Headstone Manor YFC

Why is our A team in Division 1, despite finishing as runners up last year and why have they lost 9 points despite winning all their games this year?

This is a question we have been asked a lot this season. Having finished runners up in Division 1 last season our A team expected to be playing in the Premier Division this term. The story of why they are still in Division 1 is a frustrating one for all the players and coaches and, for the first time, we can tell it here.

The story starts in March when the As beat St Andrews 4-2 away. When the season ends the final league table look like this:

The As celebrate their success and look forward to their return to the top flight at the first attempt.

However, unknown to them, back in March St Andrews had mistakenly reported the result of their game against the As as a win for them. The first time the As discovered there was a problem was in June, when the club received a paper copy of the final tables from the Harrow Youth League. The League doesn’t publish any league tables on the Web. Their final table showed St Andrews in second place with 33 points and the As in fourth place with 29 points.

We queried this with the League and, on investigation, the League Secretary confirmed that a mistake had been made which would be corrected and the As would receive the runners up trophies. In July St Andrews handed the trophies to the A team and they were presented to the players at their end of season Awards Evening.

Fast forward to August when the League publish the composition of the divisions for the new season. To our surprise, the As are in Division 1 and St Andrews are promoted as runners up. We query this with the Harrow Youth League, who look into this and reject our request to be promoted. We appeal this and in September they inform us that they have rejected our appeal. The League state that their decision is on the grounds that their “Management Committee shall decide the composition of the divisions, and their decision shall be final and binding”.

In September we appealed to the Middlesex FA and in October to the FA. Meanwhile, the League gave us Division 1 fixtures against Ealing Rangers, Pinnacle and AFC Ruislip Youth. However, we couldn’t play these games while we were awaiting the result of the appeal.

With the situation so uncertain and time dragging by, in October the As agreed to play their first match in Division 1. Since then they have drawn two matches and won all the rest, a fantastic unbeaten record, scoring over 140 goals.

However, as if the situation wasn’t bad enough already, in October we were informed that the League had awarded the points for the three matches we hadn’t played, to our opponents. We appealed against this to the League, the Middlesex FA and to the FA. The FA and the Middlesex FA agreed that it would not be fair to deduct these points, the League however, have ignored this and upheld their decision and Middlesex FA have not been able to do anything about this. This isn't just unfair it is vindictive.

So in essence, our A team were denied promotion due to St Andrews sending in an incorrect result. Despite St Andrews admitting this, the League agreeing that a mistake was made and our A team receiving runners up trophies, the League still chose to promote St Andrews and rejected all our appeals. While the appeals were going ahead we could not play the first three matches and the League have awarded these nine points to our opponents.

Is this fair? Bear in mind that if this can happen to our A team, it can happen to any team in the league. If you play for, support or coach another club imagine how our A team players, parents and coaches are feeling. If you would like to add your support or comments please email us.

Whatever the final outcome, there is one thing that cannot be disputed. That is the outstanding attitude and response that our A team squad have shown. These are 13 and 14 year old boys who have been treated abysmally by the Harrow Youth League. Yet they have behaved impeccably and have knuckled down and responded by remaining unbeaten in the league this season.

Which just goes to show where they should be playing this year.

Postscript - To add insult to injury

In case you thought the Harrow Youth League couldn't get any more petty (or potty), ...

In June we received the final verdict from Middlesex FA on the League's appeal against the decision. The League were found guilty, were fined and were told they could not deduct the 9 points from the As. But the League, rather than accepting this, stated that it was now too late to play these matches. So instead, to decide these three unplayed games, they have awarded them as drawn!!! So instead of getting the 9 points (which, with due respect to the other teams, would be the likely outcome considering the As unbeaten record) the As get only 3 points which would mean that they are denied the Championship by 1 point. Petty, vindictive, small minded or an example of sportsmanship and fair play? Isn't the League supposed to set an example to the young players they govern? This is supposed to be a sport!!!!