THE Football Conference confirmed today that Grays Athletic has suffered the deduction of two points and been fined a total of £500 in relation to five breaches involving the fielding of ineligible players in contravention of Conference Rule 6.8.
The adjustment to the league table will take immediate effect.
The details are:
1. Daryl Robson played whilst ineligible on 31st October 2009 against Barrow, prior to receipt of the players registration.
2. Callum Leahy also played whilst ineligible in the same fixture, again prior to receipt of the players registration.
3 Sam Cutler played whilst ineligible in three fixtures. On 29th August 2009 he played against Crawley Town and was ineligible to do so, due to the fact that despite the player being registered with the Football Conference as a ‘contract player’ it was established that the contract had been rejected by the Football Association and prior to a new contract being approved by the Football Association the club had played him before the start date of his new ‘monthly’ contract of 31st August 2009.
Subsequently when that ‘monthly’ contract expired on 30th September 2009, the club again played the player twice again whilst ineligible on 3rd and 17th October 2009 in fixtures against Gateshead and Wrexham respectively.
The Football Conference has been unable to finalise this matter until now, due to appeal procedures evoked by Grays Athletic, which the club formally withdrew from the Football Association as of 7th April 2010.
Isnt it about time Grays Athletics dropped their plans for a new stadium and instead consider sharing a ground with another one of the borough’s football clubs?