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Archived News from March 2009

CONFERENCE INTERNAL REVIEW: BY END OF SEASON!?!
6th March 2009 12:35


27 Feb 2009

Media coverage: Mansfield CHAD, Nottingham Evening Post, BBC website, BBC Non-League Show, Bognor Observer.

Non-League Paper, 01 March 2009:




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27 Feb 2009
In an astonishing about-turn, the Football Conference announced late on Friday afternoon that its Internal Review Team may not be reporting before the end of the season. This followed the FA appeal hearing that reduced the Crawley penalty from a possible 4 point deuction to a 1 point deduction.

Stags Fans United's Martin Shaw and OxVox's Trevor Lambert said in a joint statement: "We are pleased at least that one of the club's has got some of their points back. However we are disappointed that results of the Internal Review are not forthcoming. We are astonished that the Football Conference, which had announced it is conducting the Internal Review of its procedures and was due to report on 23rd February, then announced that the report would not be made public until after the Crawley hearing, has now said it is "confident" it will be released before the end of season! In other words they are not even guaranteeing that it will be released before the season is over. It beggars belief, and is another massive own goal by the Conference. It remains the case that the Conference's procedures were fundamentally flawed."
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FULL CONFERENCE STATEMENT BELOW

Football Conference Statement
Ref: FA appeal hearing, Crawley Town, February 27th 2009, 5pm

http://www.footballconference.co.uk/news/news_article.asp?id=1075

The Board of the Football Conference recognises that the appeals process has worked. All parties have had a fair hearing from the three man independent commission.

The appeal boards decision to uphold the deduction of a point and apply fines as per the original process confirms that the Conference commission applied the rules correctly.

The Conference board has no issue with the final decision and is committed to and believes fully in the appeals process

Football Conference Chairman, Brian Lee comments:

"Additional to the findings of the appeal process this morning I can confirm that the structural and administration review at the Football Conference headquarters is progressing well under the direction of the review sub-committee. I am confident that we will have a final report and recommendations for the board before the end of this current season”.

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Oxford awaiting Conference review
27 Feb 2009
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/o/oxford_utd/7915628.stm

Oxford United chairman Kelvin Thomas has urged the Conference to publish the results of their internal review - which have again been delayed.

The Conference now say they will report back by the end of the season, having originally scheduling the release for earlier this week.

Thomas says fans deserve answers from the Conference administration quickly.

"I would hope that the results of this review are disclosed as soon as possible," said Thomas.

The Conference currently has no on-line facility to check that player registration forms have been received and processed.

And Thomas added: "All clubs in the Conference should be made aware as soon as possible of any procedural changes and reforms that this review will obviously bring in."

Thomas has also praised the Oxford fans who organised a petition, backed by supporters from other clubs, against the points penalties, which were given for fielding unregistered players.

"The fans of all the clubs deserve some answers from the Conference administration," said Thomas, "especially after the effort they went to with the petition.

"Our team have performed brilliantly during this time and all credit to the staff, players and management.

"We now just need to focus on each game until the end of the season and get as many points as possible."

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Earlier stories here.

 

Latest | March 2009