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 Club Statement

•  2 mins ago
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• Following the postponement of tonight’s fixture against Tamworth FC, the Board is now able to give further information on the situation and our plans ahead of this weekend’s match. Andy Peaks was advised that a player had received a positive Covid-19 test result this morning. The player trained with the squad last Thursday, began to feel unwell last Friday but was not part of the squad that travelled to Coalville Town FC at the weekend. A second player has also reported feeling unwell today, although he is not displaying any Covid-19 symptoms. This second player has, however, had a Covid-19 test this evening. Following consultation with The Southern League, the decision was made to postpone the fixture against Tamworth FC this evening as a precautionary measure in order to safeguard all players, volunteers, staff and supporters. We would like to thank the Southern League and all at Tamworth FC for their support and advice.
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• We will update everyone further as the week progresses but at this stage, Saturday’s match in the Buildbase FA Trophy v Ilkeston Town FC at Hayden Road will go ahead as planned. 

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ILKESTON TOWN - CLUB STATEMENT: FA Trophy            Oct 29, 2020

On Tuesday of this week, AFC Rushden & Diamonds issued a club statement confirming a positive COVID case within their first team playing squad. The player concerned was actively participating in a training session less than 24 hours before the test had taken place. Since this time, other players within their squad have reported feeling unwell and their midweek fixture was postponed due to the potential seriousness of the outbreak. Although government guidance for football steps 3-6 differs from everyday life, we have not been satisfied that our hosts’ circumstances have changed significantly and Saturday would only equate to eight days of an incubation period for the virus, not the 14 days the Government actually suggest it could take for any symptoms to appear. In life away from football, exposure to the virus would result in self isolation for 14 days and with our duty to protect our staff, players, supporters and whole community from the spread of the killer virus, we have taken the difficult decision to not participate in the fixture on Saturday. 

This difficult decision has been made purely on health and safety grounds and has potentially cost the club financially and our place in the competition. We ask that you place your disappointment aside in these strange times and understand that the well being of everyone at our football club will always be our priority. 
 

Last edited by Matchman (29/10/2020 5:01 PM)

Something doesn’t quite add up so best to be safe

Good decision

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.The 2020/21 FA Trophy rules state that clubs can postpone ties, but the rearranged games must be played within 5 days. If a club cannot play the fixture within that 5 day window they will forfeit their place.  


So this is how I interpret the rules 


The FA will instruct Rushden and Ilkeston to re -schedule the match within 5 days of the original fixture :

then as per (v) above: 

If one club is unable or unwilling to complete the fixture, then that club will be deemed to have forfeited the match and the other team goes through to the next round 

If both clubs are unable or unwilling complete the fixture, then both clubs  will be deemed to have forfeited the match and neither team goes through to the next round. 
 

Last edited by Matchman (30/10/2020 2:25 PM)

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UPDATE: FA Trophy tie        Oct 30, 2020



We can now confirm that due to our unwillingness to participate in tomorrow’s fixture on health and safety grounds, AFC Rushden & Diamonds have been given a walkover into the next round of the competition by the FA. Whilst we are disappointed to no longer be involved in the competition, the decision came as no surprise and we wish AFC Rushden & Diamonds good luck for the next round and send our good wishes to the player who has tested positive for Covid-19.  We understand that football is treated slightly differently to other environments in respect of legislation and rules and are happy that our scheduled opponents and the Football Association followed the designated guidelines.  We felt, however, that the current guidelines for COVID-19 in football contradict the rules considerably in everyday life. We felt that a positive case of COVID within a group of players only given eight days out of the required 14 to show symptoms, was enough to see our attendance as a gamble with our players’ and staff’s health. This was a gamble we will never knowingly be prepared to take.  Combine the positive test with further players feeling unwell and Diamonds’ previous and following league fixtures being postponed, this only helped force a very difficult and unpopular decision but one I hope you all can support and respect.  As always, thank you for your continued support and all of you stay safe.