Our chief executive Jason Turner has released the following statement after the Vanarama National League today granted AFC Fylde’s proposal to rearrange our twice-postponed trip to Mill Farm for next Tuesday (3 March, kick-off 7.45pm) despite our repeated strong objections.
On behalf of the club I would like to place on record my disappointment that the National League have approved this date and that Fylde would not agree to another available option later in the season.
This decision, we feel, is at a huge disadvantage to our supporters who, having already lost time and money on two wasted journeys, must now make the necessary working and travel arrangements to return to the same venue in only five days’ time.
As a club we have also unnecessarily spent thousands of pounds on coach travel and accommodation in preparation for two matches only for them to be postponed within two hours of kick-off. With the weather forecast remaining bleak, we are concerned that next week’s match could still be in doubt and therefore feel the decision to play on this day commits us and our supporters to further expenditure amid continued uncertainty.
I must also warn our supporters that, should either ours or Fylde’s FA Trophy fixtures fall foul of the forecasted poor weather this weekend, any rearranged Trophy match would be scheduled for Tuesday – meaning our trip to Fylde will have to be rearranged yet again. I would urge our supporters to be mindful of this before making firm arrangements to travel.
We did our very best to set a date which we feel would have been fair for both clubs and their supporters. However, Fylde informed us that they wished to leave this date free in case they progress to the semi-final of the FA Trophy. I am baffled as to why a currently free date for both clubs can be ruled out and how a hypothetical situation can take precedence over our fixture? This simply cannot be right.
Despite us submitting a very strong argument in our favour, the league cited fixture congestion and FA Trophy scheduling as their reason to agree to Fylde’s request. I can only apologise to our own supporters for any inconvenience today’s developments will cause them.
Ticketing and other details will be announced in due course.