| FAYC Reinstatement for Junior U's 23:00 - Feb 15 with 1415 views | durham_exile |
Colchester's under-18s could find themselves back in this season’s FA Youth Cup and facing a quarter-final against the young guns of Premier League giants Arsenal.
The U’s youngsters had been knocked out of the competition after a 4-1 fifth round defeat by Reading, but the Royals could be removed from the competition after fielding an ineligible player against the U’s.
At a meeting at Wembley on Thursday, the FA Youth Cup Sub-Committee upheld a charge issued to Reading which recognised a breach of the FA Youth Cup’s rule 15 (j).
The finding of that meeting means the Royals have been eliminated and Colchester have been reinstated, but the Championship club are deciding on an appeal.
Second chance.
Up the U's |  |
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| FAYC Reinstatement for Junior U's on 23:22 - Feb 15 with 1410 views | mfb_cufc |
Just beat me to announcing this Durham.
Here is the full statement from the Reading website. The fact they owned up to it themselves would suggest they haven't got a leg to stand on when it comes to an appeal.
We are deeply disappointed to announce that, following a hearing at Wembley this morning, the FA Youth Cup Sub-Committee have upheld a charge issued to Reading Football Club which recognised a breach of FA Youth Cup Competition Rule 15 (j).
Therefore, pending the outcome of a potential appeal process, our Under-18s have been removed from the competition at the quarter-final stage after we fielded an ‘under-age’ player inadvertently in our 4-1 win at Colchester United earlier this month.
David Dodds’ side earned their third win in the competition courtesy of a goals from homegrown England internationals Danny Loader and Jack Nolan at the Weston Homes Community Stadium, however as part of the starting eleven we included 15-year-old Imari Samuels at left-back.
According to the competition’s regulations, all players who compete in the FA Youth Cup must have turned 15 before midnight on 31st August of the current season, and Samuels was only 14 years of age at this cut off point.
It is important to note that a rule infringement involving the fielding of an under-age player in a youth competition is extremely uncommon. And there is no rule to prevent Samuels - or another player of similar age at any club - from playing every week in the U18 Premier League for example.
In fact, as our Academy proudly continues to offer the invaluable experience of competitive football to talented young players who we feel can benefit from game time ahead of their respective age groups, we legitimately included four Under-15s in our Under-18s squad for a league match against Fulham less than a fortnight ago.
And we understand that the regulation disallowing players from lower age groups to compete in the FA Youth Cup was initially introduced to ensure the competition would be played on a level playing field in earlier rounds which pitted league clubs against non-league clubs — yet this infringement of the rules was made in a Fifth Round tie between two EFL clubs.
However, as part of the FA regulations stipulated in the FA Youth Cup rulebook, we accept that fielding an under-age player is a breach of the rules for this specific competition and openly admit that, under Rule 15 (j), Samuels was not eligible to play in the Fifth Round win.
Upon realising our unintentional mistake the following morning, the club were proactive in making immediate contact with the FA to make them aware of the administrative error and unreservedly apologise.
We were formally charged by the FA last week and the club attended a hearing at Wembley Stadium earlier today, hoping that our young players would not be denied the opportunity to continue their cup run and we would be permitted to replay the tie — a decision which was taken by the FA when the same oversight of fielding an under-age player was made by Southend United in the same competition in 2015-16.
Our philosophy within our Category One Academy is to ‘extend and consolidate’ — stretching young talented footballers with challenges designed to extend beyond their comfort zones where appropriate, before then consolidating what has been learned and working with them on a one-to-one basis to help them benefit from those experiences in training.
However, despite presenting our case at length to an FA Youth Cup Sub-Committee earlier today, it was ordered that the Royals should be removed from this season’s FA Youth Cup and Colchester United re-instated.
The FA’s full reasoning behind today’s decision will be issued to the club before 4pm tomorrow and Reading Football Club will, at that stage, consider an appeal which must be lodged before 4pm on Monday 19th February and submitted in full before 4pm on Tuesday 20th February. |  |
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| FAYC Reinstatement for Junior U's on 21:43 - Feb 16 with 1356 views | bwildered |
The rules are the rules, whatever level the club plays in . Feel sorry for the player involved and his teammates however innocent, but amitting it after the event does not make it OK .
Full credit to the club in not getting involved in the aftermath of the situation . |  |
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| FAYC Reinstatement for Junior U's on 07:35 - Feb 17 with 1336 views | Leadbelly |
How long would it have taken the FA to realise rules had been breached if Reading hadn't come clean? |  |
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| FAYC Reinstatement for Junior U's on 10:31 - Feb 17 with 1319 views | bwildered |
Not knowing the workings of the FA, but presume that players registrations are checked well before commencement of the next round. By admitting there mistake, however genuine, perhaps they realize it would be reconized sooner rather than later, and by playing another round the penalties would be much harsher. | |
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| FAYC Reinstatement for Junior U's on 10:52 - Feb 17 with 1314 views | wessex_exile |
| FAYC Reinstatement for Junior U's on 10:31 - Feb 17 by bwildered |
Not knowing the workings of the FA, but presume that players registrations are checked well before commencement of the next round. By admitting there mistake, however genuine, perhaps they realize it would be reconized sooner rather than later, and by playing another round the penalties would be much harsher. |
I suspect the FA never would have spotted it, but maybe Reading were worried we would? |  |
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| FAYC Reinstatement for Junior U's on 19:06 - Feb 17 with 1286 views | bwildered |
Has the player had not played previously, his registration documents would be scrutinized quicker than those who had already played already in the competition .
Pretty sure the FA has a department to clarify matters before they arise.
Perhaps by confessing, Reading where confident for a rematch rather than a ban . | |
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| FAYC Reinstatement for Junior U's on 13:31 - Feb 20 with 1221 views | mfb_cufc |
The FA website no longer mentions "subject to appeal". That suggests Reading have accepted the decision and we will be playing Arsenal at home in the quarter-finals. | |
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| FAYC Reinstatement for Junior U's on 10:38 - Feb 25 with 1175 views | mfb_cufc |
The quarter-final game at home to Arsenal is on Tuesday March 6th with a 19.00 kick-off. | |
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| FAYC Reinstatement for Junior U's on 18:12 - Feb 26 with 1118 views | bwildered |
I would recommend anyone who is to attend the fixture to get there early . Tickets need to be purchased at the ticket office before entry ( no STH ) and a healthy queue developed in the previous round, unless two turnstiles are in operation . | |
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