circumstances even though we were relying on the FA’s own records system,” said Enfield vice-chairman Paul Millington.
“It was impossible to know the incorrect records made by other clubs and we are utterly bewildered. As usual it’s the supporters who suffer most.”
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