It’s struck me recently that there has been a change to a well established rule in the non league football circles, either that or it is simply being ignored. The punishments and consequences for playing an ineligible player in a match used to be fairly straightforward, if it was a league game then the team would lose points off their league total and if it was a cup game, the team would be expelled from the competition had they won the match, their defeated opponents would take their place in the next round and receive any prize money that was at stake.
However, in recent times when this has happened, these outcomes haven’t been the case. There was inconsistency in this last season when two seemingly identical crimes were punished differently, admittedly by two different authoritative bodies. When Droylsden played a player against Chesterfield in the FA Cup that was supposed to have been suspended in that particular match, they were kicked out of the competition after winning the tie and Chesterfield advanced to the next round. But in the same season, Silsden played Ossett Town in the West Riding FA Senior Cup competition and won the match.
However the subsequent discovery of an ineligible player in the Silsden team didn’t see the Keighley based club expelled, but the West Riding FA ordered the match to be replayed. Silsden, then fielding a side that wasn’t cheating, were resoundingly beaten in the rematch. At the time though, it struck me as strange because the usual punishment for this type of infringement was competition expulsion.
This season, there have been two instances of teams fielding an ineligible player in a match and winning the game, neither have been dealt with in the expected manner. When Daisy Hill and AFC Liverpool met at New Sirs earlier in the season, they produced a match of cracking entertainment and edge-of-your-seat stuff with the final score being 5-4 to Daisy Hill.
None of the nine goals scored in that contest or the points that Daisy Hill received now have any relevance. Daisy Hill had played a player in that match that has been suspended having played Sunday league football and apparently hadn’t informed the club, Daisy Hill were unaware that he should have been suspended. The league disciplinary committee elected not to deduct the points from Daisy Hill but to declare the match null and void, it will have to be replayed at a later date. Then just this week, news that New Mills FC played an ineligible player who was on loan from Northwich Victoria in their 1-0 FA Vase victory over Bourne Town of the United Counties Football League Premier Division. 
Playing a loan player in the FA Vase contravenes FA Law and the player is therefore ineligible. Recent seasons would have seen the offending club expelled from the competition, but that is not the case this time around. Whilst the other successful teams will be competing in the 2nd round of the FA Vase this weekend, Bourne Town and New Mills will be doing it all again in the first round after the FA took the decision not to expel New Mills from the competition, but ordered that the match be replayed to a conclusion. The FA have said that extenuating circumstances have led to them using discretionary powers and no fine has been imposed.
Now if the rules have changed at FA Headquarters for dealing with this sort of thing and I just haven’t heard about it, I’m more than happy to accept that. But it does seem odd that this ruling has changed and teams are getting second chances to atone for earlier errors. If this becomes a thing of consistency across the FA and the regional FA’s then I suppose there is little grounds for complaint here, but I have to say I preferred the system the way it worked before. If teams realise that the only thing that will happen to them if they play ineligible players in games is that they will get another stab at it later on, they might very well play that top striker of theirs that has picked up one too many yellow cards in previous games, in the hope that the opposition won’t find out and they’ll get away with it. But if the opposition do find out the fixture secretary is going to have a serious headache with re-scheduling the games. In my view if you play an ineligible player then that should be it, no second chances. Appeal the decision by all means, but don’t expect a 2nd bite of the cherry!
However, in recent times when this has happened, these outcomes haven’t been the case. There was inconsistency in this last season when two seemingly identical crimes were punished differently, admittedly by two different authoritative bodies. When Droylsden played a player against Chesterfield in the FA Cup that was supposed to have been suspended in that particular match, they were kicked out of the competition after winning the tie and Chesterfield advanced to the next round. But in the same season, Silsden played Ossett Town in the West Riding FA Senior Cup competition and won the match.
However the subsequent discovery of an ineligible player in the Silsden team didn’t see the Keighley based club expelled, but the West Riding FA ordered the match to be replayed. Silsden, then fielding a side that wasn’t cheating, were resoundingly beaten in the rematch. At the time though, it struck me as strange because the usual punishment for this type of infringement was competition expulsion.This season, there have been two instances of teams fielding an ineligible player in a match and winning the game, neither have been dealt with in the expected manner. When Daisy Hill and AFC Liverpool met at New Sirs earlier in the season, they produced a match of cracking entertainment and edge-of-your-seat stuff with the final score being 5-4 to Daisy Hill.
None of the nine goals scored in that contest or the points that Daisy Hill received now have any relevance. Daisy Hill had played a player in that match that has been suspended having played Sunday league football and apparently hadn’t informed the club, Daisy Hill were unaware that he should have been suspended. The league disciplinary committee elected not to deduct the points from Daisy Hill but to declare the match null and void, it will have to be replayed at a later date. Then just this week, news that New Mills FC played an ineligible player who was on loan from Northwich Victoria in their 1-0 FA Vase victory over Bourne Town of the United Counties Football League Premier Division. 
Playing a loan player in the FA Vase contravenes FA Law and the player is therefore ineligible. Recent seasons would have seen the offending club expelled from the competition, but that is not the case this time around. Whilst the other successful teams will be competing in the 2nd round of the FA Vase this weekend, Bourne Town and New Mills will be doing it all again in the first round after the FA took the decision not to expel New Mills from the competition, but ordered that the match be replayed to a conclusion. The FA have said that extenuating circumstances have led to them using discretionary powers and no fine has been imposed.Now if the rules have changed at FA Headquarters for dealing with this sort of thing and I just haven’t heard about it, I’m more than happy to accept that. But it does seem odd that this ruling has changed and teams are getting second chances to atone for earlier errors. If this becomes a thing of consistency across the FA and the regional FA’s then I suppose there is little grounds for complaint here, but I have to say I preferred the system the way it worked before. If teams realise that the only thing that will happen to them if they play ineligible players in games is that they will get another stab at it later on, they might very well play that top striker of theirs that has picked up one too many yellow cards in previous games, in the hope that the opposition won’t find out and they’ll get away with it. But if the opposition do find out the fixture secretary is going to have a serious headache with re-scheduling the games. In my view if you play an ineligible player then that should be it, no second chances. Appeal the decision by all means, but don’t expect a 2nd bite of the cherry!
