Boro apologise for six-point deduction

[dutchman]

Nuneaton Town have been deducted six points after being found guilty of playing an unregistered player by the Football Conference.



The deduction will not come into effect until April 11, but it means Boro have effectively gone from being third in Blue Square Bet North to sixth – massively damaging their promotion dream.

The club have also been charged with a catalogue of other administrative errors which are set to result in fines, prompting chairman Ian Neale to issue a frank apology to supporters and players alike.

He said: “The board have a responsibility to the supporters, management team and players. We apologise unreservedly.

“Supporters give their hard-earned money to the club. Collectively the board have to take responsibility.

“Individually, I have to make sure procedures are in place. It would be the easy option for me to walk away.

“I expect criticism. Everybody is human. The board are human.

“I’ve faced my fair bit of adversity. In football, sometimes I hate it. At times like this I feel we’ve really let people down.”

The club will not appeal after being found guilty of playing striker Andy Brown when he was not registered in the 6-1 win at Colwyn Bay and 3-0 win at FC Halifax Town on February 18 and 21 respectively.

They learned their fate at a hearing in London on Wednesday attended by Neale and director Kevin Harris-James, a registered Football Association lawyer.

Neale said the club were notified two days after the Halifax game and he immediately headed up an investigation.

It was discovered the club had not received confirmation from the Conference and the FA that Brown, who scored in both games, was eligible to play when his loan from AFC Telford United was extended.

Neale refused to point the finger ,at who was individually responsible for the error.

Registrations are generally handled by club secretaries. Boro secretary Ian Brown resigned on March 10, citing ill health, to be succeeded by Richard Dean.

The club has already been charged £500 by the Conference for playing Andy Brown when unregistered. The fine could have been as high as £4,000.

Neale is now appealing for the whole club, including supporters, to stay together.

“We can pull together in adversity. We aren’t out of the play-offs at all.

“We need a reaction on the pitch tomorrow.

We can look back and dissect it as much as possible but we can’t affect that.

“All we can do is deal with what happened and put new procedures in place.

“We’ll encourage the team in adversity.

“You want points decided on the pitch. I can’t say how disappointed I am.

“People work hard and this is a blow that isn’t based on football.

“We are there to support the team and we hope the team can respect that commitment.

I understand they’ll be frustrated.

“If they weren’t how much do they want it? One or two may be angry. We’ve made a mistake, we’ve put our hands up.

“Supporters have a right to be angry but we’ve got to look forward. We’ll do everything to help the team from here on in.

“We were aware of the situation at the signing deadline but we signed Andy Brown as a statement of intent. We tried to get two more players in.

“We believe in the team and we can get promoted,” he said.

Neale also made it clear he was unhappy the news had broken on fan forums as he pointed the finger at a director of either Altrincham or Halifax for letting it slip following a Conference board meeting on Wednesday.